Fantastic Adventures Aug 1946 – Excalibur and the Atom by Theodore Sturgeon

This cover hilariously sidesteps atomic-age technology in favor of Arthurian legend — Merlin's magic, not nuclear science, is the real threat here. A towering armored knight in crusader surcoat looms over a chained, kneeling woman, Excalibur planted dramatically before him. Theodore Sturgeon's fusion of Arthurian myth and atomic-age paranoia — 'Merlin's magic meant murder when he used Excalibur and the Atom' — exemplifies pulp's gleeful mashup of sword-and-sorcery with Cold War anxiety.