The All-New Atom #1-2

The All-New Atom #1-2
After reading the preview in Brave New World, I was not going to pick this up, but people kept saying complementary things about it, so I decided to give it a shot. I'm glad I did. This series is fun! And the main character knows it. He's come to Ivy town with the express purpose of taking over for Ray Palmer in every facet of his life, his house, his friends, his job, and his superhero identity...and he gets right into it. In the first issue, he accidentally minimizes himself without having the belt on and gets trapped in the folds of his clothing. Afterwards, he brings the belt to scientist friends of his (who were also friends of Palmer's) and asks them to help him figure it out.
The second issue begins with Dr. Choi riding an ant. Yes, riding an ant.
Whereas the first issue's structure is a bit too Morrisony (reminiscent of The Invisibles) for my tastes, what with the jumping back and forth in time, it eventually settles down to a linear flow, and the second issue is entirely linear.
Dr. Choi (whose first name is a very unChinese "Ryan") and his motley colleagues have fun experimenting with the capabilities of the Atom's belt that he has found. And there's some microscopic alien invader intrigue as well. Personally, that was the one aspect of the original Atom's adventures that I could never really believe, that the world is teeming with microscopic alien invaders, but it's classic, and my father liked it when he was a kid, so I won't complain. The writing style is classic Gail Simone, the art is classic old-time Byrne, and I suspect that the random quotations interspersed throughout the text are Morrison's ideas. They quote famous scientists, literary figures, and even fictional characters such as Wile E. Coyote, Lex Luthor, and Will Magnus. It's good clean fun.
There's also a subplot which hints that Ryan may be in line to get some from a hot student. And there is some intrigue regarding a mysterious benefactor who chooses a serial killer as his Atom. We'll see what happens there.
Right now, these issues have done exactly what introductory issues should do, unlike so many other series lately. They hook you with the simple premise of an everyday guy discovering and exploring superpowers.
And dogs with mind control implants.
Both issues are VERY GOOD (as opposed to the sub-EH introductory feature in Brave New World.)