Adventure Comics, Vol. 2

Nuclear disturbances and deaths near Los Alamos, New Mexico reveal the presence of a Stalker disciple, this one empowered by "the very weapons you seek to discover" - those based on atomic energy! Robert Oppenheimer and Leslie Groves explain that the disciple is absorbing radiation and then accelerating it. They give Starman a device that can accelerate this, perhaps killing the disciple. He takes to the skies but is caught by surprise and incapacitated. The Atom must enter, an ordinary if highly trained man, must enter the cloud! He does, eventually discovering the fallen Starman and retreiving the weapon, which he uses to impale the disciple, fatally! The resulting spectacular blast surely consumed the pint-sized powerhouse. Or... no, it didn't! When the dust clears, Al Pratt is apparently unharmed. A long ago encounter with Cyclotron caused him to absorb certain radiations, and he theorizes that this enabled his survival. But what other effects might it have? Starman wonders whether it is right to develop weapons of such power and General Groves quickly counters by saying that ending the war quickly means more American soldiers home alive and in one piece. And then Doctor Occult appears, with news that Stalker has recovered and the entire Justice Society is needed to counter him! Starman and Atom follow him through a mystic door...