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Underground > Comic Books >

The Atom

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

17:13 / 09.07.06

I wasn't going to pick up this book, since I'm hot and cold on Gail Simone and haven't liked Byrne's art in a long while, but after leafing through it at the shop, I was surprised at how much I liked it. There a few things that didn't work (the quotes struck me as more annoying than funny), but the overall tone of the story was fun. I LOVE the fleas turning dogs evil, the ties to the previous Atom without being beholden to it, and the sequence where the lead character first uses the power made the power interesting for the first time in a long time.

Unlike most first issues, it felt like I got a complete story that set up everything I needed to know instead of the first chapter of a novel.

Anyone else pick it up?

21:22 / 09.07.06

I liked this book very much, although I do not care for the inking, which makes Byrne's pencils look muddy, hardly a good match for a scifi book.

Brandon was amusing and I like the poker-playing mad scientists. Overall, this could be a fun, oddball book if all goes well.

22:40 / 09.07.06

I grabbed it. I enjoyed it enough to want to keep buying.

I actually preferred the rough ink son Byrne's pencils - lent them a good bit of life that I often find his work missing.

I think Simone is a little less deft with rationing out spoilers for the plot than Morrison might be. It's already clear what's happening, with a miniature race of conquerors in flea-mobiles inhabiting dogs in Ivy Town and poised to use Ray Palmer's tech to conquer the earth in 100 days.

It's going to be an interesting test-bed to watch other writers now start to take Morrison's revamp outlines and run with them.

11:32 / 10.07.06

When I heard that Morrison was writing concepts that other writers were going to run with, I cringed. But after reading the new Atom I feel better about it if this is the result. This was really enjoyable, fast and furious, especially for a comic where there was virtually no action.

I'm in, at least for the first two story arcs.

15:56 / 10.07.06

I thought this was a good comic too. The dialogue sometimes had a Morrision-esque flair to it ("Maybe it's the weird that makes it beautiful," "And just like that, I found it. A device powerful enough to change everything.") without being too direct an imitation. It feels like Morrison - Story, Simone - Screenplay, and that's a good thing. Dean Mayland is a fun character and I look forward to seeing more of him.

Byrne's art looked a bit Jim Lee-y at times (especially that two-page spread) which is something I'd not have expected.

So yeah, I'll probably stay with this comic for awhile, although I agree that since the plot already seems kind of spoiled, it might be a bit irksome waiting for the characters in the comic to catch up.

Oh, and the guy dressed like a Puritan walking the halls? He's the sensational new character find of 2006.

STOATIE LIEKS CHOCOLATE MILK

12:49 / 11.07.06

Bet Byrne's pissed off about having to do George's ideas... will probably pick this up, though, as I've been generally hearing fairly good things about it.

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

20:26 / 11.07.06

I just read Byrne's off the book after 6 issues. No word yet on who's decision that is.

00:32 / 12.07.06

So there's a chance of me purchasing an issue of Atom! Yay!

01:35 / 12.07.06

Where did you hear/read about the Byrne news?

Solitaire Rose as Tom Servo

06:16 / 12.07.06

From this week's "All The Rage":

Byrned Out

Comicdom’s favorite curmudgeon, John Byrne, has been tapped as one of the pencillers for the new DC universe horror anthology Tales of the Unexpected. The series will feature rotating artists, and Byrne will pencil a few of the Spectre stories featured in the series.

DC was not pleased after Byrne pulled out as the penciller of one of the Superman Returns tie-in books plotted by Bryan Signer. So don’t expect to see Byrne as the writer on any new DC projects soon, in fact, his role will be limited to that of an artist on limited runs or fill in issues. Issue 6, at the latest, will finish his tenure as penciller of the new Atom series.

This Has A “How To Make Friends And Influence People” Factor Of Seven Out Of Ten

21:35 / 12.07.06

Wow. I totally skimmed over that bit. Hope his replacement is...original.

