Animal Man ad!

I was debating what to put up here, so much so that it put off putting up anything, therefore leading to the breadown of many a person, and now here I am. I've been posting non-Atom related stuff on Monday's, but I thought that maybe I should go with The Atom due to this being the eve of the New Year.
But this ad kept popping in my mind. And it's all I could do not to throw another piece of Red Tornado goodness (for Frank) into the mix. Besides, we're starting off the New Year with a beauty, I decided to end it with one of my favorite ads, for one of DC's more deserving and underused.

Grant Morrison's Animal Man! Yeah boy!

Be sure to check back in tomorrow when the T3 (the tiny titan, I'm really pushing that one) teams up with another blog born of heroism in an attempt that might just save the world!

All New Atom #18

Thumbs up to Ladronn's cover here It's kind of eerie, and made me instantly want to start reading the thing. Like on the drive home.
I figured I'd get into #18 (although I figured it would be sooner) as #19 is due out on the 2nd. I also figured I'd wait and throw in some "spoilers" too, because that's the kind of guy I am.

It's good time central in this issue, and it's going to be sad to see the team of Simone and Norton leave. But we'll cross that bridge when it appears... which is very soon.

It's a normal, average day in Ivy Town. That of course means that some baddie has brainwashed the entire town into thinking that The Atom must be destroyed.
Unfortunately for them, Ryan Choi don't go down so easily.
Also unfortunate, Diana Prince is in town investigating the "strange" going's ons.

The team up is really a blast to read. Simone writes them together wonderfully, and it's a rare kind of fun these days, to get such enjoyment out of a comic.
That's just some good old fashioned fun right there.
Norton's work has gotten better with each issue and is top notch here. With him and Gail at the top of their games, this comic is something that should be getting people's attention.

Notable moments are too many to list, but when Ryan's brainwashed best friend deactivates his belt and carries him out to the front lawn where the rest of the town waits for him to be burnt alive... in a Ted Grant grill (which Choi loves, apparently), it's just good stuff.

Last page

Give the pictures a click for better viewing!
And as you may or may not know, that whole search thing going on has ended, and Ray has been found. Certainly interested to see where that'll go.

Hembeck back cover: The Comic Reader

I posted the first of the Hembeck's here.

That one up there? Oh yeah. That's right. Second.

This is the back cover of The Comic Reader #197 from 1981, done by Fred Hembeck and I believe Bill Anderson.

Look at them all! Palling around, hanging about. Legends and heroes meeting up!

What we like to see here is of course the Atom's. There's Al leaning down to shake Ray's hand. Ray of course has led to many back problems throughout the hero world. He's amongst friends here, just mingle at your normal height.

Maybe it's costume only.

Or perhaps he's wary that he and Pratt may go at it again.

Even with the two Atom's on here, my attention always goes to whatever tom foolery is about to unfold around Dr. Fate. It's obvious Supes is just talking him up so that Martian Manhunter can pants him. Then when he curses and reaches down to pull his trousers up, the helmet comes off and it's the old "Helmet of Nabu keep away" game that they love to play at these things.
You can totally see that Hawkman doesn't know what the hell they're doing, but he wants in on the good stuff.

Every now and then they'll give Fate the ol "all right, we were just joking" and hand the helmet back to him, only for him to try and put it on with great difficulty, thanks to a Ray Palmer infestation.

That's what I got from the cover anyway...

Click that sucker for the big picture.

I'm sticking this in that new Hawkman file too, so there!

Debut of the Atom ad Part 2

Here I posted the first debut ad and great galaxies here is the second!

I received this compliments of Rob Kelly of the aquaman shrine and various other top-o-the-line blog action, who found it, along with many other beauties, in old JLA issues.

So there's heaps more to come! You're excited.

I'm still loving the "Big, big, small, small" thing.

Beautiful ad. People should have picked this thing up and read it and stuff. At newsstands no less!

Schnapp!

As I was firmly entrenched in Atom fandom whilst being a child, naturally, Hawkman had a place in my heart as well. So naturally, I've got gobs of Hawkman stuff. So please check out the Hawkman poll I've got going on over there and throw in your 2 cents.

VS Card: Ray Palmer * The Atom

I'll be honest here, aside from holding this card and staring at it, I've not a clue what it's for.

Bicycle spokes?

It's informative though. It says Ray Palmer, then goes on to tell you his superhero identity, which is The Atom, so that's cool. And then you get sleek, scrutinizing art form version of him on the card, so that's great.

I'm not sure about the stats and stuff at the bottom, but it does say "Return Ray Palmer to his owner's hand ->" And of course in the version of him above, he's in the palm of someone's hand. Now, it could just mean, due to some event in this card game, to give the card back to the person who previously had it

Or...

Perhaps this is some kind of future enslaved and/or domesticated pet Ray Palmer. A kidnapping conspiracy?!
This is a wild game.

