For those who live outside of the UK and wonder how British comics were different to their American counterparts, and for those (like myself) who love the nostalgia of old British comics, here is the complete issue of Smash! #19.
The Legend Testers is my favourite British comic strip of all time.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
FAMOUS FIRSTS - THE ATOM 1st Silver Age appearance.
The big five DC superheroes were Superman, Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. But what makes DC far superior to Marvel (IMO) is the huge range of secondary superheroes. The Atom was one of these (more will be covered in future posts) and Ray Palmer is billed as the world’s smallest superhero!
Showcase was a title that featured pilot episodes of new characters and if they proved popular they would go on to have their own comic book. This proved to be the case with The Atom with the first issue dated July 1962. The Atom’s origin was featured in Showcase #34 and here it is…(interestingly the cover features the second story in the comic).
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,754Chief of Staff
So, Jean the lady lawyer has to give up work as soon as she marries…👀🤣
Hadn't heard of The Atom before…but there are probably lots that I haven’t heard of 🤗
they actually give us the credits in this story, a rarity for DC in this era
writer Gardner Fox was one of DC's most prolific writers and worked for them for decades. He created the golden age Flash and Hawkman, and the Justice Society of America in the early days, and decades later created the Justice League as well as inventing the concept of Earth 1 and Earth 2 in Flash 123. He was also a scifi novellist
penciller Gil Kane also drew the silver age Green Lantern, then later went to Marvel where he drew many of their covers in the early 70s
inker Murphy Anderson was another DC silver age great, he drew the silver age Hawkman and a brief revival of the Spectre. But mostly he inked other artists pencils, giving everything he touched a nice glossy polish
The Atom's series ran through the 60s but was cancelled in Nov 1969, and never really revived. I think there's only so much that can be done with the concept. He does sort of make more sense in the JLA, where everybody has a specialty. but his solo series had much better art and writing.
I'll try to post more supplementary material later, but right now I got this real life job I oughta be doing...
there was a golden age Atom. Aside from the name, he had nothing in common with the silver age Atom. He doesnt shrink, he's just short.
First appearing as a backup feature in the anthology All-American Comics 19, Oct 1940, the original Atom was Al Pratt, a five foot nuthin college student bullied by his classmates
he then spends a year of his life working out at the gym until he is surprisingly strong, then returns to college so he can take on the bullies and impress his old girlfriend (basically the plot of a Charles Atlas ad)
and while he's at it, puts on a costume and fights crime. as the Atom, he was one of the founding members of the Justice Society of America. Thats him in the blue mask covering his whole face, extreme left of the table (All Star Comics 3, winter 1940/41)
I'm not going to show you any more, because frankly the original Atom was not very good, except...
shortly before the series was cancelled, without explanation one month (Flash 98, Aug 1948) ) the Atom now had a new, more stylish costume with an Atom logo, and atomic strength. Where this atomic strength came from was never explained, but it did make him slightly more deserving of his spot in the JSA.
look, he stops a train with his bare hands! thats Superman level strength, you dont get that just from lifting weights for a year!
I think when they did the Silver Age revivals of the Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman, they picked the Atom for the next revival purely because his name had science-y implications. All four revivals were more scifi than the originals, but the Atom was by far the most radically different. DC had many more interesting golden age characters they could have revived instead. But The Atom is a cool name, worth keeping the trademark (always a priority to these publishers), and Fox and Kane definitely came up with a cool new character deserving of the science-y name and spun off lots of science-y adventures for the character.
name aside, the actual Golden Age antecedent of the silver age Atom would be Doll Man.
Doll Man was one of the first superheroes, published by rival company Quality Comics, from Dec 1939 though Oct 1953, created by the great Will Eisner. Doll Man was Darrel Dane, who had the power to shrink to six inches so made the logical choice to put on a costume and fight crime. One might think choosing to be six inches tall was a willful disadvantage rather than a superpower, but it made for great visuals.
in later issues there was also a Doll Girl (and this last cover also shows the growing influence of horror comic imagery even in superhero comics)
when the Quality Comics company went out of business in 1956, DC bought the rights to their old characters, and if they wanted to introduce a shrinking superhero could have just revived Doll Man. But maybe they thought the name sounded not quite butch enough, so they took the superpower of Doll Man and the name of Atom to give us the silver age Atom.
but I hear you ask, what about AntMan? he's had three blockbuster motion pictures and I've never heard of this Atom or that Atom or the DollMan, surely AntMan was the original shrinking superhero?
