All-Atomic Comics

Rifas s main contribution to the anti-nuclear comic book movement, however, came with his All-Atomic Comics (1976), in which he launched a well-argued denunciation of the entire nuclear power industry. When he began the project four years earlier, the artist confessed, he had planned to present a "balanced" view of the question, but soon he gave up the idea. The narrator for All-Atomic Comics is a three-legged frog, and the story line is periodically intermpted with "Fun Facts to Know and Tell about Nuclear Power." These "facts" spoke of the 1974 death of Karen Silkwood, the mutation of frogs from waste dumped by the Amsterdam Nuclear Research Institute in Holland,... 

All-Atomic Comics (1976) (Educomics). Last page of Gen of Hiroshima 2 (1981) (Educomics). See also Kevin Rafferty et al.. The Atomic Cafe The Book of the Film (Toronto Bantam, 1982). 

Donald Duck s Atom Bomb (1947), Cheerios Giveaway, Walt Disney Corporation. "Atomic Tot, All Humor Comics 2 (Summer 1946) (Comic Favorites). 

The second attempt to censor Superman s atomic adventures involved his even more popular newspaper comic strip. In April 1945, the Superman artist drew a futuristic "cyclotron" that was prepared to bombard the hero with three million electron volts at the speed of 1,000,000,000 per hour. "Withdraw Superman " a bystander warns. "You ll be blasted to pieces." Superman, of course, survives, and the quirky scientist Professor Duste eventually concludes that his "atom smasher" is out of order. The censors asked the McClure Syndicate to refrain from any further atomic-related stories in the newspapers, and they complied. The story line immediately cut to Superman playing all nine positions of a baseball game by himself. 

This opinion was widely shared. In a January 10,1946, speech. General Leslie R. Groves jested that thanks to Superman and the comic strips, "The children of this country were not surprised about the atomic bomb. They all went home—they were perfectly familiar with it—and said, there s nothing to that. We knew it was feasible It was the grownups who were surprised." ... 

Writers in the late 1940s to early 1950s soon discovered that they faced major dilemmas when they pitted their established heroes against atomic bombs. Even with all their respective powers, the superheroes seemed dwarfed by the reality of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It took only a few months for a standard plot line to emerge a villain tries to steal an atomic device only to be thwarted at the last moment. The adventure comics of the era abounded with variations of this story line. For... 

By the early 1950s, the various spy comics had begun to falter. Spy and Counterspy had folded in 1951, and Spy Cases, Spy Fighters, and Spy Hunters all expired by late 1953. Spy Thrillers survived only a year and a half longer. The reason for their demise was obvious. By this time, the atomic bomb, theft of which had become the backbone of the spy comics genre, had become an integral part of Soviet and American Ufe. In fact, it began to border on the commonplace. ... 

Spread Cold War anxiety. The hopes for atomic cars, planes, trains, and electricity had all sputtered out, save for occasional mention In educational comics and the fanciful illustrations of popular science magazines. And comic book creators could find no vocabulary to convey the authentic advances in nuclear medicine or the mixed potential of the nation s nuclear power plants. Almost by default, the comic book industry fell back on tales of (potential) apocalypse and post-holocaust survival adventures. The cartoon atomic world had become very solemn, indeed. 

Cover of Doc Schnuke s Atomic Water Story 1 (Waffle Comics, 1975). The claim that atomic water would be a "cure all for everything" in this Waffle Comics title parodied the notion that atomic science is wholly beneficial to the individual and society. 

In October 1960, veteran artist Steve Ditko created a new character for Charlton Comics Space Adventures, Captain Atom. An air force pilot. Captain Adam, drops a screwdriver while working on a nuclear test missile, and the missile takes off while he is searching for it. The subsequent explosion turns Adam into "Captain Atom, the Indestructible Man," who carries "an atomic punch in each fist." Forced to devise a body shield to protect others from his radiation. Captain Atom receives a special commission from the president to defend law and order. He does so immediately by capturing a stray hydrogen-tipped missile, which causes the president to remark, "With your help, perhaps all of us can live in a world of peace. " Later, DC Comics acquired the character and in the 1980s gave him both a new costume and new "quantum" powers. 

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