Captain Comet (Adam Blake) is a superhero appearing in American Comic Books published by

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

, created by 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 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, Gold being the first and the one during which the G ...

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 fewer than 12 short-lived superhero characters were introduced. Along with

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Namor the Sub-Mariner Namor (), also known as the Sub-Mariner, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Debuting in early 1939, the character was created by writer-artist Bill Everett for comic book packager Funnies Inc ...

and Toro (sidekick of the original

Human Torch The Human Torch (Jonathan "Johnny" Storm) is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is a founding member of the Fantastic Four. He is writer Stan Lee's and artist Jack Kirby's reinvention of a si ...

), he is among the first

mutant In biology, and especially in genetics, a mutant is an organism or a new genetic character arising or resulting from an instance of mutation, which is generally an alteration of the DNA sequence of the genome or chromosome of an organism. It ...

metahuman superheroes (meaning he was born with his powers). Adam Blake appeared in live-action

The CW ''The'' () is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite ...

's TV series ''

Naomi Naomi or Naomie may refer to: People and biblical figures * Naomi (given name), a female given name and a list of people with the name * Naomi (biblical figure), Ruth's mother-in-law in the Old Testament Book of Ruth * Naomi (Romanian singer) (bor ...

'' played by Chase Anderson.

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 ''Pulp Fiction'' is a 1994 American crime film written and directed by Quentin Tarantino, who conceived it with Roger Avary.See, e.g., King (2002), pp. 185–7; ; Starring John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Bruce Willis, Tim Roth, Vin ...

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 Murphy C. Anderson Jr. (July 9, 1926 – October 22, 2015) was an American comics artist, known as one of the premier inkers of his era, who worked for companies such as DC Comics for over fifty years, starting in the Golden Age of Comic Books in ...

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 Gil Kane (; born Eli Katz ; April 6, 1926 – January 31, 2000) was a Latvian-born American comics artist whose career spanned the 1940s to the 1990s and virtually every major comics company and character. Kane co-created the modern-day versio ...

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) and 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 10 pages, dropping from 10 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 the associated ''Secret Society of Super Villains Special'' #1 (October 1977), until it was cancelled 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

Bob Rozakis Robert "Bob" Rozakis (; born April 4, 1951) is an American comic book writer and editor known mainly for his work in the 1970s and 1980s at DC Comics, as the writer of Mazing Man'' and in his capacity as DC's "Answer Man". Career Bob Rozakis go ...

and artist

Rich Buckler Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated comm ...

. ''Secret Society of Super Villains'' was cancelled as part of the DC Implosion. Captain Comet was a popular character at the time—he came second in a poll for potential

Justice League The Justice League (also known as The Justice League of America) are a team of superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The team first appeared in ''The Brave and the Bold'' #28 (March 1960). The team was conceived b ...

membership, and writer

presented DC Comics with a proposal for Captain Comet's first self-titled 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 The All-Star Squadron is a DC Comics superhero team that debuted in ''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 self-titled serie ...

'' #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'' vol. 2 Annual #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 Adam Strange is a fictional space adventurer appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by editor Julius Schwartz with a costume designed by Murphy Anderson, he first appeared in ''Showcase'' #17 (November 1958). Adam Stran ...

who was due to become a regular character, as otherwise it would have clashed with the ''Adam Strange'' 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 cancelled with ''R.E.B.E.L.S. ’96'' #17 (March 1996), and he had a solo story in '' Showcase ’96'' #10 (November 1996), after which another hiatus followed. In 2005, under the writer Jim Starlin, Captain Comet had his highest profile in DC Comics publications since the 1950s, featuring in the '' Rann–Thanagar War'' miniseries (2005), starring in the eight-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. Following that, he became a regular character in the ongoing '' R.E.B.E.L.S.'' series (2009). In 2011, a revamped version of Captain Comet, renamed simply "Comet", featured in Grant Morrison's run on ''Action Comics''.

Fictional character biography

1950s – ''Strange Adventures''

Captain Comet, the "first man of the future", is a

metahuman "born a hundred thousand years before his time", in 1931 to John and Martha Blake, a farming couple from the American Midwest. His "metagene" was triggered by a

comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ...

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 rapidly reading a whole encyclopedia and retaining the information. Other skills manifested almost instantly: he could play musical instruments without training and was secretly expert at sports to Olympic record level. In high school he saved a schoolmate from falling to her death by mental force, but despite his powers he felt isolated from other humans because of his differences from them. After leaving school he became a librarian in 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".''Strange Adventures'' #9 (June 1951). DC Comics. 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 combating 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. During this period, he largely used intelligence and his mind-reading skills to help solve problems, seldom resorting to physical solutions. Among his weirder adventures, Captain Comet battled mad

Greek gods The following is a list of gods, goddesses, and many other divine and semi-divine figures from ancient Greek mythology and ancient Greek religion. Immortals The Greeks created images of their deities for many purposes. A temple would house th ...

from space, fought dinosaurs and alien creatures, and came up against an 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 would not return for over 20 years.

