Atom-Smasher

ATOM-SMASHER

Real Name: Albert Julius Rothstein

Class: Human mutant

Occupation: Superhero, automobile repairman, car designer, aspiring aircraft designer

Group Affiliation: formerly Infinity, Inc., Justice League America, JSA

Known Relatives: Terence Curtis (Cyclotron, grandfather, deceased), Al Pratt (Atom I, godfather), Philip Rothstein (father, deceased), Terri Kurtzberger Rothstein (mother)

Aliases: Nuklon

Base of Operations: Khandaq, formerly Stellar Studios, Los Angeles, California, New York City, New York

First Appearance: (Nuklon) All-Star Squadron #25 (September, 1983), (Atom-Smasher) JSA Secret Files #1 (August, 1999)

Powers: Atom-Smasher had superhuman strength, speed and agility and could phase through matter by reducing his body density. He could grow to 60' high, and at this height he was invulnerable.

History: Albert Rothstein was born a mutant due to his mother's exposure to radiation during on of his grandfather, Terence Curtis's (Cycloctron), experiments. Albert was trained in using his abilities by his godfather Atom I.

(JSA #75 (fb)) - During career day young Al got distracted drawing pictures of his idol the Atom. He told his teacher he wanted to grow up to be a good guy.

(JSA #75 (fb)) - Al visited Atom at the JSA headquarters and told him he was being picked on at school. Atom told him he’d pay the bullies a visit if they didn’t knock it off, and introduced him to the Justice Society.

After taking on the superhero identity Nuklon he applied to the JSA, but was rejected. Nuklon and a number of other rejected members formed Infinity Inc.

(Green Lantern III #81) - Coast City; Nuklon was among the heroes who attended a memorial service for Green Lantern Hal Jordan.

(Damage #20) - Atom’s son Damage arranged to meet Nuklon in Tampa so they could shoot pool and Damage could learn more about his father.

(JLA #1) - Nuklon and his former Justice League America teammates Obsidian, Metamorpho and Ice Maiden cleared their possessions out of the JLA Satellite in preparation of the new JLA's arrival. The Hyperclan blew up the Satellite, and Metamorpho formed an escape pod from his own body to allow Nuklon and the others to safely crash land on Earth.

(JSA Secret Files #1) - Nuklon took on the Atom-Smasher identity to honor the memories of Cyclotron and the original Atom. Wildcat dropped by his apartment to inform him of Sandman's death and to invite him to the funeral.

(JSA #1) - Atom-Smasher and several other superheroes attended the funeral of Sandman. As the service drew to a close the Sons of Anubis attacked the heroes. After the battle Scarab appeared and told the heroes that a threat to Earth’s existence was approaching, and they must reform the Justice Society of America to combat it.

(JSA #2) - Atom-Smasher and the newly reformed JSA found out why Scarab needed their help. A new Dr. Fate was about to be born, and Mordu was trying to locate and kill the Fate-Child. The JSA were charged with finding the child before Mordu. Atom-Smasher traveled to Vancouver with Wildcat and Hourman III and located the Fate-Child. Mordru then appeared out of nowhere, defeated the heroes, and stole the child.

(JSA #3, 4) - Atom-Smasher and the rest of the JSA pursued Mordru to Fate’s Tower and were once again bested by the villain., but the battle lasted long enough for the Fate-Child to transform into Dr. Fate and trap Mordru inside his amulet. The JSA returned to their hq and named Sand their first chairman.

(Day of Judgment #4) - Atom-Smasher and the JSA joined the JLA in their fight against Asmodel, who'd usurped the Spectre-Force.

(JSA #6) - Atom-Smasher and the JSA called a press conference to officially announce the JSA’s reformation and the reopening of the JSA headquarters and museum. Atom-Smasher and the JSA then confronted Black Adam who was running amok in midtown Manhattan. Dr. Fate and Hourman III used their powers of time-travel to steal the thunder that created Black Adam from the past and used it to transform him back into his human alter ego Theo Adams in the present. The JSA then handed Adam over to Chase and the D.E.O.

(JSA #7-9) - Atom-Smasher and the JSA watched a news bulletin about a disturbance in Milwaukee, and Sentinel correctly guessed that his son Obsidian was the source of the trouble. The JSA immediately set off for Milwaukee and confronted Obsidian. Obsidian possessed Sand, Dr. Fate IV, Hawkgirl II, Hourman III and Flash I with their own shadows and forced them to help him defeat and capture their JSA teammates. Dr. Mid-Nite II liberated Atom-Smasher and the other unpossessed JSA members, ad the possessed members were freed from Obsidians’ control when Sentinel defeated Obsidian in a one-on-one confrontation.