16:16 / 13.07.06

Byrne hasn't been offered that job at all. Although I believe he's only invovled in launching this title over on his board Johnny says a lot of things including he's never heard of that rumour.

14:22 / 14.07.06

Wow, this is good news (Byrne leaving), because Byrne's current awful, scratchy, sketchy art has been the thing that kept me from buying issue 1. I would give this book a chance and buy it with a better artist on board.

16:27 / 14.07.06

anyone willing to let me know what makes this Atom more than just another shrinking superhero. Considering it's not even the same character... why should I care more about this comic than some other?

I understand there's meant to ba a sort of twin peaks vibe to IVY TOWN... but does that sort of concept even translate to comics?

Can this (or any) comic hope to create the City-as-character that was achieved with Opal City in the still great STARMAN series?

16:59 / 14.07.06

The old Atom was best when they tapped the friction between being an academic and being the sort of person who would try to surf ions or swing a sword around a subatomic barbarian-filled land.

Palmer was a very smart man who didn't actually think a whole lot, until he had to. The not thinking got him to places where he'd have to, that is.

Bank robberies! I'll shrink down, and when the robbers make a threatening call to the next bank they're going to clear out, I'll zip down the phonelines, into their hideout, and punch them! Oh, no, the robbers are actually performing some mad magickal ritual and the calls are part of that and now I'm trapped in a web of weird mystic energies! I'll... flirt with Zatanna! And then punch someone! I have class in twenty minutes! Aha! Strange and dodgy scientific fact no one's ever heard of before will save us! Class! Students bored and frustrated! I'll... should I flirt or punch here?

Wash, repeat.

He's Indiana Jones with shrinking powers. The new Atom? Got me there. Hopefully, presumably, they'll be tapping a very similar vibe.

21:52 / 14.07.06

Wow, this is good news (Byrne leaving), because Byrne's current awful, scratchy, sketchy art has been the thing that kept me from buying issue 1. I would give this book a chance and buy it with a better artist on board.

Yeah, it actually resembles Capullo after he started doing his McFarlane imitation on Spawn. Very...1994, JB.

22:08 / 14.07.06

I just came accross this . . .

which brought me back to wondering about the "shrinking superhero" concept. Putting aside who's creating which book, which core concept is stronger?

01:34 / 15.07.06

The Atom will always be cooler than Ant-Man. Ant-Man doesn't even get that small. Just small enough to talk to ants. What's he going to do if he has to fight some evil bacteria or civilizations from the inside of a proton? All he can do is get slightly smaller. Atom wins.

I was disapointed when I heard that this was going to be about a new Atom, not Ray Palmer, but I thought the first issue was pretty great. I think it's going to be a good series.

01:41 / 15.07.06

Yeah, but, y'know, Jean Loring/Janet Van Dyne... Jan's generally rich, flighty enough you look that much more intelligent and together just standing next to her, and she's not psychotic... plus she's a clothes horse with wings! Yay!

You could play dress-up for hours, or get tied up, raped, frozen, and set on fire... or whatever it was happened in that miserable torntights mini, and besides, Pym Particles can still shrink you down all tiny tiny microscopic if necessary. Atom doesn't always shrink down that far, either. Otherwise he'd never be seen riding on the Flash of the day's shoulder.

Essential Dazzler

20:45 / 17.07.06

A little birdie told me that Byrne definitely isn't drawing issue 4.

Damn, and Byrne Robotics has just gone Read-Only, how inconvinient.

17:35 / 29.07.06

I enjoyed the hell ou of #1: set-up, supporting characters, that general sense of wonder. I don't know what happened to Palmer and how the JLA got captured [in a dog?], but the ATOM so far is Good Fun with Science. hm, horny young students...

it read much better than UNCLE SAM AND THE FREEDOM FIGHTERS #1, talking about new stuff based in Morrison's black notebook. that as a muddy comic. or maybe I was just too sleepy when I read it.

funny that the SHAWN OF THE DEAD guy said the other day, at SDCC I suppose, the his ANT-MAN movie would possibly have a feel similar to the old INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN flick, and that was exactly what we saw here with ATOM.

