Set Description:
Synopsis: This is one of the better, if not best, sets in our entire collection. The set includes high-grade examples of all 48 books with 47 of our 48 books highest graded examples, including 17 books that are single highest graded. Moreover, eight of the first 11 issues are single highest graded, including the first two Showcases and our Atom #1. The sole book in this set that is second highest graded, as of this writing, is our #29 9.8 WP Rocky Mountain Pedigree copy that is bested by a freakish 9.9, which we have never seen. It is thus as of June 2023 within a hair of a perfect set.
Background: There have been no less than five Atoms in the DC universe.The original Golden Age Atom, Al Pratt, was created by writer Bill O'Connor and artist Ben Flinton and first appeared in All-American Publications' All-American Comics #19 (October 1940). That Atom was one of a group of miniature superheroes from the era, it seemed every imprint had their own version of the concept, Doll Man, Minimidget, and of course, later in the Silver Age, Marvel’s Ant-Man. The first Atom had no real superpowers besides his stature.
The second Atom, which is the one this set primarily features, was the Silver Age Atom, Ray Palmer, who was created by Gardner Fox with the art by Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson. DC introduced him in Showcase #34 (Sept-Oct 1961), which remains the most iconic cover in the title. Ray Palmer, was a physicist and university professor. He was named for real-life science fiction writer Raymond A. Palmer, who was himself quite short. After stumbling onto a mass of white dwarf star matter that had fallen to Earth, he fashioned a lens which allowed him to shrink down to subatomic size. Ray Palmer was experimenting on his lens in hopes of helping increase the world’s food supply, but everything he shrank exploded after an hour. Following a cave in, Palmer used the lens on himself to help his fiancée, Jean Loring, escape the disaster, and sacrifice himself, but he did not explode, and after surviving decided to use his newfound powers to fight evil.
Originally, Palmer’s size and molecular density abilities derived from the white dwarf star material of his costume, controlled by mechanisms in his belt, and later by controls in the palms of his gloves. Much later, he gained the innate equivalent powers within his own body. After the events of Identity Crisis, Ray shrank himself to microscopic size and disappeared. Finding him became a major theme of the Countdown year-long series and crossover event.
As was the case with the GA Atom and the JSA, Palmer joined the JLA, although he was not a founding member since his introduction to the DC universe in Showcase #34 was over a year following the introduction of that super team in B&B #28. He first joined the JLA in Issue #14 of that title.
Atom has been the star of multiple solo series, and four of the five Atoms have appeared as members of various superhero teams, such as the Justice Society of America, the Justice League, the Suicide Squad, and the Justice Legion Alpha.
Atom in the Registry and the Marketplace: Like Aquaman, Atom is a relatively unloved title. Currently, the most valuable Atom issue in terms of registry points is an Atom #1 9.8, which garners only 17,600 points. By comparison, the most valuable SA Flash, Showcase #4 in 9.6, receives 600,000 registry points, while the most valuable SA Green Lantern, Showcase #22 in 9.4, receives 124,000 registry points. The registry points for Atoms overall are much closer to Aquaman, as the #1 issue of each receives 17,600 points in 9.8.
It’s frankly difficult to analyze the appropriateness of the registry points for books in this title because there is so little data, but again I would submit that at least the keys deserve a boost. There is a reported sale of the single highest graded Atom #1 in November 2009 for $25,000. That was not an auction, but a sale on Pedigree Comics from Doug Schmell, as I bought that book from the buyer who had owned it until this year (2023). The Showcase #34 is even more confusing because of the reported sale in GPA of a second highest graded 9.4 in April 2022 for $230,000. I don’t believe that sale is real, but there are no other reported sales after May 2007, when a 9.4 sold for $9,859. That book receives 8,850 registry points, which would seem pretty accurate for 2007, but how many times do you imagine the registry points for most Marvel titles have been adjusted since then? Once again, it seems that the rarer the books, the more likely they are to be undervalued by the Registry.
Our Collection: Unlike many other titles, we have not been collecting these books for decades. Rather, we just started this set in 2018 to complement our Flash and GL runs. We were fortunate at the time that the then #1 set was being broken up and sent to auction, which allowed us to ascend to the top of the registry in record time.
