The AtomThe Atom
The following is a
summary of Ray Palmer's history and some highlights of his
superheroic career as the Atom.
Birth, Youth, and Education
Ray Palmer was born and raised in Ivy Town in south-central Connecticut. His father died in the hospital of a rather painful cancer while Ray was still young, and Ted Ralston, a close friend of the family, became Ray's Godfather. Ray always enjoyed science and was strongly encouraged by Ted to follow his dreams. Ray went on to attend the local university, Ivy University, graduating with a doctorate degree. He enjoyed the college atmosphere so much that when he was offered a job as a professor, he decided to stay and teach. Ray was always fascinated by physics, especially in sub-nuclear physics, and became an expert in this field. His focus was primarily on unlocking the secrets of the atom. He also specialized in temporal physics as well as sub-atomic theory.
One day, while still a graduate student at the University, Ray observed a meteorite that crashed into a field nearby. As he drove out to examine it, he hoped that the meteor could hold some scientific import. Finding the crash site, he loaded the heavy rock onto his truck and took it back to the lab for a closer look. He was able to determine that it was a fragment of a white dwarf star and contained properties that were quite rare in nature. This rock was extremely unusual in that most of the mass of the heavy dwarf star material had been spent in some way. Ray had already been working on experiments involving shrinking matter, mostly in an effort to solve problems involving transporting large amounts of materials from location to location. His experiments, if successful, would revolutionize the transportation industry and even impact such things as world hunger. His discovery of this meteorite may have been the breakthrough he was looking for. Later, an accident in the lab reflected ultraviolet light off a polished facet of the fragment and the reflected ray began to shrink the object it had come into contact with. With the ultra-dense structure of the white dwarf material he began to hypothesize that he could alter the size and mass of an object using a focus made of this material. He worked long and hard to devise a method of accomplishing this task, and he was quite successful in a way. He managed to create a lens that did the trick. The only problem was... anything he shrank down had a tendency to explode. Like any good scientist, he continued to work on the problem and hoped one day to achieve success.
Birth of a Hero
To try to relax a bit and take his mind off his research and graduate studies, he, his girlfriend Jean Loring, and a group of students took off for their first annual expedition into some nearby caverns. During the trip, they became trapped in an accidental cave-in. With their only avenue of escape a small one inch hole in the roof of the cave, Ray felt they had little hope of escape. Somewhat in desperation, he left the others and pulled out the reducing lens that he had taken to carrying with him to prevent others from stealing his research. Hoping that he would have enough time to get help before his body exploded, he exposed himself to the ray from the lens. He shrank to a small enough size to make it up to the opening. Using the engagement ring that he was going to present to Jean, he was able to enlarge the hole enough for the students to escape from the caverns. Collapsing back into the beam from the lens, he miraculously was restored to normal height. Because he had survived the experience, he began to realize that he had discovered something utterly unique in this lens. Developing a complete costume with these properties to alter both his size and weight, he adopted the name of the Atom and began his career as a costumed crime-fighter.
The Atom's first costume was completely controlled by a size and weight adjustment dial located on his belt buckle. He would twist it one way or the other and be instantaneously changed in size or weight. At first, he was only able to shift his size from full height to six inches and back. His weight control was similar, in that he could shift from his full 180 lbs to nearly weightless and then back. Future improvements placed the size-weight controls in the palms and allowed him to fluctuate his size and weight in the entire range, even down to the sub-atomic size. Some of the final improvements in the suit design allowed him to cybernetically control his changes.
The Early Years
Ray used the Atom as a way to aid his girlfriend Jean Loring who was an aspiring young lawyer. Jean took on some of the more difficult cases the firm would face, and the Atom would show up like clockwork, ready to save the day. Ray had recently become a hero just prior to the formation of the JLA, and decided to hold himself back from meeting that group, feeling that he wanted more experience before involving himself with other heroes.
