History ComicBook / TheAtom

'''The''' [[SizeShifter Shrinking Superhero]]

''''The'''' [[SizeShifter Shrinking Superhero]]

The Ryan Choi Atom is the one most often seen in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' show, though Palmer also appeared in one episode (that was in fact based on the Sword Of The Atom series.) Ray Palmer was the one in ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]],'' and referenced in Justice League (regular). Prior to that, a future version of the Atom known as Micron appeared in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' as a member of the future Justice League. Additionally, a series of shorts dubbed ''Sword of the Atom'' were aired on the WesternAnimation/DCNation block on Creator/CartoonNetwork. Ray Palmer also has a minor recurring role in ''[[WesternAnimation/YoungJustice Young Justice: Invasion]]'' as the mentor of Bumblebee.

The ''[[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]'' series of the {{New 52}} introduced a new character with the Atom mantle in issue 18. Her name is Rhonda Pineda, a Latina college student at Ivy University. She initially made a few cameos during the ''ComicBook/ThroneOfAtlantis'' arc, where Cyborg signals her and several other heroes to help the League stop an Atlantean invasion. Rhonda formally meets the League in issue 18 and is recruited along with {{Firestorm}} and Element Woman. Issue 20 reveals [[spoiler:that she is a mole working for Amanda Waller and Steve Trevor's Justice League of America; gaining intel on how to defeat the Justice League]]. However, issue 23 reveals [[spoiler: she was playing both the Justice League and the JLA. Her real name is Atomica and she's been working for the Secret Society all along. She's a native of Earth-3 and essentially the Atom's evil counterpart in the Crime Syndicate.]]

* KilledOffForReal: Played with in ''The All-New Atom''where, searching for Ray Palmer, the heroes find themselves in what appears to be heaven and are greeted by the spirit of former BlueBeetle Ted Kord. Ted lampshades the uneven reversibility of comics death, lamenting that he and Batman's parents are the "only people with a permanent parking spot" in the afterlife. (It turns out not really to be heaven, in fact, and not really to be Ted, but the dude (five years dead now and counting!) has a point.)

The second Atom was introduced during the TheSilverAgeOfComicBooks and had nothing in common with the first other than the name. He first appeared in ''"Showcase''" #34 (September, 1961), created by Gardner Fox and Gil Kane. Ray Palmer was a physicist who found a meteor made of "[[AppliedPhlebotinum white dwarf star matter]]" that had shrinking powers (white dwarfs are "compressed" stars and so smaller than normal) so he used it to create a costume that gave him the power to shrink (all the way to subatomic size!) and also change his weight. Despite these unlikely powers he became a successful hero and joined the Justice League. Palmer is also known for having one of the worst romantic lives of any superhero: Jean Loring, his long-time girlfriend (then wife) not only cheated on him, she later [[IdentityCrisis went insane]] and even later became a [[ComicBook/InfiniteCrisis supervillain]]. At one point Palmer had a series of LowFantasy adventures in the Amazon Jungle involving a tribe of really tiny humans (in the "Sword of the Atom" miniseries.)

* TokenMinority: Choi was seen as this at first by some. That they killed him off as soon as his series failed doesn't help. Of course, they did bring him back in [[WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold one of the newer cartoons.]]

The ''[[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]'' series of the {{New 52}} introduced a new character with the Atom mantle in issue 18. Her name is Rhonda Pineda, a Latina college student at Ivy University. She initially made a few cameos during the ''ComicBook/ThroneOfAtlantis'' arc, where Cyborg signals her and several other heroes to help the League stop an Atlantean invasion. Rhonda formally meets the League in issue 18 and is recruited along with {{Firestorm}} and Element Woman. Issue 20 reveals [[spoiler:that she is a mole working for Amanda Waller and Steve Trevor's Justice League of America; gaining intel on how to defeat the Justice League]]. However, issue 23 reveals [[spoiler:That she was playing both the Justice League and the JLA. Her real name is Atomica and she's been working for the Secret Society all along]].

The ''[[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]'' series of the {{New 52}} introduced a new character with the Atom mantle in issue 18. Her name is Rhonda Pineda, a Latina college student at Ivy University. She initially made a few cameos during the ''ComicBook/ThroneOfAtlantis'' arc, where Cyborg signals her and several other heroes to help the League stop an Atlantean invasion. Rhonda formally meets the League in issue 18 and is recruited along with {{Firestorm}} and Element Woman. [[spoiler:Issue 20 reveals that she is a mole working for Amanda Waller and Steve Trevor's Justice League of America; gaining intel on how to defeat the Justice League]].

* SquareCubeLaw: Completely ignored.

* {{Determinator}}: Ray Palmer works on problems with a single-mind pursuit.

* Determinator: Ray Palmer works on problems with a single-mind pursuit.

The ''[[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]'' series of the {{New 52}} introduced a new character with the Atom mantle in issue 18. Her name is Rhonda Pineda, a Latina college student at Ivy University. She initially made a few cameos during the "Throne of Atlantis" arc, where Cyborg signals her and several other heroes to help the League stop an Atlantean invasion. Rhonda formally meets the League in issue 18 and is recruited along with {{Firestorm}} and Element Woman. [[spoiler:Issue 20 reveals that she is a mole working for Amanda Waller and Steve Trevor's Justice League of America; gaining intel on how to defeat the Justice League]].

