This weekend’s escapist, light-hearted superhero blog post looks at the 1940s & 1950s Australian-made superheroes. Back in 2015 I examined Australian-made superheroes of the 1970s and 1980s HERE.
CAPTAIN ATOM
Secret Identity: Larry Lockhart
Debut Year: 1948
Origin: A nuclear accident fused scientist Dr. Bikini Rador with his brother, who was a federal agent using the cover identity Larry Lockhart. This accident granted incredible superpowers and spawned the superhero called Captain Atom.
Powers: Saying the word “Exenor” would let Larry turn into his superhero form. He had Superman level strength, could fly at amazing speeds, was largely invulnerable and could shoot atomic energy blasts from his hands. Captain Atom’s ears could “hear” radio transmissions.
Comment: This Captain Atom ran from 1948 to 1954 in the Golden Age. America’s totally different Captain Atom did not debut until 1960.
ATOM-GIRL
Secret Identity: Lynn Sanders
Debut Year: 1949
Origin: Lynn became Atom-Girl when gifted the futuristic technology of her brother-in-law John Grant.
She fought crime and other menaces, including aliens.
Powers: John Grant’s discovered “ray” gave Lynn a degree of super-strength and made her invulnerable to bullets, other weaponry and deadly gasses.
Atom-Girl wore an “atojet” flying pack on her back, an antigravity harness, a belt that could turn her invisible, plus goggles which could provide x-ray vision. She also wielded two atomic pistols and piloted an aircraft called Miss Hotshot which could change from a jet to a helicopter to a submarine.
This superheroine’s HQ was Voltara, a secret lab in central Australia. Continue reading
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