Joe Morgan
Residence: Mobile
Occupation: Fight trainer
First Appearance (Golden Age): All-American Comics #19 (October 1940)
First Appearance (Post-Golden Age): All-Star Squadron Annual #1 (November 1982)
History
Joe Morgan was born in the late 19th century under likely modest circumstances. By the late 1920's, he had developed a career as a coach and personal trainer for prize fighters, working up and down the East Coast. While initially promising, his career, the Great Depression dimmed his prospects and his finances suffered. Morgan also suffered from an undiagnosed split-personality disorder causing him to adopt different names or identities at different points of his life. At one point, he adopted the name "Nat Galligan" and trained a young Jim Harper to be a prize fighter but was dismayed when Harper joined the police instead (revealed in All-Star Squadron Annual #1).
In the late 1930's, he lived in New York where he worked as a college trainer. One particular promising athlete - Ted Grant - caught his eye but he dropped out of college when his parents died and Morgan lost the chance to train him further (Unnamed in Sensation Comics #1, revealed in All-Star Squadron Annual #1). Morgan lost his job and was reduced to homelessness, In 1939, he was begging on the streets of Calvin City when a chance encounter resulted his witnessing Al Pratt being shoved around by local bullies. He asked Pratt for some change and the frustrated Pratt decided to just buy Morgan a meal.
As they chatted, Morgan shared his backstory and in a moment of inspiration, offered to train Pratt, They two moved into a cottage in the country left to Al by his uncle and began an intensive training regimen. To Morgan's shock, Pratt's body adapted very quickly to the regimen and became much stronger and faster than a simple workout would have predicted. Unknown to Morgan, he has activated Pratt's metabolism, leading him to become the hero known as the Atom (All-American Comics #19).
Morgan remained with Pratt for several months continuing to train and mentor him (All-American Comics #20) and was disappointed when he returned to college to bail out on of his tormentors Truck Tarbell (All-American Comics #21), Morgan himself became the subject of casework for the Atom when he was hynotized by a femme fatale into committing crimes the Atom clear his name (All-American Comics #22).
In 1941, Morgan had moved to the outskirts of Calvin and opened a health club, He once again was caught up in the case work of the Atom when a nearby reform school became a front for a criminal enterprise that was revealed when boys fled and were found at the health club, The Atom's intervention uncovered the truth and set matters to right (All-American Comics #30). Morgan remained there for several months and was visited again by Al Pratt for car advice after he had been swindled (All-American Comics #37).
By 1942, Morgan had grown embittered by his failures and out one evening, a glowing orb descended on him. The orb spoke to him of his fears and his failure and nursed a sense of vengeance and retribution. The orb infused itself into Morgan, causing him to split into three different beings and travel to the places where his protegees had abandoned him. At the same time, orbs went forth and captured those protegees and brought them into conflict with the All-Star Squadron. Ultimately freed of the orb's control, Green Lantern's power ring was used to probe the minds of the Atom, Wildcat and the Guardian and reveal their common history with Morgan. Breaking into groups of two, the heroes and JSA members tracked down each variant of Morgan and defeated it. Bringing the three together, they refused into a new giant form and battle the heroes again. The orb - the essence of evil expelled from the Earth-One universe by the Guardians of the Universe - controlled Morgan but seeing the wrong being done, Morgan resisted, allowing the orb to be defeated at the cost of his own life. He died hoping that his life would ultimately mean something through the actions of those he had trained (All-Star Squadron Annual #1).
Prior Earth-0
The history of Joe Morgan is thought to be largely identical to his Earth-Two counterpart.
Appearances
All-American Comics #19-22, #30 and #37
All-Star Squadron #2 (cameo/flashback) and Annual #1