Some of the Atom's early foes included Jason Woodrue the Plant-Master, Chronos master of time, and Dr. Light, as well as many henchmen, thugs, crimelords and other criminals of the more mundane type. The Atom even had a few recurring foes like the Bug-Eyed Bandit and the Bat Knights. Ray would often use his changing size and weight, focusing on the element of surprise to take down his enemies. He would also use his head in battle, trying to outthink the villain rather than outfight him. Ray's other cases bordered around strange scientific phenomena, as well as his continuing investigations into white dwarf matter.
It was not long after the formation of the JLA (within a year or so) that the Atom was asked to join. He was the second new recruit, following in the footsteps of Green Arrow who had also recently joined. He enthusiastically accepted, but held some deep misgivings that his powers would not be useful under every situation. In fact, Ray considered himself one of the weaker members of the JLA and suffered through self-doubt in situations where he found himself unable to help his teammates.
The Pursuit of Happiness
Ray was constantly looking to marry his girlfriend Jean Loring, and took any and all opportunities he had to get her to say 'yes'. Jean was adamant that she wanted to establish herself as a top lawyer and would not commit until that time. This was one of Ray's greatest motivations to keep becoming the Atom. Finally, he wore her down and she said yes, but their engagement was to last many, many years before they were finally married. In fact, it took a nervous breakdown from Jean to make her realize just how much she really wanted to be married to Ray. Near the end of their engagement, Ray struggled with his own feelings as to whether or not he should reveal his secret identity to her, and shortly before they were to be married, he decided that he must. Although she was shocked to find out that her husband-to-be was a superhero, she decided to stick it out. In a beautiful ceremony attended by many of the members of the JLA in their civilian guises, the two, Ray Palmer and now Jean Loring-Palmer, were married.
Rebirth? and The Atom's Farewell
Jean continued her successful practice as a lawyer, and Ray continued to help her out. However, it was his almost frequent disappearances in both his career as a scientist and his duties as a member of the JLA that made her angry with his activities, and the thought of his career as a superhero continued to weigh heavily on her mind. Ray was driven by his scientific mind, and often could think of nothing else. Jean eventually succumbed to the charms of another lawyer (Paul Hoben) who was recently hired to work at the same firm as Jean. Ray caught them in each other's arms and after a tense discussion, he decided that a trial seperation would be best. He took on a trip to the Amazon to investigate a white dwarf star fragment and found more than he had bargained. The pilot and co-pilot of the small plane that he had chartered turned out to be drug smugglers. A fight ensued and Ray was thrown from the plane just as lightning struck it. His size-weight controls became fused from the lightning strike and he was stuck at six-inch height and normal six-inch weight. He discovered a race of yellow skinned aliens called the Katarthans who lived in the jungle there. It was their star-drive that was powered by a white dwarf star fragment that had drawn him in the first place. The Katarthans were barbaric, using no technology, and had adopted an almost feudal society. More facts later turned up that revealed their race were actually survivors of an alien penal colony and that they had reverted to their current level of knowledge and technology over many generations. Ray, now calling himself simply Atom, stayed long enough to fall in love with their princess Laethwen, who also felt the same way about him. An evil advisor, Deraegis, killed the King and activated the dangerous star-drive that had lay unused for years. Atom forced the aliens to evacuate their city while he did his best to stop the star-drive. The leaking radiation from the star-drive forced him to normal height, although the star-drive and city were completely destroyed and Atom was rendered unconscious. Ray awoke in a hospital and sadly returned home, not knowing if his princess had managed to escape the explosion.
Jean and Ray continued to drift apart, their marriage simply a matter of convenience or perhaps familiarity more than anything else. Ray finally sat down with Jean and they were able to talk heart to heart about their feelings. Discovering that both of them cared deeply about someone else, they both agreed on a divorce. Shortly after this, Jean married Paul Hoben with Ray's blessing. Ray decided that he needed to put a closing on this chapter of his life, and began collaborating with Jean and an author named Norman Brawler. They called his autobiography "The Atom's Farewell". This novel revealed his secret identity to the world and followed his career as a superhero and scientist.