The artwork was done by Phil Noto, whom is responsible for some severely sweet covers. For those not familiar, I recommend you go to his website, Phil Noto Art and spend some time there. So go have yourself a look at some of the seriously cool stuff he's got up in that mother. There's something for all of us!

As for the card, maybe some day myself and the rest of the B-list loonies will get together and throw down in some VS System DC action. Keep your eyes and ears out for that.

You're excited.

Green Lantern #24

Christmas time (the gift giving and receiving portion anyway) has become all about the little kiddies in my family. Between myself and all my siblings, we've got 5 youngins running around, so near midday you've got dozens upon dozens of toys honking, hopping, blasting, blaring, and vrooming around whatever place we've chosen to act as the holiday house romper room that year. So the adults decided not to exchange gifts, just concentrate on the lads (I actually said I still wanted to get stuff but I was overruled). Still, someone will slip a gift in here and there, big and small, and sometimes it's the smallest ones, that "just had to be gotten," that are the best.

I found this copy of Green Lantern #24 in my stocking at my parents house. I saw it immediately, pulled it out and with a smile on my face thought "what the hell?"
Turns out my father got it for me and put it in there.
Now, my father isn't completely unaware of comics. He knows I like them, and tells a fine yarn about how my mother threw away his #1 Conan, and then proceeds to ill-inform whoever is receiving this story about how many thousands of dollars it would be worth today. He knows the big names, and when I pulled this issue out of the stocking I got to hear about how his Green Lantern comics cost 12 cents.

He also knows I like me some Atom.

So he tells me that he was in the store (not sure which because it didn't matter, but you can, after all, buy GL comics in places like Supermarkets) saw this, looked at the cover and saw Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman... and the Atom.
He knew I liked The Atom, so he wanted to get it.

The Atom is on here?

I did my "Atom honing search" which failed me upon first pickup, and sure enough...

there he is by Superman's feet! Way to go dad, nice catch!

Now it turns out that The Atom isn't actually in any of the comic, which was fun (although it's a Part 8, and I've not read any of the previous) pitting the Sinestro Corps against the GLerns, and Hal and Kyle busting out of Parallax. There is a frame of the JSA in a heated battle, and you can plainly see Damage, son of Al Pratt, also featuring some Ray Palmer DNA in him...

so he's in there!

Either way, I loved it. Loved that my pops scanned a busy as all hell cover for the world's smallest superhero, found him in a less than obvious state, and that's all he needed.

I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas, the appropriate dose of holiday fun, and caught A Christmas Story on TBS more than once!

DC 100 SUPER SPECTACULAR PAGES: The Man Who Murdered Santa Claus!

Don't give me that.

Fine. This cover doesn't exactly induce warm fuzzy feelings and a sense of joy. But maybe that's because you haven't read it...

For if you had, you'd know that this thing is all over the frickin place, and is in fact a bondafide Christmas miracle. And look at that cast of characters on the front there! And plenty are missing!

Bats and Supes meet with a costumed Claus for charity. A splosion goes off, our heroes save the kids, faux Claus goes down like a sack of toys.
They find a key and a letter beside his body.
The message: find the door this key opens or a city block will be destroyed.

That's the spirit!

All sorts of fools get involved in this one, except for The Atom, Flash, Elongated Man, and Aquaman who would prefer to "do their own thing."

This is the type of issue where the JLA seems like an incompetent bunch. Aside from the Phantom Stranger that is, who saves the day.

The Christmas miracle? Red Tornado learns the true meaning of Christmas, and nabs himself a brand spanking new suit! He hasn't taken it off since.

Way to go Reddy!

So it's not the fun and sweet DC Christmas message I was going to put up originally (not that I had many options), but for various reasons it's what I decided on. Besides, Ray's mom was Jewish and I'm a Christmas boy. So we met halfway.

And put up a cover featuring a sploded Santa Claus? Whatever!

Happy Holidays to all that have been stopping by and dropping off comments, emails, and just reading!
To those who haven't been, enjoy your Ant-Man blogs you dirty rat bastards!

I seriously do appreciate it though, and maybe DC will pick things up in the Atom merchandise department so I can make it to next Christmas!

Super Powers: Mister Miracle

In keeping with the giving to non-Atom related DC B-lister favorites of mine, behold the Mister Miracle Super Powers figure!
He's one of the finest members of a line that also provided me with Hawkman, Red Tornado, and Dr. Fate.
Now I'm not going to use this opportunity to complain about the lack of love for various other CHARACTER. I've already threw my 2 cents in about creating characters for a toy line instead using the ones they already had. It all makes sense. You want to bring in some new blood with that third wave.

Samurai? Really?

Get those New Gods in, absolutely.

Desaad? Stop it.

Ah well. I just want Ray to be part of the fun.

