Comic Pitch: The Atom

To me, The Atom stories excel in the area of perspective. When I read Atom comics, they make me look at little things differently -- folds in a blanket make me think, "That would be a whole labyrinthine mountain to climb from his point of view." My water bottle would be a huge monument. The carpet would be a wilderness like a tall grass field. I think this effect is positive, because it also facilitates mindfulness. This pitch is intended to focus on the perspective aspect of the character, and turn him into a heroic representative of mindfulness.

The Atom: The Angel in the Details

Ray Palmer continues in his science work, but feels that much of the wonder of learning science has faded. His work now feels like a job instead of exploration.

Chronos uses a gadget to alter Ray Palmer's brain, making The Atom feel as though time passes extremely quickly. He has the strange sense that everything is going by in a blur -- although he is still able to interact with the world, albeit in an uncomfortable, mechanical, automatic way, since his conscious mind is not processing the current moment properly. His conscious mind is outside the moment, while his unconscious mind is automatically guiding him through the whirlwind-day like a robot. This stops him from fighting Chronos, who is committing crimes, as The Atom needs to think in the moment about a clever way to stop his enemies, and he currently cannot do that.

The Atom fights against it with mindfulness that he gains by appreciating the majesty of the world from his shrunken perspective, allowing him to slow down and focus on the moment. This grounds him in the moment long enough to cleverly defeat Chronos and undo the alteration to his brain. Following this, he gains a more grateful and calm sensibility in general, focusing on the richness of little things, and reawakening his sense of wonder for the world -- and for the science that explains all the beautiful things around him.

[He eventually overuses this and starts shrinking as an escape from regular life which he finds boring. He must remember to use mindfulness and perspective as tools for connecting with the world gratefully, and as reminders that the challenges in life are balanced out by wonderful things. With this knowledge, work stops consuming his life.]

Ray later gets the idea to use his new appreciation of the world by shrinking down and trying to draw what he sees, since he feels so scientifically-minded and wants to be more well-rounded by getting into art. He's terrible at it but improves over time, and may even sell his artwork. (e.g. he tries to draw carpet fibers but they look like dumb cylinders, but eventually he can make them look like a unique  landscape of a giant forest.)

Ray may also travel to a new region of size called the "Spiritverse", where objects contain "soul particles" that represent people's memories with the object. A particle of an object is "tagged with sentiment" and becomes a soul particle, which is roomlike and Ray can enter them to see the memory displayed on the walls of the particle.

e.g. His wedding ring contains a soul particle of him proposing to Jean.

e.g. The Moon, which is a huge object, is filled to the brim with soul particles because people throughout history have had sentimental attachments to it.

This ties into Ray's appreciation for little things in life, and also helps him understand Carter Hall's fascination with archaeology (Ray might join some excavations and help Carter solve some historical mysteries via the soul particles). Ray may also gain a habit of collecting items, if he comes across something with strong sentimental history that he just can't get rid of, especially since he can appreciate it like no one else can.

Other Notes:

These are just some of the ideas I've had so far, and I have a few specific stories in mind that I might post sometime. If I were to make my own run it would likely be episodic instead of serial, with a priority on the mindfulness/serenity of the character and on creative uses of the environment.