Ray's body had begun to exhibit signs that proved he was developing an intolerance for the size shifts ever since his absorption of the white dwarf matter radiation from the destruction of the star-drive in Morlaidh. The shifts in size were excruciatingly painful and he felt his superheroic days had come to an end. Deciding to return to the Katarthans, Norman and Ray left for South America. While searching for the Katarthans, they ran into the drug smugglers once again and were captured. Ray managed to shrink one last time, passing out from the effort. Regaining consciousness, he freed them with a little surprise help from the Katarthans, who had survived the destruction of Morlaidh. He told Norman to write a happy ending to his book and wandered off into the jungle with his princess. Atom spent a little over a year in the jungle with the aliens, eventually discovering the white dwarf star fragment that had powered the star-drive. He theorized that these aliens had once been full height but that this fragment had caused their reduction in stature. Atom struggled with the idea of restoring them to full height, but was concerned about their barbaric nature in today's world. He only left the confines of the jungle during one incident, in the Crisis on Infinite Earths. At that time, he had to utilize a shrinking ray to change size in order to effect repairs on the Red Tornado's damaged body.
Operation: Fireball
Some time later, an old friend (Don Brice, CIA Agent) found him, warning him of a group that intended to firebomb the entire jungle. Brice died bringing him this information. The Atom, now virtually powerless since his costume had become damaged in one of his earlier fights in the jungle, sprang into action and did his best to stop them. He was unsuccessful, and all the Katarthans died in the fire. Angry beyond reason, he took the fragment of white dwarf matter (the only thing to survive the fire) and attacked those responsible. He found his powers working once again, albeit not very well and still not without some physical pain to himself. He was nearly captured by the smugglers and local authorities, but was able to find a phone and dialed up Norman Brawler in Ivy Town. He barely managed to escape through the phone lines.
Ray travelled through the telephone lines, somehow becoming changed as he was 'translated' through a sattelite relay. He actually shattered the phone on the other end as he emerged in Ivy Town. For a short time he was stuck at a three foot height, but his ability to alter his density had greatly increased. His hand could become hard enough to shatter a brick fireplace without any damage to himself. He eventually was able to change himself back to normal height and powers with the assistance of Norman Brawler and Alvin Jeffries, Brawler's physician and later with the help of Dr. Enrica Negrini of Ivy University. He also managed to retain this ability to call up this additional mass and developed encephalo-cybernetic circuitry to control his powers. His first case upon his return involved a hostage crisis, where five Quaraci terrorists had seized a hostage and barricaded themselves in the university library. Using his somewhat rusty college Arabic, he convinced them he was a Djinn, and kept them off-balance long enough to save the day. He had planned to return to relative obscurity, but it seemed that after this 'public' incident the press would not leave him alone. With his identity no longer a secret, not even his friends were safe from the hounding of the press.
He went to visit his old friend Professor Hyatt and ended up fighting off a villian named Strobe. About this time, the CIA began to court him, hoping to use his skills as some sort of super-spy for the government. Ray was determined to be his own man, but was willing to aid them if he felt the cause was just. He encountered several new villians, as well as both allying with and fighting off Chronos during the alien 'invasion', but in the end it was the CIA who turned out to be his greatest enemy. He even got to meet up with all his old friends, including Ted Ralston, his 'godfather'.
Discovering secret documents planning the destruction of the rain forest as a means to lure the Atom into their employ, he devised an appropriate method of punishment for those responsible. Inventing a shrinking ray, he fought and shrank each individual one by one (Mr. Bailey, Ms. Hubbard, Ginsburg, Blacksnake, and Sting) until he had reduced them all to six inches tall. He then turned the tiny people over to his friends and destroyed the ray, effectively trapping them at that height. He then told the director of the CIA what had happened and was thanked for his actions. The plan had been to recruit Ray as a miniature spy and with his actions he had just given him a whole 'micro-squad' of spies. Ray chose to shrink out of sight and left many wondering if he would ever be seen again.
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