In addition to those 2018 acquisitions, a large number of our books come from the John Fantucchio Collection, which were auctioned off in 2019-2020. Prices for those books were relatively low and collectors few and far between, which aided us in putting together this set.
I am not sure what it says about us that we were buying these books, while everyone else was selling them. But despite our relatively late start, Atom became our fourth complete DC set, to go along with Flash, GL and JLA, in 2021.
Our crowning achievement with respect to this set occurred in 2023 when we were able to negotiate the acquisition of the Western Penn copies of the three Showcases Atom try-out issues (#34-36) in a private transaction. Each of those books tops the census with the first two issues single highest graded examples. We also finalized a deal for the Atom #1 9.8 from the same collection.
As noted above, Atom continues to be a somewhat underappreciated title and did not really benefit from the COVID rise in prices. But this collection certainly contains some interesting covers, especially before the Hawkman team-up. I am honestly not sure whether these books will ever become more valuable, as despite the fact that DC first created Atom many years before Marvel created Ant-Man (considering the GA version), and a year earlier in his SA form, Marvel has now released three Ant-Man movies and has thus made the idea of a hero who can alter his size their own.
That being said, one of the two Showcase #34 9.4s is currently listed for sale on multiple sites at the outrageous price of over $200,000. ($200k for 8,850 registry points, what’s the world coming to LOL?). I’ll discuss more on that book in my Showcase #34 write-up.
2023 Update: We lost four single highest graded 9.8s this year, as each was tied by another 9.8, bringing the number of single highest graded examples in this set down from 21 to 17. At least all of them were later issues, as the number of our single highest graded books (8) of the first 11 remained intact.
2024 Update: I am happy to report that, as of June 6, 2024, we still have 47 highest grade copies with 17 of those books single highest graded in this Census. This is a really cool set!
Current Stats:
48/48 Books
38 9.8s-37 Highest Graded
9 9.6s-All Highest Graded
1 9.4-Highest Graded
30 WP
15 OW/W
2 OW
17 Single Highest Graded
47 Highest Graded
1 Second Highest Graded
34 Pedigrees
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The gallery tab shows only items with images. Click the thumbnails to enlarge. |
Slot: |
Showcase 34 |
Item: |
Showcase 34 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
4190254001
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Owner Comments
Showcase #34 features the origin and first appearance of the Silver Age Atom, Ray Palmer. It also features the first appearance of Jean Loring.
In the first story, “Birth of the Atom!" we meet physics graduate student Ray Palmer who finds a White Dwarf Star Fragment, which he creates a lens out of it. When ultraviolet light is shone through the lens, it becomes a shrinking device. However, all of his tests find that every object he shrinks with the lens explode after several minutes.
One day while taking out his fiancée Jean Loring and a hiking club to a cave, they get trapped by an avalanche. Going on his own to find a way out, Ray decides to use his Dwarf Star lens to shrink himself down in size to climb up to an opening and make it larger, using an engagement ring he has for Jean.
After succeeding in making an opening, Ray returns to his original size, and believes that he survived the experience when drippings from the cave landed on the lens. However, after everyone is safe, Ray finds that his lens still causes items to explode after an hour, leaving Ray to realize that perhaps something in his own body prevents him from being destroyed when staying at a small size for an extended period of time.
In the cover story, "Battle of the Tiny Titans!" one of Jean’s friends, Alma Wilson, is accused of stealing money from the bank where she works as a teller, Alma explains that a little man appeared and stole the money. When Jean tells Ray that her friend Alma is a trustworthy person, Ray decides to see what he can do with his shrinking powers.
Having created a costume and dubbing himself the Atom, Ray springs into action; however, before he can investigate he finds the strange little man appearing in his laboratory. After a battle against the little man, he learns that his opponent is an alien named Kulan Dar. Dar is from Julnar, where the inhabitants can teleport across the universe when they injest the element Europium. However, arriving on Earth, he became prisoner of a crook who took control of his will bending device, the Dominator, and has been using him to commit robberies on his behalf.
With the help of Kulan, Atom tracks the criminal down and after a battle against Dar, who is back under the crook's control, Atom manages to defeat him and turn him over to the authorities. Kulan Dar literally appears in court and clears Jean's friend Alma of all charges before returning to his home planet.
