The Atom
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Palmer Technologies Computer Chip |
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Atom is a DC Comics Super Heroes minifigure to be released in 2016 for the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con International. The minifigure will be based on his appearance in the Arrowverse. The Atom first appeared as a playable character in LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.
Description[edit | edit source]
Video game variants[edit | edit source]
Atom wears a red and blue bodysuit. The cowl with holes for his eyes and mouth is blue and has his insignia of electron orbitals arranged in six points on his forehead. His torso is blue, but the red colouring mounting and pinching onto his chest. A belt separates his torso from his red legs. Atom has red gloves and blue boots, creating a contrast to the colours of his arms and legs.
Atom is able to shrink to a size small enough to enter special tubes or travel through grates while retaining the normal functionality of a regular sized character. He can also interact with computer panels, is acrobatic, and able to double jump.
Background[edit | edit source]
Ray Palmer is a college professor from Ivy Town who discovers a sample of white dwarf star matter and from it earns the ability to shrink until he is the size of a literal atom while retaining control over his body mass. He decides to use his new found powers for scientific exploration and to help his longtime girlfriend Jean Loring, an attorney who refuses to marry him until her career is established. Though he usually investigates common criminals to help Jean prosecute them, Atom does collect of small rogues gallery including super villains like Chronos and the Bug-Eyed Bandit before he becomes one of the first non-founding heroes to be invited to join the Justice League. While in the League, Atom meets Hawkman who he would have a long lasting friendship with.
Atom later leaves civilization when he realizes that he has been neglecting Jean, who he has married by this time, and that she has been unfaithful to him. Ray runs away to the Amazon Rainforest where he becomes the champion of the six-inch tall, yellow skinned aliens called Morlaidhans and falls in love with their princess, Laethwyn. However, this relationship would also not last. When the US government seeks to recruit Ray, several rogue agents kill the Morlaidhans so that they will not distract him. With help from the Suicide Squad and despite Captain Boomerang trying to betray him, Ray gets his revenge on the agents by shrinking them to a height of six inches. He then returns to his activities as the Atom and rejoins the Justice League, first as a reserve member, and then fully.
Some time later, Jean tries to reconnect with Ray but finds that his duties as a superhero are still getting in the way. She plans to use Atom's technology to injure Sue Dibny, wife of Elongated Man, so that the Justice League would go rushing to protect their loved ones at the thought of a breach, but she accidentally kills Sue. To cover her actions, Jean hires Captain Boomerang to kill Jack Drake, Robin's father, but arranges for both men to end up dead so it would seem like Boomerang is also responsible for Sue's death. As Jean plans, Ray spends more time with Jean to protect her, though he soon deduces that she is responsible for the murders. Hurt, Atom once again runs away, this time shrinking down to a size so miniscule that he passes into an alternate dimension while Jean is incarcerated at Arkham Asylum.
In Ray's leave, Ryan Choi becomes the new Atom and discovers that Ray's adventures in Ivy Town has warped reality in the area, making it a common site for otherworldly events and visitors. Ray eventually returns to his native timeline and shares the Atom mantle with Ryan.
In his absence, Ray also learns that Jean had been possessed by the evil angel Eclipso and then killed. Atom tries to convince Hawkman to visit her grave with him, but Hawkman refuses to honour her because of what she did to Sue. Hawkman later calls Ray again and urges him to come over. Ray quickly does, and finds that Hawkman and Hawkgirl have been killed and subsequently been resurrected as part of the zombie Black Lantern Corps who feed off of the emotions of the living. Atom escapes by shrinking down and hiding in Hawkman's ring until he is able to join forces with The Flash and Green Lantern against the other Black Lanterns. As they fight, Atom is attacked by Elongated Man and Sue's Black Lantern incarnations who guilt him over what Jean has done so they can feed on his compassion. The Indigo Tribe arrives to help the heroes and by combining their Indigo light with Green Lantern's, destroy the Dibnys. Ray later tries to help the Justice Society escape from the Hall of Justice when it too is attacked by the Black Lanterns, though he is unable to save his friend Damage from dying. Ray unsuccessfully tries to protect Damage's corpse from becoming a Black Lantern when Black Lantern Jean appears and reveals to Atom and Mera that the avatar of death, Nekron, is behind the Black Lantern Corps and is continuing to resuscitate fallen heroes and villains.
After Deadman rescues Atom and Mera from Jean, Ray is temporarily deputized by the Indigo Tribe for his capacity to feel compassion. It is later revealed that he is the only member recruited for their abundance of compassion, and not the lack. Leader of the Tribe, Indigo-1, teaches Ray that he can use the Indigo light to copy powers of the other Lantern Corps and tasks him with protecting her as she transports the Indigo Tribe and other Corps to Earth to fight against Nekron. Black Lanterns Hawkman and Hawkgirl resurface, and Atom copies the power of the Orange Light of Avarice as he declares that he wants them to become their true selves again. Jean then returns and attacks Ray again, forcing him to relive Sue's death before the Black Lantern Morlaidhans arrive. Using the Green Light of Willpower, Atom destroys Jean. Once Indigo-1 transports them to Earth, she thanks Ray and he asks her to find a way to save Hawkman and Hawkgirl, who truly return to life when the power of the White Lantern Corps is unleashed.
Atom then begins to investigate an evil organization known as the Colony as he tries protects his family from them. He also begins searching for Ryan, who has gone missing, only to discover that Ryan's nemesis Dwarfstar had hired Deathstroke to kill him. Atom teams up with the Justice League to confront Deathstroke and brutally attacks him, but is forced to stop.
When The Flash is manipulated by Professor Zoom into rewriting the timeline, Ray Palmer still has shrinking abilities in the new version of history, but has never been the Atom and is instead a science adviser for S.H.A.D.E.. Ryan Choi is also alive. A female Atom named Rhonda Pineda joins the Justice League briefly, but she is revealed to be a spy for the Crime Syndicate, where she uses the codename Atomica. Lex Luthor steps on Rhonda, killing her, as he leads the Injustice League in a rebellion against the Syndicate.
In the new Rebirth run, Ray has actually operated as the Atom with his student, Ryan Choi, serving as a partner during his adventures. One day, Ray goes missing leaving a message behind for Ryan telling him that Ray he is in danger and needs his student to take the Atom name. Batman, who was expecting to find Ray, recruits Ryan in his new Justice League.
Appearances[edit | edit source]
Video game appearances[edit | edit source]
Gallery[edit | edit source]
The Atom in LEGO Batman 3: Beyond Gotham.
See also[edit | edit source]
External links[edit | edit source]
- The Atom on the DC Comics Database
