Regular marked price: $19.99Discount Price: $17.99
Cost Savings: $2.00 (10%)Price fluctuation possible.
How soon does it ship: Normal ship time within one day
Shipping? Absolutely FREE if you qualify for Super Saver Shipping.
Type of bind: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 741
EAN num: 9781401211066
ISBN number: 1401211062
Label: Wildstorm
Manufacturer: Wildstorm
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 224
Printing Date: November 08, 2006
Publishing house: Wildstorm
Release Date: November 08, 2006
Sale Popularity Level: 734235
Studio: Wildstorm
Other books you might be interested in perusing:
User popularity level:
Rated by buyers -
Angie, the Engineer (gazing at a departing Captain Atom): "Nice guy."
Jack Hawksmoor, King of Cities: "Sure. Nice guy."
The Engineer: "But, nice guy or not, he's going to destroy the entire universe."
Heads up! This is pretty much a SPOILERS-heavy review.
A quick biography: Nathaniel Adam, a court-martialed U.S. Air Force officer, was given a choice: "volunteer" for a scientific experiment or go to prison. Adam opts for playing guinea pig. It seems that the military had unearthed an alien metal, of which resiliency they wanted to test. The lab boys planted Adams in a capsule (composed of the mysterious metal) on top of an atomic bomb, then detonated the bomb (but they weren't really sure what would happen). Nathaniel Adam ended up being catapulted 23 years into the future, somehow having bonded with the alien metal and now possessing superhuman abilities. So, that's Captain Atom.
Cut to the present: As he flew a rocket towards a collision course with an asteroid made of kryptonite and heading for Earth, Nathaniel Adam, a.k.a. Captain Atom, believed he was about to lay down his life to save the world (see Superman/Batman Vol. 1: Public Enemies). But, instead, the resulting explosion shunts him into another universe, the universe of Wildstorm. His noisy arrival wreaks quick havok to an apartment building and causes the death of one odd man, who, before expiring, manages to prick the hand of an arriving paramedic, Nikola Hanssen, with a strange "splinter."
Later on, this "splinter" would be revealed as the Void signature (the Void having been a powerful, now deceased, member of the superhero group, Wildcats). This means that a portion of Void's essence had been downloaded into Nikola Hanssen's person (poor girl). Captain Atom also gets his share of the Void signature, but, in his case, this really, really, really sucks. Then, mere moments after his arrival, he's welcomed to this parallel earth with a vicious assault by Majestic (more or less, Wildstorm's version of Superman).
Meanwhile, Grifter, a member of Wildcats, suddenly senses the presence of his erstwhile dead teammate Void and goes off to investigate. He tracks down Captain Atom and the paramedic, Nikola Hanssen, and ends up taking Nikola under his wing, even though Nikola is reluctant to be a superhero. Captain Atom, Grifter leaves to the other Wildcats.
The truly crappy news for the good Captain: It seems that Void's essence had messed with his make-up to such an extent that, not only has it altered his appearance, it's essentially transformed him into a ticking bomb which would eventually annihilate the galaxy and pretty much a busload of realities. That is, unless he can somehow find his way back to his own Earth. But it's exactly Void's essence in him which prevents his return home. Naturally, the preeminent metahumans of the Wildstorm Universe aren't shy about being proactive about this threat. And, if all else fails, they don't at all mind being lethally proactive.
Considering Captain Atom isn't even in the top I-don't-know-how-many of my favorite superheroes list, CAPTAIN ATOM: ARMAGEDDON turned out to be an absolutely amazing read. This graphic novel collects the 2005 nine-issued limited series and runs at a satisfying 223 pages. And, for those who care, ARMAGEDDON paved the way for the WorldStorm crossover event which rebooted the WildStorm Universe and further integrated it into the DC Universe.
These nine issues give us a fascinating glimpse into just how different the Wildstorm "heroes" are to the DC do-gooders. Something like this sort of happened with the JLA/Avengers: The Collector's Edition crossover, but even the Marvel capes, it seems, don't come close to being as callous and morally compromised as these dudes from Wildstorm. Captain Atom, bland (to me) superhero and deemed a "nice guy" by the Authority and a "good man" by Majestic, embodies the sensibilities of the DC Universe heroes. Captain Atom finds himself in a harsher world, where the heroes have taken matters into their own hands, where normal folks are frightened to death of these heroes, and where even the President of the United States bows down to a higher Authority. It's understood that the Captain's condemnation of the Wildstorm folks' rampant show of brutality and disregard for civilians is pretty much representative of the reaction of the other DC heroes (even Bats, grim as he is, refuses to take a life). When Grifter advises Captain Atom to kill an unconscious someone in cold blood before she wakes up in all her power, the Captain's response is: "Where I come from...there's always another solution."
There are some damn high-profiled guest stars here, from Wildstorm, and they all get a crack at Captain Atom. Good news for Captain Atom is that he ably represents for DC, being able to hold his own if not outright beat the snot out of some of these ... Read More
Rated by buyers 
-
Without exaggeration, Captain Atom: Armageddon was the best written and most overlooked story of the year. While DC was ramping its Infinite Crisis, and Marvel was preparing for Civil War, Captain Atom crossed into the WildStorm publishing universe.
In the DC Universe, Captain Atom is not a particularly special hero. He is not the strongest and most powerful, he is not the noblest and bravest, he is not the most popular and well-loved. He is an above-average face lost in a sea of perfection.
The WildStorm universe is less ideal. It's heroes are flawed and imperfect. Their execution of power is less restrained and more authoritarian (indeed, the counterpart to the Justice League is The Authority). The people fear their "protectors".
By comparison, Captain Atom is a blinding paragon of virtue. He brings to the WildStorm universe the altruistic quality of heroism that has been lacking, a purer form of nobility sorely missed. Yet inadvertently, he may destroy everyone and everything, never finding his way home.
One of my favorite stories.
Rated by buyers -
Captain Atom goes boom again, and takes a tour of the Wildstorm Universe. It also seems some energy he contains may or may not be a really big threat to the local planet.
He runs into Majestic, the Authority, the Wildcats and others, and gets some metal on metal friction with The Engineer.
This is actually pretty entertaining.
Rated by buyers 
-
If you're a fan of Cpt. Atom, or epic crossovers in general, this is a great pickup. For Wildstorm fans, notably Mr. Majestic and The Authority, it will be a bit of a letdown, as there are some noticable inconsistencies in both character personalities, universe continuity, and power levels. It's obvious the writers did more prep-work on Atom than the supporting cast.
Still, a good read, and a must for fans of Atom.
Rated by buyers -
I've never been a big fan of Captain Atom, but I can't resist a good crossover. At the end of Batman/Superman Vol. 1, Captain Atom piloted a ship to destroy a giant kryptonite asteroid headed for Earth. He was presumed dead. However, he was actually transported to the universe where WildStorm comics take place. I've never been a huge WildStorm fan either, as I've only read some Authority and a series called Sleeper (both of which I highly recommend), but I was interested to see how that world ran. Once I read it, I loved it. Atom's characterization was great, and it was entertaining to see how someone with a DC sense of heroism reacted to the deadly actions taken by the characters of this new universe. As with anything, I think knowing the backstory will make this book more enjoyable, but is by no means necessary.
Overall, a fun read. Pick it up if you like stories about parallel dimensions, what heroism is, or if you just want a good super-powered brawl.
Find other books like this one:
