Created by writer Joe Gill and artist/co-writer Steve Ditko.
The Charlton Comics version of Captain Atom was Allen Adam. The character's origin had Adam working in a special experimental rocket when it accidentally launched with him trapped inside. Entering the upper atmosphere, the rocket exploded and Adam was atomized. However, he somehow gained superpowers that included the ability to reform his body safely on the ground. He was outfitted in a red and yellow costume that apparently acted to shield people from his nuclear powers. When he "powered up", his hair changed to silver-white. Later, in his own title, he replaced this costume with a liquid-metal outfit that was under his skin, and transformed when he powered up. Captain Atom's powers were similar to such other nuclear-powered superheroes as Gold Key's Doctor Solar and Dell Comics' Nukla. Captain Atom was first published in a series of short stories in the anthology series Space Adventures # 33-40 (March 1960-June 1961) and #42 (Oct. 1961). Charlton began reprinting his short adventures in the anthology Strange Suspense Stories beginning with #75 (June 1965), renaming the title Captain Atom with #78 (Dec. 1965) and giving the hero full-length stories and supervillain antagonists (previous stories involved Cold War anti-Communist missions or dealing with aliens). Captain Atom later teamed with the superhero Nightshade. The superhero Blue Beetle starred in the initial backup feature, later replaced by a Nightshade backup series.
Captain Atom was canceled with issue #89 (Dec. 1967). In 1975, the unfinished Ditko art for issue #90 was inked by John Byrne and published in the first two issues of the official Charlton fanzine, Charlton Bullseye, as the 10-page "Showdown In Sunuria" (writer: Jon G. Michels) and the 11-page "Two Against Sunuria" (writer: Roger Stern). Captain Atom next appeared in issue #7 (May 1982) of the new-talent showcase comic also called Charlton Bullseye, in a story by writer Benjamin Smith and artist/co-writer Dan Reed, which for some reason returned him to his original red-yellow outfit. The character's last pre-DC appearance was in AC Comics' one-shot Americomics Special #1 (Aug. 1983), in a story teaming the Charlton "Action Heroes" Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, Nightshade, and The Question as the Sentinels of Justice. This last story had originally been done for Charlton before the company folded.
The actual Charlton characters made their reappearance in the DC's Crisis on Infinite Earths, which introduced Earth-Four as the native reality of Captain Atom on which he had had all his Charlton era adventures. By the series end, Earth-Four (and the Charlton characters) was incorporated into the Post-Crisis DC Universe. The last appearance of this Charlton-era Captain Atom was in DC Comics Presents #90 (February 1986).
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