Going Batty (The Atom 30)

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Are you ready? Yeah. Are you with it? Yeah. [00:00:02] Speaker B: Okay, let's go. You know what to do. The whole world's watching and counting on you. And all you people listening out there. Everybody everywhere. Hang on, hang on, hang on. Welcome to Checkered Past, a loving postmodern examination of the. [00:00:20] Speaker A: Go. [00:00:21] Speaker B: Go. Check. Branded comic magazines published by DC Comics between February 1966 and August 1967. I'm Dr. Bob, and each week I'll be your guide on this trippy tour through 535 mid century masterpieces of graphic noveldom. This week, the Atom 30. Cover date, April 1967. Cover price, 12 cents. Cover artist, Gil Kane. Edited by Julius Schwartz. Featuring Days of the Bat Nights written by Gardner Fox, art by Gil Kane and Sid Green. Are you ready? Are you with it? Then away we go. Go. If you're walking in the shadows then it's time that you get wise. I just forget about your troubles and open up your eyes. When you wear a smile the world will shout hooray. You gotta turn on the sunshine. You're gonna push the blues away. Ray Palmer and Gene Loring join their nature club on a hike. In some nearby caves, Ray encounters the Bat Knights, which begin attacking even when he reduces in size to become the Atom. The miniature warriors continue their attack, knocking him unconscious. Confused? Don't worry, I'll be right back with doctor Husband to explain everything. Are you ready? Are you ready for the great atomic power? Will you rise and meet your savior in the air? Will you shout or will you cry when the fire ain't from on high? [00:02:10] Speaker A: Are you ready for the great atomic power? [00:02:14] Speaker B: Do you fear this man's invention that they call atomic power? Are we all in great confusion? [00:02:21] Speaker A: Do we know the time or hour when a terrible explosion may rain down. [00:02:27] Speaker B: Upon our land, leading horrible destruction, blotting. [00:02:31] Speaker A: Out the works of man? [00:02:33] Speaker B: Are you ready? [00:02:34] Speaker A: I am. [00:02:34] Speaker B: Are you with it? [00:02:35] Speaker A: Yes. Then away we go. Go. [00:02:38] Speaker B: Hey. Hi. [00:02:39] Speaker A: Hi. [00:02:39] Speaker B: Where you been? [00:02:41] Speaker A: You know, I've been upstairs and. You've been downstairs? [00:02:44] Speaker B: Yeah. Yeah. [00:02:45] Speaker A: You've been working? I've been working, yeah. [00:02:46] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. It's how it is in the modern world. [00:02:49] Speaker A: You know it. Getting ready to restart the semester? [00:02:52] Speaker B: Gross. [00:02:53] Speaker A: That's fine. [00:02:54] Speaker B: Is it? [00:02:54] Speaker A: Yes. Yes. Getting ready to start rehearsing the show. [00:03:00] Speaker B: Yes. [00:03:01] Speaker A: And planning my classes and just, you know, I got a calendar for the full year up on the wall, but then it came down. Yeah. I guess I have to figure out a way to get it to stay up there. [00:03:14] Speaker B: That would be helpful if you want to reference it during the Day. [00:03:19] Speaker A: I. [00:03:20] Speaker B: Might have to like. [00:03:20] Speaker A: I'll figure out something. [00:03:22] Speaker B: What I would do is take a nail and pound it directly into the wall. [00:03:26] Speaker A: I'm not doing that. [00:03:27] Speaker B: If you make a little X of masking tape, it won't rip the plaster out. [00:03:31] Speaker A: Oh, okay. Okay. [00:03:33] Speaker B: Or a wall anchor or something. You've got to have a working calendar. [00:03:37] Speaker A: It's made out of heavy paper, so. [00:03:38] Speaker B: It'S heavier than I say a nail or maybe a screw. [00:03:42] Speaker A: I'll figure something out. Now I've got it. [00:03:44] Speaker B: Or a masonry bolt. [00:03:47] Speaker A: I. Do you want to know what I'm going to do? [00:03:49] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:03:50] Speaker A: Going to take two pieces of wood. [00:03:52] Speaker B: Yes. [00:03:53] Speaker A: The length of the top of the calendar. Uhhuh. I'm going to put screws in them. And I'm going to put so. So that the calendar is affixed. [00:04:00] Speaker B: Y. [00:04:00] Speaker A: Then I'm going to do a piece of nice ribbon on either side. [00:04:06] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:04:07] Speaker A: It comes to a point. And hang it from that. I'm going to hang it like you would, you know, Just a mirror, if you will. [00:04:13] Speaker B: Tapestry. [00:04:14] Speaker A: Yeah, yeah, yeah. [00:04:17] Speaker B: Well, my day went great too. [00:04:18] Speaker A: Tell me about it. [00:04:19] Speaker B: Well, I sat at my desk and worked. And then now here I am. Good. Yeah. [00:04:25] Speaker A: I'm glad to see you. [00:04:26] Speaker B: It's nice to see you. [00:04:27] Speaker A: Didn't see much of you today, did I? [00:04:29] Speaker B: Well, no. You kept yourself upstairs. Cloistered. Cloistered. [00:04:33] Speaker A: I was working. [00:04:34] Speaker B: I. [00:04:34] Speaker A: Although I did rise before the sun came up this morning. [00:04:37] Speaker B: I couldn't sleep. [00:04:40] Speaker A: I tried. I laid there for an hour. [00:04:42] Speaker B: Well, that's always my advice. Just lay still and don't move. Play dead. [00:04:47] Speaker A: So I just got up, I took care of the dogs. I did my morning routines, started some planning stuff. And then I started to get tired and I was like, okay, that's it. Now I can go back to bed. And I went to bed for another hour and a half. Well, which is I got back the sleep that I lost, but unfortunately it meant my morning was all out of whack. So I didn't get to do some of the things that I normally do. [00:05:10] Speaker B: Well, that'll all change next week when you have to leave the house, go work all day long and all night. [00:05:16] Speaker A: Working till 8pm Gross. I know. [00:05:18] Speaker B: I don't know how you're gonna manage to make dinner when you get home that late. [00:05:23] Speaker A: We will work it out. I'll do Wednesday nights for sure. And I'll do weekends. Maybe you'll do. We'll work. We always find a way to make it