COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Atom 3 Universal
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Grade:
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9.4
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Page Quality:
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OFF-WHITE TO WHITE
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Pedigree:
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Twin Cities
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Certification #:
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9147136015
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Owner:
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Mississippi Mudcats
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
Issue #3 features the Origin and first appearance of Chronos, as well as the first Time Pool story. In the “Time Trap,” David Clinton is a former con who has become obsessed with clocks and has opened up a clock shop following his release from prison. Deciding to become a costumed criminal, Clinton adopts the guise of Chronos, and uses clock related weapons to steal exotic clocks. When he learns that Ivy University has an atomic clock, he decides to steal it as Chronos.
When he does so, he rouses Ray Palmer who tries to stop Chronos, however Chronos' weapons prove to be too much of a match for plain ordinary Ray Palmer. Changing into the Atom, Ray is unable to stop Chronos who not only manages to escape but begins to suspect the Atom's true identity.
Figuring that the Atom may have deduced his as well, he devises a trap in anticipation of the Atom's appearance as his clock shop. Sure enough, after Ray Palmer notices an exaggerated bruise on Clinton's face the next day, he decides to pay him a visit that night as the Atom. He falls for Chronos' trap and is knocked out with gas and stored in a watch on Chronos' wrist while he goes back to steal the atomic clock knowing that Ray Palmer would not be there to stop him.
However, the Atom takes advantage of the fact that Chronos has no idea the full extent of his powers, and shrinks small enough to escape the watch, get away and confront Chronos as Ray Palmer. Knocking out Chronos and calling the police, Ray then shrinks back down to size and gets back inside the watch, preserving his identity when the police arrive to capture him.
While our 9.4 is the lowest graded book in our set, it is still the best available of this rare first Time Pool issue. It is the third copy of this issue we have owned, as we started with the Rocky Mountain 9.0, which we upgraded to a WP 9.2 and finally to this Twin Cities copy. When we first acquired this book, it was tied with just one other copy for highest graded; however, we also acquired later that book and, in the process of reholdering it, CGC discovered that it had missed a small piece of tape in its first grading, making the Twin Cities copy the sole 9.4 and single highest graded book in the census. We acquired the book, along with our Atom #1 9.8, in April 2023 in a private transaction from a friend and fellow collector. It remains one of our favorite Atom covers.
With respect to what was the other 9.4, it was conserved by CGC and now has a conserved grade of 9.6; so either way you look at it, we have the single highest graded example of this key issue. Both books are pictured here.
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