The Black Dragon versus The Atom

"Ripsnorting?"  Spy rings are not "ripsnorting".  Fraternity parties; saloon fights; supercell tornadoes; political harangues; brimstone sermons; these are things that can be "rip snorting".  Spy rings are not rip snorting, not even ones that intend to blow up San Francisco.

Well, this seems like The Atom's speed. Just find a bunch of Black Dragon guys and beat them up one by one, which is exactly the kind of thing he does. This particular Black Dragon cell has stolen a powerful micro-explosive with which they fiendishly intend to blow up San Francisco.

You know: the only major American city that's already proven it can bounce back from having its entire downtown destroyed.

Once again, the Black Dragon's plan is fiendish, but not necessarily well-considered.

Just like the other heroes, the Atom is assisted by someone who simply walks up and tells him where the bad guys are.

The guy in the green suit.  The second guy, I mean.

The Atom, who is not known for his delicacy, handles the situation with his characteristic aplomb.

Didn't even hear him?
HE WAS SHOUTING YOUR NAME, you NIMROD.

Well, I'm sure Al "The Atom" Pratt recovers from this awkward meet-rude gracefully.

"Good boy! Who's a good Jap? You are, yes you are! Have a Jap biscuit!"

I suppose we should at least be grateful for the well-meant attempt to show that "not all of Them are the same!"  I kind of draw the line, however, at "The Good Boy" calling others "Japs", which seems rather unnatural.

You know, I can't tell whether people REALLY talked like the JSAers did in the '40s, or whether it's just an artifice of contemporary pop culture.  Regardless, it seems like Snapper Carr would have fit in much better as a mascot for the hep-talking JSAers rather than the straight-talking JLAers, who never had any idea what he was talking about.

So through this sequence I learned that The Atom will believe absolutely anything you tell him and that leading him into a death trap would therefore be the easiest thing in the world if that Good Boy were, in fact, a member of the Black Dragon.

By the way, ever notice that The Atom looks like he was kit-bashed from three other, unrelated heroes?  Maybe it's just me.

Fortunately for Al Pratt, the Good Boy is in fact on his side.

Four panels of dental jokes, Atom? Look, I can handle some Golden Age pun-ishment during fight scenes, but not when you are obviously just doing it for YOURSELF.

The Atom: when subterfuge and delicacy are not called for.

I think it's the REPEATED "bam" that makes that panel so sickeningly violent.  But Al's gonna Al, after all.  At least he knows himself well enough not to try anything stealthy or tricky.

Oh. My. I... I seem to have spoken too soon.

Um...yeah. 

Al Pratt is, remember, only 5"1", which he (and the writer) thinks makes him a perfect candidate to infiltrate the Black Dragons in "yellow-face".  Yikes.  That's so absurd it almost completely eclipses the insanity of the throwaway line, "Am I glad I learned to talk Japanese".  When'd you learn to do that, Al? On the drive over?  Anyway, if yellow-face worked for Mickey Rooney, I guess it'll work for Al Pratt.

Oh, wait, that's right: it  DIDN'T really work for Mickey Rooney, did it?

I guess the tunnels are pretty dark, because Al pulls it off well enough to confirm the Black Dragon's plan to blow up San Francisco from below.

Land of the Rising Headlight

Where is Aquaman when San Francisco needs him?!

Washing his hair, of course.

Mercifully, after a few panels of gauging the extent of the tunnels, Atom gives up on infiltration and just starts pummeling the tunnelers. But not before we are treated to this gem:

まさにその通りだ！
(masani tonõrida!)
I mean, I just ASSUME Al's talking Japanese here.

Anyway, back to punning and punching.

It's really just wise-cracking.  Al's a physicist and really doesn't even have enough wit to make a pun.

The one (relatively) clever bit is this Horatius-at-the-Bridge scenario: the tunnel's being narrow keeps the Black Dragons from ganging up on the Atom, which allows him to punch them into oblivion one at a time.

The Atom, of course, beats everyone unconscious, so there's no one to give him any further information about the operation, which is really kind of sad, since,  you know, he went to the trouble of learning to talk Japanese and all.

Fortunately, help arrives immediately in the person of

THE GOOD BOY!

Omitting a few more panels of Dragon-pummeling, we catch up with the Atom as he locates the explosive and threatens to blow them all to kingdom come.

The Mikado comment is a joking reference to the legendary bloodthirstiness of the character from the eponymously-titled Gilbert & Sullivan comic operetta, a reference which apparently the writer assumed all 1940s American elementary-schoolers would understand.

The Atom having accomplished his object all sublime, the explosives are returned to Uncle Sam and the WPA sets up to fill all the tunnels with cement.

The Atom's a hero and the Good Boy never even gets a name.  Thank goodness for the Atom's Olympic-level yellow-face skills!

Tomorrow, you may want to hit the ground because Starman is up and this is going to be OOPMHY.

Yeah, the Black Dragon doesn't stand a chance against the DRAMA of Starman.