Captain Comet
Starfire/Captain Comet: Supermassive Blackhole
I have a strange affection for this couple. Too bad we probably won’t be seeing any more of them.
Comet’s new uniform on the cover of, Mystery in Space #1, Art by Shane Davis
Captain Comet (Adam Blake) is a fictional DC Comics superhero created by DC Comics Editor Julius Schwartz, writer John Broome, and artist Carmine Infantino.
Once a minor character in the DC Comics canon, he occupies an almost unique position in DC Comics history as a superhero who was created between the two great superhero comics periods–the Golden Age and the Silver Age. His early stories fall into a no-man’s land, sometimes referred to as ‘The Atomic Age’ because of the recurrent science-fiction themes of most comics of the period, when very few superheroes comics were published and less than a dozen short-lived, superhero characters were introduced.
Along with Marvel Comics‘ Namor the Sub-Mariner and Toro (sidekick of the original Human Torch), he is among the first mutant metahuman superheroes (meaning he was born with his powers), predating X-Men by 12 years. He is one of the few DC Comics characters not to have had their earlier history significantly changed by various DC Comics major continuity changing events over the years such as ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths‘ and ‘Zero Hour.’
Publication history
The character of Captain Comet first appeared in a 10-page tale, ‘The Origin Of Captain Comet’ , in the flagship science-fiction title ‘Strange Adventures‘ #9 (June 1951) published by National Comics (now known as DC Comics). He was created by ‘Strange Adventures’ Editor Julius Schwartz, John Broome, and artist Carmine Infantino, and the story was written by John Broome (under the alias Edgar Ray Merritt), drawn by Carmine Infantino and inked by Bernard Sachs. The character was based on the pulp fiction character Captain Future. His first appearance was actually a two-part story, continued in‘The Air Bandits From Space’ in ‘Strange Adventures’ #10 (July 1951). From issue #12 (September 1951) Murphy Anderson took over as artist, and he drew all Captain Comet’s further appearances in ‘Strange Adventures’ until #46 (July 1954); Sy Barry and Gil Kane drew the last two stories. John Broome wrote every issue.
Captain Comet appeared in 38 issues of ‘Strange Adventures’, (missing only issues #45, #47, and #48); the series ending in ‘Strange Adventures’ #49 (October, 1954). From the beginning, Captain Comet appeared on most of the covers, mainly drawn by Murphy Anderson or Gil Kane. Stories ranged in length from six to ten pages, dropping from ten pages in 1951 to eight pages in 1952 and finally six pages from May 1953. He next appeared in 1976, when writer Gerry Conway and co-writer David Anthony Kraft reintroduced him as a supporting character in ‘Secret Society of Super Villains‘ starting with ‘No Man Shall Call Me Master’ (‘Secret Society of Super Villains’ #2, July/August 1976). He appeared in most issues of that title, together with associated ‘Secret Society of Super Villains Special’ #1 (October 1977), until it was canceled with issue #15 (June/July 1978). During this run he also appeared in ‘Super-Team Family Giant‘ #13 (September 1977), a story directly linked to the ‘Secret Society of Super Villains’ series, and as lead character for the first time since 1954 in an extended story, ‘Danger: Dinosaurs at Large!’ in (DC Special #27, April/May 1977) by Gerry Conway and artist Arvell Jones. ‘Secret Society of Super Villains’ was canceled as part of ‘The DC Implosion‘. Ironically Captain Comet was a popular character at the time – he had recently come second in a poll for potential Justice League membership, and writer Bob Rozakis had recently presented DC Comics with a proposal for Captain Comet’s first own-title series.
After the cancellation of ‘Secret Society of Super Villains’, Captain Comet entered another hiatus, his appearances limited to guest spots in other DC titles during the 1980s. Four of these were cameo appearances – ‘Crisis on Infinite Earths’ #5 (August 1985), #10 (January 1986) and #12 (March 1986), and ‘All-Star Squadron‘ #53 (January 1986). Two were team-ups with Superman – ‘DC Comics Presents‘ #22 (June 1980) and #91 (March 1986); the fourth was a retelling of his origin by Roy Thomas in ‘Secret Origins Annual’ vol 2 #1 (1987). He also appeared in the non-canonical series ‘DC Challenge‘ (1986).
He then became a supporting character in the ‘L.E.G.I.O.N.‘ series from issue #16 (June 1990). Captain Comet was actually a late replacement for fellow 1950s space traveler Adam Strange who was due to become a regular character, as otherwise it would have clashed with the Adam Strange Prestige Format limited series published around the same time. He was then part of the R.E.B.E.L.S. series which continued from L.E.G.I.O.N. That series was canceled with ‘R.E.B.E.L.S.96’ #17 (March 1996), and had a solo story in ‘Showcase ’96’ #10 (November 1996), after which another hiatus followed.
Since 2005, under the writer Jim Starlin Captain Comet has had his highest profile in DC Comics publications since the 1950s, featuring in the Rann-Thanagar War miniseries (2005), starring in the 8-issue miniseries ‘Mystery in Space (vol 2) (2006), and co-starring in ‘Rann-Thanagar Holy War’ (2008) and ‘Strange Adventures’ (vol 3)(2009), as well as appearing briefly in the ‘52‘ (2006) and ‘Final Crisis‘ (2008) events. Most recently he has become a regular character in the ongoing new R.E.B.E.L.S. series (2009).
Fictional character biography
Strange Adventures #9 Art by Carmine Infantino.