(JLA #40) - Atom-Smasher was among the legion of heroes summoned by the JLA to quell worldwide outbreaks of warfare that were incited by Mageddon.

(JSA #10) - Atom-Smasher returned to JSA Headquarters and found it trashed. His teammate Wildcat explained that he had a rowdy brawl with the Injustice Society while the JSA was away.

(Young Justice: Sins of Youth #1) - At Star-Spangled Kid’s insistence Atom-Smasher and the JSA attended Young Justice’s Justice for All rally in Washington, as did Old Justice, the Titans and JLA. It was interrupted by Klarion, who magically de-aged Atom-Smasher and most of the heroes into children. Doiby Dickles pulled out an extraterrestrial aging gun to return the heroes to their proper age, but another of Klarion’s spells intercepted his shot. The result was that the younger heroes present were aged to adulthood, but the other heroes remained children.

(Sins of Youth Secret Files #1, Sins of Youth: JLA, Jr. #1) - The de-aged Atom-Smasher and JSA had a dispute with the de-aged JLA that resulted in them brawling for hours. Once they made up the JSA and Doiby Dickles went aboard the Steel Eagle so they could travel to Myrg so Doiby could find another aging gun to reverse Klarion's spell.

(Sins of Youth: Starwoman and the JSA (Junior Society) #1) - Atom-Smasher, Doiby and the JSA battled Prince Marieb on Myrg, retrieved an aging gun, and returned to Earth.

(Young Justice: Sins of Youth #2) - Doiby tried using his new raygun on Atom-Smasher and the other heroes affected by Klarion’s spell but it had no effect. Since the heroes’ ages were skewed by a combination of magic and science, they would need Klarion’s cooperation to undo the transformation. The heroes attacked Agenda’s headquarters in Alaska, where Superboy, Superman, Wonder Girl and Wonder Woman were being held hostage. The hq was defended by the Junior Injustice Society, but the heroes prevailed, forced the Agenda to flee, and freed the prisoners. They then forced Klarion to team with Doiby and return everyone to their proper age.

(JSA #11, 12) - Atom-Smasher’s mother Terri was aboard a plane blown up by the terrorist Kobra. Director Bones of the D.E.O. briefed Atom-Smasher and the JSA about Kobra’s plan to incinerate every capital city in the world using weapons powered by the kidnapped Maser. At the same time Hourman III sensed that Extant was adversely manipulating the time-stream. The JSA split into two teams, one to attack Kobra’s Blackhawk Island headquarters, and one to search the time-stream for Extant. Atom-Smasher was on the team that went to Blackhawk Island, and after the JSA freed Maser, Atom-Smasher caught Kobra. Smasher was in a fury, and almost killed Kobra before Starman VII talked him down. They brought Kobra into custody. Metron crashed-landed Hourman II’s timeship into the roof of JSA HQ and told the team that their timeline would cease to exist if they didn’t immediately follow him into the time-stream.

(JSA #13) - Aboard Hourman III’s timeship Metron explained to Atom Smasher and the JSA that Extant used stole Metron’s Moebius Chair to travel to the end of creation and create a new universe of his own making. Unless the JSA stopped him, Extant’s new universe would go backwards through time and erase the current universe.

(JSA #14, 15) - In Extant’s timeline, Atom-Smasher and the JSA had a skirmish with Extant’s troops, then they stormed Extant’s castle, where they discovered the recently resurrected Dove II. Dove gave her life to distract Extant, and the JSA used the opportunity to rip the worlogog that was powering Extant’s timeline away from the villain. Extant’s timeline vanished and the JSA returned to their own time. Extant escaped back into the timestream, but Atom-Smasher followed him. Smasher used the worlogog to send Extant back in time, and placed him aboard the plane Kobra blew up three days before. Smasher took his mother off the plane and returned to the present. When Atom Smasher returned he told the JSA that Extant’s threat was ended, but refused to give any more details. Smasher was shaken up about almost losing his mother, so he told the JSA he was going on sabbatical.

(JSA #21) - Atom-Smasher and Director Bones had a meeting at the grave of Skyman. Bones rightly suspected that Atom-Smasher had a hand in the death of Extant, and wanted him to fess up. Atom-Smasher told Bones he was sick of seeing villains escape and harm innocents, and he did what he felt he needed to do to Extant.

(JSA #23-25) - Atom-Smasher and the JSA learned that Hawkgirl had been taken to the planet Thanagar, and resolved to follow her there. Dr. Fate used Fate’s Tower to transport them to Thanagar where they witnessed the resurrection of Hawkman I. The JSA and Hawkman battled Sin-Eater and his Dark Wingmen who had conquered Thanagar. The JSA were defeated and imprisoned. They escaped and once again battled Sin, with Hawkman ultimately being the one to defeat him and free Thanagar from his rule. The JSA returned to Earth and welcomed Hawkman as the newest member of the JSA.

