All-American Comics #19 (1940)
by Bill O’Connor & Ben Flinton
cover by Sheldon Moldoff
Three issues after the debut of the original Green Lantern, “All-American Comics” has a second superhero debut.
That would be the original Atom. Both of his creators, Bill O’Connor and Ben Flinton, joined the Army in 1942 and didn’t return to comics after the war.
His origin is being a short guy who gets bullied.
He gets dumped by his girlfriend for not stopping a mugger.
She might have other reasons for not being into him.
Tip for the next decades, Atom: say you’re “short”, not that you’re “small”. You’ll thank me.
He gets so down on this that he’s gives a whole dollar to a homeless man.
That would be roughly 22 dollars in 2024.
His charity pays off, because the homeless man is just the person he needed: he used to train fighters.
Training montage!
And a year later, the little guy is just muscles.
The training went a little TOO well.
Atom then goes to see his old girlfriend, and he has the most amazing timing because she just happens to be dealing with kidnappers.
Turns out that Atom is now SO strong that he can be the hero.
So he leaves the crime scene, leaving behind is calling card (which has questionable proportions depending on the panel).
And that’s it! How fitting that the first Atom story is so short.
Historical significance: 4/10
The original Atom is a mainstay of the Golden Age, but I wouldn’t say he’s particularly influential.
Silver Age-ness: 6/10
A guy gets minor super-strength after a year of regular exercises.
Does it stand the test of time? 2/10
It’s cute, but this is one of the most barebones stories of the Golden Age… which is saying something! I do like that the reason for training so hard is not JUST getting the girl, that the Atom’s opportunity comes out of him helping a homeless man, and the sheer ridiculousness of the training.
How close is this to the modern character? What modern character?
The Atom gets his costume in his second story, in the following issue.
It is notable that his girlfriend doesn’t even recognize he’s the Atom. I know he has a full mask (a rather cool one even), but there’s so much emphasis on him being short that you’d think she’d connect the dots.
The man who trained the Atom wouldn’t die until 1982, on the pages of All-Star Squadron Annual #1. No wonder he gave the Atom all that power: he’s immune to the dreaded Mentor Disease!
Also: the Atom is NOT the only superhero he trained: he also trained the Guardian and Wildcat.
The latter is significant because Wildcat has trained 50% of superheroes who fights with punches. Including Batman, who has trained the other 50%.
The Atom would be a founding member of the Justice Society, as we’ll soon see (he’s the last member of the original roster to be introduced).
That definitely boosted his career: he showed up in most issues of All-American Comics and was later moved to Flash Comics (never making it to the cover of either series, though). He appeared in every Justice Society issue except two, with his last Golden Age appearance being in 1949.
By that time, Atom had changed his costume to a completely different version. He didn’t get this one until Flash Comics #98 in 1948, so no wonder he’s still mostly tied to the original.
Along with the rest of the Justice Society, he was revived in 1963 on the pages of Flash #137.
The original Atom continued to have adventures with the JSA and with other WWII heroes, both in stories set in the present and in flashbacks.
1983 saw the introduction of his godson Atom Smasher, who debuted with a mohawk (!!!) but has since then moved to the MUCH cooler original Atom mask.
And he has legitimate superpowers (he’s super-strong and can turn giant).
As for the original Atom, he’s killed off in 1994 during Zero Hour.
Most of the JSA has since been resurrected. But aside from alternate versions of the character, I’m pretty sure the original Atom is still dead.
Which I guess is not TOO surprising: both his Silver Age counterpart and his godson are way more interesting.
Still, you have to respect the Short King of the Golden Age for fighting next to gods without even wearing pants.
What else was in this issue of All-American Comics?
A LOT.
Starting from the usual Green Lantern, Mutt & Jeff (with several pages), Hop Harrigan, Red/White/Blue, the insane Gary Concord The Ultra-Man, a couple of gag comics and the adventure/mystery Ben Webster.
And the kind of disturbing Daisybelle.
There’s also Scribbly, which features a character that will soon become one of DC’s oldest super-heroines. But we’ll talk about Ma Hunkle soon enough.
And finally: I never do this, and don’t expect this to set a precedent, but this is one of the oldest Golden Age issues when there are decent scans for the ads! They’re normally barely legible.
Some highlights: scare your friends with swimming goggles! (WTF!?)
I somehow doubt this microphone really was that great. Even the deluxe version at 1 dollar.
Something you don’t expect to see in the ads of a comic book: GUNS.
Yeah it comes with just blanks, but this IS a gun right?
Also unexpected: FAKE MARRIAGE LICENSES…
…and PLANES.
Specifically, flying planes. As opposed to swimming planes?
For that, you’ll have to settle for a boat.
Or a 10 ½ inch submarine, which is not a euphemism.
Heart-shaped stitched felts, in case you’re not ready yet for a fake marriage license.
Some day I want to read about a superhero who builds his own arsenal with comic book ads.
It doesn’t even have to be about a super-genius!
Wait, they sold LIVE ANIMALS with ads!?!?
Atom really overpaid his lessons. He could’ve just learned martial arts for 30 cents.
At the same price of 1 dollar that he gave the homeless man, the Atom could have bought:
-Ju jitsu lessons
-dancing lessons
-a hula skirt for his girlfriend
-a fake marriage license
And he STILL would have enough money left to buy the book “How to win prize contests”.
I was worried about the lack of X-Ray stuff. But here it is, in a tiny ad in the corner!
This kind of ads will be ubiquitous in American comics for decades, which makes me wonder: just how common was it for kids to buy this stuff?
Regarding the ads: I bought both x-ray specs and a “ghost friend” (whatever it was called). The latter turned out to be a balloon in a sheet that you could manipulate with a supposedly invisible string. Both were huge disappointments.
The lesson? Don’t trust comic book ads (unlike the stories :)).
You would have given the buck to the beggar,better
Along with the new costume the Atom also suddenly gained an atomic punch superpower. Roy Thomas retconned a story for both the costume and power in All Star Squadron.
But when I tried use a comic book ad to become a superhero you mocked me!
I think it was Rick Jones, but nice callback 🙂
Although he tried to get superpowers, not to make himself an arsenal, there’s a difference that I’m making up right now 🙂
I just realized: Joe Morgan is the Charles Atlas of the DC Universe.
I thought Flex Mentallo was the Charles Atlas of the DCU.
They sold live animals via comic book and magazine ads into the late 1960s/early 1970s, in the U.S. at least. My friend’s brother bought a monkey from such an ad. It was kind of cool to go to their house and see a monkey running around, right up until you discovered it had just crapped in the chair you sat down in.