Manic Monday--We All Bow To The Power Of...Mallo?!?!

I'm willing to bet that you had no idea who the most powerful being in the DC Universe is? Well, pre-Crisis, at least? You're about to find out!

Back in the day, DC Comics Presents had a recurring back-up feature, "Whatever Happened To...?" It took a look at older (usually Golden Age) DC heroes who hadn't got a lot of attention of late. This was years before Secret Origins became a regular ongoing, so it was a welcome way to give modern audiences some exposure to older heroes (not to mention an exercise in trademark preservation!)

In DC Comics #30 (1981), we get Whatever Happened To The Golden Age Atom. Al Pratt comes home to find some burglars making off with his stuff.

Bad move for them...

 EXCEPT!!!

 What happened? Well, our story is interrupted by an apparently omnipotent cosmic being!!

 Wait...WTF?!?!?!!?!?!?!

This raises so many goddamned questions.

First off, this character was created by Bob Rozakis--he's The Answer Man!! He must know what he's talking about, right?!? So this has got to be 100% canon--there's a guy in a big comfy chair going around manipulating people and powers to "preserve the balance between parallel universes"??? And seriously, would two guys having different powers really knock the cosmos out of alignment? Why does the cosmos care that two guys named Atom have different abilities? Would it have been OK if one of them had a different name?!?

And where the hell was Mallo guy during Crisis (any of them, really)? Is he related to Metron--after all he's cosmically aware in a big ol' chair? What about other "imbalances"--Black Canary? Red Tornado? What about imbalances between other universes? Is this guy the reason Kid Eternity got switch from Earth-X to Earth-S?

AAGGGHHHH!!! See what you've done to me, Rozakis!?!?

Anyway, Pratt got Palmer's powers for awhile--size changing belt and all:

 He goes on to roust the burglars, and...

WAIT WAIT WAIT!!!!

For the record, it turns out this was Mallo's second (and final) appearance. The previous month, in the Atom back-up in Action Comics #515 (1981), Mallo gave Earth-1 Atom the 5' height and atomic super-strength of Al Pratt, and he used it to beat up some kidnappers. And after this second story, Mallo was never seen again.

So what happened? Why couldn't we even get a "Anti-Monitor wipes him out to show how badass he is" scene? Why didn't Grant Morrison use him as the villan in Final Crisis or Multiversity--Mallo was way better than the villains he actually did use (ssshhh).

The DC Multiverse awaits your return, Mallo....maybe in the end of Doomsday Clock?