In addition to being the first SA Atom, this is probably our favorite cover in the entire run. We were in search of a high-grade Showcase #34 for years before we started this Atom collection, but for many years none of those books ever hit the market. We finally bought a very clean 9.0 from the September 2020 Pedigree Comics auction to complete this set. Then in late 2022 we were fortunate enough to make a deal with the owner of this gem, which we finally received in February 2023.
The book is obviously the highlight of this set. It comes from the Western Penn Collection and is the single highest graded copy out of well over 800 examples certified by CGC. We acquired it in a private transaction from a friend and fellow collector.
Interestingly, there was a fake sale of a 9.4 copy of this book reported on CGC for $230,000 in April 2022. I assume it was fake because (1) it is so far above market, and (2) that book has been listed for sale for several years with no bids ever recorded on it. In fact, it is still listed for sale on Pedigree with no listed price and on ComicConnect for $225,000. I’m not sure what to make of it all, but I guess it’s safe to say that you cannot always rely on reported sales when valuing a book. At any rate, I assume if the book ever does sell at some inflated price, it would be great for the value of ours. And I can assure you I paid nowhere close to that price and the person who sold me the book is as savvy as they come when it comes to valuing comics. Certainly, someone is trying to perpetrate a fraud with that phony sale, the magnitude of which I have not seen in my collecting history. Keep it real, man, that one is so far out of line, it’s absurd.
Still, this 9.6 really should be worth a lot more than 14,750 registry points, you could not find a 9.4 for twice that amount in dollars.
2024 Update: Well the Slobodian 9.4 copy of this issue is no longer listed for sale anywhere, but there is also not a second sale reported of the book. However, GPA still shows the $230,000 sale from April 2022 in its database. I assume at least the dealers (CC, CL and Pedigree), all of whom listed the book for sale on their sites, must know the actual owner. In all my years of collecting I have never seen an attempted fraud of the magnitude that was tried on that book. There is nothing wrong with listing a book at a ridiculous price and hoping you find the bigger fool, but the reported GPA sale is certainly troubling. At any rate, other than that, not much to report here as the census stayed the same over the last year with our book sitting atop two 9.4s.
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Slot: |
Showcase 35 |
Item: |
Showcase 35 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
4190257001
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Owner Comments
Showcase #35 is the last 10-cent issue and features the second appearance of the silver-age Atom. In the cover story, “The Dooms From Beyond!", Dr. Gordon Doolin is preparing to look for funding to build a hospital in a third world country, he learns that he's really the heir to the Heath fortune. In spite of the fact that there is a family curse, Doolin legally changes his name back to Heath to collect the fortune before the deadline.
Taking up residence in his grandfather's old home, Doolin apparently becomes a target of the ancient curse. Ray Palmer gets involved because Jean is the lawyer in charge of executing the will. As the Atom, Ray manages to protect Doolin from the various apparent curses, incorporating the various elements. However, the Atom soon learns that all of these "curses" are really machines created by somebody on the property wanting to kill Doolin. When Atom discovers that the last curse, that of the element of Earth really turns out to be a bomb hidden in a globe, he disarms it. Atom catches the crook when he invites everyone into the den as Ray Palmer. When the groundskeeper flees to avoid being killed, he gives himself away. Atom captures him, and Doolin is awarded his inheritances.
Our 9.8, like our #34 and #36, all of which were acquired together, comes from the Western Penn Collection. It’s also the single highest graded copy in existence and I believe the first 9.8 in the Showcase title. We acquired it from a friend and fellow collector in February 2023.
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Slot: |
Showcase 36 |
Item: |
Showcase 36 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
4190257002
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Owner Comments
Showcase #36 features Atom’s third and last appearance in Showcase.In the cover story, "Prisoner in a Test Tube!", Professor Anton Kraft, who is scheduled to travel to America to work with Jean Loring's father, is replaced by foreign agents to learn American secrets. Suspecting this as a possibility, the CIA sends Atom across the ocean to Hungary -- home of Professor Kraft, to see if this is what truly happened.
