A nearly pristine glossy first printing of this out-of-print collection. Reprints Sword of the Atom #1-4 and Sword of the Atom Special #1-3. Beautifully printed on good uncoated comic book stock.

Sword of the Atom was a major storyline featuring the Atom, Ray Palmer. Written by Jan Strnad, it was told in two miniseries, Sword of the Atom (Volume 1) and Sword of the Atom Special (Volume 1). It also saw the return of Gil Kane to this character in a brand new fantasy environment.

"After discovering his longtime lover, Jean Loring, cheated on him, Ray left Ivy Town and soon found himself stranded in microscopic size in the Amazon Rainforest. There, he had adventures with the alien princess Laethwen in the realm of Morlaidh."

From the DC Comics News' review:

In the mid 1980’s, DC gave the Atom a makeover.  The task fell to Jan Strnad and Gil Kane.

Sword of the Atom began as a four issue mini-series published September through December 1983.  It was followed up with three double sized specials published in the Summers of 1984, 1985 and 1988.  This Sword of the Atom collection consists of all of the above material.  It’s a hefty tome that tells Ray Palmer’s adventures in the Amazon Rain Forest with a race of diminutive aliens stranded on Earth.  However, he’s believed to be dead to the world at large and his wife, Jean Loring has moved on with another man.

Ray ventures to South America and in a plane crash, Ray is stuck at his 6 inch size.  What follows for the course of the chapters containing the original mini-series is more similar to a Science Fiction or Fantasy novel as the now normally powered Atom must rely on standard athletic skills than his trademark size and weigh changing mechanism.  Ray’s journey is not unlike that of John Carter of Mars, Edgar Rice Burroughs’ creation.

By placing the Atom in a Sci-Fi/ Fantasy genre, Strnad and Kane re-imagined Ray Palmer’s skill set while also growing his personal story.  By giving Ray and Jean marriage problems, the Atom’s story becomes very mature.  It’s a real world issue to which many can relate.  It contrasts nicely with the Sword and Sorcery evoked in the Atom’s adventure in the Amazon Jungle.  Interestingly, both aspects of the story put Ray Palmer in new territory in both his personal and heroic life.

It will be obvious after thumbing through a few pages of this book, that the art work, almost exclusively by the legendary Gil Kane is outstanding. It’s a real treat as Kane inks himself on Sword of the Atom, and it’s absolutely the best way to view Kane’s work.  His action scenes are dynamic and explosive.  He individualizes every face and delivers a wide range of emotions seemingly effortlessly.  His anatomy is spot on and his skills are well-suited to depicting the heroic ideal.  While it’s obvious he well suited to drawing the Atom, having worked on the character for many years in the ’60’s, he’s at home with the Fantasy genre as well.