Comic Title: Captain Atom #5
Publisher: DC
Cover Date: July 1987
On Sale Date: April 21, 1987 Newsstand Date April 21, 1987
Source: DC Releases, #38

Newsstand Date April 23, 1987
Source: Amazing Heroes, #114

Shipping Date March 31, 1987
Source: Amazing Heroes, #114

Copyright Date March 31, 1987
Source: Library of Congress, Copyright Office 1987
DC publication dates beyond April 1981 listed by the LoC
represent shipping dates NOT newsstand sale dates

Newsstand Date April 23, 1987
Source: Comics Buyers Guide, #694, #696

Shipping Date March 31, 1987
Source: Comics Buyers Guide, #694, #696

Cover Price: $0.75
Page Count: 32
Editor: Dennis J. O'Neil

Title: "The Return of Dr. Spectro"
Pages: 22

Feature(s):
Captain Atom (Post-Crisis)

Writer: Cary Bates
Penciller: Patrick R. Broderick
Inker: Robert Allen Smith
Letterer: Agustin Mas
Colorist: Robert K. LeRose

Feature Character(s)

• Captain Atom (last appearance in Captain Atom #4; next appearance in Fury of Firestorm #63)

Guest Star(s)

• Firestorm (last appearance in Fury of Firestorm #61; next appearance in Fury of Firestorm #62)
• Martin Stein (last appearance in Fury of Firestorm #61; next appearance in Fury of Firestorm #62)

Supporting Character(s)

• Wade Eiling (last appearance in Captain Atom #4; next appearance in Fury of Firestorm #62)
• Heinrich Megala (last appearance in Captain Atom #4; next appearance in Fury of Firestorm #63)
• Margaret Eiling (last appearance in Captain Atom #4; next appearance in Captain Atom #7)
• Babylon (last appearance in Captain Atom #4; next appearance in Captain Atom #8)
• Jeff Goslin (last appearance in Captain Atom #3; next appearance in Captain Atom #7)

Villain(s)

• Doctor Spectro (Tom Emery; first appearance; next appearance in Captain Atom #6)

Other Character(s)

• Mable Ryan and Walter (a reporter and her editor; no further appearances)
• General Crenshaw (no further appearances)
• Nestor (a data warehouse manager; no further appearances)

Synopsis:
Nathaniel Adam spends a day with his daughter at the carnival. He then attends a demonstration of a new fighter plane as Captain Atom. Part of the demonstration includes a missile test. Ronnie Raymond is in the crowd of spectators and does not know that the missile launch was a test. He tries to stop the missile as Firestorm which forces Captain Atom to intervene. Captain Atom delays Firestorm long enough for the jet's missile evasion test to be completed. The heroes part on unfriendly terms.

Elsewhere, reporter Mabel Ryan has been digging up a story concerning Doctor Spectro, a fictitious villain created as part of Captain Atom's cover story. Mabel believes that Tom Emery, a former associate of the Rainbow Raider was Spectro. Emery puts on a demonstration for her in otder to earn a cash advance. When another source tells Mabel that Atom's cover story is entirely false, she confronts Emery who kills her. He had been lying to her for money, but now decides that he will actually become Doctor Spectro.