Traveling to Kraft's home, Atom finds the spies about ready to take the real professor back to their home country. After a brief battle, Atom trips himself up and gets caught on fly paper, making him a prisoner of the spies. However, they make the mistake of trapping Atom in a test tube not knowing that Atom could make himself small enough to escape the trap.
When they board the plane, Atom springs into action knocking out the crooks and piloting the plane back to America, where the spy's plans are exposed and are turned over to the authorities.
As with Issues #34 and #35, our 9.6 copy of Issue #36 comes from the Western Penn Collection and is tied with two other books for highest graded in the census. We acquired it from a friend and fellow collector in February 2023.
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Slot: |
Atom 1 |
Item: |
Atom 1 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
4278360007
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Owner Comments
Issue #1 is, of course, Atom’s first appearance in his own book after three Showcase try-out issues. The book also features the introduction of the Plant Master.
While my favorite Atom cover is Showcase #34, this issue seems to be the favorite of the majority of DC collectors I know.
In the “Master of the Plant World” a series of mysterious robberies occur involving strange highly intelligent plants, which Ray decides to investigate as Atom after he learns about the strange circumstances from Jean Loring. As Atom. Ray follows Jean as she goes on a fact-finding trip about the type of plants that are used, and decides to wait out in a greenhouse to keep a secret eye on Jean. When Jean nods off, Atom notices a group of Dryads that suddenly spring out of the flowers and fly away on petals. Atom follows after them and learns that they are under the control of a criminal called the Plant Master, who intends to use his mutated plants to take over the world.
Trying to stop the Plant Master, Atom is trapped in a Venus fly trap while the Plant Master leaves with the Dryads to initiate his plan. Meanwhile, Atom breaks free and sees the leader of the Dryads, Maya, imprisoned in a cage. Atom frees her and learns that the Plant Master, really named Jason Woodrue, is a being from another dimension who was banished here and has since been using his knowledge of plants for his own personal gain.
With the help of Maya, Atom travels to Washington, D.C. where the Plant Master has stationed himself as his plants attack in almost every state. There, Atom and Maya fight off the Dryads that are still under Plant Master's control, until Atom manages to slip off the Plant Master's control device. With his device removed, the Dryads are freed and the Atom defeats Woodrue.
Our 9.8 is the single highest graded copy of this key issue with no 9.6s. We acquired the book from a friend and private collector in May 2023.*
2024 Update: Since I drafted the initial description of this book a single 9.6 has appeared in the census. To date, I have not seen that book on the market.
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Slot: |
Atom 2 |
Item: |
Atom 2 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
0994430008
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Owner Comments
In the “Oddest Man on Earth,” while on a drive Ray and Jean happen to spot Tim Kerr's farm is on fire. After secretly putting it out as the Atom, Ray is pulled aside by a gentleman named Oscar D. Dollar, who dubs himself "Mr. Odd". Mr Odd blames himself for the fire, explaining that his lucky silver dollar creates random events, which could be lucky or unlucky for those around.
Dollar's neighbor overhears this and decides to follow Dollar around to try and capitalize on the situation. When a sudden earthquake allows him to break into a bank, the crook decides to steal the coin for himself. He finds the perfect opportunity when Dollar leaves behind the coin at Ray's lab, along with another object from his pocket: Another White Dwarf Star Fragment which is the key to the Atom's powers.
When the crook cold-clocks Ray, he takes the coin and tries to escape. Ray revives and knocks him unconscious as the Atom. Later Ray explains to Dollar that it was the chunk of White Dwarf Star Matter, reacting to his silver dollar, which caused the strange happenings. When the chunk is exposed to light it became "Anti-Gravitic" and was shot out into space, so it may never menace anyone again.
Our 9.6 comes from the Pacific Coast Collection and is the first of many Pacific Coast pedigrees in this collection. It is also tied with three other books for the highest graded example in the Census. We acquired the book in the August 2020 ComicLink auction.
