I'm Dropping This Atom Bomb

I really wish that I liked this title. I love the Atom. I mean love, love, love, love the Atom. The first issue did not exactly inspire much confidence, but I thought I’d be fair and give it another shot. I regret to say that I will not be picking up the 3rd issue. Here we have a book written by a talented writer and of the ‘Modern Masters’ at the drawing board, but someone this just does not work.

Now, I am willing to live with a non-Ray Palmer Atom, and Ryan seems like a pretty good character – but there are simply too many supporting characters. How many times will we have to endure these professors sitting around in all of the eccentric glory?. I also found the humour to be juvenile (fart jokes, pantless professors), and the flirty, giddy female characters to be annoying. The quotes, what can I say about the quotes? It’s not just that they are in the way and interrupt the flow of storytelling. They also seem to scream ‘Hey Reader! Comic Book Creators are Wicked Smart!’ Quotes can be an effective tool, when used sparingly and wisely – unfortunately that’s not the case here.

All of that being said, the real dealbreaker for me is the artwork. Every time I see John Byrne’s pencils these days, I want to drive to Terry Austin’s house and give him a big hug. The art is just horrendous. Byrne seems to have totally misplaced his sense of design and layout. Even the perspective he uses in some panels seems totally inappropriate. I am not even going to get into the actual quality of the pencil work, as I am afraid JB will track me down and lecture me for hours about how stupid I am.

Madam, I’m no longer buying this Atom.