Cyclotron is the name of two different characters appearing in

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical literature originating in the United States, commonly between 24 and 64 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publ ...

s published by

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

. Though a minor character, he holds an important place in the history of the Justice Society as a source of power and inspiration for both the

Atom Atoms are the basic particles of the chemical elements. An atom consists of a atomic nucleus, nucleus of protons and generally neutrons, surrounded by an electromagnetically bound swarm of electrons. The chemical elements are distinguished fr ...

and Atom Smasher.

Publication history

Terry Curtis was originally an obscure one-shot

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

character in ''Action Comics'' #21 (1940) who was a scientist who was kidnapped by Ultra-Humanite and forced to build an "atomic disintegrator".

Roy Thomas Roy William Thomas Jr."Roy Thomas Checklist" ''Alter Ego'' vol. 3, #50 (July 2005) p. 16 (born November 22, 1940) is an American comic book writer and editor. He was Stan Lee's first successor as editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics and possibly bes ...

reinvented the character as Cyclotron, a reluctant

supervillain A supervillain, supervillainess or supercriminal is a major antagonist and variant of the villainous stock character who possesses Superpower (ability), superpowers. The character type is sometimes found in comic books and is often the primary ...

, in ''

All-Star Squadron The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''Justice League, Justice League of America'' #193 (August 1981) and was created by Roy Thomas, Rich Buckler and Jerry Ordway. Although the team was introduced in the 1980s, its s ...

'' #21 (1983) from

. He was one of the few original villains retroactively added to DC's

Golden Age The term Golden Age comes from Greek mythology, particularly the ''Works and Days'' of Hesiod, and is part of the description of temporal decline of the state of peoples through five Ages of Man, Ages, Gold being the first and the one during wh ...

era in the series.

Fictional character biography

Terry Curtis

Terry Curtis is an atomic scientist who the Ultra-Humanite kidnaps and experiments on, giving him superhuman abilities. While battling the

, Curtis exposes

to large amounts of radiation, which eventually gives him superpowers. Curtis is killed while attempting to stop the Ultra-Humanite, with the Atom adopting a costume based on his. Curtis' daughter Terri eventually has a son, Albert, who gains superpowers from her and Terry's exposure to radiation.

Cyclotron II

A new incarnation of Cyclotron named Clarence Simms appears in "

DC Rebirth DC Rebirth is a 2016 relaunch by the American comic book publisher DC Comics of its entire Line (comics), line of ongoing monthly superhero comic book titles. Using the end of The New 52 (2011–2016) initiative in May 2016 as its launching point ...

". He is a member of the

Suicide Squad The Suicide Squad is an antihero/supervillain team appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The first version of the Suicide Squad debuted in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #25 (September 1959) and the second and modern version, cre ...

before Amanda Waller kills him for attempting to betray her.

Powers and abilities

The first Cyclotron has immense strength, the ability to fly, project blasts of atomic energy, and manipulate

matter In classical physics and general chemistry, matter is any substance that has mass and takes up space by having volume. All everyday objects that can be touched are ultimately composed of atoms, which are made up of interacting subatomic pa ...

on a molecular level. He can even sap his opponent's physique by touching them. He additionally possesses expertise in

science Science is a systematic discipline that builds and organises knowledge in the form of testable hypotheses and predictions about the universe. Modern science is typically divided into twoor threemajor branches: the natural sciences, which stu ...

.''Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe'' Vol 1 #5 (July 1985) The second Cyclotron is capable of generating energy.

In other media

* An original incarnation of Cyclotron appears in the

Super Powers Collection The Super Powers Collection was a line of action figures based on DC Comics superheroes and supervillains that was created by Kenner Products in the 1980s. History In 1984, DC Comics awarded the master toy license of their characters to Kenner ...

action figure line and its tie-in comic. This version, also known as Alex LeWitt, is an android built by

who has knowledge of every superhero and supervillain, can perform a powerful "twister punch", and is mostly incapable of independent thought. * A figure of Cyclotron was released in the DC Universe Classics line in April 2010.

References

External links

Cyclotron
at Comic Vine {{All-Star Squadron DC Comics characters with superhuman strength DC Comics male supervillains DC Comics metahumans DC Comics scientists DC Comics supervillains Earth-Two Characters created by Jerry Siegel Characters created by Joe Shuster Characters created by Roy Thomas Fictional characters with energy-manipulation abilities Fictional characters with nuclear or radiation abilities Comics characters introduced in 1940 Comics characters introduced in 1983 Golden Age supervillains Fictional physicists