The series revolves around the adventures of 7th grader Joey Felt and his partner AP, a world-renowned superhero who has been reduced to life as a powerless, blue sock puppet, until he's placed on Joey's hand. Together, the two transform into Mega City's newest superhero duo, Atomic Puppet and Nuclear Boy.
Plot
Mega City's superhero Captain Atomic suffers a setback when, as he is shaking hands with 12-year-old[2] fanboy Joey Felt, his disgruntled sidekick Mookie (or Sergeant Subatomic) transforms him into a living sock puppet. The suddenly powerless superhero quickly realizes that the only way he can regain his former powers is to team up with the boy—a dream come true for Joey, but not so much for Captain Atomic. Together, the two form an unlikely and awkward partnership that allows them to become the city's newest superhero duo — Atomic Puppet and Nuclear Boy.
Characters
Main
Joseph "Joey" Felt/Nuclear Boy[3] (voiced by Eric Bauza) is the main protagonist of the series. He is a 12-year-old comic book fan. Through a chance turn of events, he develops the ability to combine with his superhero idol and together they form a new hero, Atomic Puppet and Nuclear Boy.
Captain Atomic/Atomic Puppet/AP[4] (voiced by Eric Bauza) was a world-renowned superhero who lived his life being able to handle situations with his brute strength and endless charm. Blinded by success and fame, he's suddenly transformed into a powerless, blue sock puppet living by his jealous sidekick Mookie. Now he goes by the name AP and, due to his massive ego and short temper, struggles with adjusting to his new life as a puppet and the fact that he can only access his former powers when Joey places him on his hand, turning them into Atomic Puppet and Nuclear Boy.
Supporting
Pauline Bell[5] (voiced by Lisa Norton) is Joey's best friend and the only person other than Mookie and the other superheroes that knows of Joey's secret identity. Pauline occasionally covers for Joey when he needs an excuse to become Atomic Puppet and has fought alongside Atomic Puppet if the situation called for it. She has a job at a comic book shop owned by her uncle.
Philip "Phil" Felt[6] (voiced by Carlos Díaz) is Joey's burly, rugged, no-nonsense father. He's impatient, opinionated and does everything he can to counteract his wife's babying of the kids. During the final episode, he learns the truth about Joey and AP.
Vivian Felt[7][8] (voiced by Kristina Nicoll) is Joey's sweet but overly caring mother. She worries far too much about her children and is always concerned about what kind of trouble they could get into.
Abigail Felt[9] (voiced by Katie Griffin) is Joey's energetic 8-year-old sister who goes by the nickname "Abs"[10] or "Abbie".[11]
Bubbles[12][13] is an orange tabby cat and the family's slow-witted, overweight, and flatulent pet. AP refers to him as Disastro and is convinced that Bubbles is an undercover villain plotting to take down Atomic Puppet from the inside, while Phil completely adores Bubbles, describing him as "the most adorable kitty-kat in the world".[14]
Rex Bordeaux[15] (voiced by David Huband) is the egotistical host of Mega City news. As the city's #1 newsman, he climbed his way to celebrity status by reporting on the feats of Captain Atomic, but his reputation is in danger of slipping with Captain Atomic's "disappearance".
Villains
Sergeant Subatomic (Mookie)[16] (voiced by Peter Oldring) is the main antagonist of the series. Mookie is Captain Atomic's bitter and envious former sidekick and is responsible for his transformation into a puppet, done in an attempt to replace him as Mega City's protector. While Mookie does have a wide assortment of gadgets to use, by himself, he's nothing more than a glory hound that lives in his mother's basement. He frequently tries to force the citizens of Mega City to accept him as their hero, but his incompetence and lack of superpowers fail to win them over.
Professor Tite-Gripp[17] (voiced by Rick Miller) is a cunning and ruthless criminal with massive mechanical hands that give him superhuman strength. He was originally Captain Atomic's archenemy and is now Atomic Puppet's most dangerous foe.
Naughty Kitty[18] (voiced by Heather Bambrick) is a female thief who wears a black cat costume and steals cats. She is a parody of Catwoman.
Zorp[19] (voiced by Robert Tinkler) is a green-skinned alien invader who intends to capture the citizens of Mega City and eat them. He is often accompanied by a smaller alien of his species known as Flert.