But this isn't about Ray! Noooo sir! This is about Scott and his sweet Super Powers figure! So there it is!
I got him a while back and for various reasons he never escaped from his package. He's certainly not going to now. And although my jacket/shirt pocket is usually reserved for a Ray Ray figure, I'm on the lookout for loose Scott with cape and perhaps shackles to accompany me once in a while. Constant vigilance!

Countdown Special: The Atom #2

Written by Gerry Conway
Art by Arvell Jones

Again, super job here with the cover by Ryan Sook, although Hawkman and his stubbled nipples play NO part in this book (click picture for enlarged stubble). Captain Comet on the other hand, plays an huge part. Don't know what's going on there. Guess the Hawk-man sells...

From Super-Team Family issues #13 & 14, we starts off in the JLA Satellite where a collapsing Ray Palmer stumbles in mumbling (stumbling and mumbling apparently) something to Captain Comet (who had just dropped off a beaten Wally West) about Jean.
Then disaster strikes as cataclysmic events begin to occur all around the world! Comet heads out for Korea while an exhausted Atom (what a hero!) heads to Naples. Meanwhile, Aquaman defends New York in a neat little sequence where he instructs dozens of octopi to pick refuse off of the ocean floor to halt giant tidal waves. So quit whining about pollution damnit!
But who is behind such madness?
Who has the power to cause such atrocities?

Your first guess is probably the right one:

THE WIND PIRATES!

No, seriously.

Well, it turns out that Jean has gone so bye bye that there's some form of berserk power in her mind that's about to go kablooey and the Wind Pirates are accidentally tapping into it. It's all very complicated and very Wind Piratey.
In case you're not familiar with the Wind Pirates, first: shame yourself.
Now that you're shamed, the head wind pirate... the captain, used to be a scientist for the Navy, yasee. But all he wanted to be was a sailor, yasee. But he was too important, so they never let him see any action. So somewhere along the line he got himself a pirate costume, mates (the sea types), and gobs of serious butt kickin technology. Yet amidst all these space-bound pirate ships and laser firing cannons, he attempts to do Cap'n Comet in with a sword. Just a sword. Crazy guy, I'll never understand him.
While all that's going on, all Ray is doing is bopping around Jean's FREAKIN HEAD. For real.
The first part ends, and while I won't blow (yes!) the wind pirate vs. Aquaman & Cap'n Comet climax, Ray finds out that Jean must remain unconscious to remain powerless. He yells.

In part 2, Ray enlists the help of Wonder Woman who brings him to her testerone-less island and completely ignores his "luckiest man alive" status to continue to help nutter Loring, who incidentally has since been kidnapped by Gorilla Grodd, Star Sapphire, and The Floronic Man. Yikes.
Worlds are threatened, heroes are captured, punches are thrown and walls are smashed. But who will win the day? I'm not telling.

Overall, the Atom special is a good deal. You get a well played story line with a nice mix of interesting and familiar characters, and you can get it with these for a decent price. If you can get the original STF issues, great, go for it. Otherwise, get your wind pirate on with these.

Oh, and with all that went on in these 2 meaty books, this is perhaps the finest moment, right after The Atom clocks evil Sapphire in the head:Oh, that Ray...

First Appearance - DC Direct: Ryan Choi

No Adam Cray?

This is the toy world we live in now. It took Ray Palmer decades upon decades to get his own action figure. Think of all those kids in all those countries from all those years gone by who have longed for an Atom to call their very own. To rest upon the shoulder of some name brand hero, only to find Golden Pharaoh and Cyclotron (I'll never stop complaining).
And here we are today. Ryan Choi gets a cup of coffee as The Atom and no time is wasted in creating his very own action figure!
Series 4 was released in April (maybe) of 2007, and it featured the Atom, fancy hair and shoulder pad Aquaman, sharp and pointy monster Blue Beetle, Warlord (sure), and extremely miffed J'onn J'onzz.
Mine has yet to leave his box, but here he is ready for action: Pretty nice figure from DC Direct (would I ever complain about ANY Atom figure?), although there's little sign of the goofball Choi actually is. It'd be nice to get one with his now famous (famous?) "bangstick" that he flies around with. Soon, soon.

The more the merrier. How about Al Pratt?

DC on TV Ad!

On September 9, 1967 tv viewers were treated to the premiere of The Superman - Aquaman Hour of Adventure! It was a 60 minute program broken into 6 minute adventures featuring the heroes of DC. As you may have guessed by either the name of the show or this ad here, Superman and Aquaman were the big draws.

But we're here for the guest stars, aren't we?
The Atom and Hawkman (as their heads can be seen betwixt sweet art and words) were rotating regulars on the show as were The Flash and Teen Titans, and my favorite part of the whole thing is the beautiful cels it has provided. I've posted one so far, which can be seen here.

You've probably got some questions you'd like to ask. Check out the FAQ first:

FAQ
Q:Why is the Atom the only one who's head isn't basically facing front?
A: Good question. Part of the contract involving The Atom and Hawkman was that when they appeared on a page/screen together, one of them had to be on-the-border-of-lovingly staring at the other. I believe this to be an attempt to cash in on the success of the Batman/Robin relationship.

