Justice League: The Atom Project #1 – Ryan Parrott/John Ridley, Writers; Mike Perkins, Artist; Adriano Lucas, Colorist
Ray – 8.5/10
Ray: One of the biggest running threads of the post-Absolute Power era has been the power redistribution, where many key heroes’ powers have wound up in the wrong hands and some heroes have wound up with new powers. For every case like Lois Lane, who is neatly adjusting to her new Kryptonian-style powers and is having a blast, there’s a dozen others where someone either takes advantage of them to do evil or just freaks out and causes a lot of destruction. The League needs a science team – and they choose Atom and Atom, Ray Palmer and Ryan Choi, who are busy designing ways to neutralize the powers and bring them back home – or at least drain them so they can keep the people in a safe containment area. But even among these two close friends, issues are emerging – with Ray offering false hope and becoming increasingly obsessed with the mission.
Of course, there aren’t just two atom-themed heroes in the DCU – there’s Captain Atom too, and he seems to have become a victim of the effect. When we first see him, he’s scrounging around an Amtrak, trying to get something to eat when he’s confronted by the police. Nathaniel Adam is desperate to get his powers back – or so it seems – and Ray Palmer is desperate to solve the great mystery, so he has no problem pushing the military man to his absolute limit. The problem is, Captain Atom has never been a stable figure, having become a superhero almost as an act of suicidal desperation, so having the safety of the DCU relying on him…not great. This first issue has some really interesting ideas, but it’s a bit of a slow burn that doesn’t quite establish a hook yet. It feels like another piece of the larger DCU, but this first issue doesn’t quite establish what the main plot thread will be.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