Mudman (voiced by Robert Tinkler) is a humanoid creature made entirely of mud who can change his shape and possess others by smothering himself over them.[20] He has a cousin named Dirtbag, a large sack-like creature able to breathe blasts of soil who has also tangled with Joey and AP.[21]
Ms. Erlenmeyer/Queen Mindbender (voiced by Kristina Nicoll) is Joey's bitter science teacher who is driven to madness by AP when he attempts to stop her from putting Joey in detention.[22] Afterwards, she marries a mysterious alien and is transformed into a green-skinned telepath named Queen Mindbender.[23]
The Were-Chicken is a mutant chicken who appears in "Something Chicken" as the main antagonist.
Commander Atomic and Puppet Boy are a pair of opposite villains in the episode "Parallel Puppet", who both serve as the main antagonists.
Heroes
Justice Alliance[24] Is a superhero team that protects the galaxy at large. Prior to his transformation, Captain Atomic was a member, and he has rejoined as Atomic Puppet.
Commander Cavalier (voiced by Robert Tinkler) is a hero with heat vision powers. He is extremely obsessed with his appearance to the point where showing him a mirror will always cause him to stop and admire himself.
Robo-Ron (voiced by Martin Roach) is a cyborg superhero who only speaks in beatbox and printed messages. Although he possesses a wide range of gadgetry and is incredibly intelligent, he is considered the least powerful member of the alliance.
Crimson Beacon is a quiet superhero with flaming hair, very similar to Firestorm. It has the ability to create almost anything, similar to Green Lantern.
Princess War Tickle[25] (voiced by Kristina Nicoll) is a superheroine, very similar to Wonder Woman who dwells in a magical castle in the sky. He has an ongoing rivalry with Captain Atomic as she is the only hero who rivals Captain Atomic in power and fame.
Others
Rudolph Mintenberg[26] (voiced by Scott McCord) is an eccentric billionaire who lives in a hilltop mansion outside of Mega City. He is constantly bored and entertains himself by with a variety of dangerous gadgets and experiments, forcing Joey and AP to step in and save the day.
Warren Beasley[27] (voiced by Mark Edwards) is a nosy nerd who lives next door to Joey. His hobby is spying on his neighbors and classmates.
The Mayor[28] (voiced by Kevin Hanchard) is the mayor of Mega City. He often tries to replace Atomic Puppet because he dislikes the collateral damage they cause in their battles against their various foes.
Joey has the flu, which prevents him from doing his superhero duties and gives Mookie the opportunity to try to take over them.Joey is forced to take Bubbles to a cat lovers convention, but Naughty Kitty attacks the event and steals Bubbles.
AP's attempts to get Joey out of detention from Ms. Erlenmeyer only make things worse.When AP gets trapped in an indestructible pickle jar, Joey must take him to Professor Tite-Gripp for help.
AP believes that the employees of the space-themed pizzeria Pizza Planet are aliens that intend to fatten the customers for eating.After defeating the Mudman, AP takes a piece of him home, but the piece reconstructs itself and possesses Vivian.
The Justice Alliance comes to Mega City to invite Atomic Puppet into their group, but a jealous Mookie tries to destroy them.Joey and AP move into Captain Atomic's former secret lair.
To defeat a teleporting monster, Joey and AP must take lessons from Captain Atomic's mentor, Master Sensei, who is now a doddering old man.Bubbles is transformed into a giant monster after eating some of AP's yarn that is charged with his powers.
Joey and AP try to sneak into a movie theater when Joey forgets to buy tickets.Pauline gets her hands on a magical sword and becomes the superheroine Sword Sister.When the sword's power begins to driver her mad though, Joey and AP must find Princess War Tickle, the sword's original owner.
When Joey realizes that Warren knows his secret identity, he gets Robo-Ron to build him a mechanical duplicate as a red herring.AP becomes a gentle pacifist after being washed with fabric softener.
Joey goes on a quest to complete his collection of 132 Captain Atomic action figures when he learns there is a one-of-a-kind 133rd.Joey and AP compete with a new hair salon for media attention.
Joey and AP battle the Werechicken, a mutant chicken created by Rudolph Mintenberg that becomes a monster when exposed to moonlight.Joey and AP travel through time when Joey finds a list of superhero challenges he made when he was six.
AP becomes more aggressive and bossy after being hit by the slime of a mucus-spewing monster.Joey and AP meet Mr. Inkwood, a crazed comic book artist with a grudge against Captain Atomic who gains powers after his pet octopus is affected by toxic waste.
Joey and AP accidentally super-glue themselves together, leaving them stuck in superhero form.Bubbles becomes an evil genius intent on destroying AP after eating a new genetically-modified brand of cat food.
