While on a visit to S.T.A.R. Labs, hoping to find a doctor who could cure him of his headaches, a young man named Joe stumbled into the holding area of the Parasite. The Parasite managed to convince this young man to cut the power to his cell; but just as he did so a massive power surge sent electricity coursing through his body. Dazed and confused, the young man returned to his apartment.
Shortly thereafter he discovered that the electricity had had a bizarre effect on him, seeming to melt away the flesh from his very bones! Confused, Joe noticed that he now resembled his hero, the Atomic Skull--a hero of a 1940s movie serial.
Believing himself to be the Atomic Skull, in the midst of his great movie adventure, Joe rampaged through Metropolis.
When Superman encontered him, the Atomic Skull believed Superman to be his film nemesis. Their battle was complicated when
the Atomic Skull sighted Lois, whom he believed to be his love Zelda. He kidnapped her, and Superman gave chase.
The battle finally ended when Superman manged to drain the excess energy from the Atomic Skull, reverting him back to a harmless young man.
Some years later, a movie studio wanted to turn Superman's encounter with the Atomic Skull into a feature film, and began shooting in Metropolis. The
studio hired Joe, who had been working with a therapist to understand and control what had happened to him, as a consultant. Joe was horrified to see the
way the film portrayed the Atomic Skull--as a homicidal maniac who deliberately put innocents in danger, rather than (as Joe veiwed himself) a man so
caught up in his own delusions that reality meant nothing. Enraged at what he saw as a deliberate attempt to misrepresent what had really happened to him,
Joe surrendered his control and allowed the Atomic Skull to come forth again, attacking the studio executives and actors working on the film. As before,
Superman's intervention kept the civilian casualties to a minimum, and Joe was taken back to Stryker's Island prison.
Back to the Gallery.