Thursday, March 12, 2015

Now I want an Atom-strapped-to-grenade figure.


We took a look at Detective Comics #627 a couple years back: that issue featured four different versions of Batman's first appearance in "The Case of the Chemical Syndicate." (There's even been another version since!) Today's book has two versions of a story based on the cover of an earlier book: from 2004, DC Comics Presents: the Atom #1, featuring stories from Dave Gibbons and Mark Waid, art by Pat Olliffe, John Livesay, Dan Jurgens, and Jon Bogdanove; based on Julie Schwartz's idea for Gil Kane and Murphy Anderson's cover for the Atom #10!

In Gibbon's story, while foiling a robbery at his pal Professor Hyatt's, the Atom ends up falling down the time pool and getting trapped on Earth-Prime! There he meets Gardner Fox and Julie Schwartz, who help save the Tiny Titan by tying him to a live grenade and getting a Yankees pitcher to throw him at the time pool! Fox tells Atom Schwartz's ideas usually work out, but I have to wonder if the Atom was just too polite to tell them, "hell, no."

Waid's version features a new mob boss in Ivy Town, "Mr. Originality." He had the bright idea of trapping the Atom in a thermometer, then strapping him to a grenade, so it's not unreasonable that his men are too scared of him to turn state's evidence. But working the case, the Atom finds the boss is an unwitting accomplice, a sci-fi writer! Still, that may be tough to convince Chronos!

We saw the Adam Strange Julie Schwartz tribute some time back; there are six others left. I know I have at least three of 'em...somewhere.

2 comments:

SallyP said...

I think that we ALL want an Atom-strapped-to-a-grenade figure!

Mr. Morbid's House Of Fun said...

Right? Did DC Direct not get around to making one?

I want to know what they used to hold Ray on there. Tape? Sticky metal bits? Gum?