work. [00:05:30] Speaker B: That's right. [00:05:32] Speaker A: So. And we have Healthy meals. [00:05:35] Speaker B: Hey, Happy New Year. [00:05:37] Speaker A: Yeah, my voice is a little rough. [00:05:39] Speaker B: Yes, you're still sick. [00:05:40] Speaker A: Sick. Still recovering. But Happy New Year to you, too. [00:05:43] Speaker B: And guess what else? What? Happy New Month. We finally turned the Corner out of March, 1967. We do? Yes. We're in April, girl. [00:05:53] Speaker A: Oh, wow. [00:05:54] Speaker B: Okay. And April showers bring May flowers or what? Yeah. What do Mayflowers bring? [00:06:03] Speaker A: Pilgrims. [00:06:04] Speaker B: I made up that joke when I was in third grade. Still kills them in Schenectady. It's the Atom. [00:06:12] Speaker A: The Atom. [00:06:14] Speaker B: I made up that song, didn't I? To remind you of what to read. [00:06:16] Speaker A: You did. [00:06:16] Speaker B: The Atom. The Atom. The Atom. The Atom. [00:06:24] Speaker A: That's exactly. [00:06:25] Speaker B: It's catchy. [00:06:26] Speaker A: It certainly is. [00:06:27] Speaker B: I haven't written a song for Adam yet. He does have a song from the 1967 filmation cartoon, but I don't think that has lyrics. [00:06:36] Speaker A: Okay. [00:06:38] Speaker B: But I'll. I'll work on something. [00:06:40] Speaker A: Well, I read this. [00:06:41] Speaker B: Yes. [00:06:42] Speaker A: On Sunday. [00:06:43] Speaker B: Yes. [00:06:44] Speaker A: Having lunch. I was having a very long day. I'd gone to church in the morning. Then we had choir practice. Then I had lunch by myself. Where? Oh, goodness. That wonderful little bistro restaurant. Not bistro, but my. Oh, I can't remember. My buddy Jordan owns it. [00:07:03] Speaker B: Oh, I know what you're talking about. I've never been there. [00:07:06] Speaker A: Yeah, you've never been there, but I had a soup and a sandwich. Okay. And sat down and read the Atom with my lunch. [00:07:12] Speaker B: Did you get looks from the other customers? No. Okay. [00:07:16] Speaker A: Who cares if I got looks? But, yeah, I had a great conversation with Jordan. His son was accepted into Columbia. [00:07:25] Speaker B: Oh, I know. [00:07:27] Speaker A: Well, such the proud father. [00:07:29] Speaker B: I bet the Adam also teaches at an Ivy League university. Really? Or Ivy. Ivy University. Yes. In Ivytown. This is The Adam, number 30. April, 1967. April, May, if we're being. Because it's bimonthly. Featuring the Bat Knights. Little men who ride bats. They've appeared before and they'll appear again now. [00:08:02] Speaker A: Have we read about them before? [00:08:03] Speaker B: We have not read about them because they were not in a checkered, boarded issue. [00:08:08] Speaker A: But thought when I was reading this. Wow. I have no memory of these people at all. Right. [00:08:14] Speaker B: Well, we do get lots of footnotes from the editor, helpfully. Julius Schwartz is the editor in this case. And the Atom better win this fight underground or it will erupt into a worldwide war overground. Mr. Willoughby, by the way. Yes. I had thought that he'd been thrown over by Miss Dashwood and she'd gone with Colonel Brandon or something, because he was home all weekend long. [00:08:42] Speaker A: Yes. With a Very long face. [00:08:43] Speaker B: But today he's right back at it. [00:08:47] Speaker A: Barton Manor with the Dashwoods. [00:08:49] Speaker B: Not Barton Manor, Barton cottage. [00:08:51] Speaker A: Barton Cottage. Mrs. Dashwoods. [00:08:54] Speaker B: Yes. [00:08:55] Speaker A: Yes. [00:08:56] Speaker B: The Atom Number 30. Script by Gardiner Fox. Art by Gil Kane and Sid Green. Flap, flap, flap. [00:09:01] Speaker A: I like your mind. [00:09:03] Speaker B: This is the ominous sound of bat wings fluttering as the tiny denizens of giant caverns erupt into world of the Tall People, quote, unquote, to loot, steal and kill. But why have the wee warriors turned their lethal lances on the only friend they have on Earth? Days of the Bat nights, it's daze days. [00:09:28] Speaker A: Remind our listeners. Because I'm sure that we must have at least one listener who's never heard. [00:09:33] Speaker B: That story about the flat, flat flap. [00:09:34] Speaker A: And I said, just like your mother. [00:09:36] Speaker B: So when I was growing up, we had a very dated galley kitchen in our house, which had wallpaper from about 1962. Actually, probably 1960 was when they bought the house. So probably 1960. And when I was a teenager, my parents finally decided they were going to redo the kitchen. And so step one was taking all that wallpaper down and behind the stove. When the wallpaper had been originally put up, apparently my mother. Well, it couldn't have been 1960 because I think she was pregnant with me. But there was a stick figure cartoon drawing in wallpaper paste that my father had drawn of my mother pregnant. Pregnant with a word balloon coming out that just said flap, flap, flap. I wish I'd taken a picture. It's folk art at its best. Yeah. [00:10:44] Speaker A: Script by Gardner Fox. Art by Gil Kane and Sid Green. [00:10:47] Speaker B: Yes, once again, as they have done for the past five years, Ray Palmer and Gene Loring lead the Ivytown Nature Club on its annual hike. Now, this is the very cave where the Atom first used his powers. One of my very favorite origin stories that has ever been. They were on a hike and Ray was planning to propose to Gene that very day. So he had the engagement ring with him. Well, then the hikers got trapped. And he'd been experimenting with his shrink, ray. But he hadn't perfected it because every time he used it on organic matter, it exploded or something. Or inorganic. I don't know. I can't remember the details right off top of my head. Anyway, he had to shrink himself. He happened to have a little lens that he used for his experiments. And he shined it through some sunlight and shrank himself and then used the diamond ring to cut a hole big enough for him to get out so that he could rescue the hikers. What I'm Getting at is why are they going back to this cave that has trapped hikers in the past? [00:12:07] Speaker A: Right. Because it might happen again. [00:12:10] Speaker B: