The final storyline of this epic series is a 'Time Pool Saga.' For those of you unfamiliar with this term, it was a continuing storyline in the 1960s starring the Atom as he'd travel through time in a device known as the Time Pool, created by a physics professor at Ivy College. Often, the diminutive hero would battle his arch-enemy Chronos, the Master of Time through the annals of history in an attempt to prevent the criminal from making off with priceless works of art.
Ironically, these treks through the ages were for naught as at least during the Golden and Silver Age of DC Comics (the latter period which this story is set) it was established that no matter what you'd do it the past, you couldn't change past time. (See any of the numerous times Superman and his friends would travel to the past.) Thus even if you were to steal the Mona Lisa when you got back to the present, the item would disappear back into the past. That would render any venture moot. But, still DC devoted dozens upon dozens of stories to time travel that really didn't change history- but we the reader didn't seem to care. (Since the future was unwritten, future time and the present could be changed. See: Professor Zoom, the Reverse Flash of the 30th century.)
It should be noted that DC would later establish the certain points in time could be altered, as when the Anti-Monitor seeks to prevent the creation of the DCU. Thus by 1986, history could be rewritten and some couldn't depending on if a writer had an inkling to reboot a particular character or event in the post-Crisis universe.
Anyway, back to this story. Here, Chronos is aided by a mysterious benefactor in setting up some equipment that will syphon off temporal energy from the time pool, thus making it possible for the time thief to actually steal priceless works from history without them disappearing back into the past. Before the villain can fully power himself up, the Atom arrives to apprehend him. But with Chronos now in police custody, there isn't a catalyst to drain the villain's time battery and all of history looks to fold in on itself.
A pretty good opening chapter. I've never really been a fan of the Atom, but I find the Time Pool stories to be quite entertaining. Also, I like the character of Chronos a lot and see him as one of the less buffoonish villains of DC's Silver Age. Time travel is one of my favorite types of sci-fi stories (I named my blog after the Doctor for goodness sakes) and though I know that many time-altering episodes set during this period of DC Comics were fraught with anachronisms, paradoxes, and the occasional cop-out, I love reading these stories anyway.
I wasn't very much a fan of the art though. Drawn by Drew Johnson, I felt it looked too much like a 90s Flash issue instead of a 1960s romp through time as this issue is supposed to be set. I would've like to have seen an artist like Gil Kane (who co-created the Atom) or Neal Adams give this story their timeless touch to this story.
Worth Consuming
Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.
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