Captain Atom (Charlton)

    (Charlton, 1965-1967)
™ and ©1967 Charlton Publications, Inc.

Air Force captain Adam Combine was the victim of a freak nuclear accident, but instead of being disintegrated by the deadly radiation, he was transformed into a being of pure energy, Captain Atom.

Captain Atom debuted in Charlton’s Space Adventures in 1960, an early entry into the Silver Age super-hero revival. Despite lean and gutsy art by Steve Ditko, Captain Atom could not survive Charlton’s mediocre scripting and so sank into obscurity. The strip was revived in this series in 1967 under the editorship of Dick Giordano, who brought back Ditko, along with Denny O’Neil and Jim Aparo.

In the mid-1980s, DC bought the rights to the Charlton heroes, using them both as heroes in the DC Universe and as the basis for the characters in Alan Moore’s Watchmen, where Captain Atom served as the template for Doc Manhattan.
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  • 78
    #78
    Dec 1965
    Cover: $0.12
    W: Joe Gill  ·  A: Steve Ditko, Ernie Bache
    Series continued from Strange Suspense Stories #77; Origin of Captain Atom (Allen Adam)
    No copies available
  • 79
    #79
    Mar 1966
    Cover: $0.12
    W: Steve Ditko, Joe GIll  ·  A: Steve Ditko
    1st appearance of Doctor Spectro
    1 copy for $23.00
  • 80
    #80
    May 1966
    Cover: $0.12
    W: Steve Ditko, Joe Gill  ·  A: Steve Ditko, Bill Fracchio
    1 copy for $30.00
  • 81
    #81
    Jul 1966
    Cover: $0.12
    W: Steve Ditko, Joe Gill, Frank McLaughlin  ·  A: Steve Ditko, Frank McLaughlin
    No copies available
  • 82
    #82
    Sep 1966
    Cover: $0.12
    W: Dave Kaler, Frank McLaughlin  ·  A: Steve Ditko, Frank McLaughlin
    1st appearance of Nightshade (eve Eden); 1st appearance of The Ghost (Alec Nois)
    No copies available
  • 83
    #83
    Nov 1966
    Cover: $0.12
    W: Steve Ditko, Dave Kaler, Gary Friedrich  ·  A: Steve Ditko
    1st appearance of Blue Beetle (Ted Kord)
    No copies available
  • 83-2
    #83 - 2nd printing
    Cover: $0.35
    W: Steve Ditko, Dave Kaler, Gary Friedrich  ·  A: Steve Ditko
    1st appearance of Blue Beetle (Ted Kord); Modern Comics Reprint; ca. 1977
    1 copy for $19.98
  • 84
    #84
    Jan 1967
    Cover: $0.12
    W: Steve Ditko, Dave Kaler, Gary Friedrich  ·  A: Steve Ditko
    1st Appearance of Captain Atom (Nathaniel Adam)
    1 copy for $21.00
  • 84-2
    #84 - 2nd printing
    Cover: $0.35
    W: Steve Ditko, Dave Kaler, Gary Friedrich  ·  A: Steve Ditko
    Modern Comics Reprint
    2 copies from $0.50
  • 85
    #85
    Mar 1967
    Cover: $0.12
    W: Steve Ditko, Dave Kaler, Gary Friedrich  ·  A: Steve Ditko
    1st appearance of Jewelee; 1st appearance of Punch; “Jewelee” misspelled in story title
    No copies available
  • 85-2
    #85 - 2nd printing
    Cover: $0.35
    W: Steve Ditko, Dave Kaler, Gary Friedrich  ·  A: Steve Ditko
    1st appearance of Jewelee; 1st appearance of Punch; Modern Comics reprint; “Jewelee”misspelled in story title
    1 copy for $5.00
  • 86
    #86
    Jun 1967
    Cover: $0.12
    W: Dave Kaler, Gary Friedrich  ·  A: Steve Ditko, Rocke Mastroserio
    Versus the Ghost (Alec Nois)
    No copies available
  • 87
    #87
    Aug 1967
    Cover: $0.12
    W: Steve Ditko, Dave Kaler  ·  A: Steve Ditko, Rocke Mastroserio, Jim Aparo
    Origin of Nightshade; Origin of Nightshade (Eve Eden); Nightshade back-up story
    No copies available
  • 88
    #88
    Oct 1967
    Cover: $0.12
    W: Steve Ditko, Dave Kaler  ·  A: Steve Ditko, Frank McLaughlin, Jim Aparo
    No copies available
  • 89
    #89
    Dec 1967
    Cover: $0.12
    W: Steve Ditko, Dave Kaler  ·  A: Steve Ditko, Frank McLaughlin, Jim Aparo
    Final Issue; Nightshade versus Jewelee
    No copies available