DCU Comic Book Reviews

THE ALL NEW ATOM #22

Inside-Out, Chapter 2:  How To Disappear Completely

June 2008

Written by Rick Remender

Pencils by Pat Olliffe

Inks by John Stanisci

Cover by Ladrönn

Synopsis

In attempt to determine if the Atom’s dwarfstar belt is the cause of the strange happenings in Ivy Town, Ryan Choi (aka The Atom) decided to investigate his own blood.  In the process, he encounters a large blood creature, which grows larger than Ryan and then attacks and kills Panda.  Ryan tries to contain it, but the creature gets away.  He then develops a device to track it.  The blood creature leads Ryan to his next door neighbor’s house.  Ryan tries to deal with the blood creature, but it manages to defeat Ryan, much to the shock and dismay of the people nearby watching.  However, Sylbert Rudine appears and tells the townspeople the real Atom will take care of it. 

Review by Binkley (e-mail)

The last issue seemed to be really condensed with tons of narration forced into the issue that made it seem like it was more pages than what it had been.  On the other side of the coin is this issue in which we get repeating series of events that makes it seem longer than it really is.  Think about it.  What purpose did the one guy who turns down the Atom’s offer really serve for the story?  We also get the Lady Cop’s appearance followed by the neighbor’s first appearance, two scenes that seem wildly out of place and not really that important compared to the rest of the issue.  Regardless, it seems that a lot of this issue just spins its wheels, taking a lot longer getting from Point A to Point B than it really should. 

This is the second issue of Remender’s story and so far I do not like the darker, more serious tone to the book.  I liked Simone’s lighthearted approach; it seemed to fit with the idea of a hero who can shrink to extremely small sizes.  This dark edge and tone seems out of place, especially when you considered Ryan is being attacked by a drop of his own blood.  That idea in and of itself is so far out of whack that it deserves a slightly skewed view of the events, not the ultra serious take that Remender is giving it.