(JSA: Our Worlds at War #1) - During the Imperiex War Atom-Smasher, the JSA and the JSA reserves were given a mission by President Luthor to disrupt Imperiex’s link to his ship’s power supply. Atom-Smasher was quite vocal about his disapproval of having Black Adam along for the mission, and the two almost came to blows. The JSA not only cut off Imperiex from his power, but they managed to blow up his ship as well.

(JSA #26, 27) - When Black Adam was made a probationary member of the JSA Atom-Smasher made it clear he didn’t want Adam on the team, he had seen too many “reformed” villains return to their old ways and betray their friends. Atom and Adam started trading blows, and after Adam defeated Atom-Smasher he started lashing out at his other JSA teammates. Captain Marvel arrived at JSA hq and physically restrained Black Adam and calmed him down. Atom-Smasher and his teammates elected Mr. Terrific as the new JSA chairman, and immediately afterwards Smasher and most of the JSA were teleported by Roulette to her House.

(JSA #28, 30) - Roulette forced Atom and the JSA to battle each other for the amusement of a crowd of supervillains. Atom-Smasher was pitted against Black Adam in a gladiatorial arena, with both of them pumped full of aggressor drugs to push them to fight to the death. They eventually shook of the drugs and escaped the arena. Atom-Smasher confessed to Adam that he had murdered Extant and would never kill again. Adam told him that in the service of Egypt and in the protection of his family he had killed many times, and in his opinion sometimes killing went along with duty. The JSA wrecked Roulette’s House, so she teleported them back to JSA hq with a promise that they would play in her games again.

(JSA #31) - Atom-Smasher was at JSA hq when the team welcomed Power Girl as their newest member.

(JSA #32, JSA #75 (fb)) - Atom-Smasher and Black Adam had a private discussion that was interrupted by the Star-Spangled Kid. Atom-Smasher quickly chased her off so he could continue his talk with Adam. Adam wanted to form a superteam that would deal with criminals in harsher ways than the JSA allowed, and he wante Atom-Smasher to be his brother-in-arms. Atom-Smasher and the JSA welcomed Johnny Thunder to JSA hq, he claimed to have had a miraculous recovery from Alzheimer’s. In truth it was the Ultra-Humanite in possession of Thunder’s body.

(JSA #34, 35, 37) - The Ultra-Humanite used Johnny Thunder’s Thunderbolt to conquer the world, and imprisoned Atom-Smasher and virtually every superhuman on Earth in stasis tubes, only reviving them when he needed mind-controlled slaves to serve in his personal guard the Thunderfront. Atom-Smasher served as a member of the Thunderfront when they attacked the JSA, the only heroes not under the Humanite’s control. The JSA used a device that disrupted the braincaps Humanite used to control the Thunderfront, leaving them unconscious but freed from Humanite’s mental domination. The JSA later defeated the Humanite, and Atom-Smasher and the JSA attended the funeral of Johnny Thunder, whose body gave out after he was freed from the Humanite’s control.

(JSA #40) - Atom-Smasher, Black Adam, Northwind and Brainwave, Jr. watched news coverage of Captain Marvel and the JSA’s rescue of elementary school students from the clutches of the Shadower. They were disgusted by the light-handed approach Captain Marvel used to make Shadower give up to the authorities.

(JLA / JSA: Virtue and Vice) - Atom-Smasher attended the first annual JLA and JSA Thanksgiving celebration when the teams were called to Arusha, Tanzania to stop Doctor Bedlam from disrupting the Pan-African Conference on World Hunger. The JLA and JSA defeated Bedlam, but the attack was a ruse on the part of Johnny Sorrow to give him the opportunity to have Despero possess President Luthor, who was at the conference, and to have the Seven Deadly Sins possess members of the JLA and JSA. The possessed heroes destroyed JSA headquarters and incapacitated the unpossessed JLA and JSA members. Atom was among the heroes badly injured during the battle, but was cared for by Dr. Mid-Nite. By the time he recovered the JLA and JSA had returned the Sins to captivity in the Rock of Eternity, defeated Johnny Sorrow and freed Luthor from Despero.

