All-American Comics #19
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeAll-American Comics #19 (cover date October 1940) marks the debut of Al Pratt, the original Golden Age Atom — a superhero defined not by any innate power or alien origin, but by sheer human determination: a short, bullied college student who trained himself into a formidable fighter. That premise — the self-made underdog — gave the character a narrative hook that set him apart from the capes who preceded him, and it resonated enough to earn him a founding slot in the Justice Society of America, comics' first superhero team, just issues later. The issue also continued the early run of Green Lantern (Alan Scott), who had debuted only three issues prior, cementing All-American Comics as the single richest incubator of Golden Age DC characters. Together, the two features in this one anthology issue contributed to a shared universe that would ultimately underpin the entire DC cosmology for decades.
In "The Insurance Racket," Green Lantern takes on a deadly scheme in which a man named Slade exploits desperate gamblers by forcing them to take out life insurance policies he then collects on after their mysterious deaths. Written by Bill Finger and illustrated by Martin Nodell, this 1940 story blends noir intrigue with the hero’s signature moral clarity, as Green Lantern uses cunning and a well-timed trap to expose the criminal network. The cover by Sheldon Moldoff captures the tension of the moment with sharp, expressive detail.
In "The Insurance Racket," Green Lantern investigates the suspicious death of a man he once saved, uncovering a deadly scheme where gamblers are forced to take out insurance policies on their lives—policies that Slade collects when they meet sudden ends. Posing as a desperate debtor, Green Lantern works his way into Slade’s web, using deception to expose the lawyer’s guilt before facing the criminal mastermind in a trap of his own making.
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We Buy Collections ▸History
All-American Comics was published by All-American Publications — a company founded by Max C. Gaines and editorially shepherded by Sheldon Mayer — operating as a sister imprint to National Periodical Publications (the direct forerunner of DC Comics) and carrying the DC logo on its covers for distribution purposes. By the time issue #19 went on sale in August 1940, the title was already the home of Green Lantern (introduced in #16 by Martin Nodell and Bill Finger) and was on an aggressive streak of superhero introductions. The Atom feature was written by Bill O'Connor and penciled by Ben Flinton with inks by Leonard Sansone; both O'Connor and Flinton left comics entirely when they joined the U.S. Army in 1942 and never returned to the field after the war. M.C. Gaines served as managing editor and Sheldon Mayer as assistant editor, and the issue's internal pages even include a Scribbly strip promoting the then-new All-Star Comics #2 — a small window into how tightly cross-promotion wove together the emerging All-American/DC shared line.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance and origin of the Atom (Al Pratt), created by writer Bill O'Connor, penciler Ben Flinton, and inker Leonard Sansone — cover date October 1940, on-sale date August 21, 1940.
- Al Pratt is introduced as a 5'1" college student with no superpowers whatsoever; his origin story involves training under ex-boxer Joe Morgan after being humiliated in front of his girlfriend Mary James, making him one of the first self-made, non-powered costumed heroes in comics.
- In his debut story, titled 'Introducing the Mighty Atom,' Al Pratt does NOT yet wear a costume — he fights in street clothes, foiling a kidnapping; his full costumed persona was established in the very next issue.
- Al Pratt would go on to become a founding member of the Justice Society of America (first assembled in All-Star Comics #3, Winter 1940), making this issue the origin point for one of comics' first superhero team's charter members.
- The cover and the issue's lead Green Lantern story ('The Insurance Racket') feature art by Sheldon Moldoff (cover) and Martin Nodell (credited as 'Mart Dellon') with scripting by Bill Finger — the same creative team behind Green Lantern's debut three issues earlier.
- The issue also marks the final appearance of Gary Concord, the Ultra-Man in All-American Comics, making it a minor closing milestone as well as an opening one.
- The Atom debut story was later reprinted in Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes (Crown Publishers, 1976), The JSA All Stars Archives Vol. 1 (DC, 2007), and the Green Lantern story was collected in The Golden Age Green Lantern Archives Vol. 1 (DC, 1999).
- The issue was edited by M.C. Gaines (managing editor) and Sheldon Mayer (assistant editor) and published under All-American Publications, which would not be fully absorbed into what became DC Comics until 1946.
Full credits
Reprints
Reprinted in Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes #[nn] (1976), Secret Origins of the Super DC Heroes #[nn] (1976), Golden Age Green Lantern Archives #1 (1999), The JSA All Stars Archives #1 (2007)
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