Pretty, Fizzy Paradise

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Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Because I got bored...

Okay, so recently, because of my unexpected enjoyment of Dr. Manhattan in the Watchmen movie (a character I'd never cared much for in the comics) I found myself hunting down DC's Captain Atom comics.

Why did no one tell me two important factors that would have got me to read this much much sooner?

1) The time travel/interaction with kids aspect. I am endlessly amused by those poor folk who end up with kids nearly the same age they are. And poor Nathaniel's misadventures in the carnival where everyone assumes he's his daughter's boyfriend? Priceless.

2) There's a Quebecois terrorist named Plastique.

I would have totally read this ages ago, if I'd known these things. Yeesh.

Oh and for the record, I totally don't care if it makes more sense that Nathaniel Adam becomes Monarch, considering that he's much more interesting than Hank Hall, I'm perfectly fine with how things turned out.

Is Countdown in continuity or not? Because if not, where the hell is he then? Hmph.

posted by kalinara @ 5:09 AM  

12 Comments:

  • At March 24, 2009 8:52 AM, Blogger Jer said…

    I loved Captain Atom - it was one of my favorite titles back in the 80s. Carey Bates did some great things with that character (though it drags a bit towards the end of his run). It's been a while - I should dig those books out and see how well they hold up after all these years.

    And if you like Plastique, she started out as a Firestorm villain. I personally was more interested in the interactions between her and Adam myself, but if you just like the idea of a Quebecois terrorist villain, there are also some Firestorm appearances that might be worth tracking down (or not if you're not a fan of Gerry Conway).

     

  • At March 24, 2009 9:50 AM, Blogger Nick said…

    Countdown is suppose to be in continuity but most people just ignore it. Your better off.

    Now you have brought to mind memories of Armageddon 2001...*thinks wistfully of the JLA Armageddon 2001 annual and Waverider*

     

  • At March 24, 2009 10:10 AM, Blogger Menshevik said…

    Thanks for reawakening that trauma. "Hawk & Dove" was my favourite DC title at the time and I've never forgiven them for the last-minute change of the ending of Armageddon 2001. (And not to preserve a character who may or may not be more interesting than Hank Hall, but to surprise the readers even if it meant sacrificing logic and plausibility).

     

  • At March 24, 2009 10:11 AM, Blogger Menshevik said…

    (P.S., let's not forget that the ending of Armageddon 2001 resulted not just in turning Hawk into a villain, but also the fridging of Dove).

     

  • At March 24, 2009 10:16 AM, Blogger SallyP said…

    Well, I do believe that Grant Morrison more or less said to ignore Countdown, and I am pleased to take him at his word.

    I honestly don't have a clue where Capt. Atom is, or if he's back in his right mind. If he's dead, then I imagine we'll be seeing him in Blackest Night.

     

  • At March 24, 2009 10:35 AM, Blogger kalinara said…

    Menshevik: I'm not a very good comic feminist, in all honesty. Mentioning the fridging of a female character that I don't care about isn't going to change my mind about that development. (And Dove WAS brought back in JSA after all.)

    I mean, I'm sympathetic to the fans of the characters, but for me, I'm much happier that it was one of your favorites instead of one of mine. :-)

     

  • At March 24, 2009 11:02 AM, Blogger Diamondrock said…

    He's alive, somewhere I believe. I heard rumors a while back that he'd be showing up somewhere. I know he was mentioned on Rip Hunter's chalkboard not long ago...

     

  • At March 24, 2009 1:33 PM, Blogger Menshevik said…

    Kalinara -
    fair enough, but don't be surprised if I display similar schadenfreude when something bad happens to a character you like but I don't. ;-)

    BTW1, I didn't mean to turn this into a feminist issue, I tend to use "fridging" for wasteful abuse of a character irrespective of gender (e.g. the last character I applied the word to was Flash Thompson). Guess I should stop doing that.
    BTW2, Dove's return came too late, by that time the cancellation of a number of my favourite titles plus "event overload" had led me to give up on DC entirely. I bought the relevant issue, but it was not enough to bring me back to the fold...

     

  • At March 24, 2009 3:45 PM, Blogger kalinara said…

    I can take what I dish out, man. :-P Usually.

     

  • At March 24, 2009 6:46 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Yep, Captain Atom was pretty good at the time. I enjoyed it. Even the silly Nekron/Black Racer/Death issue. :)

    The Plastique relationship was pretty neat, too, I thought.

     

  • At March 25, 2009 8:23 PM, Blogger Diabolu Frank said…

    The issues by Bates and Broderick were a pleasure. The ones co-written by Greg Weisman with random artists? Not so much.

     

  • At March 26, 2009 6:22 PM, Blogger Diabolu Frank said…

    Oh hey, I totally forgot-- Grant Morrison is supposed to be playing out a Watchmen riff with the Charlton heroes in the next year or so at DC.

     

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