Q: Who is the most badass mother on that ad?
A: Well, that's simple. It's quite obvious the one not to trifle with is Storm, Aquaman's sea horse! Storm the time bomb can be spotted often sporting that look. Just back off a bit. For another example, visit Rob Kelly's aquaman shrine.
Tick, tick, tick...

Incidentally, Storm and Imp (Aqualad's ride) are by far my two favorites things on the ad!

No more questions.

I'll ignore the photos on the bottom of the ad for now. Click to get an all up in yo grill version.

Atom transfer

I got myself a DC Superheroes iron-on transfer book from Leisure Arts after being blown away (really) by the information that The Atom was featured in it. This, as you may have guessed, is one of them.
It's pretty cool actually.

Well, it's a pretty big book. Shockingly, the majority of it is divided up between the animated series Batman, and mucho hair Superman. Then it trickles on down to Robin and Wonder Woman having a chunk, Kyle Rainer and the Flash with a few cameos, and then Shazam gets a few bones thrown his way.

Then you get those other guys. Aquaman (who has a color one!), Hawkman, and The Atom. Obviously The Atom having one in there was enough for purchase, so Hawkman was a sweet added bonus. I did and do think it's pretty cool that Ray was added into this book, especially since he wasn't exactly in demand when this thing was put out in 96. I'm still waiting on an Atom Hallmark ornament.

There's 3 total, and I'll put the other 2 up at unannounced times so those of you standing by holding your breath will be forced to check back, in hopes that you'll catch a glimpse of an epic Atom iron-on transfer. Maybe when they've all gone up I'll do a step by step video about the proper way of applying transfers to cheap, plain black and grey sweaters. Then I'll invite everyone over and you can take turns kicking me in my ribs.
I'll be sharing the Hawkman ones as well as soon as I figure out exactly how I wish to approach the whole manHawk situation on the titan.

You're excited. Denial is silly.

Hembeck Atom

Rob Kelly of the aquaman shrine and other superior blogging provided me with some Hembeck strips of The Atom, and it's up to me now to spread the joy. By God I accept!

So there's a slice of fried gold. This one is from JLA #166 (may 1979), and Ray is on top of his game here.

Fred, if you're reading this, your Atom strips are so much fun... that you get a complete pass for making fun of the tiny titan. Yanno, things like him being accidentally stepped on by villains and such.

More to come!

Countdown Special: The Atom #1

Written by Gerry Conway
Art by Alan Lee Weiss, Arvell M. Jones and others

Nice cover by Ryan Sook here, if not slightly misleading to anyone not familiar with the story.
Taken from Super-Team Family (1977) issues #11 & 12, Jean Loring is bonkers! She's well on her way, anyhow...
We start off with The Atom and Flash battling a group of baddies known as the Wind Pirates (legendary) in Ivy Town. Supergirl shows up providing some unnecessary help, and the 3 win the day.
They clean themselves up and march off to Ivy University to attend the Women's Career Symposioum where Supergirl, Jean, and Iris Allen will parade around as the cream of the crop.
Aside from Barry pissing Ray off with some cocky remarks, the event seems to be a success.

Oh, that is until the girls are reduced to 3 piles of individual ashes right there in front of the entire auditorium!
With some sweet investigating (such as The Atom shrinking down and exploring Jean's pile!) our two heroes find themselves face to face with...

T.O. MORROW, THE MAN WITH THE COMPUTER MIND!'

And he's all suped up.

Things go from bad to worse to better to Jean flipping a crazy switch and beaming herself to another dimension.
That brings us to part 2 of this issue where Ray teams up with Hawkman and Hal Lantern in an enjoyable romp.
With the group forced to split up, Atom and Hawkman battle the baddies of Auria, eventually finding themselves imprisoned with some old hag.
Lantern travels the hyperspace highway back and forth, searching for Jean, and stumbling upon some unearthly medieval war in which he lands himself in an arena-based sword fight against a tyrant named Brewtus.

Good times.

I picked this up (as I will #2) because uh... it says The Atom. I do enjoy this storyline and for people who have not read these issues before, and could never get their hands on them, this is a pretty damn good thing. At $4.99 it's certainly a lot cheaper than shucking out the money for decent copies of those Super-Team Family issues.

The Red Tornado Shrine: Minimates!

Hey everyone, and welcome to the Red Tornado shrine!

What ever do you mean, "what the hell am I talking about?"

All right fine. This isn't the Red Tornado shrine, but as the world's finest champion (welcome challengers) of those heroes behind the heroes whom the guy on the street knows, it's time to break these things out.
Once a week (or something like that) I'll bust out with some non-Atom related merchandise, just to keep things out of control. Because that's how we roll here. So prepare yourselves for random Red Tornado, Mister Miracle, and whoever else I have gobs of stuff for sightings!

