Bonus Book #8 - Power of the Atom (November, 1988)
"Skulduggery"
Writer - Joe Calchi
Pencils - Jim Balent
Inks - Dan Schaefer
Letters - Helen Vesik
Colors - Matt Webb
Edits - Joey Cavalieri
Executive Editor - Joe Orlando
Ya know, I expected to come into these next few days lamenting the fact that we'd be getting into some rather B-Tier (if we're being generous) territory. Surely, nobody's going to rush over here to read about Power of the Atom, the Blue Trinity, or Bronze Tiger, right? Welp, I felt the same way about that Doctor Light story we looked at earlier this week... and, somehow it's become one of my top viewed posts of the month! Heck, I thought that Doom Patrol ditty was going to do really well views-wise, and that one seemed to slip under everybody's radar. Weird, wacky stuff. Further proof that I don't know what people find interesting... and, likely couldn't even spell the word, even with an eight-letter head start!
Anyhoo, this here Power of the Atom story was included with... hey, wouldja lookit that, Power of the Atom #4 (November, 1988), and it features the work of a Bonus Book "All-Star", Joe Calchi!
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We open with a Skul-Rider bursting through the window of Ray Palmer's home. Now, the Skul-Riders, if I'm remembering right, are from the Sword of the Atom era... where the Atom briefly became a sorta-kinda swords and sorcery type book. I read through those specials... man, I was going to say "not too long ago", but in reflection, it's probably been ten years. Yeesh. Anyhoo, this bird-mounted bugger is looking for Ray Palmer and Jean Loring... however, they ain't home. In fact, their home is currently being occupied by Norman Osborn Brawler, the fella who wrote Ray's "farewell" book. The Skul-guy ain't buying it, and proceeds to rifle through Ray's belongings... at which time, he discovers that Palmer's been spending a lot of time at "their" alma mater, Ivy University. Back on bird-back, our baddie SKREEEEEEES away.
But then... The Atom swoops in, and starts beating the holy hell out of him! Even cuts the bad guy's head off! Well, okay, not really... turns out, this is just another violent nightmare for Ray Palmer. Seems like this sort of thing is happening with regularity these days. Makes him wonder if he's become more barbarian than civilized man.
Later, Ray is filled in by Norman Brawler, regarding his avian visitor. The house looks as though a tornado'd come through it... and our little hero is rightly ticked. The search, however, is cut short by the ringing of a phone. Ray answers, and wouldn'tcha know it, it's ol' Golden Face! He makes some threats, prompting our man to shrink down and hop into the phone line...
... by the time he reaches the other side, however... the baddie's nowhere to be found. That's because he's currently hanging out in some bar with a random broad. Ray tries to call his ex-wife to warn her that she might be in danger... but she's in a meeting.
Now, check this out... it appears as though our bad guy has himself some insecurities. He takes his "date" back to his Ambassador Suite... and goes to reach a bottle of vodka from a high shelf... when, he begins to shrink a little bit. The floozy makes fun of him for his inability to reach... and jokes that he's "becoming a shrimp"...
... so, he kills her. Like, dead. Yikes. From here, he heads over to Labtech Research, Incorporated to chat up a Dr. Phariss. Ya see, our bad guy's been getting treatments to make him be taller. He's looking for one "proper" dosage so he'll stay tall forever. The Doc warns him against it... stating that such a dose would very likely kill him. Oh, we also learn that our bad guy's name is Cal.
Cal ain't happy with the Doctor's advice... and so, he pulls out a gun and kills him. Wow, two for two! Cal hops into the "make taller machine", and takes in a whopper of a blast. This leads to a flashback to Cal's days as an Ivy U student. Ya see, he only had eyes for... you guessed it, Jean Loring. He came on... uh, kinda strong, and wound up getting shoved off by Ray Palmer.
Cal zaps his bird with the beam for good measure, so they can both stay tall... before heading over to 1 Thornton Tower... the home of the fantastically wealthy Thornton family. Oh, did I mention that Cal's last name is Thornton? Anyhoo, he bursts into his parents' bedroom... and, you guessed it... kills them. Four murders in three pages!
The next day, we join a Ray Palmer lecture... already in progress. He's using a "simul-tank" to illustrate environmental hooziwhatsits in Mayan lands. One of his students stands up and asks Ray to quit it with the Academic drudgery and start spouting about his exploits as the Atom. Right on! Worth noting, that Ray was trying to separate himself from his super-hero persona... and even went as far as to go under the name "Jones". Ain't nobody buyin' that though... nor should they.
