#Joe Morgan

[coolthingsguyslike]

[cantsayidont]

October 1940. Third on the list of original JSA members who didn't seem straight was Al Pratt, the Golden Age Atom. Al was a student at Calvin College, constantly pushed around for being short and skinny (and implicitly for being Jewish, although that was never spelled out) and rudely dismissed by a girl he liked, Mary James, as a "spineless little amoeba." Dejected, Al buys dinner for a washed-up boxing trainer named Joe Morgan, who suggests that he can "make a li'l Superman" of Al in less than a year. Al suggests that the two of them go to live on his uncle's old farm, where they spend the next year in an intense training regime to build Al's physique.

It's important here to note a conundrum in the popular attitudes of this period: While boxing was considered an appropriately macho pursuit, interest in "physical culture" for its own sake was more suspect and might well have been read as gay (in part because fitness magazines were a way to see nude or mostly nude men that might get past the censorship and obscenity laws of the time). Also, the context is suggestive: Al drops out of college for an entire year to live with a man at least twice his age and spend a lot of time getting mostly naked with him to train. Moreover, after a year, Al expresses his wish for Joe to continue living with him:

In the subsequent issue, Al — who is now so strong he keeps accidentally breaking things — has apparently given up on Mary James, although Joe gives him a push in that direction. Joe seems self-conscious about the age difference between him and Al (and presumably the other Calvin College students in their area), but he and Al continue to live together for a few months. By ALL-AMERICAN COMICS #30 (September 1941), Joe has apparently moved out and started his own health camp. Al resumed his pursuit of Mary, although she was still often contemptuous of him as too meek and timid, unaware that he routinely put on a mask to beat people up and fight crime. They were still dating as of the Atom's final Golden Age solo appearance in FLASH COMICS #104 in 1949.

The modern retelling of the Atom's origin in SECRET ORIGINS #25 makes some changes to the Golden Age version, suggesting that Al merely spent weekends with Joe on the farm for a year rather than living there with him, and asserting that Joe left as soon as Al became the Atom rather than months later. However, in this version, Joe's departure reduces Al to tears and sobbing:

(As alluded to in the above panels, ALL-STAR SQUADRON Annual #1 (1982) tried to link the origins of the Atom, Wildcat, and the Guardian by claiming that Joe Morgan had a split personality and trained all three men under different names. This didn't make a lot of sense — the man who trained Ted Grant, "Socker" Smith, was a heavyweight champion prizefighter, not a trainer, and the origin of Wildcat involved Ted inadvertently killing Smith in the ring after gangsters slipped a poisoned needle into his glove!)

Al Pratt's Silver Age guest appearances in THE ATOM indicate that he was still single by 1968 — THE ATOM #36 has some of his married friends trying to fix him up, and he thinks to himself, "I've been so busy as the Atom in the past--I've sort of let romance pass me by!" Modern stories established that he and Mary James were married for a while, although she died a few years later, and that Grant Emerson (Damage) was their son (although Al thought the boy died as an infant). However, it's hardly uncommon for gay or bisexual men to marry women or even have kids, and the sight of Al sobbing at the departure of Joe Morgan doesn't make it seem like his feelings for Joe were exactly platonic, even if you don't want to read too much into their training montage and cohabitation.

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Second baseman Joe Morgan #8 of the Cincinnati Reds bats during an Major League Baseball game circa 1977 at Riverfront Stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. Morgan played for the Reds from 1972-79.

📸 Focus on Sport/Getty Images

[flow33didontsmoke]

when y/n does something so bad/embarrassing you have to facepalm and close your eyes for a minute

[thefeawl]

‘’To obtain success, you must get the most out of your ability and to do that you must work on your weaknesses.’’ – Joe Morgan

[guitarbomb]

Neural DSP Morgan Amps Suite - Vintage Charm and Modern Fidelity

Neural DSP introduces the Morgan Amps Suite, a guitar amplifier plugin that promises a perfect mix of vintage warmth and modern clarity. This latest offering from Neural DSP, a leader in digital guitar processing, brings the revered tones of Morgan Amplification’s boutique tube amps into the digital realm. Morgan Amps Suite The Morgan Amps Suite features three iconic Joe Morgan tube amp designs,…

[bsbl-diamond-dawgs]

[stillinracooncity]

that feminine urge to read something that makes you cry, get angry, scream, laugh like a hormonal teenager, turn up the heat, feel like the most unique and beautiful human being on earth. *sighs*

[linusbenjamin]

The Boys 2.01 "The Big Ride" // 4.06 "Dirty Business"

[scarlettjemily]

Gonna tell my kids this was One Direction

[soldierboys]

Jeffrey Dean Morgan as Joe Kessler John Winchester THE BOYS | 4.03 We’ll Keep the Red Flag Flying

[penelopegarciashusband]

Shemar Moore kissing the entire cast of criminal minds is my favorite thing

All found on Pinterest

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[abovesn4kes]

Sadie and some bad folk

[thefeawl]

Johnny Bench (left) and Joe Morgan (right)