I'm sorry to see Byrne go, sketchy or non-sketchy inks aside. like his work since I was a kid and - despite his online outbursts - always wanted to see him in a Morrison comic, even one not fully written by him [and Gail did a very nice job here, gotta tell].

Eddy Barrows, the guy who's doing the fill-in for #4, is a Brazilian artist who's doing some pages for 52. he's good but this title was asking for something more original in style.

02:51 / 03.08.06

The book's selling points, aside from the whole shrinky man thing, are its eccentirc cast and oddball tone. Very pleasing & fun, alhough possibly not yet essential soops reading.

Disgree totally about UNCLE SAM, which I felt was one of the top DC books of the last ten years, right up there with GM's best superhero work. Very Grant, very political, very cool rebooting/reworking. A sort of mainstream INVISIBLES without the magick and crazy ideas/structure.

03:14 / 03.08.06

Didnt like issue 1 or 2 really. Concept is kind of cool but the story isnt something that holds my interest and probably be a lot better with a another writer and art team. I like the quotes and how it adds some what of an educational quality but it falls short of its intent i think. Whether its Bryne's pencils or Scott's inks messin it up the art just leaves me disappointed. Cover art is great though.

13:00 / 03.08.06

>> [from All The Rage a while ago & above, of course] Issue 6, at the latest, will finish his tenure as penciller of the new Atom series.

I've heard that Byrne's last issue drawing will be issue 3 (I think I read this in a San Diego ComicCon coverage article with the DC panels).

13:02 / 03.08.06

It is. Eddy Barrows takes over as of #4.

06:04 / 08.09.06

Man, they really shifted the Weird into 9th Gear this issue. Cancer God and Giganta, scary Homeless-Lady-Shoggoth-Head and filmgoing/mutant demi-god worshipping pilgrims. If they can make every third issue this nuts I'm in for the long haul.

I'm actually gonna miss Byrne on this. He really lent some very creepy energy to the mix with his so-out-of-fashion-they're-modern aesthetics.

Are they talking about Swamp Thing in this issue?

MattShepherd: I WEDDED KALI!

13:00 / 09.10.07

Bought the trade last Saturday, and devoured it on the bus ride back home. Good stuff for the most part -- the only thing that really started to grate after a while was the "quotes," which started off as moderately clever but quickly turned too-clever and wound up being hey-look-at-me-clever after two issues.

And Byrne. Unlike many here, I LIKE Byrne's art, but this really looked like he was sleepwalking or phoning it in.

On the whole, though -- me likey. Simone has a gift for "engaging fun weird," which works in direct opposition to the annoying "forced indie weird" that drives me nuts about comics like Umbrella Academy -- I enjoyed the gradual reveal of the true nature of The Waiting, the matter-of-factness of why things are so messed up in the town, and the refreshing directness of how Ryan becomes Ray's successor: Ray asks him. Neat!

Plus: what feels like real (theoretical) science, some Simone-signature funny moments, and not too much anguish, which is rare and welcome in a DC book these days.

11:01 / 11.10.07

I don't think you're alone in liking Byrnes art. I like his art a lot. It's the man I dislike, and that does rather get in the way when discussing his work.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

23:25 / 13.10.07

I picked up the trade this week as well, and having devoured the whole thing in rather pert dollops rationed out over two or three days am left waiting for the next one to come out; I'm definitely evolving more in the direction of buying trades over floppies for most but a few really "important" books.

And I really, really liked it. Byrne's artwork was surprisingly energetic which seemed to work with Simone's rather ... peculiar dialogue (Panda and the other scientists sound so strange, especially when mashed up with the Waiting's odd sentence structures), and I loved the use of Giganta -- though I wonder, ultimately, why she wasn't an agent of science rather than the Cancer God.

Hallo, Paper Spaceboy

22:46 / 29.11.07

Just as a warning, the second trade of The All-New Atom is out next week -- "Future/Past." I'm excited!