''Captain Atom'' is an Australian comic book series created and written by Jack Bellew with illustrations by Arthur Mather. It was published from 1948 to 1954, with 64 issues and it also appeared as strips in a number of Australian newspapers. The protagonist, the first to use the name, has no relation to the later American superhero

Captain Atom Captain Atom is a superhero appearing in American comic books, first in the 1960s by Charlton Comics before being acquired in the 1980s by DC Comics. Captain Atom has existed in three basic incarnations. Publication history Captain Atom was cr ...

, published by

Charlton Comics Charlton Comics was an American comic book publishing company that existed from 1945 to 1986, having begun under a different name: T.W.O. Charles Company, in 1940. It was based in Derby, Connecticut. The comic-book line was a division of Charlton ...

in 1965 and subsequently by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with their f ...

in 1987.

Background

The fledgling publishing company

Atlas Publications Atlas Publications was an Australian publishing company which operated from 1948 until 1958 and was based in Clifton Hill, a suburb of Melbourne. It published magazines and popular fiction, and the genre for which it was best known, adventure ...

achieved its first major success with its ''Captain Atom''. It was drawn by Arthur Mather, who like Yaroslav Horak and

Andrea Bresciani Andrea Bresciani (29 January 1923 – 7 February 2006) was an Italian-born comics artist, illustrator, and animator. Of Slovenian origin, he was born Dušan Brešan in Tolmino (at the time part of Italy) and emigrated to Australia in 1950. Amongs ...

, became a regular artist for Atlas. The character was co-created and written by Jack Bellew under the pen name "John Welles". The character is based on a combination of

Fawcett Publications Fawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale, Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett (1885–1940). It kicked off with the publication of the bawdy humor magazine ''Captain Billy's Whiz B ...

' Captain Marvel and

Quality Comics Quality Comics was an American comic book publishing company which operated from 1937 to 1956 and was a creative, influential force in what historians and fans call the Golden Age of Comic Books. Notable, long-running titles published by Qualit ...

Captain Triumph Captain Triumph is a superhero from the Golden Age of Comics who first appeared in ''Crack Comics'' #27, published in January 1943 by Quality Comics. He continued to appear until the end of the series with issue #62 (Sept 1949). The character was ...

(first published in 1941 and 1943 respectively). The character's origin had identical twin brothers being caught in an atomic bomb blast and becoming fused into one, with Dr. Bikini Rador (a nuclear physicist) being the dominant persona. By shouting the magic word, ''Exenor!'', Rador transforms into his now atomic-powered twin. Rador takes on the identity of Larry Lockhart, an

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

agent, to fight crime, switching places with his brother when situations call for a superhero. The comic was originally published entirely in colour, but Atlas followed its chief rival, K.G. Murray, and switched to black and white two years later when the cost of colour printing became prohibitive. Despite the switch to black and white, the ''Captain Atom'' series remained successful, running to 64 issues over the next six years. The first issue of ''Captain Atom'', which was released in January 1948 sold approximately 100,000 copies and at its peak was selling 180,000 copies. Early issues featured backup stories provided by Mather (''Dopey Dan''), Stan Pitt (''Jim Atlas'', ''Dr Peril of Igogo'') and Michael Trueman (''Crackajack – Daredevil Trapeze Star''). Captain Atom was one of the few original Australian comic heroes to have his own merchandising and fan club. In the 1950s, the fan club boasted that it had "over 75,000 members". The character was revived in 1985 and again in 2016 by Gerald Carr, appearing in Meteor Comics' ''Vixen''.''Vixen Magazine''
Great Australian Comic Book Creations: "Captain Atom"
/ref> Captain Atom, renamed as the Atomic Warrior, featured alongside another 1950s Australian comic book hero, The Panther (created by Paul Wheelahan), and Carr's Vixen and Brainmaster. There is a visual reference to Captain Atom in the ''

Watchmen ''Watchmen'' is an American comic book maxiseries by the British creative team of writer Alan Moore, artist Dave Gibbons and colorist John Higgins. It was published monthly by DC Comics in 1986 and 1987 before being collected in a single-vo ...

'' comic book. In the origin story of Dr Manhattan (who is based on the Charlton Comics Captain Atom), the character is shown rejecting a helmet, which is part of his US Government-supplied costume. The helmet design and the overall costume, although a different colour, somewhat resemble that of the Atlas Comics Captain Atom. The British artist, Dave Gibbons, may have been familiar with the Australian character.

References

External links

* Patrick, Kevin (2004)
"Arthur Mather: Man of the Atom"
(archived copy of a lengthy interview with Mather, originally published on ''Pulp Faction'') * {{GoldenAge Australian comics titles Male characters in comics Australian comics characters Comics characters introduced in 1948 Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds Comics characters with superhuman strength

Background

See also

References

External links