Convergence: The Atom #1 (2015) Review

Bizarre...Just Bizarre

Written By: Tom Peyer
Art By: Steve Yeowell, Andy Owens, Hi-Fi
Cover Price: $3.99
Release Date: April 8, 2015

*Non Spoilers and Score At The Bottom*

For all the titles that we're getting during this Convergence Event, The Atom seems like the most odd to me.  I guess DC is testing the waters for the good Doctor Palmer because he's been popping up all over the place lately and even overcame Brainiac in Futures End........... which actually led to this Event........ So yeah, that's kind of funny.  No matter how I feel about this character or how exciting a book about him might be, here we are........ So let's get into Convergence: The Atom..........  and see if in a world where there are no powers, if size still matters.

Explain It!:

Our issue begins a year after the Dome went up around Pre-Flashpoint Gotham and at this point all I can think is............. Man, there were a lot of heroes in Gotham on Dome Day.  Anyway, we start off the story seeing a bunch of kids go into an abandoned factory....... you know fucking around like kids do and after one of them pushes against a wall, the ceiling collapses on them and that kid will be ridiculed for being a fatty by his friends for the rest of his life........... besides for the future torment, everything is taken care of when we see The Atom come on the scene to save the kids....... Only thing is though, Ray Palmer seems a bit nuts.  He's talking to a voice in his head and while I'm sitting here wondering what a de-powered, crazy Atom is going to do to save these kids......... His goddamn hand grows enormous and he simply picks the large rubble off the children.  Why does Atom's hand grow in a de-powered city?  I have no idea and it seems that The Atom has no idea either and even more so, he has no idea why it's only his one hand.  Okay, we're off to a weird start.

So the kids were saved and the news vans come a rolling to get the latest scoop on the rescue of these children............. until they realize that it was The Atom that did the rescuing.  It looks like everyone believes that Ray Palmer is crazy as hell and the reporters try to cut away before he can go crazy all over them and all the news watchers at home........ they were just too late.  Ray looks into the camera and begins asking questions about the voice in his head, the Dome and about Slade Wilson killing Ryan Choi, who Ray promises to get justice for.  Even though Slade Wilson has been retired since the Dome came about and was living under an assumed name......... I guess all it takes to become The Terminator again is someone going on the news and saying your name because Slade masks up and plans on taking out another Atom........... Oh and by the way, the voice in Atom's head is still talking to him.

In the end, The Atom goes and visits a waitress on her way home......... like he apparently does every day, when Deathstroke comes a calling but before any blood could be shed or justice could be found, the Dome comes down accompanied by Telos's fight frenzy speech............. and somehow Atom is teleported away and has to fight The Extremist: Barracuda, who he promptly defeats now that his shrinking ability is restored and we end this issue with no explanation on why Atom's hand could grow or why he was teleported away from his fight with Slade............ but apparently Ryan Choi is alive and we're left believing that he was the voice in Ray's head all along............. Weird.

That's it for this issue of Convergence: The Atom and this story was just confusing as hell.  We've established a few rules this week for what's going down in the Dome, like no powers and when the Dome comes down, it's fight time.......... but I haven't seen anyone teleported to a fight........ and I certainly haven't seen anyone's powers taken away only for them to have a completely strange new power given instead.  I don't know if I have a better word than just "odd" to describe this and while I enjoyed the colors of the book, the art wasn't great and just left me wanting more.  Hopefully the second issue can explain some of this weirdness away because as of right now this issue just seems to be weird without the fun that should come from an overly weird issue.

Bits and Pieces:

As much as I wanted The Atom to jump off the page and make me interested in this comic and Ray Palmer, the issue only left me more confused about the "rules" that are being established within this Convergence Event and wondering if things like what happened here, will be in other Convergence titles......... or if this issue is just a weird isolated incident.  Odd story, dull art........... this Convergence title is just not for me.

5/10