The Atom(Dr. Ryan Choi)is asuperheroappearing inAmerican comic bookspublished byDC Comics.Created byGail SimoneandGrant Morrison,the character first appeared inDCU: Brave New World#1 (August 2006) as the fourth superhero character to use theAtomname in theDC Universe.He emigrated to theUnited Statesfollowing the death of his mother, to take up his idolRay Palmer's former position atIvy University.He went on to become a member of theJustice League.
| The Atom | |
|---|---|
 Ryan Choi as Atom as depicted inThe All New Atom#4 (December 2006). Art byEddy Barrows. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | DCU: Brave New World#1 (August 2006) |
| Created by | Gail Simone Grant Morrison |
| In-story information | |
| Alter ego | Dr. Ryan Choi |
| Species | Human |
| Team affiliations | Justice League Teen Titans Justice Foundation |
| Notable aliases | Lun Lun |
| Abilities |
|
In theDC Extended UniversefilmJustice League(2017), Ryan Choi was portrayed byZheng Kai,but his scenes were cut from the theatrical version. His appearance was restored for the 2021director's cutof the film,Zack Snyder's Justice League.Osric Chauportrayed Ryan Choi in theArrowversecrossover "Crisis on Infinite Earths"andThe Flash's eighth season.
Publication history
editRyan Choi first appeared inDCU: Brave New Worldand was created byGail Simone.Choi, as described by DC solicitations, is "a young hotshot professor who's filling the extra spot on Ivy University's teaching staff... and who inadvertently ends up filling the oldAtom'ssuper-heroic shoes ".[1]
In aFacebookpost from 2017, Simone claimed that Ryan Choi was entirely her creation: "Grant Morrison did NOT create Ryan Choi. I envisioned him, developed him and named him. I was given some rough story ideas by Grant, I am sure they were brilliant, but I didn’t read them. My entire Atom pitch was lifted from a pitch I wrote forImpulsethat did not get used ".[2]
Choi makes his first appearance in the new Rebirth continuity in theJustice League of America: The Atomone-shot, by Steve Orlando and Andrew MacDonald. His suit is redesigned to resembleRay Palmer's in the Arrowverse TV shows.
Fictional character biography
editBorn inHong Kong,Ryan Choi was a longtime protégé ofRay Palmerwho had been corresponding with him through letters. After Palmer's disappearance, Ryan moved to Ivy Town in America to assume his mentor's place on the staff of Ivy University. Following clues left by Palmer, Ryan discovered a "bio-belt", allegedly the size and density-manipulating device used by his predecessor, and became the new Atom with Palmer's apparent blessing. Though taken with the superhero lifestyle, Ryan is a scientist first and foremost and approaches many of his adventures from the perspective of scientific discovery and investigation.
Since taking his mentor's place, Ryan has found himself at the center of a conflict between the forces of science and magic. It has been claimed that the impossible feats performed by Ray Palmer during his superheroic career caused the very fabric of reality to warp in Ivy Town's vicinity, making it a nexus of paranormal activity. Many parties, including the ancient "Cancer God"M'Nagalahand the microscopic aliens known as "the Waiting", consider Ryan a key player in the war and have made attempts to recruit, capture, or kill him. He is advised by, among others,Ivy TownPolice Chief Liza Warner (a.k.a.Lady Cop).[3]
As the Atom, Ryan has faced numerous challenges, including the shrinking serial killerDwarfstar,his strict and disapproving father, and being seduced, kidnapped, and even swallowed alive by the size-changing villainess,Giganta.Through it all, his ingenuity and keen deductive mind have served him in good stead.
Ryan Choi was involved in the search for the missing Ray Palmer, traveling into the restored Multiverse along withDonna Troy,Jason Toddand aMonitornicknamed "Bob". Literally plucked back to New Earth, he leaves his role of dimension-hopper toKyle Rayner,returning to defend Ivy Town from a monster invasion. Later he is led to a mistaken belief that Ray Palmer has become an egocentric madman, and Ryan himself may be only a pawn of his mad fantasies. This is later revealed to be a ploy by Ray's old nemesis,Chronos.The All New Atomseries ended with issue #25,[4][5]when Ryan, with some help from the returned Ray Palmer, is able to discern between the truth and the lies fed by Chronos and his new assistant,Lady Chronos,a former sweetheart of Ryan turned to crime. Ryan eventually discovers that Ray Palmer never knew of Choi: instead the bio-belt was a tainted gift from Jia, and the Ray Palmer letters a clever forging by Chronos, meant to force Ryan into accepting the Atom mantle, and taking the blame for the staging menaces sent against the city. However, due to Ryan's ability into sorting out the mess, besting the Chronos couple and restoring Ivy to normalcy, Ray finally gives him his blessing.[6]
Ryan expresses his desire to find a new identity for himself, since Ray, despite giving him his blessing earlier, had resumed using regularly his Atom identity.[7]InJustice League: Cry for Justice#1, Ray and Ryan are seen fightingKiller Mothtogether, and at the end of the battle both of them show respect towards each other, with Ray asking Ryan to continue using the Atom name.
