The Daily Comic Book Coffee, number 36: Today’s artwork is from the Atomic Knights story “Danger in Detroit” drawn by Murphy Anderson and written by John Broome, from Strange Adventures #153, published by DC Comics with a June 1963 cover date.
The Atomic Knights was a wonderfully weird post-apocalyptic sci-fi feature created by Broome & Anderson. It appeared in every third issue of Strange Adventures from #117 to #156, with a final chapter appearing in issue #160. DC issued a hardcover collection in 2010.
Set in the far-off future year of, um, 1986, the Atomic Knights were a team of adventurers who sought to restore civilization to North America after World War III left the planet devastated. The six Atomic Knights all wore suits of medieval armor that, through some fluke, had become resistant to radioactivity. From their base in the town of Durvale, the Knights fought a variety of offbeat monsters and menaces that plagued the devastated world.
In the previous installment in Strange Adventures #150, “The Plant That Hated Humans,” the Knights encountered an army of giant ambulatory plants created by the botanist Henderson. The Trefoils turned against humanity, but the Knights defeated them by cutting them off from their water source.
As this story opens, we see two of the Knights, Douglas and Marene, having some after-dinner coffee in the Durvale Community Hall. They are being served by “an unusual-looking waiter,” namely a Trefoil. Henderson managed to create a new strain of Trefoils, “one without a trace of the vicious hatred of humanity that the old crop seemed to grow with.” Nevertheless, Marene bluntly states “That creature Mr. Henderson sent us gives me the jim-jams!”
Looking at this from a 21st Century perspective, you have to wonder at Henderson’s decision to resume his experiments after they almost ended in disaster the first time around, as well as the ethical issues of creating a new life form designed to be servants.
Marene’s thought balloon in the final panel, complete with “and yet I’m just a woman,” hasn’t aged well, either.
All that aside, I still enjoyed the Atomic Knights. Broom’s stories are imaginative, quirky and fun. The artwork by Anderson is absolutely gorgeous. Broom and Anderson both considered the Atomic Knights to be among their favorite work from their lengthy careers.
About Author