Before Ray can respond, however... Cal Thornton, all painted yellow SKREEEEES through yet another window! It freaks this one girl out so bad, she goes cross-eyed! Orrr, maybe that's just the art. What's pretty weird... okay, even more weird, is Cal... who's been trying to be as tall as possible throughout this story, is now tiny like the Atom! Did that zap cause him to be able to change his size at will? Who knows.
After some pleasantries are exchanged... Ray and Cal begin fighting... and, heyyy, as luck would have it... there just so happens to be a miniature Mayan landscape they can do battle in! That's exactly what they do for the next fourteen pages. The Atom gets the upper-hand... and even breaks Cal's arm with a deflection. Not sure if this is supposed to depict Cal's skeleton as having been weakened via his "growth spurts"... or just show that Ray has a brilliant amount of control over his extremity-density. I guess it doesn't much matter.
It looks as though Ray's going to actually finish Cal off... perhaps an opportunity for our man to "play out" his violent nightmare fantasy... but, he chooses against it. Good thing for Cal, our li'l hero wasn't quite ready to Cry for Justice! The police arrive and take the bad guy away... never to be seen or heard from again?
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Eeeeeeeee... not great.
I feel like this era for the Atom was flailing and floundering to find an identity and purpose, even in the main story. It just didn't feel like it mattered... and, this... well, it's more'a that. Heck, this Bonus Book story might've had higher stakes than anything to come out of the "main" Power of the Atom series! Did you check out Cal Thornton's body count? Ay yai yai.
Still though, not great. It uses the "fill-in month" trope of introducing an antagonist from the hero's past... and, I guess it does so well enough, even if I didn't find it especially engaging.
The art? Is it fair to say it's "rough"? I think so. This doesn't look much like what we'd come to expect from Balent... in fact, it looks more like more recent Jim Calafiore... who, I'm not really a fan of. The square-faces really make me think of Calafiore. So, yeah... this story wasn't terribly interesting... or all that pretty to look at. What is was, was violent! If you want violence for the sake of it... then, this is the Bonus Book for you!
Over to our creators... we've already met Joe Calchi. He wrote Bonus Book #1 from Action Comics #599, which was another mostly "meh" outing. According to the DC Wiki, this story is his second... and final for DC Comics.
Across the table, we've got Jim Balent... who we might all best know as being the dude who drew Catwoman....'s boobs during the 90's. This Bonus Book actually isn't his first DC work... he'd contributed art for a Sgt. Rock back-up strip in 1984. I think it's safe to say he's improved a great deal since this outing. It might also be safe to say his style has changed a great deal too! You can check out some of his current day stuff over at his website!
Overall... this was inoffensive, but also uninteresting. Sure, there's a body count... but, at the end of the day, it amounts to very little. Probably only worth reading if you're looking for additional late-80's Atom flavor... though, I'm not sure why anyone would be!
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(Not the) Letters Page:
Power of the Atom #5 (December, 1988)
"Comings and Goings"
Writer - Roger Stern
Penciller - Dwayne Turner
Inker - K.G. Wilson
Colorist - Nansi Hoolihan
Letterer - Bill Oakley
Assistant Editor - Renee Witterstaetter
Editor - Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $1.00
Since my comics library is still in shambles post-move, let's skip ahead a bit in the Power of the Atom run and see what we've got.
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We open with Ray sitting atop a phone in C.I.A. Agent (?) Everett Bailey's office. Man, I skipped ahead a few issues hoping this C.I.A. stuff would have passed by now. Anyhoo, the next few pages consist of Bailey attempting to get the Atom on board... and Ray declining. This entire scene builds to one final panel... where, after the Atom scrams, Bailey makes a comment implying that he might've had something to do with Operation Fireball... which, was that mess in Brazil.
We shift scenes to an opulent home in San Clemente, California... and we're in for another page of talking heads. One of the fellas here (we'll find out exactly who he is in a bit), receives word that the Atom turned down Bailey's offer... and he's pleased.
Next stop, the Justice League International's New York Embassy, where Ray direct-dials right into Oberon's lap. After an awkward introduction, Ray is given the quick and dirty about what's been going on with this "new League". In a cute bit, Ray asks what's the deal with Captain Atom taking his name. Their chat is interrupted by the entrance of an excited Maxwell Lord...
... who assumes Ray is there to join the League! Of course, the Atom, being the independent fella he is, declines. Max tries to sweeten the deal, but no dice. Ray heads outside, and finds himself having a half-dozen microphones jammed in his face.