Atomic Puppet and the Justice Alliance battle Absorbo-Lad, a villain who can steal super-powers with his touch.Atomic Puppet and the Justice Alliance play soccer against alien invaders.
Ms. Erlenmeyer returns as Queen Mindbender and hypnotizes everyone except Pauline and AP.Atomic Puppet battles a race of subterranean mole people who have sunk Mega City's structures and kidnapped Pauline.
Joey and AP help King Hydronomous, ruler of the deep, battle the villainous Megalo-Don.Joey and Phil go to a daredevil and monster truck rally that's actually a trap set up by Zorp to capture the people of Mega City and defeat Atomic Puppet.
After defeating the evil Snow Maniac, Joey and AP find out that she has returned in the form of Abigail's snowman to bring eternal winter to Mega City.AP encounters the Hero of Holidays Past, Present, and Future in the series' take on A Christmas Carol.
Atomic Puppet competes in a wrestling match against retired champion Manatee-Man to raise charity money.Atomic Puppet meets a country superhero named Dyna-Moe, who has been chased from his home by his archenemy Dirtbag, and the Mayor makes him Mega City's new protector.
Mookie starts to develop superpowers after swallowing an alien crystal, but they wildly spiral out of control.Zorp mind controls a celebrity chimpanzee astronaut named Buck McDowall to get close to AP.
Joey finds a pair of shoes called Lacer A.I. Hypertops, but the shoes are much more dangerous than they appear.Atomic Puppet crashes Princess War Tickle's party when they learn that she is planning a hero-villain truce with Professor Tite-Gripp.
Chief Kevlar, the hot-tempered head of Mega City's police force, gets his hands on a power-draining meteorite that he uses to put an end to Atomic Puppet's vigilantism.Mookie alters Joey's mind so Joey will adore him instead of Captain Atomic and will be unable to recognize AP.
The Switch: AP and Princess War Tickle get their minds switched.Lacer's A.I. takes over the body of Travis, a Ken-like doll that AP treats as a close friend.
In part 1, Joey gains the abilities of a silkworm after being bitten by a silkworm, but loses his ability to merge with AP as a result.In part
2, Joey is captured by the insect-themed supervillain Bug-Man, who intends to steal his new powers.
Joey and AP go to see Captain Atomic's indoctrination into the Hero Hall of Fame, but Mookie arrives to try to steal the spotlight.Joey and AP encounter evil versions of themselves from a parallel universe and have to figure out how to send them home.
Queen Mindbender reduces the minds of everyone in Mega City, including AP, into those of young children.Joey gets badly shaken from almost accidentally killing Phil while chasing after a criminal and decides to take a break from being a superhero.
Mintenberg creates a superpowered mechanical suit to become Atomic Puppet's partner when he buys them a secret lair.Captain Atomic's powerless clone Claude (pronounced "clode") is unfrozen by Mookie and poses as Captain Atomic.
In part one, on the one-year anniversary of Atomic Puppet's first appearance and Captain Atomic's "disappearance", Mookie tells everyone that he killed Captain Atomic in one last attempt to make them accept him as their hero. Meanwhile, Joey and AP argue over if everyone should know that AP is Captain Atomic.In part two, Mookie teams up with Professor Tite-Gripp to lead a prison outbreak and destroy Atomic Puppet once and for all.
Music
Music composed and performed by Amaury Bernier and David Gana of D&A Factory[43]
Broadcast
The first season is designed as 52 11-minute segments with 2 two-part specials.[44]Atomic Puppet have its world premiere on Disney XD in France on March 13, 2016. The series later debuted on Disney XD in the United States on July 18, 2016. The series aired on Teletoon in Canada on September 11, 2016, and ABC ME in Australia. In Latin America, it began airing on Disney XD on October 27, 2016.
Reception
The series was nominated in 2017 for two Annie Awards: Outstanding Achievement in Character Animation in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production and Outstanding Achievement in Storyboarding in an Animated TV/Broadcast Production.[45] It was also nominated for a Reuben Award in the category of Television Animation, alongside The Loud House and The Simpsons, in 2016 by the National Cartoonists Society.[46]
Dawn M. Burkes of The Dallas Morning News spoke positively on the series, calling it "a hoot of a superhero show". She praised its premise as fresh, unique, and entertaining, and its execution as making for a fun, humorous, and interesting take on the "old-school" superhero dynamic of the hero and his young sidekick.[47]
