Action Comics #487: "Miniature War Of The Bat-Knights!"

Action Comics #487
"Miniature War Of The Bat-Knights!"
September, 1978

Script: Bob Rozakis
Artists: Alex Saviuk and Francisco Chiaramonte
Letterer: Milt Snapinn
Colorist: Jerry Serpe
Editor: Julius Schwartz

At long last, Jean Loring finally said yes and became Mrs. Ray Palmer! Now sharing her husband's secret, the newlyweds return to Giant Caverns, where the Atom was born. It is a visit fraught with danger, which threatens to turn Ray Palmer, newlywed, into Ray Palmer, widower... a result of the "Miniature War Of The Bat-Knights!"

Ray and Jean can't believe they're really married. Ray is the one who proposed about two hundred times before Jean said yes. Two hundred and fourteen, to be exact. It seems like only yesterday that the Palmers first came here. After all that's happened, it feels like more than a hundred years that they brought the Nature Club on a hike. It was a good opportunity to gather rock samples and explore the underground caves. Ray's suggestion was a bad one when part of the ceiling caved in, blocking the passageway. After he left Jean and the kids trying to dig a way out, Ray found a tiny hole in the cave ceiling. Only an insect could fit through. This gives the scientist an idea. Using the reducing lens he had been experimenting with, which he happened to have in his pocket, Ray reduced himself. Once he was reduced, the scientist was in danger of exploding like the test-objects he was working on.

Using the engagement ring he had bought Jean, which was always in his pocket, Ray is grateful that the diamond is so much harder than the rock, cutting through with ease. Shock waves began rumbling through the scientist's body as he raced back to the beam of sunlight flashing through his reducing lens. Instead of exploding as he feared, Ray returned to normal size. He went back for the rest of them and led them to the escape hatch he made.

Unbeknownst to the Palmers, Varo Lann and Iwin Gann have seen the tall one change his size. With these abilities, they of Elvara could return to the outside world, and rule over all. They are Bat-Knights, members of a race of tiny people who live deep in the Giant Caverns. They were forced to retreat underground centuries ago when the "tall people" hunted them. The inhabitants of Elvara have a deep hatred of their large counterparts, a hatred that drives them to kill the tall ones. Ray warns Jean to avoid the charging Bat-Knights.

Jean recognizes them as the same warriors they fought the last time. She thought that they were her husband's friends. They were friends of the Atom. Perhaps they don't recognize Ray Palmer, but he'll make sure they remember the Atom. By switching on his full 180-pound weight, he'll come down hard and fast on the Bat-Knight, like a bat out of hell.

It's back to flying school for the two of them. With a lance in his hands, the fight has become a bit more even. The Bat-Knight still has the upper hand with his steed, but the Atom can do some flying of his own. Reducing his weight to practically nil, the Mighty Mite is up and at 'em. He doesn't get the Bat-Knight, but what he does hit does bring him down to Earth.

Jean figures it's time she gave the Atom a helping hand. As she grabs one of the Bat-Knights, her husband warns her about the charged lance. BZAP! He'll get the Bat-Knight for that. As the Atom tries to shrink out of sight, he discovers to his horror that the lance blast traveled faster than he could shrink. ZAP! Now the secret of size-change will be theirs.

Some time later in the castle city of Elvara, the Atom awakens, with his captors about to force him to talk. They won't force him to do anything because he'll shrink. They warn the Atom that if he should shrink out of sight, and he'll endanger the life of his wife. They've done nothing to Jean yet, and they will refrain from doing so, provided that he reveal the secret of size-variation to them. They don't want to learn to become smaller or larger.

They wish to change the tall ones. With this power, all outsiders will be reduced to the Atom's current size. They of Elvara will no longer be the hunted. They will be the hunters and exact their revenge. The Atom had thought them to be peace-loving people. Their elders were, but they no longer rule Elvara. The young ones demand their rightful share of the world, and more. Will he cooperate or will he sacrifice his wife's life?

How does he know that Jean is really their prisoner? What proof is there that they haven't already killed her? They present the evidence in the form of Jean's engagement ring. Then they have harmed her, because she would never remove it willingly. They assure him that it was done when she was stunned. She is well but unable to escape their trap. They have sealed the cavern entrance by which he approached Elvara -- imprisoning her. There is no other escape! Visions of Jean running in fear of the flying bats appear for a moment. If he refuses to cooperate, they'll kill her. KLIK! KLIK! The Atom is betting Jean's life that they won't kill her -- because she's already escaped.

