The Atom

Gallery

Real Name

Albert "Al" Pratt

Current Alias

The Atom

Relatives

Mary Pratt (wife, deceased), Grant Albert Emerson (Damage, son), Albert Rothstein (aka Nuklon/Atom-Smasher, god/foster son)

Affiliation

Justice Society of America, formerly Black Lantern Corps, All-Star Squadron

Base Of Operations

Calvin City; Calvin College

Status

Alignment

Good

Identity

Secret Identity

Citizenship

American

Marital Status

Widowed

Occupation

Retired, Adventurer, Scientist

Characteristics

Gender

Male

Height

5' 1"

Weight

96 lbs (44 kg)

Eyes

Blue

Hair

Red

Origin

Universe

New Earth

Place of Death

Vanishing Point

Created by

Ben Flinton, Bill O'Conner

First appearance

Appearance of Death

All-American Comics #19
(October, 1940)

Zero Hour #3
(September, 1994)

HistoryEdit

The Mighty Mite

Al Pratt was born in 1920. Pratt was a sophomore at Calvin College in 1940 and suffered indignity due to his short stature. This led to him becoming the target of harassment and bullying, and referred to as "Atom Al" by his tormentors. Due to this, he felt he was unable to impress Mary James, the girl of his dreams. One day, feeling sympathetic, he bought dinner for a vagrant who turned out to be Joe Morgan, a former boxing champ. Morgan promised Pratt the young man could be made into a muscular man with the right training. In under one year Pratt became a massively strong fighter, and he decided to use his new ability to protect the oppressed as the “mystery man,” Atom.

World War II

At the start of World War II, President Roosevelt organized the "mystery men" to band together and create the Justice Society of America. Al was a founding member and later joined the All-Star Squadron where he struck up a strong friendship with fellow member Wildcat. He was present when the JSA battled Ian Karkull. During the fight, Atom was bathed in mystical energy that kept him young for decades.

The Human Atomic Bomb

In another battle alongside the All-Star Squadron, Al Pratt fought the reluctant villain known as Cyclotron. Energy released in that battle caused Al Pratt to develop radiation immunity by the late-1940s. But when the Atom and Starman went to the Manhattan Project site to stop a foe, Pratt, without thinking, ran through the fallout to save Starman and was caught in another explosion. He was unaffected by this and their foe was defeated. Surviving the blast completely unharmed, it was discovered that the extra dose of radiation gave him more superpowers.

Career, Marriage, Life

Pratt was always very intelligent, yet ignorant when it came to nuclear physics. After the incident with Starman at the Manhattan Project site, he started studying nuclear physics and gained his PhD to become a brilliant scientist. Later, he took the job of nuclear physics professor at Alma Mater Calvin College.

In the early 50s, Pratt retired along with the rest of the JSA, after the group was urged by to remove their masks and work for the government. Pratt then revealed himself as The Atom to his sweetheart Mary James, as well as her parents, and then proposed to her. They eventually married and had a happy life together.

Years later, Pratt came out of retirement to rejoin the JSA. He and the rest of the JSA teamed up with the Justice League of America for the first time to battle a group known as the Crime Champions. On this adventure, Pratt met Ray Palmer, the modern-day Atom. Al continued battling evil alongside the JSA and his best friend Wildcat, and Pratt's bravery inspired his godson Albert Rothstein, the grandson of Cyclotron (who looked up to Al as a father figure), to use his powers for good as the superhero known as Nuklon.

Atom joined the JSA and other heroes in the Crisis on Infinite Earths event and during the battle, Wildcat was severely wounded. Seeing his friend crippled greatly affected Pratt, who wondered if he was getting too old for the hero game. Later, the JSA were drawn into Limbo to do eternal battle with the forces of evil to prevent Ragnarok, and after only a few years, Atom and the rest of the JSA returned to Earth and Al was reunited with his beloved Mary.