Unless everyone hates it, in which case you may file a grievance with the provided electronic mail address.

There's a fair share of John Smith figures out there, but I've chosen to start with the minimate. Why have I chosen the minimate?

I've had the same discussion several times since their inception, and it always leads back to the same question: How did they not make a "minimate" for the world's smallest superhero? It's just dumb. Hey, I love the RT mini, but does he and Ma Hunkel really make more sense then a Ray Palmer and Al Pratt pack? Sure, Ma Hunkel figures are fun. It's funny to make a Ma Hunkel figure.

In case you've just tuned in, DC direct put out minimates for everyone and their Ma Hunkel, cept for The Atoms.
This is my grievance, and it's been filed.

Aside from the whining, these little guys are pretty cool, although nowhere near as awesome as the Pocket Heroes which I'll dive into one of these days.

John Smith! Put it in the books!

DC Super Heroes Super Healthy Cookbook

First I think it's important to inform the readers that I scanned all pictures on a small ship with a drunken captain during rough seas, so my apologies for the wobbly pictures. But what can I do? I must scan where I must scan.

The usual suspects may be on the cover, but this baby is all about the Atom.

I love this book. I love that Ray was included in the thing, and they had some fun with him. The book is actually a nice way to show kids how to make food preparation fun, but as is the case with any cookbook, it becomes outdated to society.
After all, there's no organic recipes in here...

Oh, and if anyone wants any of the recipes, you be sure to go ahead and gimme a holler, I'll send em right over.

The Atom's first appearance in the book is super important! He teaches kids to look at the ingredients and that the first one is the most important. Way to go Ray!



Next up we have The Atom's Super Hero Sandwich. You can't tell by the picture or my superior scanning skills, but the sandwich is huge, and took up 3 pages. This is funny, because The Atom is small. So just look at the funny thing he says!




When you're all through and you double check to see that you don't require medical attention due to the severe splitting of sides, we'll move on...



This one here is called The Atom's Knockout Punch. It's great for gatherings, or if you're just sitting there at home alone reading about the Trials of Shazam, very lonely. This makes an instant party!

Ray's last appearance is supremely important. He teaches you how to get the right fruit juice and damnit... it's still the way to go!

Nice job by Ray here!

So overall, a swell time. The last page in the book is everyone putting the finishing touches on an apparently birthday party for the JLA.
It's strange that The Atom would get his money's worth in this thing, but Aquaman only shows up for the party. I hope Arthur didn't refuse to make anything...
With all the Atom inclusion going on, my favorite part of the book is probably "Hawkman's Egg Bird's" Obviously published before Hawkman became an eco-terrorist, here he (along with Hawkgirl) teaches you how to make an egg sandwich and fix it into the shape of his mask.

I heard a rumor that there was a recipe for "Aquaman's Dolphin n' seaweed salad," but they omitted for time purposes.

JLA Classified #48

Part 2 of the this tiny JLA Classified epic starts off where the previous issue leaves off (thanks!). Our heroes are dumped into an arena... weaponless!
Their foes?
Evil weaponers of Qward! And the weapons they're using are the ones that have been stripped from the JLA!
Oh baby! So what you get is each hero pitted against their own weapon.
Okay, got it?
The match is all too brief but quite fun. It's good stuff watching each member's knowledge, experience, and mastery go into effect as they use it to thwart those wielding what don't belong to them.

I love this here, and it's the first page!
Ray Ray, having had his suit removed from him whilst smallish, is obviously unable to get big. But he does good, Ray Ray does!

A touching moment came for me when at one point our GL attempts to restrain a super rowdy and out of control WW, only to be Princess punched in the face. At that point, Hawkman swoops in and bashes WW in the face, knocking some temporary sense in to her.

I love moments like that.

And by "moments like that," I mean ones where Hawkman is bashing people in the face.

Meet Chronos: Atom ad

Here, for the first time (I think) the average public could catch a glimpse of what would become the most villainously terrifying piece or moment in the entire history of comics as we know it.






Chronos's pants.

That's right kids, you don't see beautiful ads like this anymore. I love the whole setup of Chronos on there (even if one would guess that he must be blind) and the Atom held at gun point on a watch is just great stuff. It speaks for itself.
Ira Schnapp in the house.

It's only a matter of time before someone unleashes an Atom/Chronos two pack action figure bonanza on the world.

Of course I'm still waiting on a Power of the Atom playset with saddle wearing battle frog...

JLA Classified #47

W: Barr|P: Green|I: Owens - Cover by Julian Lopez & Bit


Look no further, Ray Palmer is here... for the time being. Palmer and company attempt to retrieve some weapons that were stolen from the JLA Trophy Room (!) and have to go to Qward to get them!
This is the first part of 2 from that wacky JLA Classified. This issue is admittedly a lot of fun and Green's work is impressive (although The Atom does look kind of like a wood elf). It's nice to see the old gang hanging around toughing things out, and some of the banter between the team is great.