The ''[[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]'' series of the {{New 52}} introduced a new character with the Atom mantle in issue 18. Her name is Rhonda Pineda, a Latina college student at Ivy University. She initially made a few cameos during the "Throne of Atlantis" arc, where Cyborg signals her and several other heroes to help the League stop an Atlantean invasion. Rhonda formally meets the League in issue 18 and is recruited along with Firestorm and Element Woman. [[spoiler:Issue 20 reveals that she is a mole working for Amanda Waller and Steve Trevor's Justice League of America; gaining intel on how to defeat the Justice League]].

The third Atom was Ryan Choi, an Asian American scientist who inherited Palmer's costume after he disappeared following the events of ''Identity Crisis''. He first appeared in the one-shot ''"DCU: Brave New World''" (2006), created by Gail Simone and Grant Morrison. He starred in his own series for 25 issues (September, 2006-September, 2008). He was then unceremoniously killed off, to the chagrin of his fans. Being one of the few superheroes of color, Choi's death sparked a major controversy, and in 2011, it was announced that Ryan's death would be undone and that he would star as the Atom in the high profile ''[[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]'' relaunch written by Creator/GeoffJohns and drawn by JimLee. Palmer appears as a major supporting character in ''[[ComicBook/FrankensteinAgentOfSHADE Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.]]'', without the Atom identity. Also in the ComicBook/{{New 52}}, Al Pratt was moved with the rest of the Golden Age [[JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]] members to the [[{{ComicBook/Earth 2}} Earth 2]] series, written by James Robinson, and given Nuklon's power set.

* ClothesMakeTheSuperman: Palmer and Choi

* SquareCubeLaw: completely ignored.

* TokenMinority: Choi was seen as this at first by some. That they killed him off as soon as his series failed doesn't help.

The third Atom was Ryan Choi, an Asian American scientist who inherited Palmer's costume after he disappeared following the events of ''Identity Crisis''. He first appeared in the one-shot ''"DCU: Brave New World''" (2006), created by Gail Simone and Grant Morrison. He starred in his own series for 25 issues (September, 2006-September, 2008). He was then unceremoniously killed off, to the chagrin of his fans. Choi's death sparked a major controversy, and in 2011, it was announced that Ryan's death would be undone and that he would star as the Atom in the high profile ''[[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]'' relaunch written by Creator/GeoffJohns and drawn by JimLee. Palmer appears as a major supporting character in ''[[ComicBook/FrankensteinAgentOfSHADE Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.]]'', without the Atom identity. Also in the ComicBook/{{New 52}}, Al Pratt was moved with the rest of the Golden Age [[JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]] members to the [[{{ComicBook/Earth 2}} Earth 2]] series, written by James Robinson, and given Nuklon's power set.

The Ryan Choi Atom is the one most often seen in the ''BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' show, though Palmer also appeared in one episode (that was in fact based on the Sword Of The Atom series.) Ray Palmer was the one in ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]],'' and referenced in Justice League (regular). Prior to that, a future version of the Atom known as Micron appeared in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' as a member of the future Justice League. Additionally, a series of shorts dubbed ''Sword of the Atom'' were aired on the WesternAnimation/DCNation block on Creator/CartoonNetwork. Ray Palmer also has a minor recurring role in ''[[WesternAnimation/YoungJustice Young Justice: Invasion]]'' as the mentor of Bumblebee.

The Ryan Choi Atom is the one most often seen in the ''BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' show, though Palmer also appeared in one episode (that was in fact based on the Sword Of The Atom series.) Ray Palmer was the one in ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]],'' and referenced in Justice League (regular). Prior to that, a future version of the Atom known as Micron appeared in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' as a member of the future Justice League. Additionally, a series of shorts dubbed ''Sword of the Atom'' were aired on the WesternAnimation/DCNation block on Creator/CartoonNetwork. Ray Palmer also has a minor recurring role in ''[[WesternAnimation/Young Justice Young Justice: Invasion]]'' as the mentor of Bumblebee.

The Ryan Choi Atom is the one most often seen in the ''WesternAnimation/BatmanTheBraveAndTheBold'' show, though Palmer also appeared in one episode (that was in fact based on the Sword Of The Atom series.) Ray Palmer was the one in ''[[WesternAnimation/JusticeLeague Justice League Unlimited]],'' and referenced in Justice League (regular). Prior to that, a future version of the Atom known as Micron appeared in ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' as a member of the future Justice League. Additionally, a series of shorts dubbed ''Sword of the Atom'' were aired on the WesternAnimation/DCNation block on Creator/CartoonNetwork.

http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/The_Atom_7069.jpg
[[caption-width:300:Pratt (left) and Palmer (right)]]

The third Atom was Ryan Choi, an Asian American scientist who inherited Palmer's costume after he disappeared following the events of ''Identity Crisis''. He first appeared in the one-shot ''"DCU: Brave New World''" (2006), created by Gail Simone and Grant Morrison. He starred in his own series for 25 issues (September, 2006-September, 2008). He was then unceremoniously killed off, to the chagrin of his fans. Choi's death sparked a major controversy, and in 2011, it was announced that Ryan's death would be undone and that he would star as the Atom in the high profile ''[[JusticeLeagueOfAmerica Justice League]]'' relaunch written by Creator/GeoffJohns and drawn by JimLee. Palmer appears as a major supporting character in ''[[FrankensteinAgentOfShade Frankenstein: Agent of S.H.A.D.E.]]'', without the Atom identity. Also in the ComicBook/{{New 52}}, Al Pratt was moved with the rest of the Golden Age [[JusticeSocietyOfAmerica JSA]] members to the [[{{ComicBook/Earth 2}} Earth 2]] series, written by James Robinson, and given Nuklon's power set.