Comic review: Convergence: The Atom #2- Effervescent Rainbow Bright Happiness

Writer: Tom Peyer
Artist: Steve Yeowell
Publisher: DC Comics
Released: 6th May 2015



I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every single panel of these two short issues of Convergence- The Atom, and just like everything else that I enjoy so much, knowing it has now ended has left me with mixed feelings.

I’m sad that it’s ended so quickly, but happy at the same time that I got to enjoy it at all. Sounds corny, eh? Well, yeah it does, but corny is an emotion, so that’s okay, right? Hey, I’m an emotional guy you know, if you ignore me (and most do) does it not make me internally bleed? Okay, not really, but you get my point? What was my point? Hang on, I’m getting there.

You know what? I don’t even know what the whole ‘Convergence’ event is all about. Still don’t, though I am intrigued now. All I know is that I looked at the previews, they didn’t look like much fun, so I opted out of the event, just picking up ‘The Atom’ because I like lucky dips, because sometimes you get something really tasty when you take a random punt on something.

The Atom was my extremely lucky dip, and it reminded me that there are good comic books out there, fun comic books, and not everything has to be about the heavy real world issues that are largely peppered throughout the reviews here on my blog.

I won’t be talking about politics here. Let’s have some fun instead. Atom #2 is gloriously colourful, big, bright, light, clear and happy. There’s no darkness here. This is a fun comic book, a comic book that looks like something that would have made me smile as a kid. I love that. Why does everything have to be ‘dark?’ The world is dark enough, depressing enough, so let’s put some light into our comic books. I want the pages to shine on my face, to light it up like a sunbeam, to force me to smile, to force me to abandon negativity and pessimism. That is what both the art and the writing in ‘The Atom #2’ does, and I love it, and thank it for doing so.

I’m not going to talk about the plot. I don’t want to spoil it for people who have yet to read the book. Instead I will say two things about it, two things that those who have read the book will recognise, and those who have yet to read the book will have a delightful time in discovering.

Two things:

1- Little hands.
2- It’s not all about you.

That second point is something that we all need to become better acquainted with, myself included, big time.

I really do hope that writer Tom Peyer and artist Steve Yeowell get to work together again. I’m being corny (again) here, but they know how to do happy. They know how to make the reader smile, and that is one heck of a talent. To be able to make people smile, wow, that’s something special, and very rare.

It has been such a joy to experience this little treasure of a comic book. Okay, get ready for some corn, but I don’t care. I’m looking at the book now, as I finish off this review, and all I can see is a metaphorical rainbow of bright, effervescent comic book happiness, winking at me from my battered old work desk.

Read my other reviews. I can be a miserable old git. I can be sarcastic and cruel and I will tear something apart that I myself wouldn’t have a hope of replicating. Yes, I can suck sometimes, so when I say over the top positive things about a comic book you know it must have had an impact on me. Two issues, that’s all it was, but two issues that I really enjoyed, and two issues that I will fondly remember as a bright beam of happiness that reminded me of why I started reading comic books in the first place.

Comic books are supposed to make you smile, they are supposed to be fun. This book was fun, a lot of fun, and smile? Yes, it made me smile, it made me smile a lot, and so the review is over and I want to finish it with two words, two words to everybody involved at DC Comics. It’s corny, but this entire review has been corny and I really want to say it, so here goes:

Thank you.


Rating: 10/10 (A smiling reviewer banishes negativity, relaxes and enjoys a fantastically bright, positive and happy little comic book)

Comic review: Convergence: The Atom #1- Good Old Fashioned Cheese on Toast

Writer: Tom Peyer
Artist: Steve Yeowell
Publisher: DC Comics
Released: 8th April 2015


I’m always complaining about contemporary comic books and their refusal to deal with real world, contemporary issues that are affecting the lives of their readers. But when a comic book is intentionally silly and doesn’t even pretend to have anything to do with the real world of 2015, I can relax, put my mental feet up and enjoy it, just like I did as a comic book obsessed kid back in the early 1980’s.

Convergence- the Atom #1 is one of those comics that I can relax with. It’s very silly, genuinely funny and it reminds me of the comic books I used to read as a kid. The Atom is a nutter, a loser, and an embarrassment to everybody who is unfortunate enough to know him. His super hero power is having one large hand. It’s laughable, children don’t want to be anywhere near him, and I don’t blame them either. He hears voices in his head. The voices tell him that he sucks, and I agree with them wholeheartedly, because he does indeed suck, big time.

His world isn’t our world of 2015. It’s a 1980’s brightly coloured world where kids still go out to play and get up to healthy mischief not Internet or twitter/twatter related. It’s the world that I grew up in, a world that no longer exists as paranoia has set in and children are locked up by their television and fear indoctrinated parents.

Here kids, have this ipad, or iphone. Look at the Internet all day and think about the adventures outside that you could be having. That sucks.

Far too many kids today are prisoners in their own homes, with the government and their parents spying on everything that they do. Let them out parents. Buy them a bloody bike and let them have some freedom before the chains of conventional adulthood tie them to the rat race Hell of careerism, debt slavery, statism, war, consumerism, capitalism and everything else that slowly sucks away our souls as we rot away our adult lives.

The Atom #1 reminds me of better days. This old colourful 1980’s comic book world has stupid villains in it, and the dialogue is naff, and the cheese levels are through the roof, but there’s something about it that I’m enjoying.

I like cheese, I do. I like it on toast, and I like it in my comic books as well, just don’t give me the fancy Dan cheese, don’t con me with the cheese, just give me something old fashioned, something reliably cheddary and I’m happy.

Atom #1 is good old-fashioned cheddar cheese on toast. It’s easy, tasty and it fills up your belly very nicely indeed.

I’m going to come back to this one. I’m going to forget everything that I know about this post 9/11 world of the new world order, put my feet up, get the cheddar ready and have a good old fashioned 1980’s comic book experience, just like I used to. It was good then, and it’s just as good today.

New World Order? What the Hell is that? Cheese on toast time, yum, yum, happy times are here again.


Rating: 8/10 (Good old fashioned, fun, daft, enjoyable 80’s comic book)