Right. And we have the famous singing duo Lonnie and Sherry. It's Sunny and Cher. [00:12:19] Speaker A: Oh, is that what it is? [00:12:21] Speaker B: That was my assumption. [00:12:22] Speaker A: Oh, I get it now. Yeah. [00:12:25] Speaker B: And they appear. Here they are now. It's the very same group that went on our first hike. The one where the cave collapsed and trapped us all. [00:12:36] Speaker A: Yeah. There's nothing quite as fun and practical as bringing your guitar strapped over your shoulder. [00:12:42] Speaker B: Right. On a hike. [00:12:43] Speaker A: Like a cave hike. [00:12:43] Speaker B: Sure. Well, they need some entertainment. What if they get trapped again? [00:12:47] Speaker A: A picnic, yes. But a cave hike, you're gonna go through tight spaces. Something is going to hit that guitar neck and break it. [00:12:55] Speaker B: Does it look like a very expensive guitar? At that time, we learn Lonnie and Sherry were boyfriend and girlfriend and now they're married. And at least Ray and I are engaged. Gene thinks so. We learn that Lonnie and Sherry are already singing sensations of the country. Why not lay down a happy tune for us as we explore the grottos of giant caverns? [00:13:22] Speaker A: Wow. You heard it. Lonnie hit the strings. [00:13:26] Speaker B: They sing their big hit. I have a sweet tooth for my sweet sweetheart. Suddenly, Rey gasps because he sees something flying out of the darkness. The bat Knights. [00:13:42] Speaker A: They live in the city of Elvara. [00:13:44] Speaker B: Yes. [00:13:44] Speaker A: Within the giant caverns. [00:13:46] Speaker B: Yes. [00:13:46] Speaker A: They're possessed with an irresistible compulsion to attack human beings taller than they are. [00:13:51] Speaker B: Same. [00:13:52] Speaker A: Yeah. Oh, is that true? [00:13:53] Speaker B: Yes. I don't trust tall people one bit. The superpowered lances of the little people ram into the cavern explorers. Lonnie smashes his guitar over top of one of them. Because Sherry's safety is worth more to me than a hundred string boxes. [00:14:16] Speaker A: He smashes the guitar, which is important because he plays it again later on. [00:14:22] Speaker B: Oh, maybe he brought two. [00:14:25] Speaker A: No, he didn't. [00:14:26] Speaker B: You don't know? [00:14:26] Speaker A: I wasn't thinking that. We would remember that. By the way, also, later on. [00:14:30] Speaker B: Yes. [00:14:30] Speaker A: The people who are exploring with the cave in the cave. [00:14:33] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:33] Speaker A: They never talk about the little people on bats. Well, if I remember correctly from my lunch reading. [00:14:39] Speaker B: Yes. [00:14:40] Speaker A: There are a couple things that are. That are inconsistent with this story. Okay. And that is that the guitar is smashed, is unplayable. The strings are broken. Okay. [00:14:48] Speaker B: Right. Yep. [00:14:48] Speaker A: But it will be played again later on. And the people who will be going this adventure and deal with crisis here any second now. [00:14:57] Speaker B: Right. [00:14:57] Speaker A: Now that they're in. They're in this crisis and the consequences of it Will not discuss the little people again. [00:15:05] Speaker B: Well, I mean, maybe this is a common occurrence in seeing little people. [00:15:11] Speaker A: Little people flying on bats and attracting. [00:15:13] Speaker B: Well, it is the second time that the bat mites have appeared. [00:15:16] Speaker A: Okay. [00:15:17] Speaker B: And if these children are always exploring giant caverns, I mean, there's cave ins, there's. There's all kinds of things. You don't know what they've seen. Ray uses a picnic basket to smash a couple of these knights. And then he darts off into one of the dark shaft ways, giving us one of Gil Kane's patented beefcake shots. And reaches a concealed area where he can shrink to the atom. [00:15:50] Speaker A: What's the beefcake shot? The butt. [00:15:52] Speaker B: Yeah, his butt shot. [00:15:53] Speaker A: That's nice. [00:15:54] Speaker B: Gil Kane. Willoughby. Well, here's Mr. Willoughby. Home at last. You're gonna have to wait for your dinner, mister, because it was served earlier and you weren't here. All right. The tiny Titan is borne aloft by the winds that roam the labyrinth of caverns. And we learn that the Bat Knights. In case you didn't see this earlier issue, the Bat Knights are his friends. [00:16:18] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:16:19] Speaker B: He's got to get them to go back to their domain and leave his companions alone. Bat Knights of Elvara, listen to me. I am your friend, the Atom. The tiny human who saved you from the tall criminal, Eddie Gordon. Remember The Atom. [00:16:38] Speaker A: Destroy him. [00:16:41] Speaker B: Adam has to become even smaller so that the lethal lances don't harm him. He can't understand because he's small now. They don't attack small people. The Bat Knights pass by. He goes back up to 6 inches, tackles one of them, knocks him off his bat, takes control of the bat and steers forward to fight another of these small gentlemen. And then we get a little bit of a flashback. We learn that the Bat Knights are descendants of little people who originally lived on prehistoric Earth when the cavemen hunted them for sport. For thousands of years, Little man warred with tall human until there was developed in the little people a fierce compulsion to slay on sight any tall man they saw. But there were too many giants in the world. And so the tiny folk hid away in caverns deep beneath the ground. Mammoth Caves, Carlsbad Caverns. [00:17:47] Speaker A: Caverns and Giant Caverns. Where's Giant Caverns? [00:17:51] Speaker B: In Ivy Town, I'm assuming. We've been to Mammoth Cave, haven't we? [00:17:55] Speaker A: No, we haven't. Have we been to Carlsbad? [00:17:58] Speaker B: I haven't, no. [00:17:59] Speaker A: Isn't that New Mexico? [00:18:01] Speaker B: Yes. Ish. I don't know. [00:18:04] Speaker A: Excuse me. [00:18:05] Speaker B: Gesundheit. For centuries. [00:18:06] Speaker A: Go ahead. [00:18:07] Speaker B: For Centuries they remained hidden in the city of Elvara, unknown to the outer world. Until