I say thee, nay!
Henry Pym, the future AntMan, was first introduced in a one shot science fiction genre story called "the Man in the Ant Hill", by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in Marvel's scifi anthology Tales to Astonish 27, jan 1962. in this story, Dr Pym invents a technology that allows him to shrink to the size of an ant, gets himself trapped in an anthill where the ants chase him round, manages to escape, and gratefully returns to his normal size. the end. Dr Pym wasnt intended to have a future appearance.
a few months later, following the success of the Fantastic Four, Lee and Kirby quickly came up with followup superheroes the Hulk and Thor, and Henry Pym returned with costume, and codename, and a new ability to control the ants. He now used his special abilities as a superpower, and in his second adventure fought communist spies (as marvel superheroes often did in the early 60s). This happened in Tales to Astonish 35, sept 1962
in Tales to Astonish 44, june 1963, AntMan gained a partner: Janet van Dyne, The Wasp. Note that their first adventure together, they battle one of them giant monsters Marvel had been specialising in before introducing their new generation of superheros. AntMan and the Wasp would soon after become founding members of The Avengers.
then in Tales to Astonish 49, Nov 1963, AntMan changed his name to GiantMan, finally figuring out what DollMan and the Atom never did: that if you have to power to change size, choosing to be twice as big as everybody else is a much better advantage for fighting crime. Unfortunately this sudden revelation was not enough, and GiantMan lost his series a few months later, and from that point on he and The Wasp only appeared as part of The Avengers.
so, the Atom debuted in Oct 1961, preceding "The Man in the AntHill" by three months, then his series outlasted AntMan/GiantMan by several years.
Thank you @caractacus potts that was very interesting. I had no virtually no knowledge of the Golden Age Atom, now I’m an expert!
The info on Doll Man is also much appreciated, I had no idea of this character. Ant-Man, of course, has had a lot of exposure through the movies, which were some of the better Marvel efforts.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
CONTENT ADVICE: Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended.
JAMES BOND: FELIX LEITER (2017) Part 12 of 12
Overall, a pretty decent effort. Sales were obviously not high enough to warrant any further solo Felix adventures as 7 years have passed since publication. I think that trend may well continue into the television mini-series format - I don’t think the character is strong enough to hold his own series down, but this was an enjoyable story and well worth presenting on this thread.
Which leads me to the next Bond story. I thought long and hard about posting the LTK movie adaptation, but ultimately I feel it’s not quite good enough. And likewise I feel that the continuing Bond comics that have been published over the last decade are not good enough either. I feel the stories are not Bondian enough and he is more of an “ordinary” spy than the globetrotting secret agent from the heyday of Bond (which unfortunately has long gone).
Instead, I am keeping with the weekend “secret agent” genre and posting a series that is not Bond, but very Bond-like, and fantastic fun. So, tune in next Saturday for the first part of…(you’ll have to wait and see) 😁
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Comments
CONTENT ADVICE: Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended.
JAMES BOND: FELIX LEITER (2017) Part 10 of 12)
Will Felix survive? Tune in next weekend for the thrilling conclusion!
Same Felixtime, same Felixchannel? 😄
This was a good choice @CoolHandBond, it’s something I probably wouldn’t have read otherwise 🍸
This may be of interest
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cgeyq99ezdwo
Thank you for posting that @Barbel what a lovely find by DC Thomson!
As promised - the second story from Fantastic Four #1 (including advertisements).
Look out for another Famous First on Wednesday…
The ads really set the scene. Thanks again, CHB.
I have a vague memory of reading that story in b&w, possibly in "Fantastic" or "Terrific".
The Fantastic Four reprints began in Wham! #112
I remember reading Wham from time to time…😀
Ah, Wham! As mentioned in these pages earlier.
For those who live outside of the UK and wonder how British comics were different to their American counterparts, and for those (like myself) who love the nostalgia of old British comics, here is the complete issue of Smash! #19.
