Scans_Daily

The Atom was not one of the oddest heroes of the Golden Age (I mean, compared to Madame Fatal or the Heap or Plastic Man) but he was odd enough. He had no super-powers. Al Pratt was a college sophomore who stood 5'1" and, after a youth spent being teased and ridiculed, had built himself up through obsessive bodybuilding to the point where he could whip the snot out of four husky bruisers at the same time. He did this regularly, with obvious relish. I can't help but think of the obvuious over-compensation going on here. You can imagine every time the Atom punched a Nazi spy or threw a bank robber through a window, he was really getting back at the boys and girls who had made his life miserable in school.He was a founding member of the Justice Society and only missed two or three cases (only the Hawkman had a perfect attendance record). I just love this guy's cockiness. He's what, 19 years old and just over five feet tall but he feels perfectly at home sitting at a table with the Spectre or Green Lantern as a peer. (Just let them make a crack about his height, that's all...he'd show 'em.) The Atom had his own back-up strip in ALL-AMERICAN COMICS, but his own stories were mediocre in both writing and art. Once in a while in ALL-STAR, he would enjoy some decent art (this sample is by Mort Meskin).

Then there's his bizarre outfit.