DC Finally Paid Tribute to its Most Underrated Hero After Decades of Abuse

DC Comics‘ latest major storyline, DC K.O., pits many of the universe’s strongest heroes and villains against each other in vicious battles. With the second round underway, the remaining characters are split into brutal one-on-one fights, which will determine who advances to the next round and gets closer to obtaining the all-powerful Heart of Apokolips. For this round, Superman must face off against one of the only superheroes in DC Comics that can match and even surpass his raw power: Nathaniel Adam, aka Captain Atom. After decades of being put on the sidelines and being mishandled by writers, DC K.O.: Superman vs. Captain Atom #1 finally acknowledges what a fantastic character Captain Atom truly is.

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With the reality-reshaping Heart of Apokolips being the only thing capable of defeating Darkseid, both heroes have strong motivations to fight and win the tournament. The match between Superman and Captain Atom is broken up into three rounds, the winner with the best two-out-of-three rounds. It’s a brutal, epic clash of cosmic proportions that showcases the capabilities of both heroes. Captain Atom effortlessly wins the first round, but Superman wins the second two rounds and emerges the victor. Although Captain Atom ends up losing the match, DC K.O.: Superman vs. Captain Atom #1 still is a celebration of the hero’s history, personality, and powers, as well as acknowledging how DC writers have unfairly sidelined him in the past.

DC K.O. Proves That Captain Atom Deserves More Recognition

DC K.O.: Superman vs. Captain Atom #1 isn’t just a mindless brawl between two of DC Comics’ strongest heroes but is instead an intriguing character study and tribute to one of their most underrated characters. The comic starts by showing Captain Atom’s origin as a U.S. Air Force officer who, after being used in a super-soldier experiment, was transformed into a being of living energy with access to an endless pool of power known as the Quantum Field. After a brief overview of Captain Atom’s background, the rest of the comic delves into other aspects of his character that make him such an intriguing hero.

The match-up between Superman and Captain Atom is perfect because it showcases their conflicting worldviews and personalities. As a former Air Force officer who still periodically works for the U.S. government, Captain Atom often acts more like a soldier than a superhero. He views the tournament as a war where sacrifices are necessary for the greater good. This mentality led him to attack Supergirl in DC K.O. #2 to ensure he made it to the current round. Captain Atom’s more ruthless drive to win drastically contrasts Superman’s idealism and refusal to be corrupted by the Heart of Apokolips. Although the story paints Captain Atom as an antagonist, it’s still a fascinating exploration of a superhero whose worldview was molded by the values of the U.S. military.

The battle between the two heroes also showcases Captain Atom’s versatile abilities in a way very few modern comics have. He has complete control over all forms of energy. With dominion over the building blocks of creation, Captain Atom performs some awe-inspiring feats that showcase why he’s one of the few heroes capable of matching the Man of Steel in a brawl. Captain Atom exploits Superman’s primary weaknesses by generating Kryptonite with one hand and red sunlight with another. He then knocks Superman down before finishing him off by draining every bit of energy from the Man of Tomorrow’s body, reducing him to ash. When Superman’s resurrected for the second round, Captain Atom’s full power is finally unleashed.

For the second and third rounds, Superman and Captain Atom are allowed to turn into any version of themselves from their past or future. Captain Atom becomes Monarch, an evil future version of himself who can control time. After losing the second round, Captain Atom goes crazy. He merges all his different versions into a single transformation and becomes nearly unstoppable. In an incredibly creative display of power, Captain Atom turns fragments of time and his own history into weapons to fight the Man of Steel. Superman only manages to defeat the corrupted hero by manipulating time as well. He inserts himself into Captain Atom’s origin and obtains his energy-draining abilities. Even though Captain Atom lost, it was still one of the best portrayals of his powers and identity.

DC Finally Acknowledges Its Mishandling of Captain Atom

Captain Atom’s insanity-inducing drive to win the tournament and obtain the reality-warping Heart of Apokolips can be seen as a meta-commentary and an acknowledgement of how DC writers have underplayed and mishandled him in the past. Over the past several decades, Captain Atom has been relegated to a bland side character in both the comics and his film and TV adaptations. He’s only shown in the background with few lines of dialogue. Every time he gets into a fight, either his suit is immediately torn and he explodes, or he’s effortlessly defeated by a villain and cast aside. Examples include Kingdom Come, Injustice, Doomsday Clock, Death Metal, and Infinite Frontier. This is often done to raise the stakes of a storyline while ignoring Captain Atom’s narrative and destructive potential.

Captain Atom directly calls out this trend in DC K.O.: Superman vs. Captain Atom #1, when he accuses the Man of Tomorrow and the other heroes of never caring about him, no matter how many times he explodes or gets lost in time and space. He’s also enraged by how little control he has over his life and how he gets no recognition despite his many heroic deeds. This fury is another nod to how DC has relegated him to being a mere prop to hype up other villains and events. Captain Atom saw the Heart of Apokolips as his chance to take control of his future. He recognizes what DC Comics’ status quo has done to him, and he is willing to sacrifice everything to change it.

Although Captain Atom loses his battle with Superman and won’t obtain the Heart of Apokolips, DC Comics still gives us some hope for his future. In his final form, Captain Atom was so desperate to win that he began twisting and breaking his own history to create weapons to fight Superman. In doing so, Captain Atom quite literally retconned his own history as he destroyed everything. This development may hint that the writers are planning to reboot the character, retelling his origin story and perhaps giving him a more prominent role in DC Comics moving forward. DC K.O.: Superman vs. Captain Atom #1 is a brilliant tribute to this underrated superhero and, even more importantly, paves the way for him becoming a far more important character in the DC universe.

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