SKRIT! SKRIT! The diamond puts their lances out of business. KLIK! KLIK! Now, the Atom takes the easiest way out... up and away! The Mighty Mite is starting to feel like King Kong! The "planes" are coming but he's not waiting to be "shot down". The Atom will make a jump of his own. The dust he kicked up will take care of any aerial pursuit.

Later, Jean is pleased to see that her husband is safe. Together, they manage to seal the doorway, and keep the Bat-Knights confined to their own domain. Jean knows that the world would be helpless if they had her husband's power. She then wonders why Ray risked her life when he escaped from the Bat-Knights. He couldn't have been sure they didn't really have her captive. Ray assures Jean that he was sure. As soon as he saw the engagement ring they'd taken when she was unconscious. He knew they couldn't keep her prisoner when they sealed the cavern's entrance -- because she knew there was another secret way out -- the escape hatch. She was there when he first made it with the ring. This is why he's known as the world's smallest super-hero.

Ray Palmer and Jean Loring became man and wife in Justice League of America #157.

At the time of this story, the Palmers last met the Bat-Knights in The Atom #30.

The splash page of "Miniature War Of The Bat-Knights!" features various scenes from the Atom's early career, as

depicted by Alex Saviuk (who does Gil Kane proud.)

Bob Rozakis pens this story which is a return to Giant Caverns, first seen in Showcase #34 (by Gardner Fox, Gil

Kane, and Murphy Anderson.)

In addition to the Atom, Rozakis and Saviuk also produced back-ups for Action Comics featuring Aquaman and Air-Wave.

Francisco Chiaramonte was best known for inking Curt Swan on Superman, and for his work on Werewolf By Night at Marvel Comics.

Alex Saviuk has drawn Web of Spider-Man and continues to illustrate the Wall-Crawler's newspaper strip.

For those of us who read DC Comics around the time this issue of Action Comics, Bob Rozakis was also known as The Answer Man, and had his own space on the DC Feature Page.

Among the questions readers asked in this issue:

What does Diana (Wonder Woman) Prince of Earth-1 do for a living?

Answer: Jack C. Harris says that she'll soon be training to be an astronaut.

Does Irv Novick draw for BOYS' LIFE Magazine?

Answer: In addition to his Flash-epics, Irv does work for BOYS' LIFE!

How did Ralph (Elongated Man) Dibny become independently wealthy?

Answer: By performing his rubbery feats in shows!

Why is Speedy such a wise guy?

Answer: because people ask him questions like that!

How many issues of THE ATOM, HAWKMAN, SANDMAN, and FIRST ISSUE SPECIAL were there?

Answer: ATOM ran #1-28 and Hawkman #1-27, then they were combined as THE ATOM AND HAWKMAN #39-#45. SANDMAN numbered 1-6 and there were 13 FIRST ISSUE SPECIALS!

Some years ago, there were GREEN LANTERN/GREEN ARROW paperback books. How can I get copies?

Answer: Both of those books are long out of print. You might try a back-issue comics dealer for copies. And by the way, keep an eye out for paperback editions of BATMAN, JUSTICE LEAGUE, SUPERMAN, and other DC characters... now on sale.

Are the Wonder Twins going to get their own comic book?

Answer: Not their own book, but a feature in SUPER FRIENDS!

Why does Luthor hate Superman so much?

Answer: They were friends as boys until a lab accident trapped Lex. When Superboy rescued him, his actions caused Lex's hair to fall out... something that Luthor has never forgiven the Man of Steel for.

Who is Uncle Sam?

Answer: The Spirit of America!

What Earth does Captain Marvel live on?

Answer: Earth-S.

How do you find the time to answer all the questions that are sent to you?

Answer: If I ever figure it out, I'll let you know!

Steve Chung
"Miniature Review Of The Bat-Knights!"

Atom #37, "Meet Major Mynah!"

THE ATOM #37; June-July 1968; DC Comics (National Periodical Publications); Julius Schwartz, editor; featuring the book-length tale, "Meet Major Mynah!", written by Gardner Fox, pencilled by Gil Kane and inked by Sid Greene. (This review based on the black and white reprint in SHOWCASE PRESENTS THE ATOM Vol. 2; I own the original comic, but the Showcase book, which I just picked up for cheap, is handier.)  On the cover by Kane and Greene, the Atom leaps from the back of a small black mynah bird to defend the mynah from an attacking eagle.  Caption: "Introducing MAJOR MYNAH-- the FLYING FURY (hey, I thought that was one of Hawkman's cognomens) who talks himself-- and ATOM-- in and out of TROUBLE!"

