March 1967: Doubling Atomic Action

Attempting to stop a mysterious purple-clad criminal from stealing valuable bookends, the Atom is shocked to see the thief disappear through a portal to Earth-Two.

The super-villain turns out to be the Thinker, an archenemy of the Flash since 1943. He’s upped his game since then with a “thinking cap” that stimulates his brain, increasing his intelligence to genius level.

“I’ve also managed to increase its sidereal powers so that the creative centers of my brain are tremendously hyped up!” he thinks. “Now I can generate any amount of telekinetic energy …  enabling me to mentally create actual objects and people (that) will act as I command.”

The gloating Thinker believes he’s committed the perfect crime by robbing on one planet and then escaping to another — until TV news informs him of the startling fact that “the Thinker” has also stolen rare bookends on Earth-Two!

That mystery is the springboard for a satisfying Gardner Fox yarn, The Thinker’s Earth-Shattering Robberies, in The Atom 29 (March 1967). Handsome Gil Kane/Sid Greene art enhances this first team-up of the Golden Age and Silver Age Atoms.

The younger Atom had previously teamed up with Hawkman (Case of the Cosmic Camera!, The Atom 7, June 1963), the Flash (The Challenge of the Expanding World!, The Brave and the Bold 53, April 1964) and the Metal Men (Revenge of the Robot Reject, The Brave and the Bold 55, Aug. 1964). 

The Thinker had earlier faced the original Earth One/Earth Two doppelgängers — the two Flashes — while teamed up with the Fiddler and the Shade (Flash of Two Worlds, The Flash 123, Sept. 1961).

The influence of the Batman TV shows can be seen in the prominently displayed sound effects and Al Pratt’s “Atomobile.” I liked it. A true “convertible,” it switched instantly from ordinary car to super-vehicle. 

Another Golden Age superhero, the Sandman, was also sporting a “Sandcar” around this time, but that vehicle dated back to Adventure Comics 76 (July 1942).