Atom (Al Pratt)

Al Pratt is the Atom, a superhero in the parallel world of Earth-Two.

History
Throughout his childhood, Al Pratt was bullied for his small size, which led to him being nicknamed "Atom Al" by school bullies all the way even into his time in college. While studying physics in college, Al began working out and eventually met and befriended an old retired boxing coach named Joe Morgan, who had previously trained former heavyweight champion Ted Grant. Al dedicated himself to honing his mind and body, and he was determined to become a superhero, using the same name which those who bullied him gave to him: The Atom.

Through his small-time hero work, Al was noticed by Alan Scott. Al was presented with a very special opportunity to work as an intern for Dr. Terrence Curtis in his atomic research in a division of Alan Scott's corporation. It was while working under Dr. Curtis that he first met Pat Dugan and also Terri Kurtzburger, who quickly found out that Al was the Atom by following him and seeing him put on the Atom costume (not to say that this is evidence of her skill, but rather as Al's lack of skill to properly lead a secret double life). As it would turn out, Nazi spies had been trying for months to convince Dr. Curtis to turn over his research to them, but he continued to refuse their offers. One day, a radiation leak in the lab resulted in Dr. Curtis absorbing large amounts of radioactive energy. Al and Terri were able to seal off the leak before any further harm was done, but the radiation had multiplied Dr. Curtis's physical strength, given him the ability to fly, given him the ability to shoot off radiation beams, but also warped his mind, driving him insane. Al switched to his Atom persona and with the help of Green Lantern and Hourman was able to drive Dr. Curtis (now in his maddened state calling himself Cyclotron) far away from the city into an uninhabited area. After fighting them for awhile, Cyclotron eventually revealed that he was unstable and going to explode. The three heroes quickly left the scene while Cyclotron sat down and then went up in a nuclear blast.

Shortly after the battle, Al noticed that his strength had multiplied significantly, obviously due to exposure to radiation from Cyclotron. He went to biochemist Rex Tyler (who also happened to be Hourman, although neither of them were aware of the other's superhero identity) and had him examine his blood, which he claimed was the blood of a friend to cover up his identity.

Green Lantern, Atom, and Hourman then teamed up again to fight the terrorist organization called Kobra at their base in the Himalayas. In the fight, Atom showed that he could use an Atomic Punch to punch a hole in a tank while not hurting his hand at all. The team then fought the leader of Kobra, Lord Naga, in an honorable display of 3 on 1 combat. The team was able to defeat him, and it appeared that he was crushed beneath the falling debris of his crumbling fortress (however, he managed to survive).

Not too long after the incident with Kobra, Alan Scott consulted with his Lantern as to if he should put Atom and Hourman on his payroll. Realizing that they were financially desolate compared to him, he decided to pay them regularly for missions.

The trio encountered Superman. Despite Atom's enhanced strength from the radiation, he proved to be not nearly as strong as Superman.

Kobra resurfaced when they had agents try to assassinate Atom while he was walking in the street. The ensuing chase led to the discovery of Starman, a superhero originally from Earth-One who had died but Lord Naga had resurrected with a Lazarus Pit and brought to Earth-Two. Alan Scott was able to use his magic ring to fight the controlling effects of the Lazarus Pit chemicals, and the three heroes befriended Starman.

Later, Atom encountered another lost hero from Earth-One when he met Dr. Mid-Nite, whose martial arts skills superbly impressed Al; however, Dr. Mid-Nite's ninja-like manuevers eerily reminded Al of Lord Naga's fighting style. Atom was equally impressed by Dr. Mid-Nite's medical abilities.

Atom fought Batman briefly during the Dark Knight's crusade against Lew Moxon.

After first fighting the villain Icicle, Atom and Hourman investigated some problems at a local orphanage, where the man running the orphanage had been enslaving and beating the orphans. Atom and Hourman were able to uncover his wrongdoings and get him arrested, and Alan Scott provided monetary donations to the institution.

Atom was present for the conflict involving OMAC.

When Per Degaton sent Killer No. 2 to kill Atom, Hourman, and Green Lantern, the Atom tried to punch the Nazi tank with his signature Atomic Punch, hoping to reproduce the results of the time he punched the Kobra tank; however, this time his fist merely pierced through the armor and his arm was stuck in the hole he created, rendering him stationary and useless. The tank driver attempted to saw his arm off, but thanks to Green Lantern and Sandman, Atom got to keep his arm; however, the armor hole was still stuck around his arm. He had to go to his old friend Pat Dugan to get it removed. While in Dugan's robotics lab, Al first saw the S.T.R.I.P.E. armor that Dugan was constructing.

Atom and Hourman then followed the trail of a ballet dancer who was going around beating up various bullies, including high school bullies. Hourman disguised himself as a high school teacher while Atom pretended to be a student (he was short enough). The Atom was able to lure out the ballet dancer by pretending to be a bully, and the duo fought him, causing him to run away. He would have escaped had he not stopped to save the very same kid that the Atom had been pretending to bully from committing suicide by jumping off the top of the school building. Because he stopped to do this, Atom and Hourman were able to catch up with him and arrest him.

Along with several other heroes, Atom was hired to be a personal bodyguard of Lew Moxon while he was running for mayor and being harrassed by Superman and Batman. He was knocked out by Superman (who had been disguised as Dr. Mid-Nite), thus allowing Moxon to be captured and taken to a junkyard. He recuperated and went with his fellow heroes to confront Superman at the junkyard. After fighting Superman, Batman finally arrived with evidence convicting Moxon of numerous crimes that eventually put him in the electric chair.

Quotations

 * 1) Al Pratt: Does anyone not know my secret identity?
 * 2) Kobra Agent on Airplane
 * 3) *Kobra Agent: Where's the Atom?
 * 4) *Airplane Passenger: Who?
 * 5) *Kobra Agent: Al Pratt...
 * 6) *Airplane Passenger: Oh, he's in there.
 * 7) Al Pratt: Atomic Punch!