Review by Bill Henley

Costumed superheroes over the years have had several different types of sidekicks, including kid sidekicks, funny comic-relief sidekicks, pretty-girl sidekicks... and, occasionally, animal sidekicks.  Back in the Golden Age, Dr. Mid-Nite's mascot was an owl named Hooty, and the Quality Comics version of Manhunter had a dog named Thor ("Whoever holds this bone, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of...")  During the Silver Age, Superman/Superboy had Krypto, Supergirl had Streaky the cat, and for a while Batman had Ace the Bat-Hound (though in each of these cases, the animals were occasional supporting characters rather than sidekicks in every story).   But the Julius Schwartz superhero books, more serious-minded and skewed to an older readership, mostly avoided the use of super-pets... at least till this issue of THE ATOM, where the introduction of Major Mynah (kind of a combination of animal aide and comic-relief sidekick) appears to have been something of a last-ditch effort to add some extra appeal to a flagging character.

The two-panel splash page starts with a scene of the Atom punching a crook on the chin, and then a panel of Atom flying toward a pair of thugs riding atop the neck of a small black bird.  One of the crooks shouts, "It's the Atom-- ridin' a bird!" and the bird echoes, "IT'S THE ATOM-- RIDIN' A BIRD!"  (Clearly the precocious bird has quickly learned the Silver Age DC habit of having characters describe in dialogue what the reader can clearly see in the artwork.) 

As the tale begins, we find Ray Palmer in Cambodia as "acting head of an archeological field expedition from Ivy University".  (Even though the dialogue indicates Ray is a last-minute fill-in for Ray's "former archeology professor Jim Ames", physics isn't very related to archeology and it seems unlikely that a university would recruit a physicist as a substitute for an archeologist.  Chalk it up to the common assumption of comic-book writers that all comic-book scientists are polymaths who are expert in every known field of science.)  Ray is delighted by his team's discovery of a small gilded statue of "the peacock ridden by the Hindu goddess Sarisvati"  Ray is chagrined however when the small bird statue attracts the attention of a real bird, a black mynah which swoops down from the sky and seizes the statue in its talons!  Ray's remonstration "Shoo! Shoo!  It's not for eating!"  is echoed but not obeyed by the mimicking mynah.  Out of sight of the rest of his team, Ray resorts to his identity as the Atom in order to ride the prevailing winds and pursue the thieving bird.  Then a hawk swoops down on the mynah, causing Ray to fear that the mynah will drop the precious statue down into the jungle foliage where it will never be found again.  The hawk's talons rip into one of the mynah's wings.  The mynah stubbornly hangs onto the bird statue, but "The mynah's on one wing now-- without a prayer of escaping-- unless I lend a hand-- or FOOT!"  Atom lends a hand, foot and head in a two-page battle with the hawk, kicking the hawk, punching it in the beak and finally butting it in the stomach, which is enough to cause the hawk to fly off instead of having the Atom for lunch and the mynah bird for dessert.

The mynah flutters downward into a small opening in some stonework nearly concealed by the jungle.  Atom is hard put to glide to a soft landing while still keeping the bird in sight.  Meanwhile, a more formidable foe than the marauding hawk appears-- a band of Viet Minh guerrillas, who have been thwarted in their attempt to overthrow the Cambodian government and now hope to locate the golden statue of "the war god Karttikeya" in order to persuade the superstitious locals to join their cause.  (As a history buff, I was going to tweak Gardner Fox for confusing the Viet Minh guerrillas of Vietnam with the Khmer Rouge guerrillas of Cambodia.  However, a check on Wikipedia indicates there actually was a faction of "Khmer Viet Minh" operating in Cambodia in the late 60's.  Sorry, Gardner.  On the other hand, the Wikipedia entry on Kartikeya doesn't indicate that Cambodia was one of the places where the Hindu/Tamil war god was worshipped.)  Guided by a stolen map, the Viet Minh are seeking "the long-lost Temple of the Golden Gods," a depository of gold statues of the ancient Hindu gods.  However, in following the mynah bird down a hole in the ground, the Atom has found it first!

But the guerrillas are close behind him, as the Atom stands in wonderment at the magnitude of his archeological discovery and as he makes an effort to mend the broken wing of the mynah bird who inadvertently led him to this find.  As the guerrillas troop into the temple, the Atom whispers, "Who's that?" but the mynah echoes him much louder, "WHO'S THAT?"  Alerted to the Atom's presence, the guerrillas take him for "a tiny demon-- sent here by the gods to protect their golden statues!  We must destroy HIM-- before he destroys US!"    The Atom isn't particularly interested in destroying the guerrillas (unlike some earlier Cold War costumed heroes, he's not a "Commie smasher," though in a couple of earlier Atom stories he played counterspy and helped catch enemy agents who were implied to be from Communist countries).  But he's not going to stand still and be destroyed.  Darting and leaping around the hidden temple, he battles the guerrillas-- until a stray gunshot knocks loose the arm of a golden statue, which falls on top of the Atom and pins him down as a target for his foes!

