“Yesterday’s” Comic> Space Adventures #38

Some meteors are just jerks.

Space Adventures (volume 3) #38

Charlton Comics Group (February, 1961)

Well, good news for me. Captain Atom only appears in three more issues, with a break between #40 and #42, before we can drop this title for review purposes (and I will not be returning) and continue in his own title, after reprints in the title whose numbering he takes over. I’d still like to find out why this numbering takeover thing was going on in  the 1960s. I don’t remember the weird rules that led to it happening in the past but I would hope they’d be gone by now.

So let’s get this over with. Most of the stories are with Captain Atom, though they aren’t going to be very long and  this is still Space Adventures. I expect more weirdness, just with DC’s favorite punching bag. At this point he’d have been better off if he was Doctor Manhattan. At least he’d have cooler powers and a sexy ex-wife.

[Read along with me here]

One Second Of War

Atom is sent to investigate when a uranium mine’s recipient is none of the countries. It’s a madman who wants to blow up half the world, believing he’ll be ruler of the other half. There are so many reasons that’s not working, dude. Nutjob even writes the names of the cities they’re going after on the missiles. Wonder which capital misfired and blew him up while Captain Atom sent the missiles into deep space…wait, where did those missiles go? We’ve established aliens and dream dragon things all exist somewhere in space? Also, Cap can also turn invisible and pass through walls. When did that start and when did it stop because I don’t remember that ever being part of his powers.

Backfire

A madman with his own country tries to start a war by firing missiles and Captain Atom has to stop them without poisoning the…wait, didn’t we do this already? The madman survives to see his people revolt. That’s different. And Atom destroys the missiles rather than send them into deep space to kill some poor kid’s dream dragon, but it’s the same basic plot. Did they not coordinate?

Common Denominator

The non-Captain Atom story this issue. Remember when we built the interstellar drive in 1982? Yeah, I missed the memo, too. Maybe Not Necessarily The News covered it and I missed that part while waiting for the Sniglets. Anyway, 20 years into space travel and they find markers noting an alien species also exploring…and nearly start a war because of their inability to communicate making them paranoid. At least until the ship’s joker uses prototype translators to make them laugh. Maybe if the rest of the crew weren’t paranoid I’d enjoy reading this. Yes, I know the point is a little humor now and then are a good thing and the captain is way too superserious, but this was just silly and not in the fun way.

The Force Beyond

Our last story and our last Captain Atom tale for the issue. Someone is shooting missiles at the planet. Why the hell not at this point? It’s all anyone’s done this issue. This time it’s aliens, but we don’t know who or why because this comic didn’t give the story time to be properly told. It’s the cover story, as meteors delay him from destroying the missiles and all the nations were about to go to war…with each other? This was not the story to get dropped into the middle or be told in so few pages.

overall

I would like this story if it wasn’t three stories of people shooting missiles at each other and a heavy handed message about the virtues of comedy the Patch Adams screenwriters would probably support. Three more issues of this and hopefully the ongoing will be better.