Sword of the Atom

(1983 - four issues, published by DC Comics)

Script: Jan Strand. Art: Gil Kane.

An odd-ball attempt to revitalize the superhero, the Atom, (and to woo Gil Kane back to the character after almost twenty years) this has the Atom breaking up with his wife, Jean Loring, and getting stranded in the Amazon jungle -- stuck at his six inch height. He discovers a society of six inch aliens, with kings and swords and gladiators, but also a smidgen of high technology. He becomes allied with rebels, seeking to overthrow a tyrant, and falls for the princess (also allied with the rebels).

Sword of the Atom isn't bad, but neither is it great. Strand and Kane jetison the whole superhero aspect (save the costume) in favour of trying this new sword & sorcery, Burroughsian template. But they haven't really delivered the kind of serial-like, roller-coaster ride Edgar Rice Burroughs could. As I get older, I freely acknowledge Burroughs' stuff, at its most extreme, was racist, sexist, even fascist...but he knew how to write adventure like no other author I've ever come across. Strand isn't in the same league. The plot isn't all that twisty for a four issue story.

Another problem was the decision to throw themselves entirely into this new genre. Comics have often benefitted from a willingness to mix milieus in a way that novelists and filmmakers might be afraid to try. If the Atom had retained his ability to shrink (that is, he could be unable to grow above six inches, but could still shrink below it) the mini-series would have benefitted from an added freshness, by mixing the comic book super-heroics of the Atom, with the swords & sandals genre. Instead, they discard the former and we're left with an O.K., but unremarkable, even common place, adventure.

Strand's dialogue is good, though ironically the early, urban scenes between the Atom and Jean Lorning are more effective than the later jungle stuff. The plot's pretty loose -- for instance, the Atom learns there is a traitor among the rebels, but when he is finally exposed...it turns out to be someone the reader hasn't even seen before. Some mystery! And like a lot of fantasy stories, the ethics are a bit skewed. At one point, the audience attending a gladitorial tournament is horrified to learn one of the captured rebels has been blinded before being put into the ring. But such moral distinctions are ludicrous. Is it somehow just and humane to force condemned prisoners to fight to the death for the entertainment of a mob in the first place? Nyah, I don't think so.

Kane's art is Kane's art. At his best, he's a dynamic storyteller with an unusually good eye for anatomy and the like. No mismatched limbs, or ludicrous contortions for Kane. On the other hand, he's an artist that can get a bit lazy at times, particularly with a multi-issue story like this. Some of his work gets a bit cruder, and his attention to details is a bit lax (at one point drawing fingernails on the Atom...when he's wearing gloves, etc.).

The Sword of the Atom led to three semi-annual specials, the first two still drawn by Kane, the final not. Ultimately, this change in venue didn't take especially firmly, because the Atom was eventually returned to civilization. In fact, the Sword of the Atom may not be considered part of current DC "official" mythology anymore at all.

Not a must have, but not a bad read, either.

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