DCU Comic Book Reviews

THE ALL-NEW ATOM #4

My Life In Miniature:  Part Four.  Aggressive Ideologies

December 2006

Written by Gail Simone

Pencils by Eddy Barrows

Inks by Trevor Scott

Cover by Ariel Olivetti

Synopsis

Ryan Choi (aka The Atom) has just been eaten by a thirty-foot naked woman:  Dr. Zuel (aka Giganta), who has been infected by M’nagalah.  It seems M’nagalah is about to go to war against a bunch of backward-speaking aliens.  As Giganta walks through Ivy Town, Ryan tries to find a way to get out of her.  First, he calls Panda, but his friend his being held by a knife to his throat by Sylbert Rundine, who has been given a belt similar to Ryan’s.  Sylbert tells Panda to tell Ryan that the Atom must choose their side in the upcoming war.  Eventually, Ryan is able to make Giganta vomit him up, but he finds himself in the middle of the alien attack.  He is saved by Dean Mayland.  Elsewhere, various professors from the university have been able to develop a device from the particle drive Ryan took from one of the alien’s vehicles.  At the dean’s home, Mayland explains that because of the Atom’s powers altered the fabric of the town.  Ryan does not want to give up being the Atom.  However, Dean Mayland brings in Ryan’s father, who tells his son it is time to come home.  

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

This issue can be termed a necessary evil as it provides a clearer picture of the events going in Ivy Town to the reader and events going on in the story to Ryan Choi but not much gets resolved.  Half the story features Ryan getting out of Giganta’s body and the other half features Dean Mayland’s expository dialogue on the weirdness of Ivy town.  It helps to fill in the blanks, but not much happens.  It is what I call the middle issue syndrome in which it is not the beginning nor the ending but just a continuation of the story.  The issue is not bad by any means (Simone’s witty writing is still intact), but it makes me anxious to get to the conclusion or at least get to something important besides a lot of exposition. 

I feel as if we need a checklist to keep things in perspective.  At least now we know we have the upcoming war featuring M’nagalah vs. the aliens.  We know that M’nagalah has the ability to brainwash others as we saw with Giganta.  I am willing to suggest that Dean Mayland has been brainwashed as well.  I also am willing to believe that the mysterious figure who helped Sylbert was also Dean Mayland.  If not, then it was probably someone working with the aliens.  All right, I realize that was not helpful, but I am thinking out loud. 

I am still anxious for the Justice League of America to get involved in this little war.  It has been four issues since their appearance in the first issue and there is still no sign of them.  I am curious to see how the JLA gets caught, what this has to do with the dog, and how Ryan saves the day.

As Giganta walks through town, we see a movie theater with Silverblade II playing.  In 52 Week #22 (released on the same day as the Atom and pencilled by Eddy Barrows as well) we see an advertisement for Silverblade Returns.  Silverblade was a series from 1987 that lasted 12 issues and is about an actor who gains super powers.  Silverblade was also listed on Rip Hunter’s chalkboard. -- Review by MRB

Quotables

Sir James Chadwick -- An English physicist (nuclear science) and Nobel laureate in the early 1900s

Titus Lucretius Carus -- Roman poet and philosopher circa 70 BC

Carl Sagan -- American astronomer and astrobiologist

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