Inkspot Fancy

The Hunt for Ray Palmer

TED!

There is plenty to say about the book itself, but the reading was worth it to me just for the cameo from spirit angel Ted Kord. And spirit angel Ted Kord saying with utter confidence that if Jason Todd doesn't keep his hands and his anger issues to himself then he's going to get his butt handed to him by Blue Beetle II. <3

The book unfortunately has a rather confusing issue that leads to meeting Ted. I can't be sure, but I think this is a crossover with the Countdown to Final Crisis event. That crossover was a meandering, pointless mess, and - in a twist that should surprise no one - also makes a meandering, pointless mess of the books it crosses into most of the time.

Such it is here. A small group from Countdown shows up, does a lot of basically nothing and then leaves. That's about a quarter of this book. If it weren't for Ted's cameo, this book would be getting a one from me. There's also a weird bit with a primitive tribe, a trip through the sewers and a giant movie monster... um... let's call it fight. The whole book felt weird, like the narrative flow got all thrown off by the intrusion.

Small Wonder

The final book of The All New Atom is way stronger than the third one, but it's just a little too strange for me. There's a whole thing with blood born creatures altering time and an attempt to wrap up the issues with Ivy Town itself. There's a welcome Booster Gold cameo. And I still really like Ryan as a character, which is what carries me through these books. But it feels like things went in a really weird direction and I just... I couldn't bring myself to care. Which I hate, but there it is.

Still.. better than three, by a long shot.