Ray shrinks and flees the scene... however, those fellas in San Clemente catch the entire thing on television. The more nefarious of the two tries on his new glove. Remember, we'll find out exactly who this is in a bit... and boy-howdy, will it be underwhelming!
We shift to a diner in Manhattan where Ray is trying to get a bite to eat while keeping his identity on the down-low. I should probably mention, thanks to the book that was written about his life (we saw that in the trunk in issue #1), his dual identity has been revealed. He kinda regrets that, but... ya know, he was planning on living among the Katarthans for the remainder of his days, so what'd he care at the time, right? While reading the paper, he sees a piece on Ralph and Sue Dibny... and decides to check with him to see how he deals with having a public identity. And so, a few direct-dials later... and we're in Florida.
Ray and Ralph head down to the docks to meet up with Sue. We learn that the Dibnys are on the trail of some... bird smugglers. Ray asks Ralph how he deals with his public persona... and learns that he actually quite likes it. Being a show-off... and having a pretty loud personality, he doesn't exactly shy away from publicity. Fair enough... but, probably not the answer Ray was looking for.
The trio boat out to a cargo ship, and the Atom and Elongated Man hop on board. While admiring the smuggled birds, a bad guy enters... gun drawn. The heroes make quick work of him... and the rest of the baddies.
With the day saved, Ray and the Dibnys stop at a cafe... where the latter two are asked for their autograph. Ray is pleased... but a bit disappointed, that the kid doesn't ask for his. Ralph tells him he can't have it both ways...
We wrap up back in San Clemente, where our nebulous baddie reads about the bird-smuggling dealie in the Society pages of the Los Angeles Standard. He recognizes Ray alongside the Dibnys... then, suits up. Hoo-boy, lookit this... he was Chronos--The Master of Time, the whole... time!
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Yawn.
Here's an issue that I feel peaked with the cover. By looking at that, you'd almost think the story was going to be fun! Instead it's a few pretty boring conversations, and a lackluster, one-sided and overlong fight scene on board a ship. Plus, the C.I.A. subplot is still ongoing... eesh.
I couldn't imagine reading this book from month to month and maintaining any sort of excitement for it. It just feels like nothing much happens. The Chronos reveal at the end here was underwhelming... to the point where I wasn't sure if I was meant to take it seriously. Though, I did get a bit of a giggle when he dumped his "cartoony" joke costume in favor for an even worse one! I don't think I was supposed to receive the scene that way though... oh well.
The scene at the JLI Embassy was probably the highlight here. It was pretty neat having Ray learn a bit about the "new" League, just to contrast it with the one he was a part of. It didn't veer into the deep-end of bwah-hah-ha... but it didn't have to.
The art here felt a bit uneven... some of the faces were a bit on the homely side. The first time we saw Ralph I had to assume he was doing some sort of facial contortion... because, woof. The cover is great though!
Overall... I'd say unless you're an Atom or Justice League International competist, you can safely skip this one and not miss a whole heckuva lot.
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Letters Page (Featuring Uncle Elvis!):
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Power of the Atom #1 (August, 1988)
"Home is the Hero!"
Writer - Roger Stern
Penciller - Dwayne Turner
Inker - K.G. Wilson
Letterer - Bill Oakley
Colorist - Nansi Hoolahan
Assistant Editor - Renee Witterstaetter
Editor - Mike Carlin
Cover Price: $1.00
Taking a (hopefully) brief break from this week's Legion Learning... because post-move (really during-the-interim-of-the-move) my comics library is upside-down (in some cases literally), and I don't know where that second box of Action Comics might be hiding out.
Figured we'd go with a random pick from whatever box I was able to access... and so, here's the Atom!
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We open with the Atom (in his peek-a-boo hair mask) bursting through the phone of his old friend/acquaintance/whoever, Normal Brawler. As he bounces to the floor he begins to return to normal human size... however, stalls out at just three feet tall. Also, his costume disappears... leaving him in (very baggy) street clothes. He grabs Norm by the collar and demands answers, before coming to his senses.
Norman asks what Ray remembers... which takes us into a Katarthan-flavored flashback. Full disclosure: the Sword of the Atom miniseries and Special(s)... bored the hell out of me. I get what they were going for, but it just came off reading like boilerplate fantasy, and not at all special. Anyhoo... while surveying a secret alien penal colony, Ray, his right-hand man Voss, and main squeeze Laethwen he discovered a stone that was fueled with "active dwarf star plasma", not terribly different from the stuff that helped Ray become the Atom in the first place.
