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Quote1 For twenty years, I was alone so often-- I remembered my fellow man as noble and pure. Fighting the super-villains, I'm reminded how wrong that Pollyanna-viewpoint really is! Still, I can dream about a better mankind, can't I? And while I'm wanting for the better world, I can use my mutant powers to help bring it about--! Quote2
Captain Comet src

Captain Comet is a mutant born a hundred thousand years before his time. The "first man of the future" has fought space-borne threats his entire life both by himself and later as part of L.E.G.I.O.N.

Origin

In 1931, John and Martha Blake had a son named Adam. Moments after his birth, a comet streaked across the Midwestern sky. John jokingly commented that the comet represented a sign of good fortune, but had little foreknowledge of how truthful his statement would come to be. Although the Blakes were unaware of it at the time, the comet had emitted low-level waves of radiation, which triggered multi-genetic cell growth in Adam Blake's body. As such, Adam began to develop incredible mental attributes.

By the time he was four years old, Adam demonstrated acute powers of observation. On one occasion he mentally located his mother's missing wedding band beneath a pile of discarded wood.

By the time he was eight, Adam's intelligence developed even further – he possessed a photographic memory and was able to memorize and comprehend all of the information that he had read from an entire volume of encyclopedias.

His mental skills continued to sharpen well into his teenage years, and he developed expert talents in nearly everything he attempted. He could perform a Mozart concerto on a clarinet without ever having picked up the instrument before.

Adam's physical prowess did not begin to develop until his college years, however. Although his body's development matured at a slower rate than his mind, he excelled in nearly every athletic event, notably football. He was virtually indestructible, and his superhuman stamina prevented him from ever tiring. At this time, Adam's mental acuity evolved even further. He began to demonstrate mild telepathic and telekinetic capabilities and once used these powers to save the life of a fellow college student named Betty.

Adam grew concerned over his seemingly limitless abilities and confided in a science professor named Emery Zackro. Zackro was a scientific genius who had secretly developed the world's first one-man space rocket. He tested Adam's talents at length and deduced that Adam was a mutant, born with physical and mental capabilities 100,000 years ahead of his time. He offered Adam a position as an assistant working in the science hall, and Adam aided Zackro in finding a means by which to harness deposits of gold from sunlight.

One evening, enemy agents, who had learned of Zackro's work, broke into the science hall in an effort to steal the solar reducer technology. Adam fought with the men and used his telekinetic abilities to deflect the bullets fired from their guns. Zackro eventually returned to the lab, and realized that he must forever safeguard Adam's talents from the world, lest unscrupulous enterprising men should attempt to exploit Adam for their own ends.

Adam could not keep his abilities safely hidden for long. In 1951, a global catastrophe took place, which forced Adam to reveal himself to the public. A space-faring alien race known as the Astur had traveled to Earth in the hopes of terra-forming the planet, making it inhabitable for their kind. They stationed their mother ship on the far side of the moon and delivered several large spinning tops to the planet's surface. The Astur could not survive in an oxygen-rich environment, so they used the tops to siphon away the planet's oxygen.

Strange Adventures 9

Strange Adventures #9; the 1st appearance of Captain Comet

Calling himself Captain Comet for the very first time, Adam donned a space suit and oxygen tank and intercepted one of the tops. He ripped into the side of it and discovered that the machines were operated via remote control. He borrowed Professor Zackro's spaceship, the Cometeer, and traveled to the far side of Earth's moon where he discovered the Astur mother ship. On board the ship, Adam encountered a solitary alien pilot, named Harun. The rest of the Astur crew slept in suspended animation, awaiting the day when they could live again on an airless planet. Like Adam, Harun possessed an advanced intellect and the two decided to settle their differences through a contest of strategy. Adam ultimately won their mental duel, but Harun was determined to defeat him regardless. He attempted to revive his brethren only to discover that the entire crew had died in suspended animation several years ago. Driven to despair, Harun abandoned his plan for global conquest and took his own life by jettisoning himself out of the ship's airlock. Captain Comet found the remote controls operating the lethal tops and reversed the controls, returning all of the stolen oxygen to the planet.

Adam Blake (New Earth) 005

Captain Comet

Captain Comet returned to Earth and reported that the planet was now safe from the alien threat. Reports of his deeds reached every major newspaper and radio program across the globe and Captain Comet became an international hero.

Using the advanced scientific tools at his command, Captain Comet pledged himself towards aiding humanity, but was cautious to keep the truth about his mutant heritage a secret from the general populace.

Infinite Crisis & One Year Later

Recently, Captain Comet has been intrinsically involved in the galactic conflict known as the Rann-Thanagar War. He helped Kyle Rayner and Adam Strange against the invasion of Rann by Onimarr Synn.