Eddie Gordon, a small time crook, learned they could be controlled by a loud sound, such as a gunshot. Gordon dispatched them to the outside world to loot and steal. Which is when the Atom took a hand going into the caves after Gordon. He captured him after a savage struggle. Then, with the consent of the Bat Knights, he sealed up the entrance to the world of Elvara. [00:18:38] Speaker A: They had agreed that he would give a prearranged signal when he came and they would remain friends. [00:18:42] Speaker B: Yes, and Adam promised to return one day to renew their friendship. [00:18:48] Speaker A: But it appears that upon his return, they have forgotten. [00:18:53] Speaker B: Yes, if I'd have known, I'd have never allowed the nature Club to enter the caves. Never mind that there's always a cave in every time we come here. What made them emerge here just now? So many questions and no answers. And just then, a sneak attack. They come at him with their lances, which makes a great set of parallel bars. The kind gymnasts perform on. Giving Mr. Gil Kane another chance to show off the fine male physique of the Atom. This really. I really love this artwork. If you can't tell. Not just for the physique shots, but it's very fine. [00:19:38] Speaker A: It's excellent work. [00:19:41] Speaker B: I like how he always draws the Atom close up in action, even though he's tiny. [00:19:46] Speaker A: Yeah. Well, we could get a lot of perspective. [00:19:50] Speaker B: Yes. Then, caught unawares by a follow up lance attack from a nearby tunnel, two costumed men come striding. Happiness in their eyes, triumph in their voices. [00:20:03] Speaker A: It's weird that their costumes are like this. [00:20:05] Speaker B: It is. They're not. It really is. They're like armor almost. Yeah, yeah. They are congratulating the Bat Knights on knocking out the Atom. But who are these tall costumed men? Why don't the Bat Knights attack them? Let's find out. One of these tall gentlemen says, commands a Bat Knight, take him away and execute him. And the Bat Knight says, I will obey. [00:20:38] Speaker A: And he grips another bat. Yes. And they put the atom on the bat. [00:20:44] Speaker B: Yes. [00:20:44] Speaker A: And they fly him away. But why wouldn't I like to fly in a bat sometime? [00:20:49] Speaker B: Sure, who wouldn't? [00:20:50] Speaker A: That would be kind of cool, wouldn't it? [00:20:53] Speaker B: Now this Bat Knight cannot help himself, but he's apologizing to the Atom. I don't want to do this, friend Adam, but I can't help myself. Oh, sorry. A tiny voice. I don't want to do this, friend Adam, but I can't help myself. My fellow Bat Knights and I are Being kept in a daze by those two costumed humans. I've been ordered to execute you. So execute you I must. [00:21:17] Speaker A: Behind them, criminals Eddie Gordon and Luke Preston. Rejoice. [00:21:20] Speaker B: Eddie Gordon? He's the one from before. [00:21:22] Speaker A: Yes. He looks like Charles. Prince Charles? King Charles. [00:21:27] Speaker B: He does. Kind of. [00:21:28] Speaker A: Kind of like a mix between King Charles and Bob Hope. [00:21:31] Speaker B: Yes. [00:21:33] Speaker A: And Eddie from National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation. [00:21:39] Speaker B: Randy Quaid. [00:21:40] Speaker A: Yes. Randy Quaid. [00:21:41] Speaker B: Yeah, everything's worked out perfectly, Luke. The Bad Knights obey our every command, which means we have the greatest criminal gang in history. [00:21:50] Speaker A: Yeah, it was the luckiest day for us when the warden made a cellmate. [00:21:54] Speaker B: Daddy, I'm mighty glad I told you about my adventure with the Bad Knights when I learned what a scientific wizard you are, Luke. Yeah, and I still get a kick. [00:22:02] Speaker A: Out of the way I use my scientific name. Know how to spring us from the big house, Luke? [00:22:10] Speaker B: Longtime comic readers will know exactly what I'm talking about. Luke looks the way that the X Men's Banshee was drawn in his first appearance. [00:22:22] Speaker A: Yes. [00:22:23] Speaker B: How do you know that? [00:22:24] Speaker A: I was wondering that. Well, the hair. It's the hair. But the face. He looks like the Grinch. He's got the Grinch's face, except with human flesh colors. But the hair. It looks like the Marvel's Banshee. [00:22:37] Speaker B: I'm very proud of you for even knowing who Banshee is. [00:22:40] Speaker A: Of course, I know he's had little, I don't know, winglets or whatever it was. [00:22:44] Speaker B: How do you know that? [00:22:46] Speaker A: Because it's freakishly stupid. [00:22:48] Speaker B: Well, it. He can fly, can't he? [00:22:50] Speaker A: Well, yes, but he would do his wings out. His arms out. Yeah. [00:22:59] Speaker B: I'm astonished. [00:23:00] Speaker A: I'm not completely useless. I'm shook. I'm not completely useless. [00:23:05] Speaker B: So after they escaped from jail, it was child's play to blast the rocks, sealing the entrance to the Elvara section of Giant caverns. [00:23:15] Speaker A: Now the hikers are trapped once again. [00:23:18] Speaker B: What? [00:23:19] Speaker A: Ro. [00:23:22] Speaker B: He. Now remembering that the Bat Knights are compelled to obey by any loud noise. [00:23:30] Speaker A: Yes. [00:23:31] Speaker B: Luke developed an ultrasonic boomer to duplicate the effect of gunshot sound that originally gave Eddie control over the minds of the Bat Knights. And not only does this do tricks like making the cave collapse, but it will give them continuous control over the little people. It'll put them in a sonic daze from which there can be no escape as long as the sonic boomer is kept turned on. [00:24:02] Speaker A: Oh, by the way, it smashes the rocks noiselessly. [00:24:06] Speaker B: Yes. It has the same effect as loud noise, but doesn't actually make Noise. All right. They take control of the Bat Knights. They put on their special costumes. The uniforms do serve a purpose. [00:24:23] Speaker A: They do. They protect them. The wearers of the uniforms. What are these guys? Names, Percy and I don't know what their names are. [00:24:30] Speaker B: Luke and Eddie. [00:24:31] Speaker A: Luke and Eddie. [00:24:33] Speaker B: Just a good old boy. [00:24:35] Speaker A: They need to be protected from the sonic waves because they'll kill them. Yeah, but the uniforms, they could have been like utility outfits. They could have been anything. They didn't have to look like samurai robots. [00:24:50] Speaker B: No one has a little Vivian Westwood catsuit or something. [00:24:55] Speaker A: He has a cat suit. Oh yes, a cat suit. [00:25:02] Speaker B: Dreams of grandeur are dancing before the eyes of this costumed criminals. Because the Atom has been captured and as good as dead. No plays on oith will be safe from our Bat Night gang. [00:25:17] Speaker A: Where are you? [00:25:18] Speaker B: I'm on the top of page 11. [00:25:19] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:25:20] Speaker B: You've got a line. [00:25:22] Speaker A: Imagine the Louvre in Paris. The bank in England. A Bank of England. The Hermitage in Moscow. All ours for the stealing. [00:25:30] Speaker B: Well, how are you gonna get to Europe, Luke? Yeah, ride a bat. [00:25:35] Speaker A: Exactly. What are you gonna do? Take your little Bat Knights with you all the way to another country? You're gonna put them in a cage and then take him in steerage on a plane? [00:25:48] Speaker B: Maybe he's gonna put wings under his costume and then use his sonic boomer like banshee to fly across the ocean and just put some bats on his. [00:26:01] Speaker A: Lapel batteries for that. [00:26:03] Speaker B: Well, now meanwhile the Atom is being taken into an unexplored section of giant caverns because my. My master said to execute you. That means you are to be consigned to the inescapable Pit of Desolation. [00:26:22] Speaker A: Oh, no. Not the inescapable Pit of Desolation. [00:26:25] Speaker B: Long ages ago, we little people executed our lawbreakers. By condemning them to this pit. He Forgive me, Atom, but I am forced to carry out the death sentence in the manner prescribed by our society. [00:26:41] Speaker A: Down, down the Atom goes until a loud splash bounces hollow echoes from the walls of the shaft. But Adam is revived by the cold waters of the Pit of Desolation. The tiny Titan swims round and round is his last resting. Space swims in circles. Oh, and he can't get up the wall. [00:27:00] Speaker B: He can't get up. They're too slippery. And it won't do him any good to shrink himself even more because he still couldn't climb the walls. But wait, why not grow? Because the pit is more than six feet across. If he grows to his six foot height and then climb out by Using his hands and feet. Because luckily the walls aren't as slippery to my enlarged hands as they are to my small ones. [00:27:25] Speaker A: That's quick thinking. [00:27:26] Speaker B: Also, you're not wearing gloves when you're enlarged, so, I mean, you are. But they're invisible. [00:27:31] Speaker A: It's really difficult to do what he's doing. He must be very strong. [00:27:35] Speaker B: Is it? I've done it. [00:27:36] Speaker A: Oh, have you? [00:27:36] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:27:37] Speaker A: Done that? Like, traversed an open pit like that? [00:27:40] Speaker B: Sure, yeah. A million times. I'll go do it right now. As soon as we're done, can you open up the well? Sure, I'll show you. The youthful research scientist makes his climb knowing at least that Jean and the other nature club members are safe, hidden in the cave tunnels. Cause, you see, they scattered when the Bat Knights attacked. [00:28:03] Speaker A: Oh, yes. [00:28:04] Speaker B: He assumes they're safe. He gets out of the pitch, the pit, and then he's gonna go small again and ride the cave winds to Elvara. I must learn why those Bat Knights turned against me. They may need my help to bring them back to their senses. [00:28:21] Speaker A: Come to your senses. And something. And something. [00:28:24] Speaker B: And he gets to the outskirts of Elvara. And why, there's Hestera. [00:28:30] Speaker A: Hestera? My friend. [00:28:32] Speaker B: I met her when I became friendly with the Bat Knights. [00:28:35] Speaker A: Olin Parr. [00:28:36] Speaker B: With the Bat Knight. Olin Parr. [00:28:38] Speaker A: But how will she greet me when she sees me? [00:28:40] Speaker B: Adam. [00:28:41] Speaker A: Oh, thank the stars you're here. [00:28:43] Speaker B: What a relief. I was afraid you'd scream to bring the Bat Knights down on me. [00:28:47] Speaker A: Oh, I know what you mean. But the Bat Knights can't help themselves. Two tall costumed people appeared here and placed what they call an ultrasonic boomer in these caverns. She had to say it like that. She couldn't remember what it's called. [00:29:01] Speaker B: Strange word. [00:29:01] Speaker A: Yes, yes. In these caverns. It's a device that keeps us under their control. Only the Bat Knights were ordered to attack you. [00:29:09] Speaker B: Then you are free to help me. Hurry. Take me to where that sonic boomer is. I'll shut it off. [00:29:15] Speaker A: Oh, if only you could. But the boomer is well guarded. None of my people can even get near it. [00:29:22] Speaker B: Well, they fly to the cave where the sonic boomer has been placed. [00:29:27] Speaker A: I can go no further. When we little people get too close to the sonic boomer, it stuns us into unconsciousness. [00:29:35] Speaker B: Then I'll take that risk on my own if necessary. He thinks I'll switch to my Ray Palmer height. [00:29:43] Speaker A: Be careful, Adam. The sound waves from the boomer have had an odd effect on life forms in the cave. Oh, what A nice warning. And isn't it interesting what happens next? Yes, I loved this comic. Loved it. I was so. I just ate it up. [00:30:01] Speaker B: I did too. [00:30:02] Speaker A: It's delightful. I love it when, like, the atom goes small and nature attacks him and he has to deal with it, you know? [00:30:14] Speaker B: Well, thinking. Speaking of timeliness, inside the cave, down between the stalactites, thrusting from the ceiling, swoops a guacharo. [00:30:25] Speaker A: A guacharo? [00:30:26] Speaker B: Also known as the Venezuelan oil bird. [00:30:31] Speaker A: Oh, my God. [00:30:32] Speaker B: Venezuelan oil's been in the news lately. As we record, we learn that the guacharo