But at that point, "aware of the fact that the man who tried to mend its broken wing is in deadly danger," the mynah bird intervenes in the only way it can-- by distracting the guerrillas with its vocalizations echoing their own cries; "Blast the demon!  BLAST THE DEMON!"  The bad guys are about to kill "the demon's familiar," when they notice that the "demon" himself has disappeared!  This is enough to break the guerrillas' will, and as they flee the temple, the Atom pulls a vine across their path to trip them up and leave them for "the authorities" to pick up.  Then he grows back into Ray Palmer and picks up the helpless bird, which now has both wings broken; "You saved my life, little friend, by distracting those killers long enough for me to shrink out of sight!  The least I can do is take you back to camp and fix your wings!"

Ray reports his amazing temple find (without mentioning the Atom's involvement) and, learning that Prof. Ames is recovered and ready to take his place, he prepares to travel by plane back to Ivy Town, where his "lady lawyer fiancee" Jean Loring is eager to greet him.  His efforts to heal "Major Mynah"'s wings aren't going so well, however, so on his way home Ray makes a stopover at Midway City to consult a real bird expert-- Carter Hall, also known as Hawkman!  Carter finds that the mynah's natural wings are "beyond repair," but declares he has a way to help the bird aboard Hawkman's Thanagarian spaceship. In fact, Hawkman can rebuild him, faster, stronger-- The Bionic Bird!    (That's my turn of phrase-- it didn't actually appear in the story.) Hawkman replaces the mynah's original wings with a pair of replacement wings, powered by a "cosmic-ray motor" and capable of propelling the mynah in flight even faster than the duck hawk, the fastest known bird capable of 120 miles an hour.  Speaking to the Major in his own bird language, Hawkman warns the Atom of another complication in his plan to make the Major a pet; the Major is aware that Ray Palmer and the Atom are the same person, and he needs to be trained not to blurt out the Atom's secret identity!   Nonetheless, Atom figures the Major will be an asset to his crimefighting, not just a caged pet; the bird can be trained to carry the Atom where he needs to go, leaving the Tiny Titan no longer dependent on prevailing winds or a telephone line. 

Atom decides to break in the Major's new wings, and accustom him to his new role, by riding him home from Midway City to Ivy Town.  (Didn't Ray Palmer have any luggage, which presumably would be too much for the Major to handle?  I suppose he had it shipped home separately.)  It's a rough ride to start with, as high winds and the bird's erratic flying movements cause the nearly weightless Atom to lose his grip frequently on the mynah's slippery feathers.  "YAHOO!  I feel like a rodeo rider whose bronc goes out from under him!"  But the Major loyally changes direction to allow the Atom to land back atop him.  The pair have other obstacles on the long flight back to Ivy Town; low-hanging wires, a kite which Major flies right through, and a hunter taking pot-shots at the bird!  But they reach their destination safely, and the Atom succeeds in teaching the Major basic signals to guide their flights together.   Upon reaching his apartment, the Atom enters through a window and becomes Ray Palmer just in time to greet Jean arriving for a surprise vist.  But Jean gets a surprise of her own, hearing her own words to Ray echoed by a bird's voice!  "Well, my goodness!  This is like having somebody around peering over my shoulder!  But you ARE kind of cute!"  "KIND OF CUTE!  KIND OF CUTE!"  As Ray and Jean go off on a date, they leave the Major uncaged in Ray's apartment and with the TV on to keep him company.  He echoes what he hears from the TV, including the words of a fellow bird, the NBC peacock; "THE FOLLOWING PROGRAM IS BROUGHT TO YOU IN LIVING COLOR ..."  

Later, making a stop at the Ivy University Museum where the golden relics from Cambodia have been brought for safekeeping and display (though you'd think the Cambodian government would have raised objections to their being immediately taken out of the country), Ray discovers that the relics have already been robbed by a gang of thieves!  As the Atom, he sets off astride the Major (who echoes a TV commercial line, "IS THIS ANY WAY TO RUN AN AIRLINE?")  hoping to spot a truck big enough to haul the "golden loot".   But the Major seems uncooperative; he veers off course and "power-dives" toward the window of a private house.  But the Atom finds his new "winged wonder" knew what he was doing after all; inside the house are the criminal gang and the stolen relics!  Our hero subdues the bad guys over the course of a several-page fight, with the Major serving as both help-- functioning as "a flying diving board for the Atom"-- and occasional hindrance-- with ill-timed, distracting vocalizations.  But in the end the Atom is able to proclaim, "We got 'em all!", a boast echoed by the Major. He deduces that the Major tracked the gold relics by means of the "jungle scent" still clinging to the peacock statue. 

