I really liked this book. I've alwas liked Ray as a character, although he was never one of my favorite heroes growing up. I just always thoughtthe ability to shrink would be cool.
This issue covers the basics of his origin, while adding new layers to it, that do not feel overly shoeorned in. We meet several members of his family, and his mentor from his early college days.
The set up for a new villian is here, and looks interesting enough.
The writing is solid, even if it's not not groundbreaking. No real previous kknowledge of Ray is needed, and best of all - no mention of his ex wife at all. The art is consistant and clean and easy to follow.
I wanted to give the character his own thread as he'll be a backup for the near future in Adventure Comics, which a lot of us here are reading...hopefully they'll be some others interested in talking about this.
Gonna read the back-up from the latest Adventure Comics now.
Posted by Dev Em on :
Adventure Comics #516 (Sept '10)
Nice first edition od the back up story. Picks up right where the Special left off, but the Special is not required reading for this issue.
It's always nice to see Barbara in various comics, and I loved the "I'm always second on the scene" bit.
The Calculator as the villians "Oracle" is a great upgrade for that character, and he shows how dangeruous he can actually be in this story.
I'm enjoying this story so far, and am glad that I'll get it every month with mmy second Legion fix.
Posted by CJ Taylor on :
i'm with ya Dev. I read the back up and enjoyed it. It didn't have a brooding sense, more of a real adventure to it.
And Ray's line about him and the Flash is just great. Good to see him getting some love.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
I thought the special and the first back-up story were terrific! What a great intro to bring readers into the Atom's world and get things moving quickly.
I'm a longtime fan of Ray Palmer and it's great to see him having interesting adventures like this again without dwelling on Jean Loring and all of that. The writing felt very tight to me, particularly in the back-up where Lemuire makes better use of a limited amount of space than any single back-up by DC thus far (with a few Spirit back-ups as possible contenders).
The artwork was really dynamic and made great use of the Atom's varying sizes. It just felt like there was a ton of energy in the comic, which meshed really well with the self-reflecting narration.
I'm delighted and impressed and can't wait for more.
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
Honestly, I can appreciate Ray's position as a compassionate superhero, but I feel sorry for him AND Jean AND the Dibnys.
...but my opinion of him would be better if they hadn't killed Ryan Choi. Pass.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
^I still think Ryan Choi's murder was ridiculous and worthy of a real-life beating for Didio and the editors, but I'm not going to let that ruin my enjoyment for a Ray Palmer series.
If I did that--and did it with other things that bother me--I'd probably never be able to collect a DC comic book again (and several Marvel ones too).
Posted by Chief Taylor on :
I began reading Young Avengers when it came out, enjoyed it, but lost track of it during the time I stopped getting monthly comics for a while. Did Iron Lad ever return? Or is he somehow part of Jonas/Vision?
Posted by Sarcasm Kid on :
...what now?
Posted by CJ Taylor on :
The Chief is just testing the thread security protocols.
Looks like we've got some bleed through going on here, Sir.
Posted by Chief Taylor on :
quote:Originally posted by Chief Taylor: I began reading Young Avengers when it came out, enjoyed it, but lost track of it during the time I stopped getting monthly comics for a while. Did Iron Lad ever return? Or is he somehow part of Jonas/Vision?
Oops, wrong thread! Posted by Dev Em on :
Drunk while posting is no way to go through life son.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
Posted by Reboot on :
What's funnier is that, since he's a mod here, he could have expunged all trace of the "oops" if he'd got to it in time
quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: ^I still think Ryan Choi's murder was ridiculous and worthy of a real-life beating for Didio and the editors, but I'm not going to let that ruin my enjoyment for a Ray Palmer series.
If I did that--and did it with other things that bother me--I'd probably never be able to collect a DC comic book again (and several Marvel ones too).
And this is why I haven't bought a DC comic or Spider-Man comic in years...
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
I was considering calling it the "Reboot Decision" or something.
Even though it's not my chosen route for most franchises, I respect that you've been so rigid in sticking to your decision. Posted by Dev Em on :
This story so far...I repeat, so far...has been something that I could hand to my daughter. Good fun adventure, without the gratuitis violence that seems to permeate a lot of books on the shelf nowadays.
This book actually is giving me hope for comics.
Posted by Blacula on :
I haven't read the Special or the back-ups in Adventure Comics yet but I'm looking forward to doing so and as soon as I have I'll be in here to post my thoughts.
Ray Palmer has never been my *favourite* character in comics but he has certainly always been up there in at least my Top 20 (I have a LOT of characters I like! ) and my favourite comics purchase of the treasure trove of old comics I bought on my holiday to Melbourne recently was a full set of NM copies of all the old Sword of the Atom minis and Specials. Can't wait to dive into them too!
Finally, it's good to read that people in this thread are liking this story because a lot of people over at ComicBloc (especially long-time Atom fans) have been ripping it to shreds and threatening to drop comics all together over it! So that had me a bit concerned. I hope I side with you guys and gals on it more than with them!
Posted by Dev Em on :
Talk about those Sword of the Atom stuff as well Blacula. I loved those books back when they came out.
