COMIC DETAILS
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Comic Description:
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Atom 22 Universal
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Grade:
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9.6
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Page Quality:
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WHITE
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Pedigree:
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John G. Fantucchio
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Certification #:
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2011304018
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Owner:
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Mississippi Mudcats
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SET DETAILS
Owner's Description
Atom battles an army of miniature warriors in "Bat-Knights of Darkness". In the story, Avery Sanders is entrusted to carry jewels to a location by train. That night aboard the train, his car is attacked by miniature warriors. They smash through the window of his rail car, and jolt him with their electrified javelins. Before he knows it the Bat-Knights have stolen the jewels entrusted to him and escape. When he revives from the jolt, Sanders pushes the emergency call button, however when police arrive they are hard pressed to believe his story, especially in light of the fact that none of the windows are smashed.
As the only suspect for the theft of the jewels, Sanders is taken into police custody. Jean is given the case to defend Sanders, and after hearing his story, believes that he is telling the truth. That night while out on a date with Ray she tells him of the peculiar events. Ray decides to investigate as Atom, and using a radar devices tracks the bats to a bank. Going there as Atom, Ray attempts to stop the Bat-Knights from breaking into a bank vault, however, he is overpowered by their superior numbers and electrified weapons and they flee the scene with stolen money, sealing up the holes that they made, removing any evidence of their presence.
With the battle over, and Atom regaining his strength, Atom decides to come up with a scientific means of defeating the Bat-Knights. Building a miniature magnet device that will scramble the bats sonar and effect he Bat-Knight's armor, taking the device to the highest vantage point -- a bell tower in the center of Ivy Town -- Atom sets it up and waits for the Bat-Knight's inevitable return.
Unknown to the Atom, the driving force behind the Bat-Knights is two-bit crook Eddie Gordon. Gordon has hidden out in Giants Cavern to lay low from the law. Stumbling around the cave he came a cross the ancient civilization of the Elvarans. Upon spotting the seemingly giant human, the Elvarans attack Gordon until he fires a warning shot, and to his surprise finds that the sound of the bullet echoing in the cavern puts the people into a hypnotic spell. Ordering one of them to tell him their origins, he learns the Elvarans once lived in the outside world, however they were dominated by regular sized humans, the Elvarans developed a killer instinct toward larger humanoids and eventually retreated into the caverns where they have remained undisturbed for centuries. With the little people under his control, Eddie would exploit their Bat-Knights into committing fantastic robberies for him.
That night, when the Bat-Knights once more go out to do Eddie's bidding, they are drawn to the bell tower where Atom has setup his trap for them. Using the specially prepared device, he easily gains the upper hand and knocks the Bat-Knights off their bats and onto the ground below. However, an over eager news reporter jumps over the police barricade to flash a photo of the miniature men, which causes the Elvarans to snap out of their trance and attack him, until the man passes out. The Bat-Knights then escape on their bats, except for one that has been knocked out by Atom.
When the lone Bat-Knight revives, he reveals himself as Olan Parr, and asks the Atom's help in freeing them from Gordon's slavery. Atom agrees to help and follows Olan back to Giants Cavern, where he springs a surprise attack on Gordon and knocks him silly. During the fight the Elvarans snap out of his control, and without his gun the fearful Gordon begs Atom to save him, even if it means facing jail time. Fighting off the advancing Elvarans, Atom helps Eddie escape, sealing off the cavern to prevent the Elvarans and normal humans from ever crossing paths again. Later, after Eddie has been turned over to the police, Atom repays a visit to the Elvarans and Olan Parr gives Atom a signal so that he can come and visit them again sometime.
Later, back in his civilian guise of Ray Palmer, Atom meets with Jean to learn that with Eddie's confession and Atom's testimony, Avery is cleared of all charges and freed.
Our 9.6 comes from the John Fantucchio Collection and is one of two highest graded copies topping the Census as of August 2020. Fantucchio was a well-known artist in '60s fandom, drawing covers for RBCC and the Comic Buyers Guide (including the #1 cover), and even worked as an illustrator for the CIA from 1963 to 1988. During this time he amassed full runs of Marvel, DC, Gold Key, Charlton, ACG and Dell, among others, keeping them locked away and untouched, which resulted in uniformly high grades and near perfect cover inks. After his passing in 2016, the family auctioned the collection through Comiclink. Even though the books have no distinctive markings, many were CGC graded.
We acquired this book from the CL auction of 7/28/2019.*
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