There's some of the craziness. Click on that mother to see a larger version of wood elf and friends.

Atomo trading card (a.k.a. The lil Captain)

Argentinian Wally Wood Atom card?
I know very little about this thing. Actually I know nothing about it. Okay, I know that it's The Atom, and it's a trading card. Or a coaster for tiny people (the Atom's family?).
From Argentina?
My detective skills tell me that the "86" on said piece means that there are 85 other cards (I actually have Hawkman as well), and my gut tells me that the other 83 aren't of the Atom, so it's more than likely indicative of how far down on the food chain he was at the time. Although there's a good chance there's about 30 Superman, 20 Batman, and so on...
I'm of course just happy they made one! Whoever they are!

While I of course love the little s.o.b. and the mystery that surrounds this card, the exchange that took place whilst trying to purchase it is what will last with me forever.

The events and dialogue portrayed here are real are far as memory serves me.

I approached a dealer table and saw "Atomo." I knew at once it had to be mine. (the dealer in this story had an accent, so feel free to include one of your choosing while reading. I like to give him one similar to Jon Voight's from Anaconda.)

Me: Ooh! How much for this Atom card?
Dealer with accent: Hmm?
Me: The Atom card here, what do you want for it?
DWA: Ah, Captain Atom card is (insert dollar amount, I don't remember. Don't be stingy).
Me: Alright. What's this from anyway?
DWA: Part of a set. I've got Supergirl, Green Arrow, Captain Atom...
Me: (mumbling) Well, it's just Atom.
DWA: Hmm?
Me: It's just Atom. The character is The Atom.
DWA: Yes, Captain Atom. DC Comics.
Me: That's true, Captain Atom is from DC Comics. As is The Atom, a completely different character, and portrayed here on this card.
DWA: Same hero though.
Me: I know so very little in this world, but I do know who is on this card, and it's The Atom.
DWA: (blank stare)
Me: Ray Palmer.
DWA: (blank stare)
Me: Captain Atom is some silver dude with a red emblem on his chest. Trust me.
DWA: (shrugs with blank stare)
Me: I know it's not in English, but where does it say "Captain" on this card?
DWA: Hey, whatever you say man. You want it?
Me: I do but you should know that it is widely known that Atom merchandise is generally much cheaper than Captain Atom due to demand. So how much?
DWA: (laughs) Same price.
Me: Ah well. Got any other Captain Atom stuff?


So I never did find out the deal with this thing as I didn't want to further test his vast knowledge of DC Comics.
Nevertheless, Atomo lives with me now where he's recognized for his true self.

It's the feel good story of the year.

DC Super Heroes from Hasbro

These, as far as I know, were originally intended to be part of that heinous Total Justice action figure line Kenner was hucking out. But here, Hasbro is the guilty party. You got yourself a Blue Beetle figure there on the left, and a something resembling The Flash on the right. That's about... wait, what's that? Right there in the middle.

Why it's The Atom! (I swear it is)That's right, in the year of 1999 if you fancied picking yourself up a Blue Beetle/Flash double pack, Hasbro threw you an Atom bone! A Ray Palmer figure of your very own to lose around the house and see who can step on it first.
And sorry, even with my advanced skills in photography (?), that photo is the best I can do.
Does it matter?
Nah, not so much.
It's just a fairly simple, wee figure with The Atom stuck in a pose of him apparently waving to the first tier characters that got their own, non-bonus action figures. And Blue Beetle.
As you can see (or not) he's wearing his Teen Titans vest, which is clutch, because I doubt there's going to be a rush to make vest-wearing Ray Palmer Teen Titan retro action figures any time soon. Unless they de-age him again and he once again decides to head said Titans. Of course, somebody would have to find him first.

All complaining aside (although I wasn't complaining, yanno) it's a cool addition to the Titan collection. The box these guys come in is cooler then the Total Justice figure setup, and again, any Atom action figure is more than welcome.

Power of the Atom ad poster

There is no proof this thing exists on the internet (until now!) so this photo is the best you're going to get. You have my apologies.
This poster was sent to retail stores (preferably ones with comics) so it's always a treat when these guys hang on to stuff like this and I can track em down. Super happy fun when it's in great condition as it was never put up.
Of course the problem with that is... it was never put up. Power of the Atom didn't exactly have an epic run there, yanno. I blame all comic book stores that didn't put up this poster. Bastards.
As you can see, DC had done it again, and it was currently the Atom's turn.
With all the revamping and resurrecting success DC was having, it was Ray Palmer's turn (I already said that sort of), with Roger Stern and Dwayne Turner putting it all together. His costume got a lil tweaking, most significantly losing the dome portion of his mask. It would wisely return to his head later on as Dr. Palmer found that fighting crime and keeping the perfect waviness in his hair was nearly impossible at that time due to inferior hair care products.
I made that up. But feel free to use it if you're writing a new hero and are looking for a severe weakness. Just give me credit.

