Comic Info
Comic Name: Captain Atom (Volume 2)
Publisher: DC Comics
Writer: J.T. Krul
Artist: Freddie Williams II
# of Issues: 7
Release Date: 2012
Captain Atom (2) #8
Reprints Captain Atom (2) #0, 7-12 (May 2012-November 2012). Captain Atom has decided to be more proactive with his powers. The ability to alter things genetically has given him the means to save lives and change the course of history. When he is visited by future versions of himself, Captain Atom learns his actions can have consequences and even a chance at a normal life cannot be possible without a cost.
Written by J.T. Krul, Captain Atom Volume 2: Genesis is a DC Comics New 52 comic book collection. Following Captain Atom Volume 1: Evolution, the series features art by Freddie Williams II.
Like titles like Frankenstein and Voodoo, Captain Atom was kind of a surprising title in the New 52 relaunch of the DC Universe following Flashpoint. Captain Atom hadn’t been a title in a while and despite having a reasonably long running title, he was kind of a fringe character. The series quickly faced challenges in sales, and it was cancelled…with this volume finishing up the series. The concept and ideas of Captain Atom have some moments, but the series is average.
Captain Atom (2) #10
The character suffers from the “too powerful” aspect of the comic book spectrum. Captain Atom is almost more of an idea than a person. His powers are hard to grasp and the threat of villains is almost obsolete. The choice to have the stories in the collection be problems of Captain Atom’s own making is smart since someone like Lex Luthor or Joker would be below a character like Captain Atom. It makes sense that Captain Atom is his own worst enemy.
With that idea floating around, Captain Atom needs to be more meta. The deconstruction of what a superhero is and what it means to help the world should be more conceptual than it is presented here. I could see Captain Atom anchoring a nice Vertigo title sometime if he was written correctly while still being tied in to the DC Universe (kind of like early issues of Grant Morrison’s Animal Man).
Captain Atom was an average to slightly above average comic. For a comic to survive (especially with a third tier character like Captain Atom), it has to be better than that. Captain Atom was the basis for Dr. Manhattan in the Watchmen and Alan Moore showed the character’s potential in that series. Captain Atom needs to be really thought about before being tackled, and if he isn’t, the series won’t succeed.
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