Al Pratt

Al Pratt was a short, physically unimposing college student who trained himself into a peak-condition street fighter and boxer, becoming the original Atom through sheer grit rather than any superpower. Years later, radiation exposure granted him a devastating 'atomic punch' and enhanced physical abilities.

Few characters carry the weight of comics history quite like Al Pratt, who first burst onto the scene in Flash Comics #13 in 1941, conjured into existence by the legendary Gardner Fox and Everett E. Hibbard at the very dawn of the Golden Age. Over a publishing life that stretches an astonishing 85 years — from the wartime newsstands of the 1940s all the way to 2026 — Al has proven himself one of DC's most enduring figures, with 118 catalog appearances and a remarkable 12 key issues that any serious collector will recognize on sight. His world is populated by the absolute royalty of the Golden Age: Carter Hall, Alan Scott, Jay Garrick, Wonder Woman, and Batman have all shared pages with him, and his deepest roots run through All-Star Squadron, Justice League of America, and Flash Comics itself. If you want to understand where the DC Universe truly began — the era that built every superhero story that followed — Al Pratt is essential reading.