DC's first
superhero called the Atom was a guy named
Al Pratt. During the
Golden Age of comics (in other words, around
World War II), Al was a
short kid (just 5' 1" tall) who got picked on and beat up a lot. He got tired of being the target of
bullies and got some training from a
boxing pro. He improved his
physique and became an
expert fighter; he had a shot at the professional boxing title, but chose to wear a funny
costume and fight
crime instead. Though he had no
superpowers, he was quite successful and became one of the founding members of the
Justice Society of America -- of course, just about everyone else had powers, so he was just
the short guy who was a good fighter, which wasn't that great for his
confidence level. Later in his superheroic career, Al fought an
atomic-powered enemy and, in the process, gained an "
Atomic Punch" -- a
power that allowed him to
hit things really,
really hard.
Al
retired from full-time superhero duties in the
1950s, but returned to the
long-underwear game from time to time. He got married,
fathered a son who was secretly
kidnapped and eventually became a superhero called
Damage (though Al and his son never met), and became the
godfather for a boy who would eventually become a superhero called
Nuklon. Al died during the "
Zero Hour" crisis when a time-controlling villain called
Extant aged a group of
JSAers unnaturally.
The Atom was created by
Bill O'Conner and
Ben Flinton and made his first appearance in "
All-American Comics" #19 in October of
1940.
Many thanks to Habakkuk, who provided additional sources for research. :)