The Justice League is back, and that is a great thing, right? Truth, justice, and heroes are predominant in the DC Universe again. That big satellite full of superheroes is floating in space alongside the Earth as a watchful guardian, fixing all the problems and fallout from Amanda Waller and her Absolute Power campaign that has created chaos with superpowers given back randomly. Some heroes were lucky and gone back to the status quo, and some were not. This new problem got the two Atoms, Ray Palmer and Ryan Choi, to work with Nathaniel Adam, aka Captain Atom, to find a fix for this situation. What could go wrong?
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Writers Ryan Parrott and John Ridley are teaming up to bring a scientific fix to superpowers running amok. This follow-up series has an interesting problem and a good character set that makes it worth checking out. With DC going All In, some wonderful new series have brought back characters from limbo, giving them a new spotlight to try and shine. I like how Parrott and Ridley team up the legacies of the Atom with another character of a shared interest; plus, it brings about a complication of scientific exploration and military interest. The writers don’t stop there as they add a mystery element to the narration, which seems to be at least two unknown characters talking. If you’re looking for a suspense thriller, this is a great choice set in the DCU.
From the art side, Mike Perkins teams up with Adriano Lucas on colors to create a vibrant yet muted world that houses the tension. I like how the opening scene frames a focus on Captain Atom on the run. He is the main focus, with action going on around him at a slower pace. Yet once Captain Atom is spotted, the action speeds forward with quite an escalation of confrontation. Then, there are time shifts to show why the project exists and how all three Atoms intersect with this situation. I am very interested in all parties’ agendas, but I am also curious if the agenda fits the character or the character fits the agenda. Ray Palmer and Nathaniel Adam seem very out of character in this issue.
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I know Nathaniel Adam appeared in Jenny Sparks by Tom King, and Adam seems to be a character playing a part needed for King’s story, which I fear is happening here as Adam and Ray Palmer seem to be a little off. While it is a bit of a nuisance, it also piques my interest to see why Adam and Palmer would be doing what they are doing. Palmer seems to be a government stooge trying to amass power, while Adam is a classic fugitive but with extra superpowers. This series stems from Amanda Waller’s worry about unchecked superpowers, but is it the man or the super-man causing the issue? Could this series wind up showing us that Amanda Waller was right? Luckily, those questions have me curious and willing to check out more of the creative team’s efforts to discover what the Atom Project is.
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