Third-rate heroes like The Atom only deserve third-rate villains like Chronos the Time Thief, who debuts in Atom #3 (Aug 1962). Naturally, Chronos’ schtick is all about time, and in this story, I think literally every panel has him using the word “time” in his dialog, to the point of utter ridiculousness. Chronos is visually […]
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It’s that time again – that time when DC wants to give one of their newer heroes a readership boost by adding them to the Justice League, just like they added Green Arrow in 1961. In Justice League of America #14 (July 1962), the entire team (including Batman and Superman in absentia) votes unanimously for […]
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In Tales to Astonish #27 (Sept 1961), a one-shot quickie sci-fi / horror tale “The Man in the Ant Hill!” establishes the second major character in the fledgling Marvel universe: Hank Pym! Despite being mocked by the scientific community, Hank develops a serum that can shrink things. Okay. After trying it on a chair, he […]
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Though DC just introduced the concept of the multiverse, Gardner Fox didn’t stop reinterpreting Golden Age characters in the Silver Age: The Atom debuts in Showcase #34 (July 1961). Ray Palmer is a graduate student and fellowship physicist who seeks to shrink matter via using white dwarf star material. He has a girlfriend named Jean […]
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The last appearance of the Justice Society for more than ten years occurs in All-Star Comics #57 (December 1950) with “The Mystery of the Vanishing Detectives”. It’s mostly a bland story about a crime syndicate boss named The Key, but I did find it interesting that a panel featuring Wonder Woman’s invisible plane describes it […]
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In All-Star Comics #50 (October 1949), it is established for the first time that the members of the Justice Society of America know each other’s secret identities. Jay Garrick (The Flash) and his college classmates had written down their ambitions a decade before with their professor, and one of the classmates had decided to become […]
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In Flash #98 (June 1948), DC gives three of its heroes new costumes: The Atom, Hawkman, and Hawkgirl. There is no in-story reason for any costume changes, it appears to be just the whim of the artists (Carmine Infantino, Frank Giacoia for The Atom and Joe Kubert for Hawkman). While I consider the Atom’s costume […]
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The Justice Society of America debuts in All-Star Comics #3 (November 1940). In its first incarnation it consists of a whopping nine characters across Detective Comics Inc and All-American Comics (still separate companies at this point): The Flash, the Atom, Green Lantern, Hawkman, the Spectre, Doctor Fate, Sandman and Hourman, with Johnny Thunder thrown in […]
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I have yet to see an in-depth, well-rounded and firm journalistic exploration of the costume choices of the Golden Age Atom, Al Pratt. Decades before Wonder Woman was allowed to run around in basically high-cut panties, the Atom did it in brown ones. I’m trying to imagine the conversations between writer and illustrator to craft […]
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In his second appearance in All-American Comics #20 (September 1940), the Mighty Atom gets a costume, which is basically a blue blanket over his head, a tight yellow shirt showing off his man-cleavage, and high-cut brown shorts to show off his masculine legs. I thought he was tired of being made fun of?
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