Back at Ray Palmer's place, Jean offers the Major a treat of rice and seeds, which elicits an unexpected response; "IT'S THE ATOM-- RIDIN' A BIRD!"    This brings forth an atypical Lois Lane-like suspicious reaction from Jean; "The ATOM? How does HE know anything about the ATOM?"  "I knew it! Sooner or later that bird was going to betray me!"  Ray cobbles up a lame explanation that the Major heard about the Atom and his fight with the crooks from a local TV news show, though he can't explain how the Atom just happened to show up in Ivy Town with a mynah bird at the same time Ray did!  Jean buys Ray's explanation, at least for the moment, though Ray resolves that "from now on, Major Mynah will have to appear in DISGUISE when he goes into action with THE ATOM!"  (The Bird With a Secret Identity!}  As Jean and Ray share a goodnight kiss, the Major chirps, "Good night, David... good night, Chet...!"

This issue was an ending for the Atom series as well as a beginning for Major Mynah-- the last issue of THE ATOM featuring the creative team of Gardner Fox and Gil Kane, who had produced every Atom story up to that point.  THE ATOM #38 (which I think I reviewed a long time back) featured the fill-in creative team of Frank Robbins and Mike Sekowsky.  Then the ATOM title converted into the combined, short-lived ATOM AND HAWKMAN title.  Major Mynah did put in an appearance in ATOM #38, and as I recall, in one of the ATOM & HAWKMAN issues (which I don't have handy) the Atom achieved his goal of disguising the Major with some sort of gadget that caused the bird's black plumage to turn yellow when flying with the Atom.  (Might be useful if the Atom ever had to fight Green Lantern...)  However, fan reaction to the Major in ATOM & HAWKMAN      lettercols was decidedly mixed (some fans thought it was a cute idea, others thought it was just goofy).   And after ATOM & HAWKMAN was cancelled, I don't think the Major was seen again in any of the Atom's later guest shots, backup features or series revivals.  I hope he didn't die of some bird disease or get shot or stomped on by some bad guy.  Maybe Atom found him too much to handle, with his outspoken ways, and gave him to a zoo or returned him to his Cambodian jungle habitat. 

The Atom #36: "Duel Between The Dual Atoms!"

The Atom #36
"Duel Between The Dual Atoms!"
April - May, 1968

Story By: Gardner Fox
Art By: Gil Kane And Sid Greene

The Atoms of two worlds are engaged in battle.  Two awesome allies --
have become two furious fighters!  The ensuing fallout threatens both
Earth-One and Earth-Two.  Now that you know the conditions for -- "Duel
Between The Dual Atoms"

Betty Roberts is a matchmaker who sees Professor Al Pratt of Calvin
College as someone who could use some companionship.  Her friend Marion
Thayer is a real looker, as well as loaded, too.  The Roberts are eager
to have Al come with them on a double date.  The professor finds this
almost too good to be true, brains, beauty, and money.  Mr. Roberts
assures his friend that Marion is a winner, while Betty wonders why Al is
being so coy.  Like Al Pratt, Marion Thayer is very particular, and the
Roberts take the professor to the Thayer Mansion located in the Klaxon
Woods area of Calvin City.  Being the Atom, Al hasn't been able to let
romance come his way.  If Marion Thayer is half as lovely as the Roberts
said --  The door opens, and the professor sees an much older woman
standing in the doorway.

When she asks if there's anything wrong with her make-up, Al wonders why
Betty and Jim have tried to set him up with a fifty year old?  When
Marion sees her reflection in the hall mirror, she lets out a scream, and
faints.  Betty Roberts has also been affected, and the professor realizes
that something must be causing the women to age prematurely.  ZZZT  The
sound of an electrical device in the back room is heard, and Al decides
to investigate as the Atom.  With Marion now on a couch, the JSAer sees a
group of men using ray-guns to blast a wall safe.

The five feet two inch tall hero does a forward flip, kicking down two
hoods, then launching himself forward to clobber a third.

The armed crook strikes him with his thermo-blaster, twice, and prepares
to fry the Atom.  The Mighty Mite grabs ahold of the table edges, and
delivers a double-kick to the safecracker's jaw.

