Legends of Tomorrow: The Atom

The Atom (collected editons)

by Gardner Francis Fox, Roger Stern, Tom Peyer

The greatest stories from one of DC's greatest heroes, the Atom, are collected here in LEGENDS OF TOMORROW: THE ATOM!

From his debut in SHOWCASE to his membership in the mighty Justice League, Professor Ray Palmer has shown that there is no size that determines heroism! The Atom has maintained his status among the pantheon of great heroes in the DC Universe, and nowhere is his might more apparent than in these incredible stories! With tales from such creators as GARDNER FOX, GIL KANE, ROGER STERN and more, LEGENDS OF TOMORROW: THE ATOM is a great starting place to learn more about one of the star characters of the hit CW show!

LEGENDS OF TOMORROW: THE ATOM collects SHOWCASE #34, SECRET ORIGINS #29, THE ATOM SPECIAL #1, GIANT-SIZE ATOM #1 and JUSTICE LEAGUE OF AMERICA: THE ATOM - REBIRTH #1.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Dc Comics, Superheroes

168 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 2018

About the author

Gardner Francis Cooper Fox was an American writer known best for creating numerous comic book characters for DC Comics. Comic book historians estimate that he wrote more than 4,000 comics stories, including 1,500 for DC Comics.
Fox is known as the co-creator of DC Comics heroes the Flash, Hawkman, Doctor Fate and the original Sandman, and was the writer who first teamed those and other heroes as the Justice Society of America. Fox introduced the concept of the Multiverse to DC Comics in the 1961 story "Flash of Two Worlds!"

Pseudonyms: Gardner F. Fox, Jefferson Cooper, Bart Sommers, Paul Dean, Ray Gardner, Lynna Cooper, Rod Gray, Larry Dean, Robert Starr, Don Blake, Ed Blake, Warner Blake, Michael Blake, Tex Blane, Willis Blane, Ed Carlisle, Edgar Weston, Tex Slade, Eddie Duane, Simon Majors, James Kendricks, Troy Conway, Kevin Matthews, Glen Chase

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a nice collection of random Atom stories, ranging from his introduction in 1961 to a 2017 "rebirth" story. There are several versions of the origin, which seems odd. The writers include Roger Stern, Tom Peyer, Jeff Lemire, Steve Orlando, Len Wein, Marv Wolfman, and creator Gardner Fox, and the among the artists are Gil Kane, Steve Dillon, Dwayne Turner, Andy MacDonald, etc. The Atom is the only costumed superhero who was named after a pulp science fiction fan, writer, editor, and publisher. One of the stories, Nucleus, is only the concluding part of a story and doesn't have enough context to explain what's going on, but it appeared in a 2011 comic titled Giant-Size Atom #1 which amused me with the George Carlin/jumbo shrimp parallel. The most amusing thing is on page 44 in a 1993 story where one of the costumed criminal gang members is mocking one of his partners and insults him by calling him Donald Trump. It's an entertaining collection of stories...sometimes, as they say, good things come in small packages.

[Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not what I thought it was when I downloaded this-note to self remember to actually read the description going forward.

With that said, this is not a bad collection of Atom stories. In a way it's a quick, summary history of Ray Palmer's tenure as The Atom. That means it is also a review of how DC can totally screw up a character over the years (see what they've done to Hawkman as an example.).

From origin to DC's Rebirth Universe you get a pretty good idea of how Ray started and where he has ended up, with a bunch of angst to go with the middle part of this book.

Now, if you want an entertaining Atom read go get Gail Simone's Ryan CHoi series.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn't bad, but these type of collections usually stop short of great. This is a somewhat random mix of Atom stories, including his origin story which is told more than once in this one. That being said, it's still not a bad read with some nice stories and art. If you are unfamiliar with the Atom this would be a good starting point but for more familiar fans this may not break much new ground.

[Yahli Rot · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine

Love the illustrations.
The stories were a bit too 1950's for my liking.
Mediocre superhero stuff.
My problem with this comic is that I've watched Legends of Tomorrow before reading it, and the TV show version of Ray Palmer is way better. But it was a fine read nonetheless.

[Jake · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technically 3.5 because I don't need to keep hearing the same origin story over and over again. But the Atom doesn't get a lot of time in the comics, often due to not always getting the best writers. But Tom Peyer shows a character going through some PTSD and a villain trying to exploit that. Not to mention how despite those small but well thought out circumstances, it makes all the difference.

[Nicolas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a great set of Atom tales. I particularly enjoyed the more modern ones. Atom is a good utility player and it was nice to have him in the spotlight for a change. I was very intrigued by the Rebirth issue and need to figure out where to read the rest of the story.

[Keith Gerlach · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading a lot of DC and Marvel titles in between my usual book fare. Time Travel, Historical fiction, Bosch books, and a few other genres.