Justice League: The Atom Project is a limited comic book series published by DC Comics as part of their DC All In initiative. The series is written by Ryan Parrott and John Ridley with art by Mike Perkins.
In the wake of the events of Absolute Power, many metahumans lost their powers, and the attempts to restore those powers have had mixed results, with some metas regaining their original powers, others finding their powers drastically altered, and a third group who never had powers in the first place and are now struggling to adjust to life with them. Consequently, scientists Ray Palmer and Ryan Choi, both of whom have called themselves The Atom, are spearheading the efforts to restore powers to those who lost them, and to take away powers from those who didn't want them in the first place. However, their plans require the aid of Capt. Nathaniel Adam - the former Captain Atom - and he is not an entirely willing participant.
The first issue was released January 1, 2025.
Justice League: The Atom Project contains examples of:
- Bears Are Bad News: In the third issue, Captain Atom's powers end up in a bear. The Atoms are not terribly thrilled about having to fight an atomic-powered grizzly.
- Big Bad Ensemble: General Eiling and Inferno are both scheming to use Captain Atom's power redistribution abilities for their own nefarious ends.
- Brought Down to Normal:
- When the story opens, Nathaniel Adams has been depowered. Ray and Ryan recruit him by offering to help him regain his powers in exchange for letting them use him as a guinea pig.
- Captain Atom defeats Major Force by using his new abilities to pull a De-power on him, returning him to his human form.
- Cast Herd: The series protagonists are the two Atoms, Ryan Choi and Ray Palmer, Captain Atom, and one of the first superhero cases they address is helping the Atom Smasher get his powers back.
- Curb-Stomp Cushion: In the fight between Captain Atom and Major Force, the Captain remarks that the two of them are no longer on the same level. Despite the vast difference in their power, Major Force lasts through the fight thanks to the aid of a Kill Sat that the military has trained on Atom's position. However, when he's given the chance to catch himself, Captain Atom ends the fight in an instant by siphoning off all of Major Force's power with a touch.
- De-power: Captain Atom is given the ability to both take and give metahuman powers, which he uses to help those affected by Waller's redistribution of superpowers. He also uses it to forcibly remove the powers of the Super Soldiers Eiling forced him to create, and Major Force during their battle.
- Death Seeker: Nathaniel Adams first volunteered for the experiment that gave him his power because he was in a bad place emotionally and thought that death would only be an improvement. In the present, he's fallen back on that mentality because he realizes that nobody should have the level of power that he's now stuck with and thinks it might be better for everyone if he just died.
- Evil Versus Evil: General Eiling comes to blows with the forces of Inferno over who will control Captain Atom; a battle which ends with Eiling and his forces soundly demolished.
- Fugitive Arc: The central plot follows Captain Atom as he goes on the run from the Justice League, the military and Inferno.
- How We Got Here: Every issue is intercut with flashbacks from before the main events of the story, detailing the events of how Captain Atom got his new powers and why he's now on the run.
- Just Following Orders: Nathaniel tries to do this with Doctor Light about following Eiling's orders. She not only mocks the excuse, but points out how an act of defying orders by a soldier prevented a nuclear war from breaking out. This apparently inspired Nathaniel to go on the run from the military and the Justice League.
- Kill Sat: Eiling employs one against Captain Atom in issue #4.
- Lies to Children: In the first issue, Ray promises Matthew that they've already got a solution planned for his unwanted powers and he only needs to wait a bit while they work out some last-minute kinks. When they're alone, Ryan calls out Ray for lying to the poor kid, giving him hope when in reality, there's no assurance that they can take away Matthew's powers.
- MacGuffin Super-Person: Captain Atom becomes one in the story, with his new ability to siphon off, grant and magnify metahuman powers making him a valuable tool for the military and the forces of Inferno. At the end of issue #5, Inferno captures and places him under their control.
- Meta Power: The Atoms discover that Nathaniel has the potential to not only store or transfer other metahuman abilities, but also modify them. If this ever gets out or he ever masters it, it'd mean a massive paradigm shift in the metahuman community.
- No Man Should Have This Power: Nathaniel ends up on the run from both the military and the Justice League because he believes his abilities shouldn't be under anyone's control.
- Powers as Programs: A central plot point as the Atoms work to undo the damage of Waller's attempt to steal all the powers of superheroes. They develop a device to detect, remove and implant metahuman abilities, and use Nathaniel as a bank of sorts as they improve the process. They discover that Nathaniel can not only store powers, but modify and replicate them, and try to keep this under wraps. General Eiling manages to browbeat them into allowing Nathaniel to copy powersets onto soldiers of his choosing.
- Power Incontinence: In the first issue, Ray and Ryan capture Matthew, a young boy who has suddenly gained electrical powers and is having trouble controlling them.
- Slave Collar: Lex Luthor puts one of these on Captain Atom to force him to serve the Legion of Doom.
- Super-Soldier: General Eiling's endgame. He forces the Justice League to redistribute the super powers Captain Atom has accumulated to soldiers under his command. The League is quick to realize the implications of this, and Captain Atom shuts the program down by stealing all of the powers back and going on the run.
- Superman Stays Out of Gotham: Most of the Justice League's members are non-participants in the story, with it remaining focused on the two Atoms trying to find Captain Atoms.
- The Reveal: The members of the terrorist organization Inferno are revealed to be the Legion of Doom, using a new alias. Of course, this twist was already established in the pages of Justice League Unlimited (2024).
- To Catch Heroes, Hire Villains: Eiling's last resort to bring in Captain Atom when he feels he can't trust the Justice League is to unleash Major Force on him. He happily accepts the job just so he can get to beat up Captain Atom again.
- Villain Has a Point: Ray Palmer concedes that, even though Eiling is an obvious opportunist playing a long con with them, his logic for redistributing the superpowers they've accumulated to his soldiers actually does make sense: if they're going to have to give away the powers, they might as well give them to well-trained individuals who can use them responsibly.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Doctor Light accidentally sets the events of the entire series in motion by lecturing Captain Atom about not blindly follow orders from his superiors. This leads to Atom going on the run after reclaiming the powers he distributed towards Eiling's soldiers, and eventually being kidnapped by Inferno (aka the Legion of Doom) so they can use his abilities for their own ends.