Slightly Misplaced Comic Book Characters Case File #507: Atomica

DC Comics, as a rule, really loves legacy heroes.  There’s been more than a few, and some have been better remembered than others.  However, I think the least memorable for a simple reason–she wasn’t around for very long–is the New 52’s version of the Atom.

Or, as she was sometimes known, Atomica.

Atomica, real name Rhonda Pineda, first appeared in The New 52: FCBD Special Edition #1 in June of 2012.  Or she first appeared in Aquaman #16 in March of 2013.  I’ve found two different wiki-sites for comic book characters, and each one lists a different first appearance.  What both agreed on is she was created by writer Geoff Johns and artist Jesus Saiz.  What I think happened is the Free Comic Book Day special was maybe a panel or two appearance and she got a decent-sized speaking role in the Aquaman issue.

Regardless, the Aquaman issue was the first time readers got a good look at her.  Johns was writing both that book and JLA at the time, so there was a crossover between the two where Aquaman was fighting Ocean Master over the throne of Atlantis, as one does, and there were some bombs Cyborg was trying to defuse only to find this tiny woman had beaten him to it.  This was Rhonda, and not long afterwards, there was a League recruitment drive and Rhonda joined up as the Atom.

Or she didn’t!  I mean, she did, but she was also acting as a double agent for Amanda Waller in ARGUS.

Oh wait, she was working for someone even worse!

Yeah, it turns out Rhonda was from Earth-3, and when that world was destroyed, she was sent ahead as an advance scout.  On Earth-3, she was the lover of Johnny Quick.  The two had started off as non-powered hoodlums, but when they had to flee the police, they got to a S.T.A.R. Labs where Johnny was struck by lightning and Rhonda fell into the equipment used for size-changing experiments.  Johnny gained his speed, and Rhonda learned to shrink down to subatomic sizes with her specialized equipment.  From there, the pair joined the Crime Syndicate, the evil version of the Justice League from Earth-3.

After setting up the three different Justice Leagues from Earth-1 into a trap that managed to contain everyone but Batman, Catwoman, and one or two others,   From there, the Crime Syndicate took over the world, and that didn’t sit well with, of all people, Lex Luthor.  Luthor put together his own Injustice League with Batman to stop the Crime Syndicate, and that meant the team worked together to free Earth-3’s Alexander Luthor, that world’s Shazam/Captain Marvel, only he went by the name Mazahs.  You know, “Shazam” backwards.  This character stole powers from others, an act that damaged Atomica’s size-changing belt.  She was stuck at a small stature and a very different Luthor handled her.

Man, Johns loves the shock-value gore, doesn’t he?  Can you believe Luthor was actually invited to join the Justice League after all this?

Now, I would not be surprised if there has been other Atomicas since the Crime Syndicate may be the most rebooted team at DC as near as I can make out.  Earth-3 has been destroyed more than once, and they always seem to come back with a new Crime Syndicate.  The New 52 was just doing something with a war between Darkseid and the Anti-Monitor, and it seemed rather underwhelming to me, honestly.  But I can see where a story like this could have fooled readers.  It’s a reboot.  Heroes didn’t come back exactly the same way.  Why can’t Ray Palmer be a woman this time around?  Well, it wasn’t the Atom after all.  It was Atomica.  And Lex Luthor later had to scrape her remains off his boot.