Review: The All-New Atom - Future/Past

Upon receiving a call from his high school crush, the Atom returns to Hong Kong under the pretense of helping to protect her from her abusive husband. He soon learns that not everything is as it seems – especially since her husband is dead and has returned to enact his vengeance on the person responsible for his death.

The All-New Atom: Future/Past collects issues 7-11 of The All-New Atom, written by Gail Simone with art by Mike Norton and Eddy Barrows.

Future/Past contains two story arcs. The first is a two-part story featuring figurative ghosts from Ray Palmer’s past returning to haunt his successor, while the second sees our titular hero facing off against real ghosts as he attempts to come to terms with his own past. In “The Man Who Swallowed Eternity,” the Atom is approached by Ryak the Rogue and is threatened into turning over a man he has yet to meet. As the plot unfolds, we learn that the time stream has been tampered with due to the activities of a friend of Ray Palmer. It’s a fairly straightforward science fiction-leaning story that brings our hero into a possible future, one which gives us a potential glimpse at where the DC Universe might end up. It’s engaging, but lacks depth and direction. The second arc, simply titled “Jia,” is really where things get interesting.

Over the course of three issues, writer Gail Simone teases out an incredible horror-tinged sequence of events that see the Atom venturing back to China in order to seemingly protect the woman he’s loved since he was a teenager. Simone rather brilliantly ratchets up the tension throughout the narrative, keeping readers on their toes by forcing us to confront and question the honesty of those involved. Jia, Ryan’s high school crush, is painted as a dejected and emotional wreck of a woman whose husband was abusive. Her husband, as we learn, once tormented Ryan in school and this makes matters even more personal. Upon his return to Hong Kong, Ryan learns that Jia’s husband is dead and is haunting her. Once we learn the reason for the haunting, things get really intense and it places our hero in a position where he feels powerless. Simone has never been one to play things safe or depict characters in a way that is predictable or one-dimensional, which is why it’s all the more thrilling to see how Jia and her husband are developed through this arc. It’s one of her most cohesive and compact storylines, especially since it occurs within a relatively short amount of time. I personally love when Simone gets dark and twisted, throwing horror at her readers, and she certainly doesn’t disappoint here.

The art in this collection is flawlessly executed and sets the tone for both stories. Mike Norton’s pencils are exuberant and youthful, depicting Ivy Town and its inhabitants in a much more colourful manner. Norton is more simplistic in his style and this suits the two part “The Man Who Swallowed Eternity” quite well. By contrast, Eddy Barrows has a more mature and detailed aesthetic. It’s darker and he excels at creating a sinister vibe for the book. His action sequences also continue to be superb.

I enjoyed Future/Past significantly more than the collection that preceded it. Simone hits her stride here. She trims down the supporting cast, utilizing both Panda and Ryan’s father in a manner that helps to further define Ryan’s character. She develops our hero’s past and hints at his future while delivering two engaging storylines, the second of which is massively entertaining in a twisted kind of way. This is further enhanced by the incredible work done by Norton and Barrows.

RATING: B+