Considerin' I was just dumb-ass Sergeant Zmeck before your experiment...this has turned out to be one helluva promotion! 
Captain Atom Annual (Volume 2) #1 is an issue of the series Captain Atom Annual (Volume 2) with a cover date of March, 1988.
Synopsis for "The Dark Side of the Force"
An alien spaceship crash lands in a limestone quarry outside of a city. Captain Atom is sent to investigate the vessel and its passenger steps out. The alien is a towering humanoid being with a rock-like makeup. Captain Atom tries to make peaceful contact but the creature attacks him with dark matter energy while speaking in perfect English; the "alien" is Clifford Zmeck. Both Zmeck and Nathaniel engage in battle, fighting on equal terms of power as a large crowd of onlookers and the media watches on. General Eiling and Dr. Megala mastermind this battle in order to gauge Zmeck's capabilities. After Nathaniel is subdued in hardened black matter, Zmeck soon undergoes the molting process. At this moment, Eiling uses the timing of the molting and the watching media to order Martin Allard, who is at the site, to attack Zmeck. Megala then quickly cloaks the entire quarry with special effects and Zmeck falls unconscious after he undergoes the molting process.
Eiling and Megala then exits the "spaceship" where they were observing the entire operation much to Nathaniel's shock and anger. Nathaniel is more angered to confirm his knowledge that there was a second Captain Atom Project. Eiling confirms this, but unlike Captain Atom, Zmeck was made to be more stronger than his predecessor. The orchestrated fight was to introduce Zmeck into the public as the next superhero, "Major Force" and Eiling wants Nathaniel's help to perpetuate the cover story. As no one would actually believe that the fight with Zmeck was a hoax and without jeopardizing his trust to his children, Nathaniel reluctantly follow Eiling's orders. Eiling and his men make their leave through a secret underground tunnel while Nathaniel takes in Zmeck and containing the explosion of the spaceship in which it wipes out all traces inside the quarry before Randy Eiling's team arrives to investigate.
Captain Atom later arranges a public conference in which he claims that "the Major" (Allard) was merged with the "alien" into a single being. He then introduces his "super-hero ally" Major Force.
Ten days later, Major Force begins his first attempt as a superhero. His first action is sealing a hole in a dam. However, he generated too much excessive matter in which it hit a Red Cross helicopter and causing it to crash and killing its crew. But Major Force blatantly ignored the needless deaths while boasting about the thousands of lives he saved. He is later sent to deal with a hostage crisis in which he harm both the kidnappers and the hostages.
Major Force's careless disregard for human life does not bode well for the public and his handlers. While Eiling scrambles to have his P.R. people create a cover story for Zmeck's psychotic behavior, Captain Atom appears on television to publicly denounce his "friend's" actions (while also subtly criticizing Eiling for creating Major Force) and urging Major Force to curtail his powers to prevent further harm.
Nathaniel is soon confronted by Zmeck, who claims that after seeing Nathaniel on TV he accepted that he is not suited as a superhero and is willing to turn himself in to Eiling and Megala. But while en-route to Eiling's compound, Zmeck attacks Nathaniel. He is not at all pleased by what Captain Atom said about him on public television. Eiling and Megala are observing this unprovoked battle through Zmeck's implants and finally accept that Major Force is stepping out of bounds. Allard then detonates an implant in Zmeck's left hand before rendering Zmeck unconscious.
Nathaniel is left deeply disgusted at Eiling for creating and underestimating Major Force, and at himself for being involved in his machinations. He then throws Zmeck into Eiling's compound to announce his decision of cutting all ties with Eiling.
Appearing in "The Dark Side of the Force"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
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Other Characters:
- Cheryl (Single appearance)
- Chuck (Single appearance)
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See Also