There is a lot happening in the DCU right now. And, surprisingly... I endorse almost all of it, including...
The Atom Project.
The ostensible plot of The Atom Project is that Ray "The Atom" Palmer, as the classic JLA's premiere scientist, has taken on the task of fixing the Wacky Power Scramble caused when (in DC's latest universe-changing crossover) Amanda Waller's army of Amazos blew up, forfeiting (somewhat haphazardly) all the powers they had stolen.
Paired with his fellow "The Atom", Ryan Choi, Palmer is having limited success, but exposits that working with Nathaniel "Captain Atom" Adam is the key to unlimited success.
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| There are so many reason to dislike Captain Atom that the stupidity of the "Adam/Atom" thing is sometimes overlooked. |
Why is Captain Atom the key? I'm not going to bother to explain the in-story reason (especially since I don't understand it), but the meta-reasons are obvious. First, no one ever knows what to do with Captain Atom, DC's red-chested stepchild from the Charlton Universe. Certainly he has no fans other than complain about his use/misuse/abuse. Second, he's an angsty, volatile character, making him a perfect unstable platform for "the Atom Project" to teeter upon. Third, he is, quite simply, a hero with "Atom" in his name.
Because, clearly, one of the longer-term goals of this miniseries to is creating an Atom Dynasty (that is, a dynastic centerpiece model build around Ray Palmer, an idea I have obviously endorsed for, um, some time.
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| After all, how could you possibly go wrong centering your world around Ray Palmer? |
The real Atom (Ray Palmer), the "ethnic counterpart"/"junior partner" (Ryan Choi), the sidekick (Atom-Smasher), the black sheep (Captain Atom). It's a solid start.
Sure, I'd love to see the return of the mysterious Molecule,
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| Who, despite being nameless and appearing in perhaps three panels total, seems to have more potential than Vixen, Voodoo, and all of Stormwatch combined. |
smart'n'sexy Enrichetta Negrini,
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| Objectively, if I OF ALL PEOPLE think a woman is too smart and sexy to go to waste, then she damned well IS. |
and the ultimate animal sidekick, the bionic Major Mynah.
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| I do not love Major Mynah despite the fact he's absurd. I love Major Mynah BECAUSE he's absurd. |
But all this point I'm just happy that DC sees Ray Palmer as deserving of dynasty and making the effort to build one.
The creators clearly set up Ray and Ryan as a bad science-cop/good science cop duo, or, more accurately, and cold and calculating scientist / sensitive and humanist scientist duo. I'm not really sure this jibes well with their past portrayals but, let's face it: neither Ray Palmer nor Ryan Choi have (or ever had) sufficiently strong characterizations in the past to complain that this new interpretation of them is off-model. On the whole, Ray has generally been noted only his outstanding level of confidence (even for a superhero) and his problem-solving nature.
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| The amount of confidence required to casually, commandingly SLAP JEAN "THREAT TO ALL WHO LIVE" LORING in the face is far beyond my ken. |
And Ryan Choi, well, I think his most consistent and identifiable traits are hero-worship and haplessness.
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| You're a physicist, Ryan. Don't do engineering, it's beneath you and you suck at it. Do you try to do your own dry-walling, too? |
So, for the time being, it seems a reasonable way of not only distinguishing the two Atoms, of making them not just non-redundant but necessary counterparts. There aren't a lot of crimefighter duos in comics anymore and two Atoms just might be more viable than one (something the Flashes have never made work).
As long as they are assembling a world of characters around Ray Palmer, it begs the question, where, if anywhere, is Jean Loring?
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| Again--try to imagine the confidence. This woman eats a bowlful of Karens every morning for breakfast and then shits Yelp reviews. |
Jean Loring was alive two or so years ago (in Cold Coast Asylum) but that was two years; how many times has the DCU been soft-rebooted since then? To my satisfaction, it has not really been established whether Jean Loring's long and storied history still stands in current continuity. Is she still dead, eaten by sharks? Or has she NOT YET HAPPENED?!
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| AGAIN, try to fathom the degree of confidence required to propose to Jean "you vermin, I'll rip your face off" Loring ONCE, let alone FIFTY-SEVEN TIMES. |
10 comments:
This post gives me an Identity Crisis
I could fix that with a flamethrower.
But lack of confidence was Ray's defining feature for a good long time as well.... think 70s JLA.
Side Note: The Atom is my favorite DC superhero, unless they own Sinistro: Boy Fiend. Glad to see him (them) being used.
This is first time I have ever heard anyone other than I refer to Sinistro: Boy Fiend. Thank you.
Al Pratt could be the goofy sidekick. He'd be the crazy old coot who just happens to be useful often enough that they don't put him out to pasture.
If I had to position Al Pratt in a framework, I would make Ivy U the center of mad science in the DC Universe. Most scientists engaged in off-beat research have done research there. All your Red Bees and Alec Hollands have bounced ideas off one another there. And the guy they all look up to (har har) is Ray Palmer, because he's the nerd who's also the best at adventuring. He spent time in that tiny Medieval world, he's ridden around in Wonder Woman's cleavage, he's the coolest of the nerds.
So then, what is Al Pratt's purpose at Ivy U? He came there to research the body's ability to focus chi or orgone or ergono, and while all his research has proved a bust, it turns out he's a great coach for the football team, and a trainer for all the nerds who want to go adventuring. You want to get into shape? Give Al Pratt a month of your time. Be sure to stock up on the Ben Gay.
- HJF1
"If I had to position Al Pratt in a framework, I would make Ivy U the center of mad science in the DC Universe." Agreed, wholeheartedly. All the best (american) mad scientists would have gone there. "what is Al Pratt's purpose at Ivy U? " My answer to that would be simpler: he's in the Physics Department. Remember, he was a Physics student there WHILE in the JSA. Rather than be an "absent-minded professor" type, he'd be an elderly health nut for "Physical Culture", a Jack LaLane of physics.
I apologise for the self-promotion, but I mentioned Sinistro back in 2020:
https://crisisonearthprime.com/2020/10/05/mash-up-293-justice-league-of-america-vs-sinistro-boy-fiend/
I am glad to be in such esteemed company.
How Sinistro, who was a Charlton character and therefore still belongs to DC, has not yet been re-purposed as a foe of Blue Beetle is beyond me.
Adding Al Pratt to this book is sheer genius. And Al was actually a professor at Calvin College in the team-ups in the late 60s. It fits nicely.
I wonder if Al Pratt is in charge of the "Physics for Liberal Arts Majors" class, because he's the only physicist who doesn't absolutely hate doing it, since it allows him to lift and punch things to demonstrate scientific principles. No slight to his being a physicist, it just seems like it'd be up his alley.
- HJF1
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