(JSA #45) - Atom-Smasher and the JSA took an interest in then trial of Kobra since they were the ones who stopped his attack on major cities using antiballistic satellites, the terrorist act he was currently being tried for. Atom-Smasher was among the JSA members who provided security for the trial, which was necessary because hundreds of Kobra cultists were swarming the district court building where Kobra was being tried. Under Kobra’s orders the cultists threatened to activate bombs implanted in their bodies, killing themselves. Rather than allow the bloodshed the judge and Director Bones of the D.E.O. agreed to let Kobra go free for the time being. Atom-Smasher and Black Adam were outraged, and both agreed Kobra should have been killed for his crimes then and there. Atom and Adam argued that protecting innocent lives was so important that heroes shouldn’t handicap themselves by refusing to kill enemies when there was no other alternative. The rest of the JSA disapproved of their point of view, so the duo quit the team.

(JSA #51) - In the wake of a series of terrorist attacks carried out by Kobra cultists, Atom-Smasher, Black Adam, Northwind and Brainwave, Jr. stormed Kobra’s temple in the Himalayas and slaughtered the Kobra cultists. They confronted Kobra and told him they were sick of villains like him never facing justice, always being briefly imprisoned then escaping to do more harm. Atom-Smasher held Kobra down, then Black Adam ripped out Kobra’s heart, killing him.

(JSA #56, Hawkman IV #23)- Atom-Smasher and the rest of Black Adam’s team arrived in Adam’s homeland of Kahndaq with the intention of reclaiming it for Adam. They freed the workers of a slave labor campand slaughtered the soldiers guarding the camp. They went to Kahndaq’s capital of Shiruta and confronted dictator Asim Muhunnad. Black Adam ordered Atom-Smasher to make history and kill Muhunnad, and Atom-Smasher complied. Adam proclaimed himself ruler of Kahndaq.

(JSA #57, Hawkman IV #24, JSA #58, Hawkman IV #25, JSA #65 (fb))- Atom-Smasher and his teammates made Muhunnad’s palace their hq, and addressed the population of Kahndaq, who welcomed them as triumphant heroes. That night Atom-Smasher couldn’t sleep, he was plagued by voices accusing him of being an executioner, not a hero. It was actually Atom II, sent by Hawkman to scope out Kahndaq and be a mole. The JSA came to Kahndaq to take Eclipso and their other former allies home, but Adam destroyed their plane, scattering the JSA across Kahndaq. Atom captured Mr. Terrific and Dr. Mid-Nite, and at Black Adam’s order he threw them to a crowd of angry Kahndaqis, who considered the JSA invaders. He then brought Stargirl to Black Adam’s palace. She was upset with Atom, her former crush, asking if there was any of the man that welcomed her into the JSA still in him. Atom II revealed himself to Stargirl and Atom-Smasher, and when Black Adam told Atom-Smasher to hold down the palace while Adam fought the JSA, he kept quiet about Atom II. Atom-Smasher helped Stargirl free Captain Marvel from captivity in Adam’s palace, then brokered a peace pact between his team and the JSA. The JSA promised not to interfere further in Kahndaq as long as Black Adam and his team remained within the country’s orders and didn’t try conquering any surrounding nations. Stargirl desperately wanted Atom-Smasher to go back to the U.S. with the JSA, but he chose to stay with Black Adam.

(JSA #66) - At Black Adam’s order Atom-Smasher killed a group of Khandaqi insurgents. He was feeling isolated, and Black Adam suggested they recruit his old friends Jade and Obsidian to their cause. Atom-Smasher knew they’d refused, and once again wondered if he was doing the right thing. Rip Hunter appeared to Atom-Smasher and brought him into the timestream to battle Per Degaton.

(JSA #68) - Rip Hunter gathered the JSA and brought them in his Time Sphere to the year 1951, where they met up with Atom-Smasher. Per Degaton was going to do something on October 30, 1951 and blame it on the disbanded Justice Society, thus altering history. As a result they would be tried for treason and the JSA would never again reform. Rip Hunter had brought the JSA to convince the Justice Society to get back together to oppose Degaton. Stargirl didn’t want to work with Atom-Smasher on the case, calling him a murderer. She cooled off, but it was decided Atom-Smasher should stay far away from her.