Mystery in Space

During the year after the events of Infinite Crisis Captain Comet was tortured and killed by Lady Styx, which forced him to eject his consciousness from his body. Several months afterwards, Comet's psyche collided with the Weird's soul, which caused the two of them to fuse together. However, the Weird was able to re-exert his independence and expel Comet's psyche. This resulted in the creation of new bodies, each possessing some of the other's abilities and memories.

Captain Comet created a new younger body for himself with all the memories and mental abilities of his previous body but gaining the ability to teleport which he discovered by accident. Captain Comet then teleported home and set off to locate his former body. He created a modified costume for himself and went by the name Comet, dropping the "Captain" title from his moniker.

Investigating, he discovered that the Church of Eternal Light had enslaved a group of Aurakles, using their abilities to grow brainwashed cloned telepaths from the charred remainders of his former body. Although the clones had his former strength, they were psychically weaker to Comet's new body, so Comet was able to destroy his corpse, sabotage the factory and flee. This branded him as a fugitive, and he was only able to continue his battles and avoid arrest due to his friendship with Chief Justice Max.

R.E.B.E.L.S.

With Starro the Conqueror attempting to take over the universe, Captain Comet was once again allied with Vril Dox to stop him. After Starro was stopped, Comet stayed on Vril's new team and started a romance with the newly-arrived Starfire.

Powers

  • Mutant Physiology: Captain Comet is the pinnacle of human evolution. He has evolved mental functions and physiology.
    • Teleportation: Captain Comet can now teleport instantly to anywhere in the universe. However, Comet must rest for five minutes after teleporting a short distance, and for one hour after teleporting a greater distance.
    • Superhuman Strength
    • Invulnerability
    • Toxic Immunity: "My mutant body is immune to all poisons!"[2]
    • Superhuman Stamina
    • Clairvoyance: Captain Comet's brain also contains evolved sensory centers enabling him to "see" events outside of his range of sight, or even, in a limited way, see the future. If he focuses on clairvoyance he can see up to a 100,000 years into the future. [citation needed]
    • Telepathy: A gift that enables him to read people's minds, communicate with his thoughts, and control minds.
      • Mind Control
      • Multilingualism: He can communicate in any language, even alien ones, if he is able to establish a mental link with a sentient being.
    • Telekinesis: An ability that enables him to use his thoughts to move, lift, and manipulate objects.
      • Telekinetic Matter Alteration: The ability to alter matter (usually in the form of creating and dispelling clothing) without having any physical contact with it.
      • Telekinetic Flight: The ability to mentally lift himself upwards to fly at high-speed; in the space he can travel in interplanetary speed.
      • Telekinetic Force-Fields: He can create barriers of psychic force to deflect most physical attacks, and his telekinetic shields can be used to simultaneously protect himself from the vacuum of space, while surrounding himself with an aura of oxygen to breathe.
      • Psionic Energy Bursts: He can fire bursts of psionic energy that strike a target with concussive impact or energy of various forms, such as electricity or fire.
    • Sense of Strength: Allows Captain Comet to know a target's powers, weaknesses and skills, or to gauge how difficult a task will be.
    • Enhanced Sense of Touch: his hypersensitive fingers can feel a wider range than normal humans; he could easily read newspapers with his fingers.
    • Vibro-Sense: An ability which allows him to read the emotions of others.
    • Enhanced Intellect: Captain Comet possesses a comprehensive intellect well in advance of that of the average human.
      • Eidetic Memory He has a photographic memory, and is a prodigy with the ability to master any skill upon his first attempt.

Abilities

Equipment

  • Atmospheric Pressure Suit

Transportation

Weapons

  • Omni-Blaster: At one point, Captain Comet was armed with a weapon known as the Omni-Blaster, which could literally have any effect on his target, but it will also have the same effect on Captain Comet.
  • Stun Pistol


  • Although Captain Comet has made appearances with semi-regularity since 1951, he has never been featured in his own title.
  • Although premiering before the Silver Age Flash, the character has typically been considered to be from Earth-One rather than Earth-Two.
  • Captain Comet shares many attributes with another popular super-hero, Superman. In the 1950s, it was not uncommon for many comic writers to create characters cast in the mold of the infamous pop-culture icon. Not only does Comet share powers that are similar to Superman's, but his parents share the same names as those of Superman's adoptive Earth parents – John and Martha.

Related

Footnotes


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L.E.G.I.O.N. member
This character is or was primarily a member of the intergalactic peacekeeping force L.E.G.I.O.N., otherwise known as the Licensed Extra-Governmental Interstellar Operatives Network.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the "L.E.G.I.O.N. members" category.

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Secret Society of Super-Villains member
This character is or was a member of the Secret Society of Super-Villains, a cadre of super-villains who band together to accomplish feats no one super-villain can do alone, in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Secret Society of Super-Villains members" category.

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Justice League member
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This character has been a member of the Justice League of America, or the Justice League in any of its various incarnations, sworn by a duty to act as guardians of America and the world by using their skills and/or superpowers to protect Earth from the clutches of both interstellar and domestic threats.
This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice League of America members" category.

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