Captain Atom VS The God Complex
Review of Captain Atom #2
By: Andrew Hines
What if one man had the powers of a god at his fingertips?
Being reborn for the second time and putting himself together again after taking an active volcano out of commission, Captain Atom is this close to over-stepping the bounds of what it means to be human or even meta-human. He begins to see the energy around him and is able to interact with wireless electronic transmissions in much the same way as Tom Cruise did in Minority Report. By the end of the issue, a man who can barely keep himself together physically, may bridge the gap between Man and the Divine.
J.T. Krul has shown us a new side of Nathaniel Adam and given us a slight departure from the origin of the old DCU. We now see a mixture of Captain Atom and Dr. Manhattan, despite the Captain still retaining his humanity. Pop culture fans may see flashbacks to 1997's Contact, at the sight of the craft that the Captain must pilot. Krul even allows room for human egos and personality clashes, the likes of which are rarely seen outside of procedural police dramas. Writing implied confrontation such as this is an art form in and of itself that he is close to mastering. He is able to hint at the history between the characters without stating it outright.
Freddie Williams II has brought about his own style to the comics industry. It borrows from no artist I can think of and has a unique look to it. It's not crisp, but that's exactly what this book needs. Fortunately, with a character like Captain Atom, crisp is the last look you need. Since he's a man who can barely keep his body together and is made up of a googolplex of atoms and molecules, Williams' style is perfect for reflecting that.
Williams and Krul earn their title a 9.2 out of 10.
Stanley "Artgerm" Lau's cover for issue 2:
http://artgerm.deviantart.com/gallery/#/d4b61is
Seems like Captain Atom is becoming more and more like his Watchmen counterpart, Dr. Manhattan. Would you call that a fair assessment, Andrew?
ReplyDeleteNot really. He still has a lot of his humanity. Dr Manhattan on the other hand barely noticed his girlfriend suffocating when they first go to the surface of Mars. He didn't even care about her brief affair with Nite Owl. Dr Manhattan's mind is intact, though his soul seems to be missing. Captain Atom is just taking advantage of the power he possesses. The fact that the second issue shows him arguing on his female acquaintance's behalf in the second issue, should be proof of that. Also, having seen the solicits for issue 3, there's a good chance he'll stem his misuse at helping one or two other folks before ----- gets involved.
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