The Search for Ray Palmer: The T-shirt!

Well, look at that. A t-shirt that I don't need to carry around my own magnifying glass for people to see Ray with. Great strides.
This is a fairly recent item, obviously, but I embrace all apparel featuring Atom the same way: open arms.
As you can see, Ray is quite miffed that he's been found on this shirt. Yet, it doesn't stop me from saying "peek-a-boo, there you are" right before I put it on.
Actually, I don't do that.
Or do I?
My family and those in direct contact with me had better hope not, huh?

If you're tired of searching for Ray Palmer and wish to acquire said shirt, here's a good place for it Graphitti Designs. And if you send us (us?) a photo of yourself (or other people?) wearing apparel with Ray Palmer included, we've (who?) got no reservations about putting that type of filth up on this site. Just think, years from now some alien archaeological team will uncover this site and find you, forever embedded in history, donning Ray Palmer gear. And that's good.
And at least someone will be reading this.

DC Direct's JSA Atom action figure

Al Pratt was promised and Al Pratt was delivered!.

These are actually some very cool figures from DC Direct as they did all Atom's serious justice in the action figure world. It's a shame there isn't more Al Pratt stuff out there (or any Atom stuff for that matter), and I 100% think his Golden Age costume would have made a fine boxed plastic apron Halloween outfit.
You get both versions of him here, and it gives you a chance to see in hand held detail why his first costume is a creation for all time.
His second version of the costume is more towards the "superhero" get-up than the skinfest he was originally running around in.

Pick these up for your yourself, your child, or a fellow hobbyist, and spread the joy of fist solving justice.

Making the world a better place: With Benton enjoying the first costume's mask, and my brilliant idea of combining Al Pratt's costumes into one beast, I got all crazy. Because I know some people just can't picture that first mask on that second costume. Just can't do it. "There's no way it could work!" some would yell.
So I expertly (quality speaks for itself) cut Al Pratt 1's head off and professionally (almost looks human) pasted it on to Al Pratt 2, to show the world that it can AND will work. It already has...Nuklon? Damage? Anyone...

Debut of The Atom ad!

It's the exciting debut of DC's newest costumed hero, The Atom!
I do love me some old time ads and this one, for some reason, is my fave.

Perhaps because it's super informative AND educational! And I like the whole Big News about a Small Super-hero thing they've got going on at the top.

For a mere 10 cents you could see the tiny titan in costumed action for the first time! If that, the glorious cover featuring Ray stuffing poor schmuck Kulan Dar into a bottle, and reading about a hero with the explosive power of an atom bomb in his fists isn't enough, I don't know what is.
Click on that mother for the bigger version.

Making the world a better place:
Due to Rob Kelly's excitement over this here ad, it's only right that I mention the man who put this, and so many other beauties together: Ira Schnapp!
Go here, Dial B For Blog For a fantastic piece on Ira Schnapp complete with glorious pictures and wonderful words.

And to think I had the balls to post this ad without mentioning him...

Comic book foldees 1966: Atom

Man I love these things. See, you fold them to make funny pictures. There's tell that they were often the life of the party in the mid to late 60's, and many attribute these beauties to all the happiness that was going on back then. I can see why! It's also up there amongst my favorite eyeless Atom merchandise.
As you can see, the cards also feature the faces of DC's finest, and they all seem to be moderately amused by this out of control foldee! Except for Aquaman. Looks like he sees trouble. And Carter, the only member not facing front, can of course not keep his eyes off Ray for a second.

And here's the back of the card...

Seriously, how many trading cards featuring Mahatma Gandhi are out there?

Probably not many I say.

Norm Breyfogle sketch

Simple yet stoically awesome. It would seem that my favorite sketches are the simpler ones, and this, my most recent one, is no exception.

I waltzed up to Norm at the last NY comic con and asked if he'd do a basic Atom sketch for me. He looked up and his eyes and "The Atom?" told me he thought maybe I was thinking of a different character.
I replied with "oh yeah, a lil Ray Palmer. I'm that guy." (whatever the hell "that" guy means.

He proceeded to put a dot on a piece of paper, pushed it forward, and gleefully exclaimed "There you are! One Atom!"
I enjoyed that for so many reasons, and he was surprisingly the first one to do it.

He didn't let me keep the dot though.

But he cranked this out right in front of me while he and my friend Ed talked Batman, and before I knew it he handed over to me a serious looking ass kicker of a Ray Palmer.

I spent the rest of the con telling all those who asked, that it was Norm's interpretation of me in the Atom suit.
Incidentally, most bought it and now I'm kind of liking the idea of getting people to do sketches of me in the Atom suit.

Hopefully I'll get over myself before the next con or else be met with blank stares and embarrassment.

