The existence of the A-bomb was a closely guarded secret during World War II, although you'd be hard-pressed to miss one of those ruddy great mushroom clouds billowing up in the distance. Strategically, it was important that the US played their hand close to their chest, and their enemies didn't know what they had lined up in their arsenal. Back then, of course, people were a lot tighter-lipped than that traitorous Snowden, so the information was sure not to get out...until it did. In a Superman comic. Not only did nobody know of the existence of an atom bomb in 1945, they didn't have any idea what one even was. It was a totally new concept, and one that wasn't anywhere near as burned into the public imagination as it is now. And the army was happy with that, until Lex Luthor went and built one to menace the people of Metropolis with. The Pentagon ordered DC to pull the story, so close it was to what the Manhattan Project was working towards that they didn't want to tip off the Japanese of their plans.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
