Ryan Choi (New Earth)

A former correspondent of physicist Ray Palmer, the superhero known as the Atom, Ryan Choi inherited Ray's size-changing technology after his mentor's disappearance, and the mantle of the Atom along with it.

Place of Birth

Kowloon, Hong Kong

Creators

Grant Morrison, Gail Simone, John Byrne

First appearance

Brave New World #1
(August, 2006)

History

Doctor Ryan Choi emigrated to the United States following the death of his mother, to take up Ray Palmer's former position at Ivy University. Ryan had a deeper motivation for doing this, however; he had been in touch with Ray since he was a boy, and knew Ray had left him a legacy - the size-changing belt which Ray had originally used to become the Atom. Having found the belt, Ryan intended to explore the microscopic world, and utilize the belt's capabilities to benefit modern society - only to find a multitude of secrets awaiting the all-new Atom beneath the surface of Ivy Town.

In his first recorded adventure, the Atom fought an alien culture known as the Waiting, native to a sub-microscopic dimension. Agents of the Waiting infiltrated the White House, their intent to install a mind-control device into Duster - a dog owned by the President of the United States. It was their belief that the dog controlled the actions of the President. The Atom shrunk himself to microscopic size and fought several of the alien agents, even succeeding in destroying one of their space craft. The remaining agents quickly retreated before the Atom could capture them.

This was not Ryan's first encounter with the Waiting. He first met them shortly after his discovery of the Bio-Belt, when his investigation into a homeless woman's disappearance took him into the sewers of Ivy Town. There, he encountered the Waiting - and discovered they were at war with a monstrous creature called M'nagalah, a war of science against magic. More disturbing yet, M'nagalah and the Waiting saw Ryan as a critical figure in this war, one who could tip the fight either way. While trying to avoid capture by both sides, Ryan fell in with Ivy Town University's Dean Mayland, who explained the town had become a nexus for weirdness - and his theory that Ray Palmer's 'impossible' actions in the course of his adventures had inadvertently been responsible.

Mayfield attempted to persuade Ryan to return home, bringing Ryan's father in to convince him. Following an attack by the Waiting on Ryan's house, however, Ryan learned the war between science and magic was about to begin - and that the Waiting had launched a sneak attack on the U.S. President as a distraction. Ryan plunged into the events of his first recorded adventure, heading off the Waiting, before returning to try and stop the war.

Unknown to Ryan, however, Dean Mayfield was intent on making sure science won the impending conflict - and for that, he needed Ryan out of the way, by any means necessary. Mayfield had recruited psychopathic serial killer Sylbert Rundine as an agent, equipping him with one of the Bio-Belts, and giving him the name Dwarfstar. At first Mayfield's source of the Bio-Belts was undetermined, though later issues revealed Mayfield to be working for Chronos, who provided not only the Bio-Belts, but also some of Ivy's population and many of the situations in which Ryan found himself.

Dr. Ryan Choi

Upon Ryan's return to Ivy Town, he found himself facing off against Dwarfstar, receiving severe injuries at the psychopath's hands. Ryan managed to defeat Dwarfstar by removing his bio-belt when the villain was distracted, trapping him at the micro-scale.

Next, Ryan had to stop the war. First, he convinced M'nagalah to honor a truce if Ryan could get the Waiting to withdraw. Then, by provoking the Waiting into turning on their own forces, he demonstrated he knew how to destroy them, forcing them to retreat. Both sides withdrew, leaving no final victor - apart, perhaps, from Ryan and Ivy Town.

Ryan continued to battle the "strangeness" of Ivy Town, eventually discovering Chronos' manipulations, with the help of Lady Chronos, a future version of Ryan's first love, Jia. Ryan discovered that the Bio-Belts worked by injecting matter-borrowing "worms" into the wearer's bloodstream; these worms would cause the size & weight changes Ryan, Dwarfstar, and others would experience with the belts.

The series ends with the Chronoses' plans revealed, including manipulating Ryan into believing that he communicated with Ray Palmer when, in fact, all the letters had been forged. Palmer himself steps in to help solve the issue of the many Ivy Town residents who had been consumed by one of the "worms" but, instead, had been transported to a presumably microscopic world within Ryan's own blood. Although Palmer had to destroy the surviving Bio-Belt (the other having been destroyed earlier), Ryan was somehow left with the innate ability to change his own size and mass.

Powers and Abilities

Powers

Size Alteration: Ryan Choi originally possessed no superhuman abilities; all of his perceived powers derived from his equipment. At the end of the series, though, Ryan was able to control his own size and mass without equipment, though to what degree and by what mechanism was left unclear.

Abilities

Genius-Level Intellect: (IQ 200+).

Physics: Choi is a Ph.D. in Nuclear Physics.

Gymnast: Has training in gymnastics.

Paraphernalia

Equipment:

Bio-Belt: Ryan used a size-changing belt calls the Bio-Belt to become the Atom. The Bio-Belt gave its wearer the ability to take any height from his full size on down through the subatomic. It also gave him the ability to assume any mass, any weight, and any density at any height, from his full mass on down. The Bio-Belt was later revealed to be a product of Chronos' travels through time, though its location and time of origin have not been revealed. The belt used "matter-borrowing" worm-like creatures to operate. Mayfield possessed two Bio-Belts; the one not given to Ryan was given to Dwarfstar, and later used by Panda and Ryan himself. Both belts have since been destroyed, though Ryan now possesses the Atom powers innately.

Singularity Field Generator: This device plugs into the Bio-Belt, drawing on its power. It translates the environment around Ryan when he shrinks, enabling him to breathe. It also maintains Ryan's stability for a prolonged period when he shrinks, preventing him from exploding. Stories since the destruction of the Bio-Belt have not revealed if Ryan still uses, or even needs, the generator.

Transportation:

Bangstick: The Lighter Than Air Society created a particle drive device, based on technology retrieved from the Waiting, which Helmond Kettering calls the Bangstick. This device enables the Atom to propel his body at great speeds through subatomic environments. The Bangstick was destroyed during Ryan's microscopic adventure against Chronos and Lady Chronos; it has not been revealed if Ryan has replaced it.

Weapons:

Bangstick: The Bangstick, mentioned above, could also be used as a concussive weapon.

Notes

No special notes.

Trivia

Grant Morrison submitted a ten-page outline for a new Atom series to DC's editorial staff, but his commitment to the weekly series 52 precluded him from actually working on the title. The ongoing series, entitled The All-New Atom, was passed along to writer Gail Simone, artist John Byrne and inker Trevor Scott.

Although officially introduced in Brave New World #1, the new Atom made a cameo teaser appearance in a two-page preview spread at the end of Infinite Crisis #7.

Links and References

The Atom at Wikipedia.org
None.

Footnotes

Previous
Atom (Ray Palmer)

Atom
As of All-New Atom #25, both Ryan and Palmer are semi-active as the Atom, though Palmer prefers to keep a low profile.

Next
Incumbent

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Ryan Choi (New Earth)

From DC Database

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