DC Relaunch: Captain Atom

It's kind of a story you've heard before. The main character works for the government. He's set up. They offer him a way out by means of experiment and he gets superpowers. Sounds familiar right? Well he's testing an alien spacecraft. Right, still, you've heard that one. Okay, so they're dropping a nuclear bomb on him. Now we're moving. How about that nuclear bomb melds that spacecraft to his body? And then the blast shunts him off to the future, where it turns out his whole world has been turned upside down, and he still owes one to the government. Hello Nathaniel Adam, otherwise known as Captain Atom, this is your life.



Now, whether this will still be Captain Atom's origin remains to be seen. He looks about the same. But Captain Atom has never been very happy-go-lucky. He's Mr. Down on his luck. He's been used, he's been brainwashed, and he's come out still trying to redeem himself everytime. All the same, he's a potential nuclear bomb with amazing powers. And he's a travelled time and space, though rarely has been an intentional excursion. He's got the ability to absorb powerful energy and expel it. But he's usually composed, reflective. Many times he's willing to put his life on the line to save everyone without even thinking twice about the possibility of his life ending. I know that's what a superheroes supposed to do, but I think we've many times seen that moment of hesitation on panel that he is completely devoid of. But at the same time, it's hard for him to let anyone in. Many of these aspects were drawn on when Alan Moore tackled the character as Doctor Manhattan in Watchmen.


JT Krul is handling the hazmat hero, with Freddie Williams II on art. JT Krul we've met, he's working on Green Arrow as well, and you can check out a few things about him there. This is his first time handling the character of Captain Atom. Freddie Williams II has a unique style that I am very interested to see in this series. He most recently has worked with Matt Sturges on JSA All-Stars and with Fabian Niciezca on Robin prior to the Batman: Reborn line-wide changes. He also worked with Grant Morrison on Mister Miracle, as part of his Seven Soldiers mini-event, the events of which lead into Final Crisis.


Captain Atom has a few things here and there as far as his own series (which can be found in your local comic shop's longboxes!). However, in collection, I'd recommend checking out Justice League: Generation Lost, as well as Captain Atom: Armageddon, where he is accidentally shunted off into the Wildstorm Universe.



Tomorrow I'll be talking about Deadman, as well as the concept of the anthology, as we'll be looking at the upcoming DC Universe Presents.

DC Relaunch: Justice League International

The Justice League of America, as they were once known, seems like an awfully specific name for the world's most powerful heroes saving world-from amazing threats. Apparently that was the mindset in the late 80s, when "Justice League" was introduced, and later changed to Justice League International. Basically the diverse team handled global threats, and a tight bond developed between the mish-mash of characters. The run is also well known for bringing the "bwahaha"

The Justice League International has recently reformed independently in the pages of Justice League: Generation Lost. The group is often diverse and close knit, with friendships running deep to the point of tragedy at times. I'll talk briefly about a couple of the characters shown in the image, though I want to point out that writer Dan Jurgens has said this isn't the final lineup. Batman is of course notable here, and with his Batman Inc. organization and his prominent position in the original series, it makes sense. You also have this core of the JLI group, a people who's relationships are deeply intertwined in friendship, love, etc. They make up the character usually associate with the previous JLI: Booster Gold, Fire, Ice, Guy Gardner, and Rocket Red. Additionally in this image are a few international heroes: Vixen, whose totem is used to tap into the power of various animals, and August General in Iron, a Chinese hero of the group The Great Ten, his armor fashioned from alien tech. While these two have interacted with some of these other heroes before (Vixen has been Justice League on and off for a while now), it will be more interesting to see their interactions with this particular group.

Now, while there will no doubt be other heroes involved, and their missions more of an international nature (I believe they are sanctioned by the UN), this group's interpersonal relationships always stood out to me. That's the difference between them and the standard "Big 7" JLA.

Dan Jurgens will be writing this with Aaron Lopresti on art. Dan Jurgens I've mentioned before, and has long paid dues as both a writer and an artist. He's been working with Booster Gold and these members of the Justice League for a long time. So not only is he qualified, but he's familiar, and he has a consistency that is appreciated. Aaron Lopresti is fantastic artist, and handled this team along with Joe Bennett in their recent adventures in Justice League: Generation Lost. He also did much of the art for Wonder Woman during Gail Simone's run, with Brian Reed on Ms. Marvel, and on his own creation, Garbageman, which was serialized in the anthology mini-series Weird Worlds.

Now I mentioned way back when I started this but I was going to hold off on the JLI collections... and here they are!

Justice League vols. 1-6, by Keith Giffen, J.M DeMatteis, Kevin Maguire, and Bart Sears.

Justice League: Generation Lost by Judd Winick, Keith Giffen, Aaron Lopresti, and others.

Later today I'm going to talk about Mister Terrific, a character who's never had his own ongoing series before (I'm not even sure he's gotten a mini!).

Also, I apologize about the tardiness. I had a rough night at my second job, and I couldn't manage to get very much typed out that wasn't gibberish. Thanks to whoever checked in at 8am, I hope I haven't driven you off with my unprofessionalism.