lives both in caves and in the outside world. And this one looks mean and hungry. I'll make myself a smaller target. But what's this? [00:30:52] Speaker A: His controls don't work. [00:30:53] Speaker B: His size and weight controls do not work. [00:30:55] Speaker A: The boomer's ultrasonic waves have jammed them. [00:31:00] Speaker B: Something he didn't count on. Oh, man. [00:31:02] Speaker A: He gets in a great fight. [00:31:04] Speaker B: He's captured by the guattaro. [00:31:06] Speaker A: Yes. [00:31:08] Speaker B: We learn that he had reduced his weight. As you know, he can when he's small. He can decrease or increase his weight to his full 180 pounds if he has to. But he had made himself light to ride the bat, thus reducing his strength. Luckily, as a physics professor, he's got very strong legs. So his legs are still able to wrap around a needle thin stalagmite, which he rides down to the cave floor knowing that the bird can't get at him without crashing into it, only to. [00:31:52] Speaker A: Be met with a new challenge. [00:31:55] Speaker B: A salamander. [00:31:56] Speaker A: A fearsome, life threatening salamander. [00:32:02] Speaker B: He lands. [00:32:04] Speaker A: You know why I love this? [00:32:05] Speaker B: Why? [00:32:05] Speaker A: I mean, this is the time when those crappy movies are made with stop motion animation where people would be shrunk down and they would be attacked by giants and ants and rats and all sorts of things, you know, where they would appear in front of a film screen and fight it. Even when I was a child, I knew it was so bad, so not believable, I loved it. [00:32:27] Speaker B: What are your thoughts on Dr. Shrinker? [00:32:31] Speaker A: It's Hanna Barbera, isn't it? [00:32:33] Speaker B: No. Sid Marty Croft. [00:32:35] Speaker A: I'm sorry, that's what I meant. I meant Sid Marty Croft. Sorry. I love formulaic, over the top acting. Craziness, Cheap sets. Billy Barty. Yes, everything. [00:32:49] Speaker B: Well, I loved it. Except that the shrinkies were a different height in every shot. Sometimes they were a millimeter high, sometimes they were a foot high. [00:33:00] Speaker A: They didn't have the kind of budget to have a continuity expert. [00:33:04] Speaker B: No. [00:33:04] Speaker A: Or a prospective expert. No, no. [00:33:07] Speaker B: Or, I mean, you were kind to call it acting. [00:33:12] Speaker A: That's because it was always over the top. I'm sure that the directors were always like more energy and we need this big, big. You're playing to the Saturday morning crowd. [00:33:21] Speaker B: Actually, Jeff McKay, who was the fat one, rest in peace, he's dead now. He was in Tales of the Gold Monkey and I'm sure other things too. [00:33:37] Speaker A: Okay. [00:33:38] Speaker B: And the one, Brad, he had been a child star who starred in the film called Something about a Mountain. My side of the Mountain, Other side of the mountain, something. [00:33:51] Speaker A: Okay. [00:33:52] Speaker B: And the girl, I don't know about her, but her character name was bj which was an unfortunate choice for a children's television show because Even in the 70s it meant the same thing. [00:34:01] Speaker A: Yeah. So let's get back to him fighting the salamander. Yes. Oh my God. [00:34:05] Speaker B: And he braces himself. [00:34:07] Speaker A: He's just fought off the. The werebat. It's called a guacharo. [00:34:11] Speaker B: Right. [00:34:12] Speaker A: Then he's fighting a salamander and. Oh, it's not over. [00:34:15] Speaker B: No. But he's braces himself inside the salamander's mouth. Right. To hold the mouth open so he won't be swallowed. Just then a crayfish comes to get in on the at because it's hungry too. Yeah. He kicks off the crayfish and the. Which makes the salamander angry. He leaps out of the salamanders mouth just in time for the salamander to eat up the crayfish. [00:34:49] Speaker A: Yeah. Which can happen, I guess. [00:34:51] Speaker B: I guess I didn't expect to see the world of nature turns around. Yes. [00:34:56] Speaker A: Runs away from the salamander, who's got a mouthful of crayfish and is met with what? [00:35:01] Speaker B: A spider. A spider that is fully as large as the salamander was. [00:35:10] Speaker A: Well, we've seen cave crickets and cave spiders. They can get pretty big. [00:35:14] Speaker B: Well, I don't know if they can get as big as a salamander. [00:35:17] Speaker A: Salamander's only this big. [00:35:19] Speaker B: Well then how big are a crayfish? This crayfish is tiny. This crayfish is only as big as the atom. [00:35:25] Speaker A: Well, it could be a small crayfish. [00:35:27] Speaker B: Well, well let's. I don't know about any of this. Luckily Adam has enough strength to pick up this giant spider and fling it against a stalagmite. [00:35:40] Speaker A: Yeah. Does he kill it? [00:35:41] Speaker B: Presumably killing it. [00:35:42] Speaker A: Yeah. [00:35:44] Speaker B: Suddenly Adam gets weak. He feels like a bowl of gelatin. His legs are turning rubbery. His head feels like it's going to explode. [00:35:52] Speaker A: I know just what that feels like. [00:35:53] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah. It's the ultrasonic waves given off by the boom boomer. They're starting to wreck my body. I have all I can do to stay conscious. [00:36:04] Speaker A: He's trying to crawl for it. It's like the sonic boomer looks like a flashlight. Turn off the sonic boomer and save the little people and his own life. And as he's going towards it. Oh, my God. The salamander's coming back. [00:36:16] Speaker B: The salamander's coming back. [00:36:17] Speaker A: Oh, the salamander's hungry, too weak to. [00:36:21] Speaker B: Fight, too helpless to run. The world's smallest superhero grasps at a straw. Thanks to his nature club studies, he knows that the creatures of the caves have no protective devices like thick skin or hair on their bodies. Their body covering is membrane thin because in these caves, heat and cold, humidity and light always remain fixed. I can't put much steam behind this blow with this little twig I've picked up, but it ought to do the trick. I guess it kills the salamander. [00:37:01] Speaker A: Yeah, I