Posted by Blacula on :
^ I definitely will Dev Em but my new semester at Uni has just started so don't hold your breath waiting for it I'm afraid.
As for the Special and the first back-up - I liked them. Jeff Lemire can definitely tell a clean, engaging story.
I do get why the long-time Atom fans at ComicBloc were angry though and it was something that bugged me while I was reading it too. And which annoys me even more now in retrospect.
Yes, it's that old chestnut - continuity.
A sampling of some of the continuity mistakes(?)/changes(?) Lemire makes with this character -
* Ray's father is now alive instead of having died when he was young. * Ray has a secret identity again instead of having it revealed to the world in a book written by Jean. * Ray creates his size-changing belt to fight crime rather than to impress Jean. * Ray first uses his powers to save a fire-fighter rather than the kids in the mine.
And that's just a few off the top of my head. I'm sure I could find more if I had the issue in front of me.
Now, to prove I'm no rigid continuity freak, I'm actually OK with some of those changes.
I feel super-heroes work a lot better when they do have secret identities, and I was totally against that trend in the 90s of having every hero reveal theirs to the public. So I have no problem with Lemire giving Ray his back here.
Similarly, I'd much rather see our heroes having living relatives like parents and siblings and cousins and so on to provide story potential rather than the standard lonely orphan backgrounds that so many unimaginative writers seem to give their characters. So I've got no problem with Ray's Dad being back too.
But the fact that Lemire has completely changed Ray's whole origin story for seemingly no reason when the original origin worked just fine really rubs me the wong way. Why couldn't Ray have still saved those kids in the mine? What benefit did saving that firefighter give the story other than the cliched trick of making us think of his dead brother?
I think Jeff is a good writer (from the one and a half issues I've read by him so far) but I don't get and don't respect any writer who makes wholesale changes to a character just to stamp their own imprint on them when a more visionary writer already crafted a perfectly acceptable origin for that character more than 4 decades ago - and it still holds up perfectly well today.
It's like - instead of Saturn Girl, Cosmic Boy and Lightning Lad saving RJ Brande and forming their team, they save a falling puppy and Saturn Girl remembers her dead dog from her childhood so they decide to form the Legion to protect all life everywhere. Or something equally as crap.
I know 'continuity' is a dirty word to some, and I agree that some readers take it too far, but comic book writers need to realise that there needs to be a consistency to these characters and their stories otherwise - why bother reading continuing adventures?
I think DC (and Marvel? I don't know them.)'s lack of discipline in this area is one of the direct reasons why their readership has shrunk so much over the last 20 years. I know it's one problem with this hobby that keeps alienating me further.
Anyway, all that said, I still liked Lemire's story here enough to continue supporting it.
Things I liked -
* He's got a nice handle on Ray. Not too flashy, not too grim. He's the quintessential intelligent, no fuss, physicist turned superhero. * The art was very nice. * I like the idea of an evil uncle and I loved the idea that he's a member of some nefarious group of ant-themed villains or something as evidenced by the insignia on that ring. Very Silver Age! * A simple but effective explanation for why people can hear the Atom when he's so small! * All of the Atom's cool and uncool powers were on display here and Lemire seemed to embrace them all. * Nice reference to the Flash. I always thought of Barry as Ray's second best friend in the JLA after Katar and hope we get to see them interact sometime in the near future. * The Calculator appearance was fun. His upgrade was one of the best things about Identity Crisis. I wish writers would continue bringing back DC's so-called 'uncool' stable of old villains and heroes in imaginative and effective ways like this one rather than killing them off. * Professor Hyatt! I like seeing old supporting cast members return in any comic. I hope Enrichetta Negrini and Paul whatshisname (from Power of the Atom) pop in for a visit too.
Lastly, I know why Lemire left her out of it all, and I suppose it is for the best - but I still would have really appreciated at least a mention of Jean. She was used horribly over the last few years but she was a good character once, and was also obviously a huge part of Ray's life. She may be gone for good now but I think the readers deserve a happier way of saying 'Goodbye' to her than that horrible Blackest Night gave us.
Anyhoo - looking forward to this story in the next issue of Adventure Comics (moreso than I am the Legion story, which is a big surprise to me).
Posted by Dev Em on :
I'm also looking forward to the Atom story moreso than the Legion one. Surprises me as well.
I hear ya on the continuity stuff. The father issue is really not a big deal for me, as I don't really remember his parents ever really being mentioned...but even though I have most of his solo stuff from the Sword, and Power up...I was never a devoted fan of his. Again, I liked him and his power always seemed cool.
The other aspects of his origin could be shoehorned in to fit if it was ever attempted.
Jean has been dragged through the ringer since IC, and if she is brought up here, I hope it's actually in a good way, and not another "Jean did this" thing. Maybe explaining the whole book issue.
Seeing a Barry/Ray team-up, even in a secret identity way (Barry consults with him on a case or something) would be really cool. Especially if you threw Hal in for the beginning of it and he becomes bored with all the scientific talk and flies off.
Posted by Dev Em on :
Little bit of exploding people in this issue, but nothing overly graphic actually shown.