Studying the stone and it's powers, Ray deduces that the Katarthans were very likely full-grown peoples at one point in time. If you haven't read the Sword of the Atom... Laethwen and her people were like six-inches tall... and all of the Atom's adventures with them were in the tiny world. I think Ray either gave up his ability to resize to average human height... or flat-out lost it at some point. It's been awhile since I've read it. Anyhoo, one day a "giant" (ya know, a normal-sized dude) approached the tribe looking for Mr. Palmer.
It's Don Brice... ya know, that guy! Actually, I don't... and unfortunately, neither does the DC Wikia. Ray seems to know him though (he was his C.I.A. Contact at one point), and that's really all that matters. Brice warns that there are drug-runners in the area, and they're planning to slash and burn the area of the jungle that the Katarthans call home... then he dies.
And so, Ray boards a golden bird to do some reconnaissance... which leads him to a tent where some cookie-cutter bad guys argue against some cookie-cutter good guys about burning down the rain forest. I remember this being a big deal in the late 80's... hell, it still might be today, for all I know. I recall it being all about the acid rain back then... which I could add to that list of things I thought would have a bigger "danger" presence in my life... right there with quicksand. Anyhoo (am I saying that a lot?), the Atom makes his presence felt, and one of the baddies immediately believes him to be a demon. Ray doesn't help his case much by slashing him with his tiny blade.
There's a struggle, and a fairly comedic fight with these geeks trying to take shots at our tiny hero. Finally, outside the tent, one thinks he has a clear shot... however, when he pulls the trigger Ray moves... and the bullet penetrates a fully-loaded gas tube. Boom.
Well so much for saving the rain forest, right? The Atom wakes up several hours later, and the jungle is still in flames. He crawls over to a shiny object, and realizes it's just a piece of his sword. In the distance he sees the remains of New Morlaidh (the Katarthans' tiny village).
He makes his way to the wreckage, and begins sifting through it. He doesn't find any survivors... hell, it's not clear if he finds any dead bodies either. What he does find, however, is that dwarf-star fueled stone. And so, he shrinks it to a more manageable size, and slips it into his right glove.
With an renewed resolve, he tracks down the would be slashers-and-burners to a village (large enough for paved streets). He faces off with the baddies... who again, immediately believe him to be a demon. Ray doesn't help his case much either, as he begins to size-shift right before their eyes. To be fair, Ray is just as surprised as they are. He says he just stopped wanting to be small... and so he grew!
The baddies chase him into an office, and so Ray decides to do some "direct dialing". He punches the first phone number he can think of into the phone... and bada-bing bada-boop, he winds up back in Ivy Town.
That number he punched in, by the way, was his own home phone number... so, he's kinda surprised to see ol' Norman. Turns out, post the Palmer-Loring divorce and Ray's subsequent jungle adventure, Jean sold the place to Mr. Brawler for a song. Ray is initially quite peeved, but understands.
Brawler offers to make some calls to help Ray with his size issue. Can't go around fighting crime looking like that, right? Norm calls a buddy at the C.I.A., however, as luck would have it... his phone line is being tapped by some ne'er do wells.
We rejoin Ray in (what was once) his library. He finds his old steamer trunk, and decides to take a stroll down memory lane. In it, he finds the book Norman had written about Ray's life as the Atom... which, I wanna say was a plot point during the Sword of the Atom business.
This reminds him of his time with the Katarthans, and his lost-love Laethwen. Enraged, he punches a fireplace... pulverizing the brick to powder! Welp, that's new!
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Anytime I read something for the blog (or any blog) that I initially don't like... I let it marinate for a little while, and wind up giving it another go. Had to do that here, as the first time around I thought it was... not so much bad, but really quite boring. Reading it a second time... well, it still didn't rock my socks... but I feel like I had a deeper appreciation for it.
This serves as a pretty good bridge from the swashbuckling Sword of the Atom stuff back into the more standard superhero fare. I mentioned during the synopsis that the Sword story really wasn't my scene... so I'm happy to see it go. That having been said, I'm also glad with the sorta nebulous way it was done. Having the tiny town leveled... but with no bodies found, leaves the door open for later discoveries and adventures down the line. Fair enough.
Overall... a decent enough start for this ongoing. Plenty of questions to be answered, and a likable enough hero to want to stick around. The art was pretty good, some really dynamic panels here... still not a fan of this Atom costume, but that's not Turner's fault.
I'd say this is worth tracking down... if you can find it on the cheap. This is one of those post-Crisis series that always finds its way into the quarter-bins... so, if you're interested... it shouldn't be too terribly difficult to find, and certainly won't (or shouldn't) break the bank.
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