guess. [00:37:02] Speaker B: So much death in this issue. Well, they're just bugs and amphibians now. He's at the very last of his and invertebrates. He's exhausted. He'll never make it to the boomer now. But if I can just use this twig and throw it like a spear. Oh, I guess it's a piece of rock because he says it's a stony weapon. It's a little piece of stalagmite. [00:37:29] Speaker A: Right. [00:37:31] Speaker B: He does knock the boomer off of its ledge. And with that final effort, the atom collapses and lies motionless on the cavern floor. Did his last desperate attempt succeed in turning off the sonic boomer, or does it continue to give off its deadly high frequency waves? [00:37:54] Speaker A: Waiting to find out. [00:37:57] Speaker B: Indeterminable moments later, the atom stirs and sits up. His fingers squeeze the size and weight controls. The sonic boomer has been stopped. He feels normal again, and his controls are working. But what's. [00:38:11] Speaker A: What is the vibration he's feeling? Well, it's coming from the boomer. It's still picking up modified sound waves, probably from the sonic boomer carried by the two costumed men controlling the Bat Nights. By following its high frequency trail, he should be able to track them down. [00:38:28] Speaker B: But first, I'll reverse the elements in the boomer to strengthen those sound waves, make them easier to follow. Shortly, yes. Following the soundwave trail outside giant caverns to an Ivytown brokerage house, where he finds Eddie and Luke. It's the atom. [00:38:49] Speaker A: How did he get away alive? He was to be executed. [00:38:53] Speaker B: He will be as soon as I give him a bolt of super sound from my Boomer. [00:38:57] Speaker A: But the hand is faster than the eye of the beholder. [00:39:01] Speaker B: He, the Atom, presumably uses his full 180 pound weight to clang into the helmet of Eddie, which also affects Luke, because the sound waves travel. [00:39:14] Speaker A: Right. [00:39:17] Speaker B: Eddie who? Adam doesn't know it's Eddie yet. Says, I'll grab the boomer, turn it on Adam myself. [00:39:23] Speaker A: That voice, it belongs to Eddie. Gordon, things are starting to clear up now. Face it, Gordon. We've met again. [00:39:30] Speaker B: Slam. Whipping off his helmet, Luke Preston strikes back. [00:39:35] Speaker A: You'll have more than an earache when I get through with you, Adam. [00:39:39] Speaker B: You ready for a pun? For a mite. There's plenty of might in my feet. And he kicks Luke in the face. [00:39:50] Speaker A: Well, he turns off the boomer. The Boomer releases the Bat Knights from their domination of Gordon and his cohort. The next moment, the tiny thieves swarm out of the office they had been looting. [00:40:03] Speaker B: Adam, you did it. We are no longer compelled to rob. [00:40:07] Speaker A: Nor are we forced to attack you tall people. Kill. [00:40:11] Speaker B: Kill. They've spotted Eddie and Luke and they've reverted to their compulsion to kill all tall people. [00:40:16] Speaker A: Right. Stop. Wait. Listen to me. I've got to turn these criminals over to the police of my world. There's too many of them to fight off. There's gotta be an easier way to stop them. Oh, I know. I'll just dominate their minds again. [00:40:27] Speaker B: Yes. He leaps back to the sonic boomer, turns it on and orders the Bat Knights to get away from those men. Just as Gordon and his buddy ordered them to commit crimes, Adam can use the Boomer to prevent them. With Eddie Gordon and Luke Preston in the long arm of the law, the Bat Knights and Adam fly back to Giant Caverns. Adam. [00:40:54] Speaker A: Sorry, Adam. Did you know that the man called Gordon trapped some cave explorers deep inside the cavern? What? [00:41:01] Speaker B: That must be Gene and the others. They're not safe after all. [00:41:04] Speaker A: Good. Gosh, there are scores of twisting tunnels in here. How could I possibly find them in time? [00:41:09] Speaker B: It's our turn to help you, Atom. We'll use our bats inbuilt radar to locate them. But first, put us under sonic boomba orders not to harm them when we find them. [00:41:21] Speaker A: Yeah, because they will kill all. I will kill all big people. So they lead him. [00:41:29] Speaker B: Anxious, anxious minutes race by. And they find them. Gene sees the Atom. Thank heavens you're here. Maybe you can help us find Ray Palmer. He's still missing. Sob Sob. If anything happened to him, I. SOB. [00:41:49] Speaker A: I'll go look for him. Gene. I have every reason to believe he's safe and sound and will be back with you very shortly. And so, a short time after. [00:41:59] Speaker B: Gene, Sweetheart. [00:42:01] Speaker A: Oh, Ray. [00:42:03] Speaker B: S.O.B. [00:42:07] Speaker A: We'Re kissing. [00:42:09] Speaker B: And as the explorers leave the cave lead in song by Lonnie and Sherry. [00:42:15] Speaker A: Thanks to Adam, we'll tell All's well that ends well. Play my guitar that I broke Killing little people who were flying on bats but everybody seems to have forgotten that my guitar was broken and unplayable. Yeah, I'm not good at improvising melodies. [00:42:35] Speaker B: Well, I'm not either. Now, you said they were playing the guitar, but in fairness, all we see is the neck of the guitar. We don't see the. What do you call the part? The body. So maybe he's just got the neck and he can play something. A little something on just the neck. He's a professional musician. Don't glare at me like that. [00:42:58] Speaker A: It's like me watching the Sound of Music a couple nights ago. Do you remember. What? Complaining that Maria didn't know how to play the guitar? [00:43:06] Speaker B: Yes. [00:43:07] Speaker A: Like, she's an actress and she's singing and she's fantastic. Stop it. That's what you told me. [00:43:13] Speaker B: Yes, yes. Well, I'm just saying we can only use the clues that we are given on panel. And I don't see a guitar body. I just see Lonnie and Sherry with a guitar neck. [00:43:25] Speaker A: Strings that appear to be perfectly strung. And that was. [00:43:28] Speaker B: Well, he was trapped in the cave, so he probably took the strings, tied them around the bottom of the neck. Tight. Fine. It'll still make a noise. [00:43:38] Speaker A: Fine. Fine. It's fine. This is. You know what? How long have we been together? [00:43:43] Speaker B: 33 long years. [00:43:46] Speaker A: After all these years. Yeah. It's totally not worth arguing about. I'm not arguing. There's plenty in this. I'm not arguing there's plenty in this. [00:43:53] Speaker B: I'm telling you how it is to pick apart joyfully. Pick apart joyfully. I love this whole issue. [00:43:59] Speaker A: It's delightful, isn't it? [00:44:01] Speaker B: The only thing missing is a letter from Irene Vartanoff. [00:44:03] Speaker A: I know, but I did read. I did read a letter. [00:44:06] Speaker B: You did? [00:44:07] Speaker A: Of course. Because I had lunch and I had plenty of time. I went through this issue very quickly. Where is that letter? Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Here we go. Dear Editor, I'm a comparative new reader of your fascinating Adam comic, and I must say that the size exploits of the tiny Titan are gigantic in scope. Among the best tricks you've worked out for the world's smallest superhero is his ability to Telephone himself from place to place. I'd appreciate an explanation for this. Joseph Dolezal, Jr. Westbury, New York. [00:44:49] Speaker B: Yes. Well, you see, Joseph, by dialing a certain telephone number, the atom causes an electrical impulse to travel from his phone to the central telephone exchange, where, by means of an electrical brain, these impulses are released to travel onto three conductors. These conductors select the telephone dial, either causing it to ring or send back a busy signal. When the call is complete and a person on the other end of the phone picks up the receiver, the atom leaps into the transmitter, merging the atoms of his microscopically small body with those of the thin diaphragm which is part of the transmitter. This metal diaphragm is set in vibration by sound waves, usually the human voice, but any outside sound will do as well. In vibration, the diaphragm pushes against the carbon granules which are also part of the transmitter, crowding them together and permitting the electric current, which is caused by the sound waves, to travel almost instantaneously to the telephone. At the other end of the call, the atom is hurled along at telephonic speed by the electrical impulses, which are then translated back into sound waves by the receiver. I appreciate whoever, whatever intern went to the trouble to figure out how that could actually work. [00:46:05] Speaker A: Amen. [00:46:09] Speaker B: He couldn't do it these days. No. No landlines. [00:46:11] Speaker A: I don't have cell phones. Right. Ah. [00:46:14] Speaker B: Dear editor. Humph. So you've got the atom engaged, huh? What, may I ask, drove you to this extreme? It seems as though all our heroes romances are bursting into bloom. Even the confirmed bachelor Batman seems to be softening up. Perhaps you are firmly convinced that all of fandom will be delighted at these events, but I, for one, am not. [00:46:35] Speaker A: Oh, no. [00:46:36] Speaker B: From that beginning, you must be sinking down into your editorial chair. Take heart. This letter is not written for the sole purpose of complaining. Adam28 was quite an improvement over your past few issues. Just one comment about the way your stories are written. Please give Adam more of a chance to think for himself. Tone down your panel captions and let the reader discover for himself just what is going on. A story is much more satisfying when it is handled in such a way that your reader feels that he is the main witness to the plot, rather than having it fed to him through captions and side comments. [00:47:12] Speaker A: Very interesting. [00:47:13] Speaker B: Marcy Sly, Lansdale, Pennsylvania. [00:47:16] Speaker A: Very interesting for her to write that, isn't it? [00:47:17] Speaker B: Then they throw the writer under the bus. [00:47:19] Speaker A: No, I read this. I read this whole page. [00:47:21] Speaker B: While it is true that author Gardner Fox has had A tendency to overdo his captions. He's been making a conscientious effort of late to curtail them in order to let the actions. You know what would help with that? An editor to tell him to stop doing it. Julia Schwartz. Sorry. As an editor myself, I took issue with his. [00:47:45] Speaker A: Of course you did. [00:47:46] Speaker B: Throwing someone under the bus. [00:47:47] Speaker A: Well, I read these pages, the two letter pages, because I was hoping to find something from Irene Vartanoff, and she. [00:47:53] Speaker B: Does frequently write to the Adam. So you did not hope in vain. Yes, I do believe we have an Irene Vartanoff letter coming up soon, however. [00:48:00] Speaker A: We do. [00:48:01] Speaker B: I think so. I think you'll be pleased. Anything to add? No. [00:48:09] Speaker A: Thank you, listener, for putting up with my. My illness. I know it's been. I've been ill since Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving, yeah. So hopefully I will bounce back very soon. Just upper respiratory thing that. It seems to be actually on the mend. I've been coughing a lot less today than. [00:48:26] Speaker B: Don't panic, listener. He feels fine. [00:48:28] Speaker A: Oh, yeah. [00:48:29] Speaker B: Just coughing. [00:48:29] Speaker A: No, it's just coughing. It's just exhausting. Yeah. [00:48:33] Speaker B: You can find us on social media at GoGoCheckPod. You can rate and review us wherever you get your podcasts from. And you can find us on our sister podcast, nerd Orchestra. And you can also find us right back here next week with Bob Hope. [00:48:50] Speaker A: God almighty. [00:48:51] Speaker B: And I'll throw something else in. [00:48:53] Speaker A: Thank you. [00:48:53] Speaker B: You're welcome. [00:48:54] Speaker A: All right. [00:48:55] Speaker B: Byee. You don't have to be a politician? You can change it all with a sin and disposition? So be heavy and spread it all around? If you find yourself a frowning? Just turn it upside down when you wear a smile the world weird shout hooray. You gotta turn on the sunshine? You gotta give in one time? You gotta turn on the sunshine. Push those blues away. Man, this dialectic's too much.