Slightly Misplaced Comic Book Characters Case File #481: Atom Smasher

Of late, I sometimes figure the best way to pick characters for this feature is to take a supporting character and write a feature about them.  Then I realized that, despite appearing in the mediocre Black Adam movie, I hadn’t covered Atom Smasher yet.  I was even reminded the guy existed when he popped up in the third issue of Justice League vs Godzilla vs Kong where he tried to wrestle the King of the Monsters and was maybe killed when the big lizard took a bite out of him.  No one seemed all that upset about his death.

Somehow, that tracks.

Actually, Atom Smasher, AKA Albert Rothstein, first appeared with a different name and a very different appearance.  First appearing in The All-Star Squadron #25 in September of 1983 by Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway, Al called himself “Nuklon.”  He was the godson of the Golden Age Atom Al Pratt, and he had superpowers courtesy of his reluctant Golden Age supervillain grandpa, the Cyclotron.  As for powers, he had control over his own density, superhuman strength and speed, and even a bit of size manipulation.

As a member of Infinity Inc, Al fought the forces of evil and eventually joined the Justice League alongside his close friend and teammate Obsidian in a run that you probably can’t find on DC Universe Infinite because the writer was later convicted of some really heinous crimes, and that is all I am going to say about that.  He would also start a romance with League teammate Fire, but he’d ultimately turn her advances down because she wasn’t Jewish, and that was important to him.

But then time goes on and he joins the Justice Society of America with a new name and look.  The look probably came from how he was painted in Kingdom Come while the new name, Atom Smasher, paid more tribute to his godfather.  His powers here seem to mostly be the size manipulation and superhuman strength, but at least he ditched the mohawk.    Al actually got some decent storylines out of this one, like having to be talked down from seeking revenge against the terrorist leader who killed Al’s mom with a bomb on her plane, but later when given the opportunity, he switched her with the supervillain Exant, saving her life and…well, no one else’s.  I’m still not sure how I feel about that.

As it is, Al’s more violent ways endeared him to one of his JSA teammates, the most unlikely of them all, the antihero Black Adam.  This created a bond between the two such that, when Black Adam went rogue, Atom Smasher went with him.  Al would redeem himself and come back to the JSA, but for the most part, he seems to be the hero you pull out when you need a really big guy to stand in the background.

But he does keep popping up.  He appeared as a silent background character in a couple episodes of Justice League Unlimited.

He was a featured bad guy for a few episodes of the CW series The Flash as played by pro-wrestler Adam Copeland.  And, of course, actor Noah Centineo played him in the live action Black Adam movie.

What I remember of that movie’s version is Al Pratt was played briefly by Henry Winkler, and I really wanted to see a superhero Fonzie.  Other than that, well…I think I know why I forgot to cover this guy way back in 2022.

Seriously, I was surprised I hadn’t covered him before.  But I have now.  I can do someone else next time.