By 1940, the newsstands of the nation were filling up with stories of all-new superhuman champions. Superman had set off a flood of imitators, and costumed characters were clearly a bit of a gold mine. Not all of them were great, some of them were downright bizarre, and many wouldn’t last the test of time. One that went the distance despite it seeming utterly unlikely was the mighty Atom. The character was first introduced in ALL-AMERICAN COMICS #19, but while he was nicknamed the Atom because of his short size, college man Al Pratt didn’t wear any manner of costume in that first exploit. That would have to wait until this, his second outing in the role.
The first Atom story was effectively a B-picture, with the downtrodden Al Pratt trained in fighting by down-on-his-luck trainer Joe Morgan. That story, like this one, was written by Bill O’Connor and illustrated by Ben Flinton. As of the opening panel here, the Atom now has a regulation super hero costume and he’s also decided to keep his improved physique a secret so that he can use it in his costumed identity. Given that he is only a well-trained little guy, I don’t know how Al really intends to do this, but that was the standard set-up, so that’s what was used here.
And once again, somebody in the Golden Age resorts to that classic line of self-referentiality: “I feel like a character out of a comic book in this costume!” By this point, it was already a cliche. It also has to be said that the Atom’s costume is especially ridiculous, with its open chest, bare legs, short sleeves and full face mask with cape.
That last line about “He disappeared as usual” is also a bit strange given that this is the atom’s public debut in costume. But these stories were being written for kids, and so nobody much worried about this sort of stuff.
This same issue of ALL-AMERICAN COMICS also introduces another unlikely costumed character that would still be in service 85 years later. This is cartoonist Shelly Mayer’s Red Tornado, who makes her debut in the SCRIBBLY story in this issue. Her parody super hero costume is immediately a good deal more practical than what the Atom is wearing.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 
If this Atom story had happened on Earth-1 I would say get this man ( The Atom/Al Pratt ) a power ring cause he sure as hell is a man without fear to jump at least 5 stories ( going by the windows on page 5 ) to that awning is either stupid or brave. The number of golden age male superheroes with the bare legs, was that influenced by wrestlers of that age ( 1930s-40s )?
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I think the original costume worked better when it was (sparingly) used when Earth 2 was introduced. It helped him stand out and increased production values helped it come across better. I honestly prefer it but would use the second headdress instead of the full face covering.
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Odd design. It looks like he is wearing a weightlifters’ best.
Is it based on what armature wrestlers used in HS & college then (with a mask and cape because he is a “mystery man”)?
the mask looks like it would limit your peripheral vision and restrict your breathing: a problem if you are very fit and a trained fighter, but not otherwise super-powered. or invulnerable.
The second costume and the powers made sense (in light of later super-heroes) but were never really explained or defined.
The cover (IMDB credits Sheldon Moldoff) is very nice especially for this period.
Green Lantern had Bill Finger from the outset and later got people like Henry Kuttner, Alfred Bester, Bob Kanigher and John Broome. The Atom (I believe) later had Broome but had fewer memorable villains or situations.
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Atom’s original costume is the only thing I liked about the feature, and it’s hard for me to believe any GA kid-readers liked him very much either. I’ll probably never read all the ATOM stories of the period but I’ve the impression that he never had so much as a masked mastermind to contend with, much less a mad scientist or a guy with a super-gimmick. Maybe the writers stuck with mundane foes because the hero’s skillset was so limited, at least before he got super-powers– but it doesn’t seem like the power upgrade improved his rogues gallery either. Either way I’m surprised he lasted as long as he did. But then sometimes DC editors appeared to like simple backup features that could be ground out like sausages, regardless of whether they helped sell the book.
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