Allen Adam is the atomic superhero Captain Atom.
History
Origin
A trained, dedicated soldier Allen Adam, physics prodigy at age eight, was working on an experimental rocket and he was accidentally launched into space. As he entered the upper atmosphere, the rocket exploded and Allen was atomized. However, he gained atomic abilities and was able to reform his body when he returned to the ground. Also, his hair would turn white when he transformed. He outfitted a red and yellow costume for himself and he became Captain Atom.
Adventuring Career
In the months that follow, Captain Atom protected America against alien invasions and a variety of supervillains, until he was forced to extend himself to the limit to shut down a nuclear reactor gone wild. He then found that the encounter had left him powerless. He was then captured by the renegade scientist who had tampered with the reactor, and was unmasked on nationwide television.
Adam eventually regained his powers and escaped his captor. However, his radiation levels were becoming more and more unstable, which Adam allowed himself to be coated in an experimental new liquid metal, a formula that was absorbed under his skin and was absolutely radiation-proof. Triggered by a power surge in his body, the metal covering would become visible, revealing Adam's new costume, while containing his excessive radiation.[1]
In his later adventures, Captain Atom often worked with superheroine Nightshade.
Crisis on Infinite Earths
Adam and his fellow heroes helped fight the Anti-Monitor and his minions during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.[2] Following the Crisis, Adam helped Superman and Firestorm on a mission before the effects of the Crisis took their toll, rewriting his history into a new version of events.[3] By some cosmic irony, most of the details of Captain Atom's Pre-Crisis origin and career were preserved into the timeline of New Earth as a false background and cover story for the Post-Crisis Captain Atom's activities.
In the Crisis on Infinite Earths, the Pre-Crisis Multiverse was collapsed into a single merged reality and Earth-Four ceased its separate existence. Substantial elements (people, places, events, etc.) of Earth-Four's reality were folded into the history of New Earth, but significant details about the original history were often changed or excised accordingly. This was the status quo of the DC Universe until Convergence retroactively prevented the Multiversal collapse.
Powers and Abilities
Powers
- Atomized Physiology
- Atomic Explosions: Captain Atom can release a 100 megaton-level explosion.[4]
- Flight: 20000 miles per hour[5] to 100000 miles per hour.[4]
- Enhanced Senses: Captain Atom can sense the presence of living beings by the heat of their bodies.[6] He can also sense the presence of radiation.[5]
- Enhanced Hearing: Captain Atom can hear radio waves.[7]
- Enhanced Sense of Smell: He can smell nitroglycerin in almost zero-gravity places. [8]
- Enhanced Vision
- Force Field
- Intangibility: By altering his body's molecular structure, Captain Atom can pass through solid matter.[7]
- Invisibility: by manipulating the light around him, he can become invisible.[6]
- Molecular Reconstruction: Captain Atom has low degree of transmutation.[citation needed]
- Self-Sustenance: Captain Atom can survive without air and food.[8]
- Superhuman Durability: He can survive to 10000°C.[4]
- Superhuman Strength
- Thermokinesis: Captain Atom can conduct atomic heat into nearby objects and project a protective heat-shield around his body.[7]
- Pyrokinesis: Captain Atom can create and throw atomic fireballs.[7]
Abilities
- Physics
- Mechanical Engineering
- Aviation
- Military Protocol
- Hand-to-Hand Combat (Advanced): An Olympic-level athlete and highly skilled hand-to-hand combatant.[9]
- Athletics [10]
Weaknesses
- Power Loss: Both Captain Atom and Firestorm's powers become neutralized when they are near each other.[3]
Notes
- This version of Captain Atom, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
- Technically, Captain Atom's first DC Comics appearance was Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #4. However, his first in-story DC appearance was Crisis on Infinite Earths #6.
- On several occasions, Adam's surname was spelled "Adams",[6] even when in the same story, it's also spelled Adam. Several adaptations of the post-Crisis Captain Atom changed the name to Adams as well.
- Allen Adam's first name also changes. In Charlton Bullseye (Volume 2) #7, it is "John". In Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #4, Convergence: Blue Beetle #1 and a few other places,[11] it is "Nathaniel", the same as his Post-Crisis counterpart. However, "Allen" is the most common and earliest version.
- He was the partial inspiration for Doctor Manhattan.
Trivia
- Captain Atom's pre-Crisis origin would be modified and used as the government's "official origin" of the post-Crisis Captain Atom as a cover-up.
- For a brief time in 1983, before the rights to Charlton Comics characters were purchased by DC, AC Comics was able to license the characters, and in Americomics Special #1, a superhero team called the Sentinels of Justice debuted, with Captain Atom being one of the members. This version of the team would never be seen again after DC's purchase of Charlton's characters.
Related
- 62 Appearances of Allen Adam (Earth-Four)
- 15 Images featuring Allen Adam (Earth-Four)
- 1 Quotations by or about Allen Adam (Earth-Four)
- Character Gallery: Allen Adam (Earth-Four)
Footnotes
- ↑ Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #4
- ↑ Crisis on Infinite Earths #6 - 12
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 DC Comics Presents #90
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 Space Adventures (Volume 2) #37
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Space Adventures (Volume 2) #35
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 Space Adventures (Volume 2) #34
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 Captain Atom #79
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Space Adventures (Volume 2) #36
- ↑ Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #4
- ↑ Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #4
- ↑ History of the DC Universe #2