Brightest Day
editInBrightest Day,Deathstrokekills Ryan and uses his bio-belt to resurrectJericho.[8][9][10][11]InConvergence,Ryan is revealed to have survived by entering the microscopic universe and is resurrected after transferring into a clone body.[12][13]
DC Rebirth
editRyan makes his official debut in the newDC Rebirthcontinuity as a teenage genius Ivy League college student tutored by Ray Palmer.[14]Palmer reveals his identity as the Atom and enlists Ryan's help in fighting crime, talking to Ray from his lab in a tech support role.[15]One day, after many adventures together, Ray goes missing. A week later, Ryan finds a message from Palmer along with one of his size-changing belts, asking the youth to come find him in the Microverse because he got stuck there when exploring a change in time and space.[16]After receiving another scolding from Dean Plumm, Ryan heads back to the lab, using the bio-belt that Ray gave him to travel there through the Wi-Fi. When he arrives, he is met by Batman and Lobo who are there to recruit Ray Palmer into the new Justice League of America. Discovering that Ray is missing, Batman decides to leave until Lobo asks Ryan if he wrote down various equations to update the bio-belt on a blackboard. Impressed, Lobo decides that Batman should recruit Ryan, despite Batman not wanting to put him in danger. Lobo says it is Ryan's choice, and Ryan joins the JLA and sometime later, heads to Vanity, Oregon, to recruit the Ray into the team.[17]
In the 2025 seriesJustice League: The Atom Project,Ryan and Ray work to reverse the aftermath ofAbsolute Power,when several heroes had their powers swapped and some had them transferred to civilians.[18]
Powers and abilities
editRyan Choi's abilities stand identical to that of his mentor and friend Ray Palmer, the original Atom. Having the capability to change size, mass, and weight at will through adwarf starpowered device known as the Quantum Bio-Belt, he can shrink down beyond the particle scale. This enables Ryan, in his own words, to miniaturize himself while retaining full physique at this level. Initially, he could only do so due to the belt his predecessor's enemy, Lady Chronos had made for him.[19]Ryan later gains small microorganisms inside his body that give him innate size-changing abilities.[6]
Collected editions
edit| Title | Material collected | Pages | ISBN |
|---|---|---|---|
| My Life in Miniature | The All-New Atom#1-6 | 160 | ISBN1-4012-1325-1 |
| Future/Past | The All-New Atom#7-11 | 128 | ISBN1-4012-1568-8 |
| The Hunt for Ray Palmer | The All-New Atom#12-16 | 128 | ISBN978-1-4012-1782-2 |
| Small Wonder | The All-New Atom#17-18 and 20-25 | 192 | ISBN978-1-4012-1996-3 |
In other media
editTelevision
edit- Ryan Choi / Atom appears inBatman: The Brave and the Bold,voiced byJames Sie.[20]Additionally, an alternate universe variant of Choi namedDyna-Mite(also voiced by Sie) appears in the episode "Deep Cover for Batman!" as a member of theInjustice Syndicate.[21]
- Ryan Choi appears in media set in theArrowverse,portrayed byOsric Chau.
- Choi first appears in the crossover event "Crisis on Infinite Earths",where he is recruited to combat theAnti-Monitordue to his status as the Paragon of Humanity.[22]
- An alternate timeline variant of Choi who became the Atom appears in theeighth seasonofThe Flash.[23]
Film
edit- An alternate universe variant of Ryan Choi appears inJustice League: Gods and Monsters,voiced byEric Bauza.[20]
- Ryan Choi was intended to appear inJustice League,portrayed byZheng Kai,before his scenes were cut. He is included in thedirector's cut,Zack Snyder's Justice League.[24][25][26]
- Ryan Choi / Atom appears inLego DC Comics Super Heroes: The Flash,voiced again by Eric Bauza.[20]
- Ryan Choi / Atom appears inInjustice,voiced by an uncreditedYuri Lowenthal.
