He was a superhero smaller even than the children who read his adventures, but nevertheless trickier and stronger than the irritating adults who told them what to do.
The formula had worked before, during the 14-year run of Doll Man in Feature Comics and his own title. So editor Julius Schwartz, writer Gardner Fox and artist Gil Kane redeployed it in the redesign and re-launch of their 1940s super-scrapper the Atom.
The first story in the issue told us, in leisurely detail, how an Ivy College physics professor acquired the power to shrink from dwarf star matter and used it to rescue trapped spelunkers.
The second story put him in costume and pitted him against one of those mirror-image foes so favored by superheroes — in this case a diminutive extraterrestrial teleporter named Kulan Dar who, when mentally enslaved by a criminal, resembles a genie from a bottle.
Palmer’s girlfriend Jean Loring doesn’t want to marry him until she’s established herself as a successful attorney, so the help the Atom frequently provides her on her legal cases isn’t entirely altruistic — he’s working to hasten the day when they can wed.
The first and most successful of Schwartz’s Golden Age superhero revivals, the Flash, worked up any number of crime-fighting tricks with his super speed, so the Atom played similar crowd-pleasing variations on the theme of shrinking.
While retaining his full-size strength, he could ride the winds by reducing his weight. The effective invisibility provided by his small stature proved useful to the CIA. The Atom could shrink into subatomic worlds, and even paradoxically appear as a giant there. His neatest trick was the ability to ride along on a telephone call, meaning that he could virtually teleport himself instantly to almost any spot on Earth.
Matthew Grossman wrote, "I may actually (slightly) prefer Silver Age Atom to the Silver Age Flash - he’s more vulnerable for starters. I like the dichotomy of him using his power actually making him physically weaker."
ReplyDeleteVincent Mariani wrote, “Gil Kane did a magnificent job on covers for the Atom series, by utilizing designs that would incorporate props accentuating the relative size of the hero. The concepts probably originated with Julius Schwartz or John Broome, but Kane brought them to life on these covers. The very first book featured the Atom struggling with a Venus Flytrap as a manic villain looms over the action.
ReplyDelete“Always enjoyed The Atom's Time Pool adventures, written by the inventive Gardner Fox, and in the vein of Batman's Prof. Nichols/hypnotic time-travel tales.
"Inker Sid Greene, not Gil Kane's best interpreter, gives it his best shot. And it works to some extent, considering the historical era depicted.
“You might say that, in this case, Greene was a ‘Poe man's inker for Kane.’”
Matthew Grossman wrote, "My favorite Atom story, 'Revolt of Atom’s Uniform,' (Atom #14) has the Atom fight the White Dwarf Star matter which gives him his powers - it turns out to be malevolent, sentient, and intent on conquering the universe, or something like that.
ReplyDelete"It’s my absolute favorite exploration of the doubles motif in Silver Age comics, with its vaguely Freudian cover motif and very Silver Age message that Palmer’s rational intellect is what constrains his desire-driven id from catastrophic eruption.
"Then again, it may just be a colossal metaphor for the struggles men go through putting their tie on their morning when getting to work."
ReplyDeleteGeorge Daniels wrote: Dan Hagen While I am completely aware of Doll Man, I think a lot of Silver Age readers, like myself would have difficulty buying into a superhero named Doll Man. There would've been a lot of Barbie-related jokes, once she hit the toy market.
Nathan J. Bennett:
ReplyDeleteAt least Jean was (originally) more than just a semi-good-looking lady who could say “Help!” a different way each issue…
Paul Zuckerman:
ReplyDeleteIn some ways, the Atom was the least successful of the Schwartz revivals. He never really got to be A list (maybe B pl;us), but he has remained a constant presence for a long time, and is still around .