1970s–1980s

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 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, he has been over 20 years in space. After misreading a battle between

Green Lantern Green Lantern is the name of several superheroes appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. They fight evil with the aid of rings that grant them a variety of extraordinary powers, all of which come from imagination, fearlessness, ...

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 in the Justice League, but became an honorary member and took up residence in their satellite headquarters. After fighting

Chronos Chronos (; grc-gre, Χρόνος, , "time"), also spelled Khronos or Chronus, is a personification of time in pre-Socratic philosophy and later literature. Chronos is frequently confused with, or perhaps consciously identified with, the Tita ...

and dinosaurs in

Gotham City Gotham City ( ), or simply Gotham, is a fictional city appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics, best known as the home of the superhero Batman and his List of Batman supporting characters#Bat-Family, allies and List of Batman fa ...

, the Captain continued his crusade against the Secret Society of Super Villains despite a number of setbacks orchestrated by Gorilla Grodd. Although present at the marriage of Ray Palmer and Jean Loring several months later, Captain Comet 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 whose powers fluctuated wildly. With Superman's help he tracked down the comet and stabilized 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, which accidentally evolved him to a more advanced form temporarily.

1990s – ''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 new powers including 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, and did so a year later. His involvement with L.E.G.I.O.N. was in a supporting role. He fell in love with fellow member scientist Marij'n Bek, who nursed 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. 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 industrialize the tribal society because "they were slow learners"). Returning to R.E.B.E.L.S. homeworld of 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; 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.''Mystery in Space'' vol. 2 #1 (November 2006). DC Comics.

Post 1990s

''Rann–Thanagar War''

At some undefined point in the next 10 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 Kyle Rayner (), one of the characters known as Green Lantern, is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character is depicted as being associated with the Green Lantern Corps, an extraterrestrial police force of ...

, 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

and Hawkman to defend Rann against the Thanagarians under the control of the demon Onimar Synn, who he was instrumental in destroying.

''52'' and ''Mystery in Space''

A year after the events of ''Infinite Crisis'', Captain Comet was captured and tortured by Lady Styx, forcing him to jettison his primary consciousness from his body before death. His psychic self merged briefly with that of

The Weird ''The Weird: A Compendium of Strange and Dark Stories'' is an anthology of weird fiction edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer. Published on 30 Oct 2011, it contains 110 short stories, novellas and short novels. At 1,152 pages in the hardcover editi ...

, which had been drifting in space since his death, and both were revived in new bodies. Captain Comet's new body re-formed at Hardcore Station—with golden eyes, a 20-year-old's physique, and the ability to teleport, although he had lost some strength. Shortening his name to Comet and fostering the misconception that he was his own nephew, he searched for the remains of his old body on Hardcore Station, discovering that it had been stolen by the Eternal Light Corporation Church and he was being hunted by a team of their telepathic assassins. On breaking into the Eternal Light Corporation's building, he uncovered that brainwashed cloned telepaths were being grown from the charred remains of his corpse, which he destroyed. Becoming a fugitive, he hid from the E.L.C. so they could not use his new body to continue their cloning—allowing thousands of Hardcore residents to die when the E.L.C. cut off life support to a whole area of Hardcore Station to force them to surrender Comet. Eventually he destroyed all the clones and the E.L.C., also killing hundreds of their followers.

''Rann–Thanagar Holy War'', ''Strange Adventures'' (vol 3) and ''R.E.B.E.L.S.''

Target of an assassination attempt by a surviving E.L.C. follower during a resurgence of the faith, Comet accepted an offer by Adam Strange to leave Hardcore Station and help quell growing religious fanaticism on Rann. He ended up working with Adam Strange, Hawkman, Starfire, The Weird, and the Prince Gavyn Starman against the influences of the warring Lord Synnar (a cosmic tyrant behind the Eternal Light Corporation) and Lady Styx on Rann and Thanagar (which once again set the two planets on course for war). Their interference was eventually key in Lord Synnar's plans to reach a higher plane of existence. Later, Comet learned from the future spirit of Synnar that he is destined to be one of "The Aberrant Six": a group critical to preventing Synnar (trapped in The Weird's body) from destroying the universe. Ultimately the Aberrant Six did not form, and the future Synnar was forced to leave after Comet's mercenary friend Eye was killed by Synnar's supreme god-enemy. Comet was entrusted with Eye's robot companion, Orb, until Synnar returns to "continue his negotiations". Comet then returned to Hardcore Station, and almost immediately joined Vril Dox's new R.E.B.E.L.S. He entered into a brief relationship with Starfire and helped defeat Starro the Conqueror, saving Rann, the Vega System and the galaxy.

The New 52

Adam Blake was re-introduced in the 2011 ''

New 52 The New 52 is the 2011 revamp and relaunch by DC Comics of its entire line of ongoing monthly superhero comic books. Following the conclusion of the " Flashpoint" crossover storyline, DC canceled all its existing titles and debuted 52 new series ...

'' event during

Grant Morrison Grant Morrison, MBE (born 31 January 1960) is a Scottish comic book writer, screenwriter, and producer. Their work is known for its nonlinear narratives, humanist philosophy and countercultural leanings. Morrison has written extensively for th ...

and Rags Morales revamp of ''

Action Comics ''Action Comics'' is an American comic book/ magazine series that introduced Superman, one of the first major superhero characters. The publisher was originally known as National Allied Publications, and later as National Comics Publications ...

