Cyclotron (comics)

Cyclotron is the name of two different DC Comics characters. Though a minor character, he holds an important place in the history of the Justice Society as a source of power and inspiration for both the Atom and Atom Smasher.

Cyclotron
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
First appearanceTerry Curtis:
Action Comics #21 (1940)
as Cyclotron:
All Star Squadron #21 (1983)
Created byTerry Curtis:
Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster
Cyclotron:
Roy Thomas
In-story information
Alter egoTerry Curtis

Publication history

Terry Curtis was originally an obscure one-shot Superman character who appeared in Action Comics #21 (1940) where he was a scientist who was kidnapped by Ultra-Humanite and forced to build an "atomic disintegrator".

Roy Thomas reinvented the character as Cyclotron, a reluctant supervillain, in All-Star Squadron #21 (1983) from DC Comics. He was one of the few original villains retroactively added to DC's Golden Age era in the series.

Fictional character biography

Terry Curtis

Cyclotron was an atomic scientist in the 1930s and 1940s named Terry Curtis (born Terrence Kurtzenberg, he had later Anglicized his name). In the past, he had had a brief romantic relationship with Dannette Reilly, the second Firebrand. Curtis was eventually kidnapped by the villainous Ultra-Humanite who sought to make use of the scientist's expertise with atomic energy. He was subjected to the Humanite's experiments and exposed to radiation which granted him superhuman abilities.[1]

Used as a pawn by the villain, Curtis was forced to go up against the heroic All-Star Squadron. In the process, he waged battle with the original Atom, exposing the hero to powerful radiation. This later became the source of the Atom's own superhuman abilities. Cyclotron died trying to be a hero by taking the Humanite into the atmosphere and allowing himself to blow up. Inspired by this selfless sacrifice (and the super-power left in its wake), the Atom would later adopt a costume patterned after Cyclotron's own.[2]

Curtis' daughter, similarly named Terri, entered the custody of Firebrand and the Atom. The two served as godparents to Terri's baby, with Curtis' ex-lover Firebrand raising the child herself. Though cured of any potential radiation poisoning, Terri had evidently absorbed a large dose of her father's energy and passed the side-effects to her son Albert who became the hero Nuklon (later Atom Smasher).

Cyclotron II

An unnamed Cyclotron appears in the DC Rebirth crossover series Justice League vs Suicide Squad where it's revealed he was a member of the initial Suicide Squad. On a mission, to Jagsun, he organized a double cross to take the island's God-Engine for themselves. For that, Amanda Waller first hired Lobo to kill him and then activated the bomb in his body, detonating him.[3]

Powers and abilities

Cyclotron's powers included superhuman strength and the ability to create bursts of atomic energy. In one instance, Cyclotron transmuted a rope into a more fragile substance, indicating potential matter manipulation powers.

The second Cyclotron has energy-projection abilities.

In other media
  • A different Cyclotron was created exclusively for the line of Super Powers Collection action figures, and appeared in the third series of the comic book adaptation of the same name, in 1986. According to the back of his toy package, Cyclotron was an android built by Superman. He was then programmed with all the powers and weaknesses of every superhero and supervillain in order to be the Justice League's tactician. The package also notes that Cyclotron was capable of little independent thought, and that he uses the secret identity Alex LeWitt.
  • A new figure reminiscent of the look presented by the Super Powers figure was released in the DC Universe Classics line in April 2010.
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gollark: Although null terminated string bad.
gollark: In the hypothetical situation in which I misread your code, it was because I misread `*text == 0` as just checking if text was null.
gollark: I don't want to admit that I misread your code, so... I meant in general.
gollark: Also null pointer bad.

References
  1. Action Comics #21. DC Comics.
  2. All-Star Squadron #21. DC Comics.
  3. Suicide Squad #9. DC Comics.
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