The Legend Testers is my favourite British comic strip of all time.
That was fun!
Those were the days ☺️
FAMOUS FIRSTS - THE ATOM 1st Silver Age appearance.
The big five DC superheroes were Superman, Batman, The Flash, Wonder Woman and Green Lantern. But what makes DC far superior to Marvel (IMO) is the huge range of secondary superheroes. The Atom was one of these (more will be covered in future posts) and Ray Palmer is billed as the world’s smallest superhero!
Showcase was a title that featured pilot episodes of new characters and if they proved popular they would go on to have their own comic book. This proved to be the case with The Atom with the first issue dated July 1962. The Atom’s origin was featured in Showcase #34 and here it is…(interestingly the cover features the second story in the comic).
So, Jean the lady lawyer has to give up work as soon as she marries…👀🤣
Hadn't heard of The Atom before…but there are probably lots that I haven’t heard of 🤗
Thanks, CHB 🍸
I had heard of him via the Justice League but never read a solo comic nor his origin.
More thanks 🍸
good choice CoolHand, I always like the Atom
they actually give us the credits in this story, a rarity for DC in this era
writer Gardner Fox was one of DC's most prolific writers and worked for them for decades. He created the golden age Flash and Hawkman, and the Justice Society of America in the early days, and decades later created the Justice League as well as inventing the concept of Earth 1 and Earth 2 in Flash 123. He was also a scifi novellist
penciller Gil Kane also drew the silver age Green Lantern, then later went to Marvel where he drew many of their covers in the early 70s
inker Murphy Anderson was another DC silver age great, he drew the silver age Hawkman and a brief revival of the Spectre. But mostly he inked other artists pencils, giving everything he touched a nice glossy polish
The Atom's series ran through the 60s but was cancelled in Nov 1969, and never really revived. I think there's only so much that can be done with the concept. He does sort of make more sense in the JLA, where everybody has a specialty. but his solo series had much better art and writing.
I'll try to post more supplementary material later, but right now I got this real life job I oughta be doing...
there was a golden age Atom. Aside from the name, he had nothing in common with the silver age Atom. He doesnt shrink, he's just short.
First appearing as a backup feature in the anthology All-American Comics 19, Oct 1940, the original Atom was Al Pratt, a five foot nuthin college student bullied by his classmates
he then spends a year of his life working out at the gym until he is surprisingly strong, then returns to college so he can take on the bullies and impress his old girlfriend (basically the plot of a Charles Atlas ad)
and while he's at it, puts on a costume and fights crime. as the Atom, he was one of the founding members of the Justice Society of America. Thats him in the blue mask covering his whole face, extreme left of the table (All Star Comics 3, winter 1940/41)
I'm not going to show you any more, because frankly the original Atom was not very good, except...
shortly before the series was cancelled, without explanation one month (Flash 98, Aug 1948) ) the Atom now had a new, more stylish costume with an Atom logo, and atomic strength. Where this atomic strength came from was never explained, but it did make him slightly more deserving of his spot in the JSA.
look, he stops a train with his bare hands! thats Superman level strength, you dont get that just from lifting weights for a year!
I think when they did the Silver Age revivals of the Flash, Green Lantern, and Hawkman, they picked the Atom for the next revival purely because his name had science-y implications. All four revivals were more scifi than the originals, but the Atom was by far the most radically different. DC had many more interesting golden age characters they could have revived instead. But The Atom is a cool name, worth keeping the trademark (always a priority to these publishers), and Fox and Kane definitely came up with a cool new character deserving of the science-y name and spun off lots of science-y adventures for the character.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
name aside, the actual Golden Age antecedent of the silver age Atom would be Doll Man.
Doll Man was one of the first superheroes, published by rival company Quality Comics, from Dec 1939 though Oct 1953, created by the great Will Eisner. Doll Man was Darrel Dane, who had the power to shrink to six inches so made the logical choice to put on a costume and fight crime. One might think choosing to be six inches tall was a willful disadvantage rather than a superpower, but it made for great visuals.
in later issues there was also a Doll Girl (and this last cover also shows the growing influence of horror comic imagery even in superhero comics)
when the Quality Comics company went out of business in 1956, DC bought the rights to their old characters, and if they wanted to introduce a shrinking superhero could have just revived Doll Man. But maybe they thought the name sounded not quite butch enough, so they took the superpower of Doll Man and the name of Atom to give us the silver age Atom.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
but I hear you ask, what about AntMan? he's had three blockbuster motion pictures and I've never heard of this Atom or that Atom or the DollMan, surely AntMan was the original shrinking superhero?
