2010-2011 The Justice League of America 100 Project charity art by Fred Hembeck

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Hembeck! kicks it Maguire style with an old school twist. The entire founding Justice League of America, including early inductees Green Arrow and Hawkman, plus Snapper Carr. "Remember us?" Well, I kind of remember the Atom joining between Ollie and Carter. How about that, Fred?

In late 2000, a consortium of comic publishers came up with the idea to create a financial safety net for comic creators, much in the same fashion that exists in almost any other trade from plumbing to pottery. By March of 2001, the federal government approved The Hero Initiative as a publicly supported not-for-profit corporation under section 501 (c) (3).

Since its inception, The Hero Initiative (Formerly known as A.C.T.O.R., A Commitment To Our Roots) has had the good fortune to grant over $400,000 to the comic book veterans who have paved the way for those in the industry today.

The Hero Initiative is the first-ever federally chartered not-for-profit corporation dedicated strictly to helping comic book creators in need. Hero creates a financial safety net for yesterdays' creators who may need emergency medical aid, financial support for essentials of life, and an avenue back into paying work. It's a chance for all of us to give back something to the people who have given us so much enjoyment.


ALL 104 JUSTICE LEAGUE #50 ORIGINALS…NOW ON DISPLAY!

Please enjoy this gallery of ALL 104 original Justice League of America #50 Hero Initiative covers!

Hardcover and softcover versions of a book collecting all the covers will be available in December, 2011. AND all the originals will be auctioned off according to the following schedule:

• December 3, 2011, Meltdown Comics, Los Angeles, CA: Display of all 104 covers and auction of first one-third
• Jan. 20-22, 2012, Tate's Comics, Lauderhill, FL (Miami/Ft. Lauderdale area): Display of remaining covers and auction of second one-third.
• Feb. 17-19, 2012: Orlando MegaCon, Orlando, FL: Display and auction of final one-third.

All covers will be sold via LIVE AUCTION on-site at the venues above. If you cannot attend but wish to bid, proxy bidding is available.
Contact Joe Davidson at: yensid4disney@gmail.com
Deadlines for each grouping are below, and each cover carries a minimum bid of $100.

Special thanks to Firestorm Fan for the notice!

2015 The Atom (Ray Palmer) Amazing Houston Comic Con Jam Sketch Detail by Atom Todd

It's been nearly a year since my last update to this blog in any capacity, and to be honest, I'm not sure when I'll get back to working here again. In the realm of podcasting, Aaron "Head" Moss has begin covering Sword of the Atom, while Jay "FKAjason" Jones, his son Vance, and Roy “Charlemagne” Cleary cover both the Silver Age and Post-Crisis Captain Atom via The Silver & Gold Podcast, plus the Nathanial Atom blogging on Splitting Atoms. There's no sense in my hoarding coverage of characters when others with greater love and time management skills are ready and able to fill the void of my inaction.

Speaking of which, here's a commission I got done last summer as part of a larger "friends of Martian Manhunter" multi-artist jam for The Idol-Head of Diabolu's celebration of that character's sixtieth anniversary. Normally, these scans are at most a two up from the original art, and in fact are usually reproduced smaller as jpegs than on the page. In this case, the original art would be measured in centimeters, so this is a massive inflation of the Ray Palmer image. Basically, it was near the end of the show, and another artist's drawing perfectly set up the Tiny Titan showing up standing on somebody's shoulder (or wherever.) I was looking for an artist that I thought could do the Mighty Mite justice and also happened to have a gap in their schedule to do a quick little Ray before I passed the jam off to the final artist of the show. I assure you, I did not intentionally select a guy billing himself as "Atom" Todd as some sort of pun, and only made the connection after the fact. I think he did a great job on a drawing that could fit four to a matchbook, and hopefully I can offer him a more substantial subject in the future...

Atom Todd

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Power of Captain Atom Podcast #5

The 2nd Man in Space

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• The second ever adventure of Captain Atom by Joe Gill and Steve Ditko.
• From Charlton Comics' June 1960 cover-dated Space Adventures #34!
• Text version here.
• Email.
• Tweet.
• Comment on Power of the Atom blog.
• Comment on Rolled Spine Podcasts blog.

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Dr Spectro on WHO'S WHO UPDATE 87 PODCAST! http://t.co/ghXodrTDmf @FKAjason & @CommanderBlanx love #CaptainAtom! pic.twitter.com/FPe97hvdVy

— Firestorm Fan (@FirestormFan) August 3, 2015

@FirestormFan @FKAjason @CommanderBlanx The Charlton version of the costume wasn't much better... pic.twitter.com/k9C0JVVEOX

— Anthony Durso (@TheToyroom) August 3, 2015

Power of the Atom Podcast #4

The Dooms From Beyond!

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• The Tiny Titan!
• By Gardner Fox, Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson!
• From DC Comics' November-December 1961 cover-dated Showcase #35!
• Text version here!

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Power of Captain Atom Podcast #3

Introducing Captain Atom

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• The debut of the Atomic Age Action Hero!
• Creators Joe Gill and Steve Ditko!
• From Charlton Comics' March 1960 cover-dated Space Adventures #33!
• Text version here!

The third episode of POTAcast takes its cues from the blog and turns over its space/numbering to co-star Captain Atom, near-identically paralleling the anthology bow of the Tiny Titan (off by one issue and predating it by more than a year!)

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Power of the Atom Podcast #2

Battle of the Tiny Titans!

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• The debut of Ray Palmer in his costumed identity as The Atom!
• ...and his first adversary!
• Courtesy of Gardner Fox, Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson!
• The second story from DC Comics' October 1961 cover-dated Showcase #34!
• Text version here!

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Power of the Atom Podcast #1

Birth of the Atom!

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• Introduction of the Silver Age Atom Ray Palmer!
• ...and his lady-love Jean Loring!
• Debut of titanic creative team Gardner Fox, Gil Kane & Murphy Anderson!
• From DC Comics' October 1961 cover-dated Showcase #34!
• Text version here!

POTAcast,Power of the Atom Podcast, Ray Palmer,Jean Loring,Silver Age