Tragedy

Pratt's wife became pregnant and the couple were expecting a son. A great enemy of the Atom, and the JSA, deduced that Pratt's child would inherit his atomic based powers and could be a tool in his plot to dominate the world. When Mary gave birth, Vandal Savage stole the child and killed Mary Pratt. When Al discovered the news of her death, he was utterly devastated. He stayed close to his friends, Wildcat, Jay Garrick and Alan Scott after this tragedy. Despite his reluctance to get back into crime fighting, Pratt joined his teammates in battling a scheme concocted by their old foe, Ultra-Humanite. He stayed with the JSA when the group reassembled.

Death

Years later, Pratt joined his fellow JSA members in taking part in the event known as Zero Hour. Most of the JSA went to the realm known as Vanishing Point, where they were ambushed by the being known as Extant. Extant taunted his foes with boasts about how he could control time, and as usual, the hot-headed Pratt hurled himself at Extant. The time-controlling villain fired a blast of energy and killed Atom instantly. He then proceeded to eliminate the ranks of the JSA. Waverider rescued the heroes and took them and Pratt's body back to Earth. Pratt was buried in the superhero cemetery known as Valhalla.

Legacy

To honor his god/foster father, Albert Rothstein took up a costume similar to Pratt’s and adopted the name Atom Smasher to honor the Atom's legacy. But the responsibility was too much for Albert, and he eventually went rogue. It was discovered that the hero, Damage, was Pratt’s lost son, but sadly, Al was dead by the time this was discovered and Grant grew to hate his father due to the man's absence throughout his life. Lately Grant has been wearing his father's mask to cover his recently disfigured face and has joined the JSA filling his father's place.

Blackest Night

Pratt's body was later reanimated by Black Hand as a member of the Black Lanterns. Like all Black Lanterns, he was sent to kill the person his death most affected: his son Grant. Pratt's attempt at murder was stopped by Ray Palmer. After the crisis was over, Pratt’s corpse was returned to Valhalla.

Afterlife

In the afterlife, Al befriended David Knight. David brought his brother, the next Starman, Jack Knight, to a banquet in limbo attended by Atom and several other deceased mystery men.

Powers and AbilitiesEdit

Powers

• Atomic Physiology: A long life of heroics and adventures has given Al Pratt an abnormal physiology which lends him his atomic abilities. At first he gained resistance to radiation due to a dying villain, later he gained full atomic physical abilities when he was caught in the fallout of an explosion.

• Decelerated Aging
• Radiation Immunity
• Superhuman Durability
• Superhuman Speed
• Superhuman Stamina
• Superhuman Strength: The Atom focuses his radioactive energy into his fists adding destructive force to his punches.

Abilities

• Enhanced Intellect

• Science

• Hand-to-Hand Combat (Basic)

• Boxing
  

ParaphernaliaEdit

Equipment

• Dimensional Vibrator Belt: Albert's own invention that allowed him to travel between parallel Earths.

Transportation

• Atomobile
  

NotesEdit

• Al Pratt's legacy lives on in the form of Al Rothstein, who renamed himself Atom-Smasher in honor of his godfather. The Atom legacy is also carried on by the young hero Damage, who is the son he never knew he had.
  

TriviaEdit

• Al Pratt is also known as Little Superman and the Mighty Mite.

Related

• 362 Appearances of Albert Pratt (New Earth)
• 54 Images featuring Albert Pratt (New Earth)
• Quotations by or about Albert Pratt (New Earth)
• Character Gallery: Albert Pratt (New Earth)

LinksEdit

• Albert Pratt (New Earth) at Wikipedia.org

Discover and Discuss

• Search this site for: Albert Pratt (New Earth)
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Footnotes

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Albert Pratt (New Earth). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with DC Database, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Justice Society of America member This character is or was a primary member of the Justice Society of America in any of its various incarnations. This template will categorize articles that include it into the "Justice Society of America members" category.