The Atomic Knights: A Review

Writer: John Broome; Artist: Murphy Anderson

Rating 4 out of 5 stars

The Atomic Knights was a feature that appeared periodically in the pages of the science fiction comic book anthology Strange Adventures from 1960 to 1964. Set some thirty odd years in the then-future, The Atomic Knights depicted the adventures of a group of heroes seeking to restore civilization to a post-apocalyptic Earth devastated by nuclear holocaust. Oh, yes, and they happened to wear Medieval suits of armor and ride around on giant Dalmatians.

The first time I ever heard of the Atomic Knights was back in the early 1990s. My high school library had a copy of The Encyclopedia of Monsters by Jeff Rovin. One of the entries was on the Mole-Creatures. It included a reproduction of the cover to Strange Adventures #144, featuring two of the armored Knights atop their giant Dalmatian steeds, about to be ambushed by the Mole-Creatures. The concept was just so far out and crazy that it always stuck in my mind.

Apparently The Atomic Knights series is something of a cult classic. DC recently reprinted the entire run from Strange Adventures in a hardcover collection. Since acquiring all of those old issues would have been a long and expensive task, I picked up the book so that I could finally read this oddball series.

The story begins in early 1987, some months after the Great Atomic War has decimated nearly the entire globe. Wandering through the ruins of the town of Durvale, ex-soldier Gardner Grayle learns that the area is under the oppressive thumb of the self-proclaimed "Black Baron." Gardner befriends teacher Douglas Herald, and the pair discovers a set of six suits of armor in the remains of the Durvale Museum. Somehow the energies of the nuclear war have transformed the metal, giving it radiation-resistant qualities. Gardner and Douglas, along with Douglas' sister Marene, the scientist Bryndon, and twins Wayne & Hollis Hobard, don the armor and attack the Black Baron's fortress. They capture the petty tyrant, liberating Durvale. The armor-clad sextet decides to remain together as a group, "to represent law and order and the forces of justice in these terrible times."

Throughout the course of the series, the Knights have a variety of unusual adventures. They encounter a succession of bizarre monsters created by nuclear radiation, as well as various villains attempting to seize power.

It's important to remember that The Atomic Knights was published in the early 1960s. There are a number of aspects to it that, by today's standards, are dated. The most obvious would be how Marene, the sole female Knight, is more often than not sidelined. She is either left in Durvale to care for another member of the Knights who has been wounded in battle, or to guard the town while the rest of the group goes out on a mission. The apparent rational behind this is that Marene is "just a woman." At least she does play a crucial role in the final story of the collection.

The science in the series is also wonky. Setting aside the implausibility of radiation-resistant armor and dogs the size of horses, you have Bryndon, one of those typical 1960s comic book scientists who apparently knows everything. There doesn't seem to be any area of science or technology that he doesn't have some knowledge of. We do eventually learn that he is, literally, a rocket scientist, but even so the guy is almost an encyclopedia on legs.

I think the most blatant scientific unlikelihood is that all of the plant life & vegetation on Earth was destroyed during World War III. It that was the case, there would not be any plants to convert carbon dioxide back to oxygen, and all of humanity would have died out. Well, I'll be charitable and just say that no one happened to notice that the Amazon rainforests somehow escaped nuclear devastation, or something like that. Fortunately for our heroes, they soon find samples of fruits & vegetables on the lost island of Atlantis (yes, really) and are able to revive farming & agriculture.

All kidding aside, writer John Broome was scripting these comic books to entertain young readers, not to meet a standard of inquiry from Scientific American. Given that fact, the dodgy science can more or less be excused, as the stories are fun and delightfully offbeat.

There is very little character development in The Atomic Knights. The six members of the team are a rather one-dimensional lot. We do know that Gardner and Marene have a mutual attraction that they never seem to get around to taking to the next level, and that the Hobard brothers are huge fans of Jazz music, among other nuggets of information. But mostly Broome is interested in just getting the characters from point A to point B, introducing the story's menace, and coming up with a resolution.

That said, The Atomic Knights stories take place over a period of several years, with the final installments set circa 1992. This allowed Broome to show the gradual rebuilding of civilization in Durvale. That's one of the more interesting features of the series, and it gives the stories a nice feeling of continuity.

The artist on The Atomic Knights is Murphy Anderson. Probably best known for his inking Curt Swan's pencils on innumerable Superman comics, Anderson had a very diverse career at DC Comics. Among his other credits, either as a penciler, an inker, or both, are Flash, Adam Strange, Hawkman, and Justice League of America.

Anderson's work on The Atomic Knights is very extremely well rendered. There is a quality to his art reminiscent of some of the adventure comic strips of the early 20th century. Anderson admirably succeeds in illustrating the fantastic elements of the stories in such a way that they seem grounded in real life. He takes the spectacle of an armored knight riding a giant Dalmatian and makes it look perfectly plausible. For example, on page 85 of the collection, we see the Dalmatians charging into battle, kicking up clouds of dust in their wake, ears flopping, their tongues hanging out of their mouths. Anderson's depiction of the scene makes it very easy to imagine the sounds of giant paws thundering across the ground, of the heavy pounding from the canines drawing in gasps of breath.

Likewise, no matter how weird or impossible the monsters of the stories, Anderson gives them a weight and gravity, be they walking trees, electrical beings, or a giant crystal monster with a head that resembles a disco ball.

Between the offbeat writing of John Broome and the superb artwork of Murphy Anderson, The Atomic Knights is quite an engaging feature. DC also had Anderson write a brand new introduction for the collection.

My main criticism of the book has nothing to do with the material, but with the packaging. At only 192 pages long, $40 seems excessive, even for a hardcover. That price might just have been acceptable if the book had been printed on the glossy page stock that DC uses for their Archive Editions. Instead, the collection is published on something that appears to be low-cost Newsprint paper. It's pretty flimsy material, whatever it is. Which doesn't make much sense. If this book rated a hardbound cover with a dust jacket, then you would think the paper quality should have been comparable. As it is, if they had to use Newsprint, I would rather the book be released as a softcover trade paperback, which probably would have only cost around $20.

(The four star rating I gave The Atomic Knights is based solely on the book's content. If I had factored in the price and packaging, it definitely would have received a lower grade.)

I was able to purchase The Atomic Knights collection at Jim Hanley's Universe for on $30 when the store had a 25% off sale. At that amount, I felt the hardcover was reasonably priced. Which is why I finally decided to buy the book, even though it had already been out for several months.

So, if you are able to find The Atomic Knights at a reduced price, or if it eventually gets released as a trade paperback, then I recommend picking it up. At regular price, though, you have to use your judgment. Fortunately, with web sites such as Amazon, it should be easy to locate a copy for sale at a discount.