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Slot: |
Atom 3 |
Item: |
Atom 3 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
9147136015
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Owner Comments
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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Slot: |
Atom 4 |
Item: |
Atom 4 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
3953463014
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Owner Comments
Issue #4 features a Snapper Carr appearance. In the “Case of the Innocent Thief” a series of crimes are committed by people who have concrete alibis that put them far away from the robbery. Investigating the crimes, Atom discovers that the crook (a man named Elkins) spends his time studying his subjects, and then posing as a photographer where he uses a special camera to hypnotize his subject. He would then disguise himself as the person he intended to frame and take their place, while sending them off to commit the crimes in question.
When Atom discovers the plot, Elkins tries to use his special camera and hypnotic commands to hypnotize Atom to never apprehend him. The plot doesn't work, however, due to the Atom's small size, as Elkin's shouted commands were not audible. Because of the Atom's involvement, the men (who are all represented by Ray's fiance Jean) are cleared of any wrong doing.
Our WP 9.8 is the single highest graded example in the census. We acquired the book in the 12/7/2021 CL Auction.
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Slot: |
Atom 5 |
Item: |
Atom 5 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
4242420004
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Owner Comments
Issue #5 features the Diamond of Deadly Dooms-just a little alliteration there. In the story, Ray’s friend, Ted Ralston, finds an ancient diamond and takes it home. While examining the diamond, it shoots a beam that changes him and his cat into beings of pure diamond. Ray arrives just in time to see this and investigate as the Atom. Shrinking down to a microscopic size, the Atom penetrates the atoms of the diamond and finds a microscopic civilization.
There, the Atom finds a larger alien fighting another and knocks him out. The alien creature he saves is named Moorn Jor, who explains that all the beings here are from the ancient civilization of Atlantis who escaped into the diamond to get away from the continent's sinking. Having created a utopia, Karl Jat, former warlord and the man responsible for turning Ralston into diamond, became embittered and wanted to attack the people of Earth, and when Ralston uncovered the diamond, it gave Jat that advantage.
With Karl Jat knocked out, Atom is alerted of criminals coming to steal the diamond statue of Ralston, his cat, and the diamond itself. When the Atom grows large enough to deal with these criminals however, an eagle makes off with him and the diamond. The eagle is stopped when Karl Jat regains control of the device that allows them to turn beings into diamonds. The Atom shrinks down again and knocks out Karl Jat out once again and removes his control helmet, rending him harmless. Afterward, Moorn Jor uses the device to restore Ralston and his cat, and Ray "arrives" and pretends like nothing happened.
Our 9.8 copy of this issue comes from the fabled Pacific Coast Collection and is currently the single highest graded example with just one 9.6 in the census. We acquired the book in the August 2020 ComicLink auction.*
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Slot: |
Atom 6 |
Item: |
Atom 6 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
4278360003
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Owner Comments
Issue #6 features the second Time Pool story, the “Highwayman and the Mighty Mite.” When Alpheus Hyatt uses his Time Pool again (now perfecting it to focus on specific points in history) he manages to pull back a letter from the year 1739 written by Jane de la Marie. The letter is about how King George II’s refusal to release her husband until the criminal highwayman named Tom Palmer (AKA Dick Turpin) is arrested.
Curious about his ancestor's rogue past, Ray returns to Hyatt's home that night to travel through the Time Pool as the Atom. There he secretly helps Jane de la Marie capture Dick Turpin, before returning to his own time with bringing a note for Hyatt to show that Turpin was captured and de la Marie's husband was freed afterward.
Our WP 9.8 comes from the Pacific Coast Collection and is the sole 9.8 in the census, We acquired the book from a friend and fellow collector in May 2023.*
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Slot: |
Atom 7 |
Item: |
Atom 7 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
0987338002
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Owner Comments
Issue #7 features the first Hawkman crossover. In the story, the Earth is plagued by a series of strange tremors that also effects the migratory patterns of birds, which gains the attention of Ray Palmer and Jean Loring (both avid bird watchers) and Hawkman.
As Ray stops some crooks who use helium balloons as getaway methods as the Atom, Hawkman determines that the trouble is caused by radiation, which has been given off by a weapon known by Thanagarian science as a Cosmitron device. After the Atom busts up most of the crooks, a few manage to get away on a boat, and Atom goes after them by making himself light enough to travel on the sea breeze. However the breeze works against him and he is saved in the nick of time by Hawkman, who lets the Atom round up the last of the crooks together.
