Children Of The Atom #1
A new group of heroes arises in Children Of The Atom #1, by writer Vita Ayala, artist Bernard Chang, colorist Marcelo Maiolo, and letterer Travis Lanham. Ayala and company present an interesting set-up in a book that kind of telegraphs its ending.
The Hell's Belles- a group of mostly depowered mutants- attack an armored car and are stopped by a group of mutants- Cherub, Marvel Guy, Cyclops Lass, Gimmick, and Daycrawler- who are all extremely reminiscent of X-Men. The group of young heroes is able to take down the villains and are confronted by Pixie, Magma, and Maggot, who ask them why they haven't come to Krakoa yet. The group makes excuses, and as the police show up, the three X-Men offer to tell the team to follow them through a Krakoan gate- but when they get to Krakoa, the team isn't with them. At the Summers House, Wolverine, Cyclops, Jean Grey, Storm, and Nightcrawler discuss what to do about the group, with Wolverine advocating bringing them to Krakoa no matter what and the others wanting a more subtle approach. Storm agrees to go to New York City to talk to them. At their school, the kids have a normal day, including Cyclops Lass telling off a racist and an old friend returning. That night, the team goes to the Krakoan Gate on Coney Island, but things don't go as expected.
As far as first issues go, this one is pretty great. It starts out with a nice action scene, allowing readers to see just what the team can do. Then, it shows readers familiar characters and ties into the whole overall Krakoan/mutant storyline. From there, it gives readers a glimpse at their school life before laying out an ending that is kind of telegraphed but still really good. In fact, the ending does exactly what it's meant to do- it gets readers even more invested in what is going on in the book because it begs the question of what is going on. It even makes the fact that they fought the Hell's Belles at the beginning of the book even more appropriate.
Ayala does a great job in this first issue of laying out the personality of the team's leader, Cyclops Lass. The character is the narrator of the first issue, and much like her namesake is a dedicated serious type. She tells off a racist who feels like a typical Trump supporter- spreading conspiracies and hate about something they know nothing about and takes her role in the team very seriously. Readers also get a glimpse into who Gimmick is and her relationship with Cherub, one that Cyclops Lass covets. The character work is quick and efficient, showing just how good Ayala is at using page space to tell their story.
The art by Chang is excellent. The open-action scene is well laid out and looks great. The characters' costume design is outstanding as well- it's reminiscent of the mutants they are trying to copy but also has little things that set them apart from their inspirations. Chang's character acting is also terrific, selling the emotion of each scene.
Children Of The Atom #1 is a great introduction to a new team of heroes. It grabs readers by the throat with a big fight in the opening pages and never let's go, dropping more and more interesting things into the mix before ending on a moment that is kind of predictable but no less gripping for that. Chang's art is pretty great throughout, selling the actions and the characters. Children Of The Atom does a lot with its first issue, and all of it will keep readers coming back.