(JSA #69-72) <October 28-30,1951> - Atom-Smasher followed Al Pratt and tried to figure how he could convince him to go ack into action as Atom. He felt like a hypocrite, trying to inspire his namesake to be a hero after he’d wandered from the pursuit of heroism. Al Pratt got in a car with government agents and drove away. Atom-Smasher learned the O.S.S. was blackmailing Al to force him to bring in Hawkman and Hawkgirl. Al changed his mind and told them he wouldn’t follow their orders no matter what they did to him. Atom-Smasher chased off the O.S.S. Atom and Atom Smasher met up with the rest of the reformed Justice Society and the JSA at the Justice Society brownstone. Hourman informed them Per Degaton was going to assassinate the President. The Justice Society and JSA went to Washington to warn Truman that his life was in danger. Degaton and the Red Morgue attacked Washington, but the teams were ready for him. Degaton used a time-disc to speed up Atom’s metabolism and turn him into a nuclear bomb ready to go off. If he exploded millions would die, but J.J. Thunder and Johnny Thunder summoned the Thunderbolt to turn Atom back to normal. Hourman II gave Atom-Smasher his tachyon hourglass so he could physically batter Degaton Degaton, who fled into the timestream. The resulting time distortion caused the Justice Society members to forget their adventure with the JSA. After Degaton was defeated Rip Hunter ferried the JSA back to the present.

(JSA #73-75) - Atom-Smasher asked to be readmitted to the JSA, but the team had to have a meeting an take a vote on it. While he was waiting for them he called Atom’s son Damage for advice, but lost his nerve when Damage answered thephone. Black Adam came to Atom an told him he was needed in Khandaq to fight Eclipso and the Spectre-Force. Atom refused to come back until Adam told him that Sadora, a little girl Atom rescued from insurgents, had been killed in the conflict. In Khandaq Atom-Smasher minimalized casualties, but Black Adam couldn’t defeat the villains, nor could the JSA, who’ come to Khandaq to help. Stargirl asked Atom-Smasher why he’d abandoned the JSA a second time. He told her he loved the people of Khanaq, and he could never go back to the JSA after the murders he’d committed. Spectre only stopped his attacks when Atom-Smasher told him he’d accept the Spectre’s judgment on him. He allowed the Spectre to stop his heart as punishment for the murders he’d committed. Black Adam restarted his heart with his magic lightning, and the JSA took Atom back to America after warning Black Adam to stay far away from him in the future.

(JSA #76) - Atom-Smasher turned himself over to the authorities an went on trial for breaking international law in the invasion of Khandaq. He disassociated his actions from the JSA and pled guilty. He was sentenced, but as he was being led away to prison he saw his former JSA teammates being attacked by an OMAC. He broke his bonds and chased away the OMAC, then returned to police custody. He told the JSA he believed in justice, so he had to pay for his actions. He was transferred to Belle Reve prison, where Amana Waller met with him and told him they should have a chat.

(52 / WWIII Part One: A Call to Arms #1) - <Week 50, Day 1> Black Adam declared war on humanity after the death of his family, starting WWIII. Atom-Smasher and the JSA visited Bialya after Adam killed millions there, and prepared to confront him.

(52 / WWIII Part Three: Hell Is For Heroes #1) - <Week 5, Day 5> Atom-Smasher and the JSA went into action after Black Adam decimated Pisa, Italy, aiding the survivors.

(52 / WWIII Part Four: United We Stand #1) - <Week 50, Day 7> Black Adam arrived in China, and prepared to destroy the entire country. He defeated China's superhero team the Great Ten before China allowed Atom-Smasher and the American superhero community to square off against him. Black Adam was a god with nothing left to lose, and each punch he threw was intended to kill. His savagery was winning the day until Martian Manhunter reappeared and flooded his brain with his own loss, the death of the entire Martian species. Black Adam was distracted long enough for Captain Marvel to hurl a Shazam bolt at him. Theo Adam was powerless, and left with amnesia. He staggered away unnoticed from the end of WWIII.

Comments: Created by Jerry Ordway, Mike Machlan & Roy Thomas

In the pre-Crisis DC Universe Nuklon lived on Earth-2.

Nuklon received profiles in Who’s Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #17 and Who's Who in the DC Universe #8. Nuklon received profiles in Who's Who: The Definitive Directory of the DC Universe #11 and Who'sWho Update '87 #3 under the Infinity, Inc. entry. Atom-Smasher received a profile in JSA Secret Files #1. Atom-Smasher (as Bigg Boy) received a profile in Sins of Youth Secret Files #1 under the Junior Society of America entry.

A photo of Nuklon and the rest of Infinity, Inc. was shown in Fury II’s home in Sandman Presents: The Furies #1.

In JSA Secret Files #2 Director Bones of the D.E.O. reviewed data the D.E.O. had on various JSA members, including Atom-Smasher as their pictures flashed across viewscreens.

Atom-Smasher was pictured on the cover of JSA #50.

A statue of Nuklon was seen in the JSA Museum in JSA #63

Atom-Smasher had a cameo in JSA #77.

JSA All-Stars #7 showed a photo of Nuklon and other members of Infinity, Inc. hanging in the office of Director Bones.

Outsiders III #7 had a flashback of Nuklon's appearance in JLA #1.