It’s a historic day for fans of Superman, now that the Man of Steel has been killed in the pages of DC Comics. The tournament to choose DC’s most powerful being promised a fight to the death, but nobody expected to see Superman beaten this easily.
Captain Atom Finally Gets To Drain The Life out of Superman
The Nuclear Man Has The Exact Powers Needed To Beat A Kryptonian
There really is no way Kal-El fans will want to accept just how decisively Superman is killed in his first face-off with Captain Atom, so a bit of context might help ease the disappointment. Because for their part, the creative minds at DC have warned fans about the deadliness of Captain Atom in the past. Specifically when it comes to exposing Superman’s weaknesses, above anyone else’s. And that’s all thanks to his power set.
To put it as simply as possible, Nathaniel Adam is effectively a being of nuclear energy, more than a human one. As a result, he is capable of creating, manipulating, generating, or destroying “energy.” And if that sounds like a limitless power, then you’re understanding it perfectly. Immortal, invincible, and able to remove energy or project it as an attack, Superman can barely think of an effective means of attacking him, or defending himself. Which makes their opening battle one-sided.
Forced to face each other in a fight to the death as part of the ongoing DC K.O. tournament to crown Earth’s champion, Superman is woefully unprepared to do what’s necessary. That isn’t the case for Nate, who demonstrates his abilities immediately: punching Supes with one fist of red sun radiation, and the other turned into green kryptonite.
After getting his fill of punches, Captain Atom finishes the battle by draining all of the energy contained and processed by Superman’s “solar battery” cells. In moments, reducing the so-called Man of Steel into nuclear ash.
Superman is Officially Killed by Captain Atom in DC Canon
DC K.O. Superman vs. Captain Atom #1 by Josh Williamson, Seasn Izaakse, Trish Mulvihill
As much as superhero commenters like to dismiss death as meaningless in modern comics, or point out caveats and details to minimize moments like these, that simply isn’t the case with DC K.O. and its rules. Both Captain Atom and Superman each possess only their normal abilities for this opening round of the fight, so the match-up represents the truth of their power. And while the game itself allows killed combatants to resurrect for another round (best 2 out of 3), that doesn’t change the facts of their previous death.
By comparison, Captain Atom beating Superman in the Injustice timeline is both an alternate reality, and resulted after infinite variables in play. In that case, Captain Atom was robbed of victory by Wonder Woman, which means he was owed a chance to definitively prove he would best Superman if he needed to. This issue proves that very fact, delivering Superman one of his most decisive, clear-cut, no asterisks, and honestly humiliating deaths of all time.
Fans can hope that Superman improves his reputation in the next round, but enjoy DC K.O. Superman vs Atom #1 available now from DC Comics.
- Created By
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Joe Shuster, Jerry Siegel
- First Appearance
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Action Comics
- Alias
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Kal-El, Clark Kent, Jonathan Kent
- Alliance
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Justice League, Superman Family
- Race
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Kryptonian
- Franchise
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D.C.