Atom. Puny Al Pratt, tired of being teased because of his five-foot-height, is down in the mouth and buys a bum dinner just so he'll have someone to talk to. The bum turns out to be a former trainer of boxers, and he takes Al away to train him. They spend a year on the farm of Al's uncle, and then Al, now an excellent boxer and muscular man, returns to the city and begins fighting crime. He is a member of the Justice Society of America. He has super-strength. He fights the Emperor of America, agents of the Black Dragon Society, and the Carnival of Crime, in addition to the Cootie Gang, Mandini the Magician, and the scavenger Undersea Raiders. The Atom appears in stories with titles like “Gangsters, Guns, and Girls,” “Van Dorra’s Box,” and “The Talking Statue.”

First Appearance: All-American Comics #19 (DC), Oct 1940. 100+ appearances, 1940-1951. Created by Bill O’Connor, Ben Flinton, and Leonard Sansone.

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