Justice League: The Atom Project #5 – John Ridley/Ryan Parrott, Writer; Mike Perkins, Artist; Adriano Lucas, Colorist
Ray – 9/10
Ray: This has been a tense story, dealing with the military and scientific underbelly of the DCU in multiple timelines – and now it comes down to a massive slugfest, as one metal-skinned military man faces off against another. Captain Atom has aroused the ire of his former bosses in the military, and they’ve deployed Major Force after him. They’re very much the same character in some ways, except that Major Force is a vicious sociopath – and was responsible for one of the most infamous moments in DC history. While that’s thankfully not referenced here, it is clear that this is the same monstrous character, and he’s relishing in every bit of pain he causes to the Atoms – which makes it all the more shocking, but also understandable, when Captain Atom does exactly what he needs to do in order to put his enemy down, and also displays just how dangerous his new powers are.
Those powers and how he got them are an interesting little beat here, as he’s been slowly gaining the ability to absorb other metahuman power sets. This allows him to take the misplaced powers away from the people who shouldn’t have them or don’t want them – but he also gains new powers with each one he takes. In many ways, we’re seeing him evolve into the Doctor Manhattan-like character he was always intended as, and it’s making everyone nervous. The Atoms question whether it’s safe to let him roam free, the military led by General Eiling want him back under their control, and he’s increasingly pressured to use his ability to transfer powers to give some out – and let the government transform its own men into living weapons. With this issue’s cliffhanger, the creative team still has a lot to do to wrap up this story in only one more issue, but I’m excited to see how they pull it together.
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GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