Still enjoying the hell out of this back up feature, and hope that Ray gets a regular series by this team after this run is over.
Posted by Blacula on :
^ Me too! I think we're both on record as being displeased with some of the overly-graphic depictions of gore in comics these days (see: Brightest Day) but I thought the way the little man leaping at Ray exploded, leaving only a few little drops of blood to land on his cheek, was almost inspired.
This is still a fun little story. And Lemire has perfectly mastered the 8 page format - in a way so few of the other back-up writers have been able to. Each month we get a little insight into Ray, a few more clues for the mystery, a little bit of action and then an exciting cliff-hanger to take us into the next issue. Perfect little morsels of story.
I hope Ray keeps the back-up here after the Legion are gone.
Posted by Dev Em on :
Exactly. Inspired is a good term to use here I think. It's obvious what happened, as it's spelled out for you. They chose not to actually show it though, and left it to the readers own imagination.
you're correct as well with Lemuire using the 8 pages he has to their fullest. He moves everything along at a quick pace to actually propel the story forward. You get enough that it feels, at least to me, that you've read a full issue. In fact, some writers would take a full issue to tell even less story. (BMB comes to mind.)
Posted by Dev Em on :
One other thing. I loved the whole "are you flirting with me?" thing between Oracle and Ray.
Oracle is the one character that can appear anywhere and any ampunt of times in a month and not seem overexposed. The fact that she's the information hub of the DCU heroes makes her sooo valuable. Sinle best use of a character reboot ever.
Jeff's writing here has me contemplating his Superboy book. Maybe for an arc or so.
Posted by Blacula on :
Didn't enjoy the latest Atom entry as much as the previous ones but that may have had something to do with being distracted by some drunken douches yelling and carrying on in the spa in my building while I was trying to read it. <grumble bloody English back-packers grumble>
Will give it a re-read sometime and see if my opinion changes. A few things I weren't keen on though was the long exposition about the history of the Colony from Uncle Dave (Boring! They're an evil society! That's all we need to know!), the fact that Uncle Dave might actually be good (I was enjoying the evil Uncle idea) and the cliffhanger ending... which was a total repeat of last month's cliffhanger ending.
Guess Lemire can't get it right every time.
I wonder what's gonna happen to this story once the back-ups get abruptly dropped in January though? I'm predicting an anthology title to wrap them all up in. Not sure how I feel about that. This is the only back-up I read (I think) so it will be annoying having to buy a book just for a few pages of story in it. We'll see.
Posted by Outdoor Miner on :
quote:Originally posted by Blacula: I wonder what's gonna happen to this story once the back-ups get abruptly dropped in January though? I'm predicting an anthology title to wrap them all up in.
DC are looking to wrap them up in one-shots, and have mentioned such for the Jimmy Olsen and Commissioner Gordon back-ups. They may have to do some kind of anthology depending on how far along certain stories are.
DC look to be very keen on one-shots these days. Probably as a cheaper-than-minis way of testing the market.
Posted by Cobalt Kid on :
Would love it if this was wrapped up in a one-shot that lead into an ongoing series. Posted by Dev Em on :
I'm guessing a one shot...and then an ongoing. Or at least I hope. I'm gonna check out a few issues of his Superboy series as well.
Posted by Outdoor Miner on :
quote:Originally posted by Cobalt Kid: Would love it if this was wrapped up in a one-shot that lead into an ongoing series.
quote:Originally posted by Dev Em: I'm guessing a one shot...and then an ongoing. Or at least I hope. I'm gonna check out a few issues of his Superboy series as well.
I'd buy an Atom series no problem. I have my doubts that there are enough of us to make it a winner for DC, though.
I'll be checking out the Superboy book as well. Whether I buy it regularly or not will depend on how much Krypto we get. (I'm a big fan of the dog. What can I say?)
Posted by Dev Em on :
I've actually begun to like Conner recently...and hope as well, that Krypto is a big part of the series.
Posted by Jerry on :
The Atom storyline was wrapped up in a "Giant Size Atom" one shot after being pushed out of Adventure due to the page count reduction. It was a satisfying conclusion to the series. Hawkman was the special guest star. The relationship between the two heroes was handled well and given a bit of background explanation. The artwork was solid. A lot of people feel that big splash pages have been over done in recent years. There are a couple of two page splashes in this special that are just beautiful, though. Not only was the story wrapped up, but we kind of got a set up for what the future holds for Ray Palmer. As fans, we've been given way too many stories with abrupt endings and dangling plot threads in recent years. Props to everyone involved for giving this excellent and short lived series a proper conclusion.
Posted by Dev Em on :
Crap...forgot about this finale...gotta go find it soon.
Posted by Blacula on :
I started to grow a bit weary of Lemire's Atom tale by the end, but I need to go find this Special to finish it up too.
I also need to get around to reading those Sword of the Atom books at some point too. As well as a hundred other comics I've got waiting.
Law degrees and casual comic-book reading do not mix.
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So that had me a bit concerned. I hope I side with you guys and gals on it more than with them!
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