The Atom: Volume One

You get the 3 Showcase issues, which introduce the silver age Atom, and the first half of the stories in his own magazine. Lots of Time Pool stories, in which Atom travels into the past. See the running romance with lawyer Jean Loring (who later learns his identity and marries him in 1970s issues of Justice League America not included in this volume). Gil Kane's art work is priceless, and there is plenty of sci-fi in the plots.

The "Silver Age of Comics" took a steady path through science, as the Space Age dominated the news and school curriculums. So it seems like a natural for molecular structure to wedge its way into story lines, hence, the first appearance of The Atom in Showcase #34 (1961). Ray Palmer is actually the second character to carry The Atom moniker - the first being Al Pratt, the founder of the Justice Society of America - who is a bumbling professor until he transforms himself to battle a variety of evil-doers. The Sci-Fi aspect of the stories drive the action, which cannot be casually dismissed as period pieces. Named after an actual science fiction writer, Ray (The Atom) Palmer is a fascinating superhero from an era when science ruled the world.

This 500-page black-and-white reprint tome includes three issues of Showcase and 17 issues of The Atom's own title. All the stories are by Gardner Fox, with art by Gil Kane and inks by Murphy Anderson and Sid Greene. Although it was a bit of a slog, there was something satisfying in really immersing myslf in DC's Silver Age. I was never actually emotionally engaged with any of the tales, but they were fun in a goofy, kidlike way. One thing that really impressed me was the pure craftsmanship of the form back then. There was definitely a different standard for artwork back in the early-to-mid-60s, and you could see that professional pride in Fox, Kane, and Anderson's work. And Fox was a true polymath: in the course of a couple years (1963-1965) of The Atom, he tackled the 1956 Hungarian revolution, the space race, 18th-century English history, miniature card painting, Norse mythology, and numismatics, just to name a few. You could enjoy these stories and actually learn something about the real world in the process. How quaint. Another striking thing about the stories is how much of the plots were devoted to the Atom's alter-ego Ray Palmer. Palmer is such a geek -- he really enjoys his job as a scientist and is always shown at his lab, working on some obscure experiment or another when trouble hits. He's a total "square," enjoying reading, art, classical music, and long drives in the countryside. Very much the "man in the gray flannel suit," very emblematic of DC during that period. (Don't forget this is the same era that Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, and Steve Ditko were debuting such oddball, almost countercultural heroes as Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the Hulk, and the X-Men for Marvel.) Ray's then-girlfriend-later-wife Jean Loring is also a featured character, though not via the melodramatic romance angle we're familiar with from Superman and Lois Lane. Instead, many of the stories revolve around the Atom helping "lady lawyer" Jean defend falsely accused clients from criminal charges. Jean's goal during is to make her mark as a lawyer before she acquiesces to Ray's repeated (milksop) marriage proposals! Sort of a mixed message for feminists, that. (This early look at their romance and relationship gains added interest given what later happened to Ray and Jean in the 2004 Brad Meltzer-written classic Identity Crisis.) Before reading these comics, I didn't know much about Fox other than that he was a Silver Age scribe who re-imagined moribund characters like the Flash, Hawkman, and, yes, the Atom. Researching him a little on Wikipedia, I learned that Fox was an amazingly prolific writer, churning out over 4,000 stories -- as well as over 100 novels! -- during his long career. That must be some kind of record. As for Gil Kane, I was first exposed to his work when he drew Action in the mid-80s. He was famous then as a master of human anatomy, with a very distinctive look and inking style. But looking at this early 60s stuff, he was more of an all-a

The fourth of Julie Schwartz's Silver Age revivals had the most radical change from his Golden Age counterpart. Ray Palmer could actually shrink to the size of an Atom. Many of the stories were clearly inspired by a cover image -- The Atom trapped inside a light blub, stuck to car tire, being launched from a slingshot -- but they were always entertaining. Like all the SHWOCASE volumes, this one is a great bargain, over 500 pages of stories. And, unlike most of the comics of today, these are stories with beginnings, middles and ends.

The SHOWCASE PRESENTS series is a great low-cost alternative to hunting down original high-priced issues of the comic books, especially if you are studying the media, besides being a fan reader. The only improvement DC could (and should) do would be to use a better recycled paper. Aside from that, I have no complaints and am very satisfied with this product.