''. In this reality, Adam Blake was "Comet", a hyper-evolved human, who at the time of his birth, a comet passed over his house. The comet's radiation caused his body to evolve, and be, as scientist Emery Zackro called it, "born 1000 years ahead of his time". Misunderstood, he was shunned by his father and the rest of the town, and roamed rural

Kansas Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to th ...

for several years, until he was found by a group of aliens called the "Oort kind", who travel the universe looking for beings like Adam to recruit them to serve as warriors. Comet returns to Earth to collect Suzie Lane,

Lois Lane Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #1 (June 1938). Lois is an award-winning journalist for ...

's niece, who like himself is a Neo-Sapian, which brings him into conflict with Superman, until Suzie uses her powers to drive Comet away. When Superman is attacked by the Fifth Dimensional demon Vyndktvx, Comet returns with his fellow Neo-Sapians to assist. They subdue the Kryptonite Men and rescue Krypto while Comet deals with the Phantom King, before helping to banish Vyndktvx back to the Fifth Dimension. Comet then appears in Telos #2 as part of a resistance on Colu. Along with Techne ( Brainiac's daughter), K'Rot and Stealth, they help Telos and Brainiac take down the ruler of Colu named Computo.

Powers and abilities

Captain Comet is supposedly the pinnacle of human evolution. His mutant mental functions not only give him genius level

I.Q. An intelligence quotient (IQ) is a total score derived from a set of standardized tests or subtests designed to assess human intelligence. The abbreviation "IQ" was coined by the psychologist William Stern for the German term ''Intelligenzq ...

but endow him with a photographic memory and telepathy, enabling him to read or control people's minds (including alien races). He has telekinetic powers, which enable him to use his thoughts to move, lift, and alter matter without physical contact, mentally lift himself to fly at high-speed, create barriers of psychic force to deflect physical attack, and fire bursts of psionic energy that strike with concussive impact, sometimes in the form of lightning or fire blasts. He has an accelerated healing and his telekinetic shield can simultaneously protect him from the vacuum of space and surround him with a breathable environment. Captain Comet's brain also contains evolved sensory centers enabling him to clairvoyantly "see" events outside of his range of sight. His evolved physiology originally made him superhumanly strong and durable, enough to lift a large spaceship and fight toe to toe with beings such as Lobo. After his resurrection, however, his physical power was significantly diminished, although his mental and psionic abilities have been enhanced. He has also acquired a teleportation ability that can be used on others as well as himself, but normally requires an hour to recharge after every "jump".

Other versions

''Elseworlds''

Captain Comet has also appeared in a number of DC Comics titles which do not fit into normal continuity: * '' DC Challenge'' (November 1985 – October 1986) * '' Kingdom Come'' (1996): Captain Comet was a member of Superman's reformed Justice League. He was chosen by Superman to be warden of the Gulag, the holding facility/prison for metahumans who chose to defy the Justice League, and is killed in a prison riot. * '' The Golden Age'' (1991): Captain Comet makes a brief appearance in the final issue, briefly taking part in the battle against Dynaman. This took place in 1951, the first year of his crime fighting career. * In the DC Tangent " Earth-9" universe, Captain Comet was an African-American superhero from that reality's Chicago who was killed in Czechoslovakia trying to prevent a war in Europe. He was resurrected, and sought revenge for the bombing of a US Army base. * He also made a brief appearance in the Elseworlds tale '' JLA: Another Nail'' (2004), when all time periods melded together. * An older version of Captain Comet fights against the tyranny of Vril Dox in the '' Armageddon 2001'' crossover. He loses his then-wife, Marijin, in the battle and then is slain himself.

In other media

Captain Comet appears in the '' Batman: The Brave and the Bold'' episode "The Siege of Starro" Pt. 1. He is seen with the Green Lantern Corps fighting the Starro-controlled heroes and succumbs to Starro's control. Adam Blake makes his live-action debut in ''

'', portrayed by Chase Anderson.

Collected editions

* Several stories from the 1950s ''Strange Adventures'' series were reprinted in ''Mysteries in Space: The Best of DC Science Fiction Comics'' ed. Uslan, Michael (Fireside Books/Simon and Schuster, 1980), * The ''DC Comics Presents'' story in issue #22 (June 1980) was reprinted in ''Showcase Presents: DC Comics Presents Superman Team-Ups Vol. 1'', (paperback) 512 pages (DC Comics, 2009), * The 2006 ''Mysteries in Space'' series has been reprinted in two volumes: ** ''Mystery in Space with Captain Comet: Volume One'' (paperback), 208 pages (DC Comics, 2007), ** ''Mystery in Space with Captain Comet: Volume Two'' (paperback), 288 pages (DC Comics, 2008), * The ''Rann–Thanagar Holy War'' series has been reprinted in two volumes. * The ''Strange Adventures'' (vol. 3) series has been reprinted. * ''The DC Encyclopaedia'' – Dougall, Alastair (Dorling Kindersley, 2004, 2008, )