In 1991, DC looked to the future . . . and saw that it was bad! In the year 2001, one of their own heroes would betray their fellows and set themselves up as as tyrant, ruling the Earth with an iron fist.
What could drive a hero to such depths? And which hero would be revealed as Monarch?!
House Ads
As with all the other events, there were advertisements running throughout DC comics in the run up to the event. Here’s a short page with anything I’ve found.
CAPTAIN ATOM #57 Sign Off
The end of Captain Atom’s late 80s/early 90s series was, of course, directly affected by the events of ARMAGEDDON 2001 mainly because, as we all know by now, Monarch was meant to be revealed as Cap himself. The final issue was also a tie-in to the WAR OF THE GODS series and sees Cap defeat the evil Shadowstorm before flying off, the last page directing readers to “Follow Captain Atom’s Destiny! Buy… ARMAGEDDON 2001 #2 On Sale Now!”
Back in those days, comics still had letter columns and usually carried a Next Issue box where the editor would give a hint of what was coming up. CAPTAIN ATOM #57’s read:
along with a preview panel:
Both the next issue box and the picture seem to prepare the reader for the revelation that yes, Monarch is Captain Atom, so the subsequent change of Monarch’s identity to Hawk must have been really last minute.
Crisis on Earth-Prime 