Video games
edit- Ryan Choi / Atom appears inScribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure.[27]
- Ryan Choi / Atom appears as a downloadable playable character inInjustice 2,voiced byMatthew Yang King.He appears as part of the "Fighter Pack 3" DLC.[28]
- Ryan Choi / Atom appears as a playable character inLego DC Super-Villains,voiced byJason Marsden.
References
edit- ^"DC Comics".DC Comics. 2010-04-21.Retrieved2011-01-15.
- ^"Comic Book Legends Revealed: Who Really Created the Ryan Choi Atom?".Comic Book Resources. 14 December 2019.Retrieved2020-11-26.
- ^The All-New Atom#6 and 11
- ^Beatty, Scott, Wallace, Dan (2008). "Atom I, II and III". In Dougall, Alastair (ed.).The DC Comics Encyclopedia.London:Dorling Kindersley.p. 30.ISBN978-0-7566-4119-1.
{{cite book}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^"DCU | Comics".Dccomics.com. 2010-04-21.Retrieved2011-01-15.
- ^abThe All-New Atom#25
- ^Final Crisis#6
- ^
- Titans: Villains For Hire
- Titans(vol. 2) #24 (August 2010)
- Titans(vol. 2) #28 (October 2010)
- Secret Six(vol. 3) #28 (December 2010)
- Titans(vol. 2) #32 (February 2011)
- Titans(vol. 2) #33 (March 2011)
- Titans(vol. 2) #36 - #38 (June - August 2011)
- Titans(vol. 2) Annual 2011 (July 2011)
- ^"Wallace Responds to Hero's Death inTitans: Villains for Hire".Comic Book Resources.Archived fromthe originalon May 15, 2010.RetrievedJanuary 15,2011.
- ^"Too many words on the weirdness of the All-New Atom's weird, weird death".Blog.newsarama.com. 2010-05-20. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-05-29.Retrieved2011-01-15.
- ^"SDCC Notebook: The Fan Diaspora & Eric Wallace on diversity in DC Comics | Racialicious - the intersection of race and pop culture".Racialicious. Archived fromthe originalon 2010-09-06.Retrieved2011-01-15.
- ^"DC Comics Relaunch: Jim Lee Reveals The Atom To Be Ryan Choi".July 26, 2011.
- ^
- Justice League(vol. 2) #4 (February 2012)
- Convergence: The Atom#1 (April 2015)
- Convergence: The Atom#2 (May 2015)
- ^DCU: Rebirth#1 (July 2016)
- ^Justice League of America: Atom - Rebirth#1 (January 2017)
- ^DC Rebirth#1
- ^Justice League of America: Rebirth#1 (February 2017)
- ^Johnston, Rich(October 18, 2024)."Justice League Launches The Atom Project, To Restore Its Superpowers".Bleeding Cool.RetrievedJanuary 1,2025.
- ^The All-New Atom#1 and 24
- ^abc"Atom / Ryan Choi Voices (DC Universe)".Behind The Voice Actors.RetrievedJuly 20,2024.A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
- ^"Dyna-Mite Voice -Batman: The Brave and the Bold(TV Show) ".Behind The Voice Actors.RetrievedJuly 20,2024.A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.
- ^Bucksbaum, Sydney (September 26, 2019)."Supernaturalalum Osric Chau joins Arrowverse'sCrisis on Infinite Earthsas new Atom ".Entertainment Weekly.
- ^Anderson, Jenna (December 7, 2021)."The Flash:" Armageddon, Part 4 "Finally Gives SPOILER a Comic-Accurate Costume".ComicBook.RetrievedDecember 8,2021.
- ^Dyce, Andrew (September 17, 2018)."Zack Snyder Confirms ATOM Was In His Justice League".Screen Rant.RetrievedSeptember 17,2018.
- ^Hood, Cooper (May 22, 2020)."Justice LeagueSnyder Cut Image Shows DC Comics Ryan Choi ".Screen Rant.RetrievedAugust 28,2020.
- ^Collis, Clark (March 18, 2021)."Zack Snyder breaks down the ending ofJustice League".Entertainment Weekly.
- ^Eisen, Andrew (October 2, 2013)."DC Characters and Objects -Scribblenauts UnmaskedGuide ".IGN.RetrievedJuly 20,2024.
- ^@InjusticeGame (4 October 2017)."Coming soon to the #injustice2 roster... Atom!"(Tweet) – viaTwitter.