The Atom Vol 1 23

"Riddle of the Far-Out Robbery!"

Cover

Riddle of the Far-Out Robbery!

Thief with the Tricky Toy!

Inkers

Sid Greene

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You're absolutely right! Not a word of my adventure is true! I made up that entire story! Now, if you'd like to hear a different solution to the mystery -- the real explanation -- I'll be glad to oblige.

— The Atom

The Atom #23 is an issue of the series The Atom (Volume 1) with a cover date of March, 1966.

Synopsis for "Riddle of the Far-Out Robbery!"

At Nuclear Laboratories Inc, Dr Ewald Barnes is puzzled by the disappearance of their new radioactive fuel, dubbed Radion, when The Atom arrives and explains to the scientist and Detective Inspector Bill Ames that he knows exactly what had happened.

While out on patrol, the Atom witnessed an alien creature that only he could see (due to the effect the Radion-Ball has on his costume) and chased the alien creature through the streets of Ivy Town. The Atom clashed with the invisible invader but was repulsed by its defensive weapons. Changing tactics, Palmer hitched a ride with the alien instead of fighting, and was taken aboard a vessel which flew rapidly away from Earth.

The Atom learned that the alien, Oban Thokol, came from the oppressed planet Davarian, under the thumb of the evil Krommer Pav. Pav had threatened to unleash poison gases unless he was named absolute ruler of the planet. Oban had travelled to a distant world to find an antidote, expending his energy supply and necessitating the theft of the Radion-Globe to power his return home.

When a group of Krommer Pav's men tried to grab the antidote, the Atom lent a helping hand to stop the minions of Krommer Pav. But both the Atom and Oban are captured and put in a special solid-light cell where Oban explained the whole story to Atom via telepathy. The Atom agreed to help save Davarian and, having shrunk sub-microscopically, travelled between the individual light photons of the cell. The Atom finishes his story by boasting how he easily defeated Krommer Pav's minions and dumped the antidote into the chasm, rendering the poison gas inert. After the battle was won, Oban returned the Atom and the Radion-Globe to Earth.

Dr Barnes is incredulous, and the Atom agrees. It was all made up to cover for his lab assistant, Enrichette Negrini, whose hyper-space experiment went awry and accidentally shifted the Radion-Globe out of reality. The Atom had come to the lab to distract the two men until Enrichetta managed to bring the Radion back.

Dr Barnes and D.I. Ames aren't convinced of either story. The Atom tells them it was all a harmless prank because he hasn't had any recent adventures.

Appearing in "Riddle of the Far-Out Robbery!"

Featured Characters:

Atom

Supporting Characters:

Enrichetta Negrini (First appearance)
Oban Thokol (Fictional character)

Antagonists:

Krommer Pav (Fictional character)

Other Characters:

Detective Inspector William Ames (Single appearance)
Dr Ewald Barnes (Single appearance)

Locations:

Nuclear Laboratories Inc
Planet Davarian (Appears in Imaginary Story)

Items:

Light Cage (Appears in Imaginary Story)
Radion (First appearance)
White Dwarf Star Matter

Vehicles:

Hyper-Space Craft (Appears in Imaginary Story)

Concepts:

Hyper-Space

Synopsis for "Thief with the Tricky Toy!"

The Atom visits the police station on Tanucket Island where he finds that Jean Loring has been arrested on robbery charges. He shocks her when he demands that she not be released under any circumstances.

Earlier that day, Jean Loring had traveled to Tanucket Island with Ray Palmer to visit millionaire Avery Prentiss and work a new bequest into his will, while Ray visited an old college friend who lived on the island.

Jean knocked on the Prentiss mansion door only to be grabbed by the thief Billy Knolles, who threw her inside the house. Ray saw this and shrank to become the Atom, and attacked Knolles. But Knolles surprised Ray with a laser-beam wielding jack-in-the-box -- one with deadly aim. Despite the toy's best efforts to blast the Atom, the Mighty Mite managed to knock the box out of Knolles' hand.

The crook got the better of the Atom by knocking the hero out with the stolen loot, which fell by Jean. Knolles stole Ray Palmer's car and escaped when he heard police sirens. Thhe Atom revived and learned from the police officer on the scene that the Prentiss family was knocked out by gas-emitting candles, and the police managed to capture the unconscious thief. She was detained at the police station.

After he told the police to keep Jean locked up, the Atom explains that he wants her in custody while he hunts the crook, since she is the only witness to the crime. Jean tells a police composite sketch artist what the man looks like, and they recognize the crook as Billy Knolles, a local man nicknamed Billy The Handyman who works at all the local estates. The Atom takes the jack-in-the-box to a lab, and is able to track Knolles down.

The police block the one bridge to the mainland, so Billy steals a boat. As it speeds away, Knolles laughs at the all-points bulletin on the radio and recalls his years of menial work, grounds-keeping, and toys he made for rich kids. His contempt for the ignorant rich employers fueled his motivation to create devices that could help commit spectacular crimes like the one he had attempted at the Prentiss home.

The Atom surprises Billy Knolles, having used the magnets within the jack-in-the-box to track him, and follows in a police helicopter. After a noisy landing, the Atom attacks Knolles, defeats him and turns him over to the police. Later, the Atom resumes his civilian guise of Ray Palmer and returns to the police station in mock surprise to see what had happened to Jean. She would have phoned Ray if she knew the name of the friend he was visiting, and wondered how the Atom ended up on the island. Ray chalked it up to pure "luck".

Appearing in "Thief with the Tricky Toy!"