Justice League Unlimited Atom 10"

More stuff from that animated show. Ah well.

So it took something along the lines of 40+ years for someone to release an Atom action figure. I understand he could never hang very long with the A listers, but I get a lot of "his size didn't translate well to toys."

Well, thanks to the new sizemogrifying ray machine which is now standard in all toy factories, we can get Atom's of all sizes. Medium to teensy ones such as I posted a week or so ago...

and giant ones, such as the one I have pictured here.

I'm not complaining, I'm really not. Well, he still has no eyes, and I was never crazy about that, but they didn't make 10"chers of many from the show, so it's great that Ray is one of them (he in fact was super sized twice, but I'll save part 2 for another time) but I'm just wondering where it came from.

He of course, as is standard with Atom action figures now, comes with his own mini-Atom, which rocks socks directly off feet.

The blue boxed ones don't appear to come cheap these days, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't all be purchasing them online to give to needy children. Like your own.

Some day someone will put a plush Atom out there...

Perhaps if I was based in reality I would have realized that today is the 4th, and not the 5th. Therefore, you must wait another day for your All New Atom issue. You have my apologies.

All New Atom #17

Ladronn has put together better covers than this one, such as the issue coming up. In fact, I don't even really know what the hell is going on with this cover.

Anyway, Gail Simone returns in this issue, and she slaps together a tale of romance. Ryan gives his lady friend another shot, even after she turned into Giganta and wreaked havoc whilst being controlled by a cancer God on their first date.
What a guy.

Agent Diana Prince shows up to investigate the goings on with Ryan's gigantic love, and stuff gets pretty ugly.
For those of you not as familiar with the second tier characters of the DC world, Diana Prince is also known as Wonder Woman, a hero that occasionally pops up here and there.

She also gets clocked in the head by Choi, which was a growing up moment for our new hero.

I'll admit that there's not much going on in this issue, and that it feels like it's setting us up for something bigger and more involved (please!). So there you go: it's a nice lead into All New Atom #18, which goes on sale tomorrow/today, December 5th. And as you can see by the cover, it's going to be hot! Whooo!

On the plus side, visuals from Norton and Scott in this one are great, and I they're seriously something to look forward to with each issue.

The All New Atom #16

Upon seeing this cover for the first time in preview, I blurted out "ah what the hell?"
Upon taking it off the rack for purchase I blurted out "eh, what the hell."

Now I can't stop looking at it. I firmly believe that I've been hypnotized by Ladronn's cover here. Hopefully I wasn't the only one.

On to the friggin issue! Roger Stern guest writing, with Mike Norton continuing to make people move on pages.
As you may have guessed from the cover, regardless of who is writing, the oddities continue. Now I've heard some complaint from people about this one, mostly "I just didn't like it." I guess it's not deep and brooding enough.
For me, #16 takes me back to the time of goofy villains and issues of comics where complete and utter disaster threatens, begins to occur, and is thwarted all within that comic.

Having been defeated long ago by the Justice League, Xotar looks to exact his revenge! He starts out in Ivy Town with the ol "transform entire town into hippies with the use of music and psychedelic methods." Of course he doesn't plan on the quantum fields and such (sure) of Ryan Choi's belt (whom Xotar believes to be Ray Palmer). It is said fields and such (yup) that keep the new Atom from transforming into hippie-dom, allowing him to figure out what's happening, and attempt to stop this gargantuan headed baddie.

Meanwhile, the character of Dean Mayland gets all the more mysterious, and head yells a bit.

Stern puts together a fun one here, and as I said, it brought me back. For that I appreciate it once in a while.
Simone returns with the next issue bringing Wonder Woman along with her. That's right, big names are showing up in The All New Atom!

You're excited.

The All New Atom #15

Simple yet thoroughly effective cover here by Ladronn showing us Choi in the palm of a giant hand.
But who's hand is it?
Why it's the evil Dean Mayland's! Kyle Lantern shows up to whisk Ryan, Donna Troy and co. away to continue the Ray Palmer search when a giant hand reaches down from the sky and plucks The Atom from all that original Atom business, so he can get back to defending Ivy Town.

And Ivy Town needs help. This is some serious geek fest going on here. The town finds itself being trampled under the feet of two giant, reptile-like monsters straight out of a Toho classic. Not too worry though. Not only does Ivy Town have a serviceable replacement hero in Ryan Choi, but he's also an avid fan of... giant reptile-like monster movies!

Meanwhile, Dwarfstar is back and has returned to his normal size since being shrunk to nearly nothing by The Atom. Oh, and he's somewhat peeved.

The team of Simone and Norton are really starting to put together a serious winner here. Choi has a very goofy charm about him, and while his greatest gift is intelligence, he uses that (and the whole shrinking, mass thing) to translate into some serious brawling. Ivy Town itself is becoming it's own character. A severely strange and unnerving character, but one I can't get enough of.