When Hawkman finds the Cosmitron, he is attacked by its owners: aliens of the Thalen race, who invented the device, which absorbs radiation from a planet. It also allows them to take pictures that can be put together to make a scale model of the planet in question. Any damage done to this replica are mirrored on the Earth.
Completing a model of the Earth, they threaten to destroy the planet unless the leaders of the Earth surrender, to which the world leaders refuse. Hawkman sends the Atom to the Thalen's ship and stops them from destroying the Earth. They then return to the Earth's surface and battle the Thalens there and recapture the Cosmitron device. They reverse all the damage done to the Earth before destroying the Cosmitron.
Later by coincidence, the Atom and Hawkman meet again but are unaware of it because this time they meet in their civilian guises. Ray Palmer, Carter Hall, Jean Loring and Sheira Hall all go bird watching together, and become fast friends.
Our WP 9.8 is another gem from the Pacific Coast Collection and is tied with two others for highest graded. We acquired the book in a swap of 9.8s from a friend and fellow collector in May 2023.
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Slot: |
Atom 8 |
Item: |
Atom 8 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
0987338003
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Owner Comments
Issue #8, featuring a bright red cover and the second appearance of Doctor Light, has always been one of the most coveted Atom covers. In the story, Dr. Light manages to break out of prison using a specially treated light bulb to escape into the sidereal world. The warden of the prison asks Ray Palmer to use his scientific knowledge to figure out how Dr. Light managed to escape. Ray does so, recreating the experiment with the trace chemicals still left in the bulb. Ray creates another, smaller doorway into the sidereal realm big enough for the Atom to get through.
There, he tracks Dr. Light to his hideout and is easily captured. Dr. Light puts solder into his size changing device's control and traps the Atom in a light bulb, which will eventually destroy him while he goes back to Earth's dimension to cause havoc so that he can get revenge against the Justice League.
The Atom uses the light bulb's own filament to reheat the solder in his controls and use his size changing abilities to get free. Returning to Earth's dimension, the Atom uses the element of surprise to deactivate Dr. Light's light weapons, defeat him, and turns him back over to the authorities.
We are fortunate enough to own this WP 9.8 from the Pacific Coast Collection, which marks four consecutive Pacific Coast books. It is also currently the single highest graded copy of this issue in the census. We acquired the book in the August 2020 ComicLink auction.
A little story on this one, I remember when our book was first listed in the 2020 Auction I tired to buy it before the Auction privately, but balked at the ask, which was over twice the ultimate sales price. That is just one of several stories I could tell about passing on books and letting them go to auction where I acquired them at much cheaper prices. Of course, sometimes it goes the other way, as I can also recall several books that sat on the market for many months with no activity, but then are sent to auction and sell for much higher prices than the previous ask. I do think there was a time when you always overpaid if you bought a book off E-Bay or an Exchange, but I am not sure that worm has not turned a bit, as many E-Bay and Exchange prices these days look very attractive. I think what may have happened is that we have a new group of comic investors who just buy at auction and seem impervious to historical market prices.
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Slot: |
Atom 9 |
Item: |
Atom 9 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
2087153017
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Owner Comments
Issue #9 features a Time Pool story. In “Atom’s Phantom Double,” Ray is caught in an explosion which causes him to be bombarded with radiation. While unconscious this radiation creates a phantom version of Ray, who initially tries to kill the original, but decides to wait until he can be alone to investigate his current condition.
The phantom Ray gets his chance when Ray gets a phone call from the police asking him to track down a stolen scientific device. As the real Ray Palmer goes after the crooks as the Atom, the phantom Ray learns that he only has a few hours to live unless he uses a device (fashioned out of an opal ring) to switch places with the real Ray Palmer. He also learns that they are mentally linked and that any harm caused to one is felt by the other.
After the crooks are dealt with, the phantom Ray (also with his own set of Atom powers) tries to use the opal device to replace the real Ray. During their fight, Ray manages to get a hold of the device and toss it into a roaring fire place. With his phantom unable to get the ring without horribly burning himself, the Atom turns his phantom's size changing device on full blast and wrecks it, shrinking his double into nothingness.
