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Harnessing the power of a fragment of a
white dwarf star, Ray Palmer can shrink his body to miniscule
size. Using controls stored in the buckle of his belt, Palmer
can shrink his entire body, and any clothing, to any size
anywhere from 6 inches to sub-atomic size. The shrinking
device is located in his belt and is activated by exposing a
fragment of a white dwarf star to ultraviolet light
frequencies.
The Atom can also control the distribution
of his weight while shrinking. His weight can shrink in
proportion, or shrink to 6" and keep his weight at 180 lbs.,
making him super dense. He can also concentrate all his weight
in one area of his body, such as his arm when he uses his
"Atomic Punch".
Ray Palmer possesses a doctorate in Physics,
and is an expert in that field. Palmer also is an expert in
temporal physics and sub-atomics.
Behind the Scenes
Following the revitalization of such Golden
Age heroes as the Flash and Green Lantern, artist Gil Kane
suggested a revitalization of the Golden Age hero known as the
Atom. Combining the traits of the original Atom and another
Golden age hero, Doll Man, this new Atom debuted in Showcase #34, the September/
October 1961 issue. Written by Gardner Fox, penciled by Kane, inked by
Murphy Anderson, and edited by Julius Schwartz, this story featured scientist
Ray Palmer (named after science-fiction writer Ray Palmer, a friend of Schwartz)
discovered a chunk of white dwarf star material and became the size-changing
hero called the Atom. Atom stayed in Showcase for 2 more issues, where his
girlfriend Jean Loring and his friend Professor Hyatt were introduced. After
Showcase #36, the Atom graduated to his own self-titled comic, dated June/July
1962 with the same team behind the wheel. The Atom lasted for several years, and in 1968 was retitled to The Atom and
Hawkman when the Hawkman's title was cancelled. The Atom also joined the
ranks of the Justice League of America in their issue #14, becoming their
second recruit. However, after the Atom and Hawkman began teaming up, sales
began to slip, and The Atom and Hawkman was cancelled in 1969 with issue #45.
Going into the seventies, Atom was still featured in Justice League of
America and had a run of back-up stories in Action Comics, later on alternating
with Aquaman and Air Wave. Atom was featured also in numerous guest spots
over these years.
In 1983, the Atom became one of the first heroes to undergo DC's second
wave of revitalizations. The Atom was taken from his comfortable surroundings
of Ivy University and placed into a microworld in the Amazon Jungle. This
miniseries, entitled Sword of the Atom, was written by Jan Strnad and heavily
collaborated and influenced by Gil Kane. Throwing spins on Atom's career
and his love life, The Sword of the Atom was eventually followed up by
two specials in 1984 and 1985. When the Crisis hit, however, Atom's Amazon
World was destroyed, and the Mighty Mite was forced to return to the civilized
world.
< Back
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The Mighty Mite (1965) |
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Slingshot (1967) |
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The bigger they
are... (1983) |
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With Flash
on Filmations' Justice League of
America (1967) |
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