The hapless hood is punched into a book shelf and unconsciousness.  The
Atom plans to conceal the device -- to take it to his Calvin College lab
for an examination.  The police are called to come pick up the mess.  The
absence of Al Pratt has gone unnoticed, and the professor tells his
friend to take them to the Roberts home, while he looks into the possible
cause.  Hours pass, with the nuclear physics professor studying the
thermo-blaster in his laboratory.  He knows that the device has nothing
to do with the sudden aging of the girls.  Al decides to turn in the
thermo-blaster to the police department as evidence.  When he arrives at
the police station, the desk sergeant is on the phone about another woman
from Klaxon Woods who has suddenly become old.

The college professor suggests that they send the scientific bureau to
Klaxon Woods -- to search for a device emitting a special type of
radiation.  The Atom will head to Earth-One -- where things tend to
parallel events on Earth-Two.  It could be that the aging process hasn't
happened yet -- and if so, he can learn what was responsible.  If it has
already occurred, perhaps the heroes of Earth-One have already dealt with
it.  At the Ivy Town Museum on Earth-One, a quartet of hoods are
wondering how much a jeweled pistol will get them from Freddy The Fence.
The Atom leaps over a pistol, having heard a tip about someone looking to
steal the gun collection.  As two of the crooks swing their pistols
towards him, the Mighty Mite clicks on his size-controls, and disappears
from sight.

Grabbing onto the arm of one of the hoods, the JLAer returns to his
six-inch height, and tugs hard.  This causes one crook to strike his
crooked crony with the pistol.  An atomic punch takes care of the other
hood, but there are two more to go.  The Atom kicks one crook, then grabs
onto the other's middle finger, and increases his weight to one hundred
and eighty pounds.

The bald bandit is thrown for a loss.  The next moment finds the Mighty
Mite wondering why he's fighting these men whom he has never seen before.
The crooks wonder among themselves... how did they get out of prison,
why isn't one of them playing poker with the gang, and why isn't the
other watching Maverick on TV this evening.  The Atom recalls that he's
Ray Palmer -- an Ivy University student -- who has a date with the new
girl on campus -- Jean Loring. 

After heading for his rooming house, the Mighty Mite wonders how he's
going to be able to reach the door knob, when the door opens.  The masked
character refers to him as the Atom... and tells him how he's vibrated to
his Earth for some aid.  Even at his six inch height, Ray Palmer has
never heard of the Atom.  Although the Atom from Earth-Two knows that Ray
Palmer is the Atom of Earth-One, the Mighty Mite claims never to have
seen him before.  After finding himself at a small size in costume, and
fighting some guys he didn't know, the sophomore college student is ready
for his date with Jean Loring.  Al Pratt realizes that the Atom has lost
ten years of his memory, then explains to Ray about the nature of his
dwarf-star matter costume...  It becomes invisible and intangible after
expanding... the size-controls are within the palms of his gloves, and
are activated when pressed a certain way.

Ray Palmer is now his normal self, and doesn't want to miss his date with
Jean Loring.  He doesn't remember where he got such a fancy suit, but
it'll do for the night.  Al Pratt thought he had problems back on
Earth-Two, and wonders how Ray becoming younger could be connected with
the aging women on his own Earth.  After buying a box of chocolates and a
bouquet for his date, Ray rings the doorbell.  When he sees Jean in
curlers, he figures that he's come early for their date.  She smiles at
the candy and flowers, calls him darling, and kisses him.  Needless to
say, Ray is surprised at how this particular date has progressed.  After
the clinch, she notices that her fiancee looks younger, and he is
surprised to hear that they're engaged to be married.  Jean reminds Ray
that he was the one who had been proposing to her throughout the years,
and he better not be trying to break their engagement.  The Atom from
Earth-Two steps from the shadows and tells her what's happened.

Things start making sense for Jean Loring, but Ray doesn't welcome the
arrival of the JSAer.  In his mind, he hasn't even had his first date
with Miss Loring -- and now she wants to marry him.  The next moment
finds both her fiancee and the costumed hero vanishing from sight.

The Atom has activated his atomic vibrator to return them to Earth-Two.
(Holy Comics Code, Batman!)  He realized that whatever was causing the
women to age here -- would return Ray to his rightful age.  He is now
twenty-eight years old, is the Atom of Earth-One, just as Al Pratt is the
Atom of Earth-Two.  After demonstrating how his size and weight controls
work, Ray is asked why Al didn't become younger on Earth-One when he did?
ZOK!  The Earth-One Atom is in no mood for answering questions, and
punches his counterpart on the ankle.

