The Atomic Knights
Strange Adventures No. 117
June 1960
Story: “The Rise of the Atomic Knights” (16 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights (Sgt. Gardner Grayle, Douglas
Herald, Bryndon Smith (last name revealed in HERCULES UNBOUND #10), Wayne
Hobard, Hollis Hobard, Marene Herald; first appearance for all; origin)
Villains: The Black Baron and his men (first and only appearance for
all)
Comment: This story takes place in late 1986 or early 1987 and reveals
that World War III broke out on October 9, 1986 and continued for 20 days.
HERCULES UNBOUND #9-10 links the Atomic Knights’ world to that
of Hercules, Kamandi, and Omac.
Synopsis: After atomic war irradiates the surface of Earth, soldier
Gardner Grayle and teacher Douglas Herald discover six suits of armor which
are impervious to radiation. They don the armor to become the Atomic
Knights that they may fight the tyrannic Black Baron and open his foodstores
to a starving populance.
Strange Adventures No. 120
September 1960
Story: “The Menace of the Water-Raider” (8 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights
Villain: A crystal creature (first and only appearance)
Comment: Bryndon Smith is mistakenly called “Bryndam” in this story.
Synopsis: Three of the Atomic Knights are summoned to aid a band of
humans against a towering creature made of salt crystals who absorbs water.
Strange Adventures No. 123
December 1960
Story: “The Cavemen of New York” (9 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights
Intro: Brent Wilson and other Cro-Magnons (only appearance)
Synopsis: The Atomic Knights go to New York City in search of an underground
food cache and encounter a group of Cro-Magnon cavemen.
Strange Adventures No. 126
March 1961
Story: “The Lost City of Los Angeles” (9 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights
Intro: Pendleton (only appearance)
Synopsis: The Knights make their way across country to Los Angeles
in gliders to set up communications with the people of that city, and encounter
energy creatures who appear to menace the populance.
Strange Adventures No. 129
June 1961
Story: “World Out of Time” (9 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights
Villains: Khagan, Bhymer, Atlanteans (first appearance for all; all
next appear in issue #132)
Synopsis: The ancient island of Atlantis has been thrown forward to
1990 by a cobalt bomb explosion which also surrounds their land with a
deadly radiation belt. Now its ruler, Khagan, discovers that the
Atomic Knights can safely pass through that belt, and orders them imprisoned
until he can learn how.
Strange Adventures No. 132
September 1961
Story: “Thanksgiving Day--1990" (9 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights
Villains: Khagan, Atlanteans (including Dalas (first appearance); all
between issues #129 / 135), Bhymer (last appearance in issue #129; last
appearance)
Synopsis: The Atomic Knights and the people of Durvale are celebrating
Thanksgiving Day in 1990 with fresh vegetables grown from Atlantean seeds
when Khagan’s troops attack them.
Strange Adventures No. 135
January 1962
Story: “War In Washington” (9 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights
Other Character: Dalas (last appearance in issue #132; last appearance)
Villains: Khagan, Atlanteans (all between issue #132 / 138)
Synopsis: The Atomic Knights learn that Khagan plans to destroy the
ultraviolet layer over Durvale with a weapon found in Washington, D.C.
Strange Adventures No. 138
March 1962
Story: “The Attack of the Giant Dogs” (9 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights
Villains: Khagan, Atlanteans (last appearance for all in issue #135;
last appearance for all)
Synopsis: The Atomic Knights find two mutated giant dalmatians just
before Khagan and his Atlanteans make another attack.
Strange Adventures No. 141
June 1962
Story: “Menace of the Metal-Looters” (9 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights
Villains: Ki-Ling and other aliens (first and only appearance for all)
Synopsis: Earth is invaded by aliens seeking metal altered by an atomic
war--the same metal composing the Atomic Knights’ armor.
Strange Adventures No. 144
September 1962
Story: “When the Earth Blacked Out” (15 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights
Intro: Mr. and Mrs. Morris, Billy Morris (only appearance for all)
Villains: Mole people (first and only appearance)
Comments: This story takes place in 1991.
The revelation that the mole people started World War III conflicts
with the statement in HERCULES UNBOUND #9 that an atomic bomb loosed by
Lady Agatha Simms started the war. It is possible both events happened
on the same day.
Synopsis: The Atomic Knights, seeking to learn which nation started
World War III, are attacked by a band of mole people seeking to invade
the surface world under cover of an artificial blackout.
Strange Adventures No. 147
December 1962
Story: “The King of New Orleans” (16 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights
Intro: Mrs. Sawyer (only appearance)
Villains: King Touro and his men (first and only appearance for all)
Synopsis: In search of doctors, the Atomic Knights journey to New Orleans,
where a local tyrant has outlawed jazz.
Strange Adventures No. 150
March 1963
Story: “The Plant That Hated Humans” (16 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights
Intro: Abner Henderson (next appears in issue #153), Alva Judson (only
appearance)
Villains: Mutant bird’s-foot trefoils (first appearance; next appear
in issue #153)
Comment: This story may have been inspired by the movie, The Day of
the Triffids.
Synopsis: The humans of the post-holocaust world are attacked by giant
motile mutant plants, and the Atomic Knights must learn how to battle them.
Strange Adventures No. 153
June 1963
Story: “Danger In Detroit” (15 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights
Other characters: Abner Henderson, bird’s-foot trefoils (last appearance
for both in issue #150)
Intro: Jenkins (only appearance)
Villains: Organizer Kadey, the Blue Belts (first appearance for all;
all next appear in issue #160)
Comment: This story takes place in 1992.
Synopsis: In Detroit, the Atomic Knights meet with a tyrant named Kadey
who seeks to take the first postwar automobile from its creator.
Strange Adventures No. 156
September 1963
Story: “Threat of the Witch-Woman” (16 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights
Intro: Fred Dromer, Henrietta Dromer
Villains: Fallow, people of Harrow (only appearance for all), energy-demons
(first appearance; destroyed in this story)
Synopsis: The Atomic Knights must save a woman who can manifest energy-demons
from her mind from being destroyed as a witch.
Strange Adventures No. 160
January 1964
Story: “Here Come the Wild Ones” (15 pages)
Editor: Julius Schwartz
Writer: John Broome
Artist: Murphy Anderson
Feature Characters: The Atomic Knights (Gardner Grayle, Douglas Herald,
and Bryndon Smith next appear in HERCULES UNBOUND #10; last appearance
for Wayne Hobard, Hollis Hobard, and Marene Herald)
Intro: Dr. Howard Melton (in flashback; only appearance), the Wild
Boys (including Mark, Ken, and Danny; first and only appearance for all)
Villains: Organizer Kadey, the Blue Belts (last appearance for all
in issue #153; last appearance for all)
Comments: This is the last Atomic Knights story.
Gardner Grayle, Douglas Herald, and Bryndon Smith next appear
in HERCULES UNBOUND #10-11 (Smith dies in issue #10), which establishes
the Atomic Knights in the same Earth as that of Omac, Kamandi, and Hercules.
In DC COMICS PRESENTS #57, Superman meets the Earth-One Gardner
Grayle, who mistakenly believes that his dreams of the Atomic Knights are
only fiction. Since Kamandi has been shown to be a “real” DC Universe
character, the Atomic Knights are also real.
Synopsis: Marene disguises herself as a boy to infiltrate the Wild
Boys, a group of youth shunning the adult world, while the Atomic Knights
must cope with Kadey and his newfound trance-inducing device.