DC COMICS
WRITERS: Paul Dini, Sean McKeever;
ARTISTS: Keith Giffen, Al Barrionuevo
COVER: Karl Kerschl

The Atom, Ray Palmer, is finally tracked down-- for real, hopefully.

The fate of Palmer has been a mystery since IDENTITY CRISIS and the team of displaced heroes, including Kyle Rayner, Jason Todd and Donna Troy finally learn where he went and what he has been doing all this time. It isn't quite the major revelation we were hoping for, but it does make sense. Mary Marvel also faces off against Eclipso while the clues to the impending FINAL CRISIS become clearer.

This issue seems more consistent and more affecting. Perhaps this is because we don't have too many multiple plotlines, going in different directions. They can give more attention to a more personal story of a man trying to recover from a traumatic incident rather than showing whole worlds being destroyed. Of course, after stringing us along with the mystery of Ray Palmer for months, DC now has the challenge of trying to keep this plot from turning into a giant anti-climax.
  
The art is adequate-- not too eye-popping but quite capable of telling a very complex story. Just wish they had made some of the more alternate-Earth versions of DC characters more recognizable.

This gets a respectable three stars and a half stars out of five.