The stress of aging forward once more has caused mental stress in Ray
Palmer, with the Earth-Two Atom taking it on the chin from the Mighty
Mite.  CLICK!  With no other choice, the JSAer swings at his smaller foe,
who disappears from sight.  He reappears and knocks the Earth-Two Atom
back into a birdbath.

The Mighty Mite offers the JSAer a free try, but when the Earth-Two Atom
swings, the JLAer dodges the blow with ease.  The Atom hurls a bird-house
at his larger foe, but it is thrown back at him. KRASH!  Grabbing ahold
of his Earth-One counterpart, the JSAer prepares to vibrate them back to
Earth-One.

Pinning his smaller opponent against a tree, the Earth-Two Atom punches
at him, but the JLAer manages to activate his size-controls once more.
After shrinking between the JSAer's fingers, the Atom tries to keep his
counterpart from activating his atomic vibrator controls.  (Holy Comics
Code, Batman!)  The larger Atom hurls himself towards the garden
flagstones, in hopes of triggering the vibrator.

Both Atoms fall onto the garden walk... with the two heroes traveling for
Earth-One, but the Atomic Vibrator suffers from a faulty filament --
leaving them on yet another world.  The JLAer leaps for his larger
opponent, who responds in kind with a mighty punch.  VAAM!

The Mighty Mite is soon caught in the tendrils of an alien plant.  The
Earth-Two Atom activates his counterpart's size-controls, freeing him
from the deadly plant.  Ray Palmer is back at six feet once more, but
he's ready to keep fighting.  He is unable to defend himself against the
older hero, who delivers an awesome onslaught from which there's no
defense.

KA-WAAAK!  The Earth-2 Atom manages to break through Ray Palmer's
defenses with one final blow.  He is now able to repair his atomic
vibrator -- and continue on their way to Earth-One.  (Holy Comics Code,
Batman!)

Now on Earth-One, the JSAer sees that Ray Palmer has been de-aged a few
more years.  The lad wants to head for Mount Ivy, where the Scienceers
Club is about to have their meeting.  They are to fire off a test rocket,
and he's the one responsible.  The Atom chases after the fourteen year
old, in hopes of making him understand what has happened.  Young Ray
Palmer heads up to Mount Ivy, where he finds a radio-telescope, and no
sign of the Scienceers.  Figuring that someone must have chased them off,
the teen begins to beat at the radio-telescope with a rock.  As the
radio-telescope falls to the ground... Ray Palmer regains his rightful
age and his memory once more.  They learn that the radio-telescope had
been picking up some stellar radiation from outer space, and broadcasted
it in the surrounding area.

Ray doesn't remember their fight, but apologizes for it nonetheless.  The
owner of the radio-telescope turns up, and tells them about the radiation
from a distant star which was captured as it was being formed.  On
Earth-One, it had a "youth" frequency -- but on Earth-Two, it was the
reverse.  Only the Pembrooke area of Ivy Town were affected, the
radiation coming from the Van Allen Belt.  The radiation Al Pratt
absorbed on his own Earth protected him on Earth-One.  The two agree to
head back for Earth-Two.  On Mount Calvin, they find the radio-telescope,
with the radiation being bounced from the Moresby Radiation Belt -- and
deflected to Klaxon Woods.  Instead of picking up the radiation from a
new star -- this telescope has gathered the radiations from a dying one
-- affecting the aging process of females.  The two Atoms find that the
radiation has formed a force-field around the radio-telescope.  Although
the JSAer cannot reach it, the JLAer can by shrinking to the size of an
atomic bullet.  (Holy Hi-Yo Silver, Batman!)

The elder Atom hurls his counterpart towards the force-field... with the
Mighty Mite caught in the energy storm...  He realizes that Professor
Hyatt's Time Pool promises a smoother ride, but the time has come to
increase his size...  Now on his knees, the Atom crawls for the controls,
and turns the telescope off.  The Earth-Two Atom topples the
radio-telescope, just as the Earth-One Atom collapses from exertion.

Back on Earth-Two, the women have regained their rightful ages, with Al
and Marion all smiles on their date.  On Earth-One, Jean Loring smiles at
the thought that Ray Palmer was engaged to a girl who he hadn't dated
yet.

On the cover of The Atom &36 by Gil Kane, the Mighty Mite delivers an
atomic punch to his Earth-Two counterpart.  The title isn't big enough
for two small super-heroes.

If Al Pratt was in his teens during the 1940's, he'd be in his thirties
in 1968.

Al dated and married a girl named Mary.  Whatever happened to her?