Our 9.6 boasts white pages and is tied with two others for highest graded. We acquired it from Pedigree Comics.*
2022 Update: There are still no 9.8s, but there are now four 9.6s topping the census.
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Slot: |
Atom 10 |
Item: |
Atom 10 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
2087165008
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Owner Comments
In Issue #10, a scientist in Austria named Ferdinand Alt (who is disguised as a toymaker) has come up with Cavorite, a material that can cause items to defy gravity. When Alt is killed by foreign spies, the CIA once more goes to Jean Loring to get the help of Atom.
Atom travels to Austria where he tries to stop the spies from collecting a toy flying saucer, which has the only working supply of Cavorite device. Atom easily defeats the spies and recaptures the toy and flies it back to America. However when he arrives, he tells the CIA that Alt was a double agent, and that Cavorite, if exposed to too much electricity, would turn into a bomb. Thanking the Atom for his aid, the CIA takes the device into their possession to study it further.
Our 9.8 copy of this issue boasts white pages and is tied with two others for highest graded as of June 2020. We acquired it from the 7/26/2018 ComicConnect Auction.*
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Slot: |
Atom 11 |
Item: |
Atom 11 |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
1197057002
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Owner Comments
Issue #11 features one of those coveted green Atom covers, which for some reason rarely grade quite as high. In the “Trouble of the Ten-Year Club,” Ray Palmer shows up for a 10-year reunion of his fellow University graduates, who all donate items of great wealth that are associated with the careers. However, these items get stolen prompting Ray to get involved as the Atom.
It turns out that his fellow alumni Jack Archer is really a con-man that uses hypnotic suggestions to commit his crimes. Atom learns this when he is led to believe that Archer was able to magically make the Atom grow. However, when the Atom realizes that his costume didn't become invisible (as it would when he reaches his full height) he realized the secret to Archer's powers. Atom then defeats Archer and reveals the truth: that the items were not really stolen, they were all given a hypnotic suggestion to make it appear that they were stolen, so that Archer could collect them at a later date.
Our 9.6 is the single highest graded copy of this issue with white pages to boot. We acquired it in the 11/29/2020 Heritage auction.
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Slot: |
Atom 12 |
Item: |
Atom 12 Universal |
Grade: |
CGC |
Cert #: |
2087154011
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Owner Comments
Issue #12 features an Edgar Allen Poe Time Pool story. In the cover story, “Atom Hun at Work”, Ray introduces Jean to his new lab assistant: Enrichetta Negrini who joins them for supper, and Ray notices Jean's instant jealousy towards Negrini.
That night, Ray's lab is broken into and Ray goes into action as Atom to try and stop the thief. However, during the fight, Ray is bombarded with energy from a flashlights beam passing through a special screen. The Atom is then put in an experimental ray weapon. The crook realizes that the energy channeled through the Atom's body can make a destructive weapon.
The crook goes on a crime spree for a week, using Atom himself as his own weapon. However, Atom manages to break free and eventually bring the crook to justice. Worried that Jean is going to assume he spent the whole week with Enrichetta, Atom rushes to Jean's place just to learn that it was quarantined for the last week because her father was ill-lucky guy LOL.
In the Time Pool story, Ray visits Alpheus Hyatt who is once more testing his Time Pool. When Hyatt is otherwise engrossed in his work, Ray sneaks away to change into Atom and sneak into the Time Pool once more. Atom finds himself transported to Baltimore in the year of 1849 and is witness to a gold robbery.
He secretly helps a public carrier in clearing his name, the carrier calls in his old friend, writer Edgar Allan Poe to help solve the mystery. During the course of the adventure, it's learned that the gold was never delivered to the horse carriage that carried it. An elaborate hoax perpetrated by the shipping company who gave a false trunk instead of the one filled with gold.
After everything is sorted out, Atom returns to his own time, taking a railroad schedule off a tack to leave for Alpheus Hyatt the next day.
Our 9.6 is one of two highest graded as of June 2020. We acquired it from the ComicConnect auction of 6/12/2019.*
2021 Update: Now 1/3 highest graded.
2024 Update: And now there are four 9.6s. This feels like a book where we could see a 9.8 in the future, but for now our book is still tied for highest graded.
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