Posted in: Comics, Heritage Sponsored, Vintage Paper | Tagged: golden age, prize comics

The First Man of the Atom Emerges in Headline Comics, Up for Auction

Debuting in Headline Comics #16 in 1945 from publisher Prize, Atomic Man was arguably the first superhero of the atomic age.

The usage of atomic bombs on August 6 and August 9, 1945 would change world history in a fundamental way, and within months these changes would begin to seep into the fabric of our culture. Unsurprisingly, this moment would also be reflected in comic books almost immediately. In the months, years, and decades after 1945, the Children of the Atom would transform comics and the way people think about them in a fundamental way. Late 1945 saw the start of a burst of atom bomb-inspired series such as Atoman Comics, Atomic Thunderbolt, Atomic Comics, and the debut of Atomic Man in Headline Comics #16.  While not technically the first radiation-inspired comic book heroes (Cosmic radiation would most notably inspire The Ray and others much earlier.  One can also convincingly argue that the Flash was a radiation-inspired character from the start), those three characters were the initial wave to emerge in the wake of the atomic bomb.  Atomic Man, created by Charles A. Voight, was the first of these, with a debut in Headline Comics #16.  Perhaps the first hero of the atomic age, there are copies of several issues of Headline Comics featuring Atomic Man up for auction in the 2024 August 1 – 2 Rarities of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40259 at Heritage Auctions.

Atomic Man has the kind of origin that feels very familiar from the modern comic book fan's perspective.  A scientist at an atomic energy research lab, Adam Mann accidentally ingests Uranium 235 while working there.  This combined with an explosion created by an accident with a high-voltage piece of lab equipment gives him an incredible range of radiation-inspired powers.  At the end of Headline Comics #16, Mann calls himself "A human atomic bomb." The character became the cover feature of Headline Comics #17-19, and appeared in the series until issue #21.

Charles A. Voight (1887-1947)  is best remembered as a newspaper strip cartoonist, on features such as Little Annie Rooney, Tilly Tawker and Petey Dink.  His most notable and influencial  strip was Betty, running 1919-1943 for McClure Syndicate and later the New York Herald Tribune. Voight also did illustrations for magazines including Judge and Redbook. He began working in comic books in 1944, creating a series of inventive characters, beautifully drawn in his fluid style, including Impossible Man, He-Man, and Atomic Man.  Most of his comic book work was done for publisher Prize.

Incredibly, Headline Comics publisher Prize had the first issue containing Atomic Man on newsstands barely over a month after the atomic bombs were used.  A little-known piece of comic book history that is reflective of a much bigger picture, there are copies of several issues of Headline Comics featuring Atomic Man up for auction in the 2024 August 1 – 2 Rarities of the Golden Age Comics Showcase Auction #40259 at Heritage Auctions.

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