1950’s – ‘Strange Adventures’
Captain Comet, the ‘first man of the future’ , is a mutant metahuman ‘born a hundred thousand years before his time’ , in 1931 to a farming couple from the American Mid-West. His ‘metagene’ was triggered by a comet passing overhead at birth. Adam Blake discovered his unique abilities as he grew up – at the age of four he instantly found a ring his mother had lost ( ‘I just knew it was there’ ), and by eight years old demonstrated photographic memory by reading a whole encyclopedia at speed and retaining the information. Other skills manifested almost instantly, he could play musical instruments without tuition and was secretly expert at sports to Olympic record level. During senior school he saved a schoolmate from falling to her death by mental force, but despite his powers he felt isolated from other humans by his difference to them. After leaving school he became a librarian at Midwest City, where he sought the help of a renowned physicist, Professor Emery Zackro, who tested him and discovered Adam was a mutant – postulating he was the reverse of an evolutionary throwback, ‘an accidental specimen of future man.’ His Captain Comet persona began when Adam used his powers to intervene when criminals attempted to steal an advanced scientific device invented by Professor Zackro. Immediately after this, Blake and the Professor agreed Blake should become a superhero on a full-time basis, and he made his first appearance in public as Captain Comet combatting giant terraforming robot tops belonging to an alien race looking for a world to colonize. During this task, Adam built a working version of a prototype spaceship Professor Zackro had designed, which would become his personal spaceship, ‘The Cometeer’, and took up a costume, spacesuit and stun gun also invented by the Professor.
Over the next three years he saved Earth from multiple alien invasions and explored space in The Cometeer, saving other civilizations and meeting beautiful alien damsels in distress in the process. During this period he largely used intelligence and his mind-reading skills to help solve problems and situations, seldom resorting to physical solutions. Among his more weird adventures, Captain Comet battled mad Greek Gods from space, fought dinosaurs and alien creatures, and came up against a compulsory 1950s comics evil super-powered ape several times. Sometime after 1954 he disappeared into space in ‘The Cometeer’ on another expedition of discovery, but this time he was not to return for over 20 years.
1970’s – 1980’s
In 1976 Captain Comet returned to Earth, having not aged, with a new protective costume instead of a spacesuit and enhanced skills – controlling his appearance mentally (although unfortunately forgetting his absence and dressing in 1950s style) – and with a powerful physical punch as well as a mental force, super-speed, and an ability to manipulate objects. He also had an explanation for his absence – having always felt alienated from normal humans because of his abilities ‘For 20 years he spanned the spaceways, searching for himself.’ ‘He’s been across the galaxy – twice.’ After misreading a battle between Green Lantern and Gorilla Grodd, and some trickery by Grodd, he ended up joining the Secret Society of Super Villains and battled Darkseid and the forces of Apokolips with them. Later he turned down full membership of the Justice League, but became an honorary member and took up residence on their satellite headquarters. After fighting Chronos and dinosaurs in Gotham City, the Captain continued his crusade against the Secret Society of Super Villains, but after a number of setbacks (mainly orchestrated by Gorilla Grodd) was eventually left still swearing to track them down.
Although present at the marriage of Ray ‘The Atom’ Palmer and Jean Loring several months later, Captain Comet then remained off-radar for nearly two years, eventually contacting Superman when the effect of the comet that mutated him wore off, turning him into a human comet as his powers fluctuated wildly. With Superman’s help he managed to track down the comet and stabilise his powers. Superman’s help was needed again six years later when the villain Brain Storm attempted to augment his waning powers by stealing Captain Comet’s power (accidentally temporarily evolving him even further in the process).
1990’s – ‘L.E.G.I.O.N.’ / ‘R.E.B.E.L.S.’
He spent the next few years ‘roaming the stars … just drifting’, before being captured by the space outlaw Dagon-Ra despite his powers having escalated and expanded to include near invulnerability, telekinesis and increased strength. Rescued by L.E.G.I.O.N. he recuperated in their headquarters hospital and was invited to join them soon after, which he eventually achieved a year later.
His involvement with L.E.G.I.O.N. was mainly in a supporting role. He fell in love with fellow member scientist Marij’n Bek, who nurse him back to health and studied the massive headaches he frequently suffered. These were the result of his possession by a psi-creature in space before meeting L.E.G.I.O.N.; it was eventually purged by Vril Dox, leaving the Captain once again hospitalised for months. Soon after he was apparently killed by Lady Quark – who had been possessed by the same parasite that had lived within him. Buried under a mountain on Ith’kaa, he eventually dug himself out and used his knowledge to manipulate the savage indigenous population to achieve the technological level to build him a spaceship (explaining later, without irony, that it took six months to industrialise the tribal society because ‘they were slow learners’ ). Returning to R.E.B.E.L.S. homeworld, Cairn he learned that Vril Dox’s son Lyrl had brainwashed most of the L.E.G.I.O.N., made the key L.E.G.I.O.N. members fugitives, and taken control of Cairn; so he and Maryj’n formed a resistance movement to free the population and overthrow Lyrl, and were key in successfully defeating him. As a result, Captain Comet became leader of the new, reformed L.E.G.I.O.N.
During this period, Captain Comet took up residence (with Tyrone, an artificially created telepathic clone bulldog) in The Zelazny Building on ‘Hardcore Station‘, a corrupt commercial satellite station with a population of several million in a free space zone between a number of trading civilisations.
Post 1990’s – ‘Rann-Thanagar War’
At some undefined point in the next ten years Captain Comet stepped down as leader and became a paid freelance aide and agent to Vril Dox, who took back the L.E.G.I.O.N. reins. He was next seen with Dox under contract to the planet Ancar, which had been invaded by Khunds during the Rann-Thanagar War; after intervention by Green Lantern Kyle Rayner, he decided to stay and help him end the war. He first accompanied Kyle to the destroyed planet Thanagar, where they built a protective dome and terraformed the land to create a secure environment for the survivors. Then he joined up with Adam Strange and Hawkman to defend Rann against the Thanagarians under the control of the demon Onimar Synn, who he was instrumental in destroying.
