Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: golden age, Ned Pines, Standard/Better/Nedor

The Atomic Debut of American Crusader in Thrilling Comics, at Auction

The American Crusader was created due to an atom smasher accident which rearranged his atomic structure, giving him limitless power.

Published Tue, 21 Feb 2023 17:17:10 -0600

by Mark Seifert

Last updated Thu, 19 Sep 2024 18:16:07 -0500

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Article Summary

American Crusader owns his origin to an atom smasher experiment, similar to Dr. Manhattan's story in Watchmen.
Created by Max Plaisted, American Crusader was an early superheroes with powers from an atomic accident.
Professor Archibald Masters gains limitless power after a mishap during an atom smasher experiment.
American Crusader debuted in Thrilling Comics #19, 1941, featuring a cover by Alex Schomburg and story contributions from Plaisted.

A distracted research scientist finds himself trapped inside a sealed chamber at the moment an atomic experiment begins. In front of horrified onlookers, the scientist has his atomic structure rearranged. Somehow he survives, and gains physics-defying limitless power in the process. It's a fateful moment that should sound familiar to most comic book fans today, particularly for its similarity to the origin of Dr. Manhattan of Watchmen fame. But this is actually the origin of American Crusader, who debuted in Thrilling Comics #19 in 1941. There's a CGC FN- 5.5 copy of Thrilling Comics #19 (Better Publications, 1941) up for auction in the 2024 September 26 – 27 Heroes of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40265 at Heritage Auctions.

Thilling Comics #19 panel by Max Plaisted, featuring the origin moment of American Crusader (Standard/Better/Nedor, 1941).

Created by artist Max Plaisted, American Crusader was an early example of the atomic accident-inspired comic book superhero. While heroes who got their powers from some radiation-related mishap would become commonplace in the post-atomic-bomb era, they were more of a rarity before 1945. The character got his abilities from an "atom smasher" mishap, a term which was popularized during the 1930s, with the work of physicist Robert Millikan and the Westinghouse Atom Smasher.

The American Crusader was Grand University professor Archibald Masters. Masters is actually an astronomer, but his associate Professor Scott is a physicist experimenting with an atom smasher. Distracted by his recent discovery of a tiny planet near Uranus (which seems to be a nod to the 1930 discovery of Pluto by Clyde Tombaugh), Masters wanders into experimental chamber off Professor Scott's atom smasher just as an experiment is set to begin. On the brink of death, Masters miraculously recovers and soon finds the experiment has rearranged his atomic structure, giving him limitless power in the process. The character appeared in a number of issues of Thrilling Comics, and in America's Best Comics #6.

Max Plaisted (1902-1956) entered the pulp and comic book field in the mid-1930s via Adolphe Barreaux's Majestic Studios and may have been working for Benjamin Sangor's studio by 1940, where he contributed to Standard/Better/Nedor titles such as Exciting Comics, Startling Comics, and Thrilling Comics throughout the early 1940s.

Thrilling Comics #19 features a Doc Strange cover by the great Alex Schomburg. The issue is a particularly tough get, with only 14 entries for the issue on the CGC census. There's a CGC FN- 5.5 copy of Thrilling Comics #19 (Better Publications, 1941) up for auction in the 2024 September 26 – 27 Heroes of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40265 at Heritage Auctions. Prospective bidders who are new to Heritage Auctions should check out their FAQ on the bidding process and related matters.