Atom Smasher (DC Comics)

Albert Rothstein
Albert Rothstein as Atom Smasher Art by Alan Davis
Publication information
Publisher	DC Comics
First appearance	As Nuklon: All-Star Squadron #25 (September 1983) As Atom Smasher: JSA Secret Files and Origins #1 (August 1999)
Created by	Roy Thomas Jerry Ordway Mike Machlan
In-story information
Alter ego	Albert Julian Rothstein
Team affiliations	Suicide Squad Justice Society of America Justice League The Conglomerate Infinity, Inc.
Partnerships	Atom
Notable aliases	Nuklon, Atom Smasher
Abilities	Growth, increased strength, stamina, speed and durability. Formerly density control.

Albert Rothstein (known by the aliases Nuklon and Atom Smasher -- sometimes spelled "Atom-Smasher") is a comic book superhero in the DC Comics universe. Atom Smasher is known for his power of growth and super strength.

Created by Roy Thomas and Jerry Ordway, he first appeared in All-Star Squadron #25 (September 1983). Thomas chose his name as a tribute to his friend and fellow comic book fan Allan Rothstein.

The godson of Al Pratt, the Golden Age Atom, Albert Rothstein acquired his metahuman powers of super strength and control over his molecular structure, allowing him to alter the size and density of his body, from his grandfather, a reluctant supervillain known as Cyclotron. This allowed him to fight crime first as Nuklon, and then, later, as Atom Smasher. As Nuklon, Albert was a charter member of Infinity, Inc. and subsequently served in the Justice League. He was considered a dependable, but rather insecure and indecisive superhero while in Infinity, Inc. During this time he had a mohawk haircut. While in the JLA, he forged a strong friendship with fellow former Infinity Inc. teammate Obsidian.

Albert finally gets his dream and is invited to join the reunited JSA under his new name and identity, Atom Smasher (he mocks his old mohawk and costume in the meantime). For years, Atom Smasher cherishes his role in upholding Pratt's legacy and constantly seeks to prove himself worthy to his Golden Age idols – especially when many of them became his teammates in the JSA. He looks up to the elder JSA members, but is himself looked up to by young rookie member Stargirl. When Albert's mother is murdered in a plane crash engineered by the terrorist Kobra, he becomes consumed by vengeance, nearly crushing Kobra in his hands before he is talked down by his teammate Jack Knight, who convinces him that he should not taint the memory of his mother by associating it with Kobra's murder. Not long after the fatal crash, Albert – with the aid of Metron of the New Gods – goes back in time and replaces his mother with the weakened villain Extant. This ends up saving her life but makes Albert a murderer, even if there was no other way to contain Extant and to stop him from causing further harm.