There does get to be a certain repetitiousness because of the Atom's limitations but Gardner Fox did more to overcome those limitations then any other comic book writer with respect to diminutive super heroes. I've only read a handful of Doll Man stories, though, so I can't really comment on those but that era was very different and the stories were shorter. Most shrinking heroes eventually become giant characters as well (And Man/Giant Man) or started out that way (Rita Farr). Somehow, even when the Atom shrunk down in size, he still was smaller than everyone else! Except in the Sword of the Atom series, which was, except for the lovely Kane art, mostly a waste of time. What is the point of a six-inch tall hero among other six-inch tall characters? (I won't even get into how that was the beginning of the end for Jean Loring.) The series was really just another (yawn) sword and sorcery, and Kane's modifications to the Atom costume were silly).
But--the original series! Ray did not have many recurring super villains-Chronos was probably the major one. But the TIme Pool stories were great fun. And Fox's idea about him being transmitted through the phone lines was great--not a lot different than Star Trek teleportation.
Jean was, of course, another one of the very capable women that populated Schwartz books. She was never a damsel in distress! In the early 60s, at a time where women were still expected to stay at home after they get married and have children, it made sense that she would delay marriage until her career was established. Today, that does not work as well and younger readers may think that it was somewhat sexist, but, in fact, it was quite realistic and a good excuse to keep our hero single. All of Schwartz' heroes had mature relationships with their female love interests--except for Green Lantern. Carol Ferris used the same excuse on Hal but went one step further--as the boss, she shouldn't have been dating the hired help, but she kept on going back and forth, while also professing interest in his secret identity, GL. It's taken many years for them to work out that relationship!
I replied:
DC promoted the Atom in full-page house ads, and he even prompted the creation a similar character at Marvel. But neither of them hit the big time.
Wesley Smith:
ReplyDeleteI’ve got that first issue. I need to figure out what it’s worth someday. The Atom was always a favorite of mine.
Vincent Mariani:
ReplyDeleteI remember being really disappointed when the Atom was introduced. I liked the comic, but WHERE WAS HAWKMAN?
THAT was the character that probably made me continue reading comics at the time. That lush Kubert artwork was so different in a superhero comic. But I warmed to The Atom anyway.
I replied:
I never knew about Hawkman until his Brave and Bold premiere, and I loved him too. In retrospect, he strikes me as kind of "essence of supehero."
Vincent Mariani:
ReplyDeleteThe debut of the Atom in Showcase also brought the Golden Age JSA heroes into the consciousness of readers with an intriguing illustrated text piece.
Vincent Mariani:
ReplyDeleteMurphy Anderson's inking did a great deal to elevate the quality of Gil Kane's artwork for The Atom. Aesthetically, Flash and Green Lantern were inferior, even though those characters were far more versatile. Especially Green Lantern. Anderson was a unique talent. He did the same thing for Gil Kane's Atom that he did for Carmine Infantino's Adam Strange.
Bob Bailey:
ReplyDeleteThanks Dan. I so loved the Schwartz Silver Age Atom. By the way, Julie Schwartz told me the costume was designed by his fav artist Murphy Anderson, who also designed Adam Strange’s uniform too. Murphy also designed the cover to Showcase #34.
Bruce Kanin:
ReplyDeleteAtom was always on my “A” list. His stories were a refreshing change from the “Big Guns’” books.
Philip Davis:
ReplyDeleteTo this day, I still remember how to distinguish between stalagmites and stalactites because of the explanation in the very first Atom story in Showcase.
I replied:
So can I!
Jim Ludwig:
ReplyDeleteBeing short at 5'6" I liked the Atom. Just being small like Doll Man was not much of a power, but the Atom had other things going for him. Of course Doll Man beat Mini-Midget and Rinty and Buzz Balmer.
Johnny Williams:
ReplyDeleteGil Kane’s Atom covers were wonderful! Many were real grabbers that almost compelled you to buy the book and read the story just to see how the Atom manages to get out of the tough spots the covers showed him in. Fastened to a hurled hand grenade or stuck to the tire of a speeding car are just a couple of the Atom’s hair-raising predicaments.