I say thee, nay!
Henry Pym, the future AntMan, was first introduced in a one shot science fiction genre story called "the Man in the Ant Hill", by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, in Marvel's scifi anthology Tales to Astonish 27, jan 1962. in this story, Dr Pym invents a technology that allows him to shrink to the size of an ant, gets himself trapped in an anthill where the ants chase him round, manages to escape, and gratefully returns to his normal size. the end. Dr Pym wasnt intended to have a future appearance.
a few months later, following the success of the Fantastic Four, Lee and Kirby quickly came up with followup superheroes the Hulk and Thor, and Henry Pym returned with costume, and codename, and a new ability to control the ants. He now used his special abilities as a superpower, and in his second adventure fought communist spies (as marvel superheroes often did in the early 60s). This happened in Tales to Astonish 35, sept 1962
in Tales to Astonish 44, june 1963, AntMan gained a partner: Janet van Dyne, The Wasp. Note that their first adventure together, they battle one of them giant monsters Marvel had been specialising in before introducing their new generation of superheros. AntMan and the Wasp would soon after become founding members of The Avengers.
then in Tales to Astonish 49, Nov 1963, AntMan changed his name to GiantMan, finally figuring out what DollMan and the Atom never did: that if you have to power to change size, choosing to be twice as big as everybody else is a much better advantage for fighting crime. Unfortunately this sudden revelation was not enough, and GiantMan lost his series a few months later, and from that point on he and The Wasp only appeared as part of The Avengers.
so, the Atom debuted in Oct 1961, preceding "The Man in the AntHill" by three months, then his series outlasted AntMan/GiantMan by several years.
Thank you @caractacus potts that was very interesting. I had no virtually no knowledge of the Golden Age Atom, now I’m an expert!
The info on Doll Man is also much appreciated, I had no idea of this character. Ant-Man, of course, has had a lot of exposure through the movies, which were some of the better Marvel efforts.
CONTENT NOTICE:
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH - Chapter Six: The Man in the Black Helicopter
More tomorrow…
🤯 👏🏻
I've been impatiently waiting for this story to continue. Loving it.
@caractacus potts thanks for the fascinating info above.
CONTENT NOTICE:
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH - Chapter Six: The Man in the Black Helicopter (Part 2)
And this superb story continues next Thursday.
Still loving this 👏🏻
+1. It's the fascinating way it blends real-life conspiracy theories (now Denver International Airport) with the characters and their story.
CONTENT ADVICE: Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended.
JAMES BOND: FELIX LEITER (2017) Part 11of 12)
The story concludes tomorrow.
When Felix thinks "This is no way to die" I wonder if the word "time" was originally there then got crossed out ...?
@Barbel I don’t think so. The comic was published in 2017, I think it was just one of those coincidences that happen.
CONTENT ADVICE: Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended.
JAMES BOND: FELIX LEITER (2017) Part 12 of 12
Overall, a pretty decent effort. Sales were obviously not high enough to warrant any further solo Felix adventures as 7 years have passed since publication. I think that trend may well continue into the television mini-series format - I don’t think the character is strong enough to hold his own series down, but this was an enjoyable story and well worth presenting on this thread.
Which leads me to the next Bond story. I thought long and hard about posting the LTK movie adaptation, but ultimately I feel it’s not quite good enough. And likewise I feel that the continuing Bond comics that have been published over the last decade are not good enough either. I feel the stories are not Bondian enough and he is more of an “ordinary” spy than the globetrotting secret agent from the heyday of Bond (which unfortunately has long gone).
Instead, I am keeping with the weekend “secret agent” genre and posting a series that is not Bond, but very Bond-like, and fantastic fun. So, tune in next Saturday for the first part of…(you’ll have to wait and see) 😁