In current continuity, Al Pratt is the father of Damage.

Safecrackers in Calvin City make certain to wear business suits whenever
committing a caper.

At the beginning of the story, Betty Roberts' husband is named Jim on
page 3.

By page 6, the name of Betty Roberts' husband is now Bill.

Did the matchmaking wife get a divorce and get remarried in the space of
three pages?

I guess that Gardner Fox was a fan of Maverick.

As a sophomore, Ray Palmer was surprised at how well his first date with
Miss Loring went.

As a super-hero, Ray Palmer was surprised at how things with his ex-wife
went.

In the "Inside Atom" letters page, Jeff Pierce of Stanford, Cal. writes:

"Dear Editor:

To be honest about it, I fully expected Atom #34 to be a complete
failure, a "bomb" as they say in the vernacular of the times.  It pleases
me to state that I was totally and irrevocably wrong.  The 34th venture
of The Atom in his own mag was one of the finest such stories to date.

My main criticism was the cover, the worst ever to have appeared in The
Atom.  Nothing seemed to fit in and the hero of the moment seemed (perish
the thought) uncoordinated.  Gil Kane has always been noted for his
graceful, streamlined poses, so the last thing I expect to see in a
Kane-pencilled mag is an awkward hero.  Another thing: it appears that
Atom had better seen an orthopedist, because he seems to be getting
pigeon-toed in his old age.

In sharp contrast to the cover was the interior art work.  Up until this
issue, I had planned to write you an angry letter of protest about the
artwork decay of the Gil Kane-Sid Greene team.  I now find this to be far
from necessary.  I have no idea how it was done, but Atom 34 erased all
the previous high-water marks for the team and stands as the best
Kane-Greene yarn printed to date.

The story itself was quite enjoyable.  I'm glad that you're giving Atom a
more steady diet of super-villains, rather than all those gangsters.  Now
don't get me wrong - I enjoy a good detective story as much as the next
fellow, but which is the better story: "Case of the Hooded Hijackers" or
"The Thinker's Earth-Shaking Robberies"?

Although there have been literally hundreds of groups consisting of
criminals with different talents and/or abilities, the Big Gang was as
well-handled as any of them.  Their reason for stealing, their modus
operandi, their various powers, their costumes and characterizations, all
were portrayed well.  Except one: Big Bertha.  Now I won't question the
fact that a playing card can open a safe or the fact that a gun can shoot
a propeller.  However, not even by stretching the bounds of reality to
the fullest can I believe that a female midget, no matter how skilled she
might be or how many gold medals she might have won, can throw a shot 80
feet!"

The editor replies:

"Another beef about beefy Bertha's shotputting ability!  It didn't bother
the next critic in his member-by-member analysis of the Big Gang."

Tom Peyer of Syracuse, N.Y. writes:

"Dear Editor:

Though I find it pretty hard to believe that a gang of criminals would be
more concerned with the size of its loot than its value, I enjoyed
"Little Man, etc." and would like to see more of the Big Gang.

No group can be judged collectively yet fairly, and the Big Gang is no
exception - so I'll try to tell you what I think of them one by one.

Big Head: Now come on!  We, the readers, are asked to believe that one
man could have the brains of an entire college faculty?

Big Ben: Okay, but it gets kind of annoying seeing him always hurrying
the gang up, and remarking that the first robin of spring appeared 0.32
seconds early... ease up on him, give him some Chronos-like gimmicks.  He
has great potential.

Big Wig: He's okay, but how many different gimmicks can be incorporated
into wigs?

Big Bertha: She's very good, but could be improved if you can give her
extraordinary strength in addition to her cannon-like aim.

Big Shot: Very good.  The only member of the group who would be
entertaining on his own.  Give him some "solo" adventures against the
Tiny Titan.

Big Cheese: His concept is a little absurd, but I like the way his
cheeses come through in a pinch.

Big Deal: I like him - I really can't explain why.

Though some of them are individual flops, they're great together!"

How did the creative team sneak the "atomic vibrator" past the Comics
Code Authority?

Ray Palmer was de-aged and joined the Teen Titans after events seen in
Zero Hour.

The Scienceers were a club, which had Editor Julius Schwartz as one of
its members.

The owner of the radio-telescope on Earth-One resembles Julie Schwartz.

The Super Skrull once found himself trapped in the Van Allen Radiation
Belt in a Marvel Team-Up story by Chris Claremont.

The shape-shifting villain was later freed in an early Alpha Flight story
written and drawn by John Byrne.

Steve Chung
"Review Between The Reviewed Atoms!"