Children of the Atom #1 Review: Young Mutants on the Scene!

Writer: Vita Ayala / Artist: Bernard Chang / Marvel We open up with a powerful full page of action featuring youngins that look eerily similar to a few mutants you may have heard of! Beatrice Bartholomew aka Buddy seems to be the commander, which tracks with the Cyclops inspired visor on her head. Marvel Guy has the makings of a Rogue and Juggernaut offspring. The little teleporting cowboy with the tail is giving off clear Nightcrawler vibes and… HOL UP! Is that a new young black girl magic character in the corner looking like Gambit and Storm had a love affair?! Vita Ayala and Bernard Chang really set the tone right there.

We find out the black girl’s name is Gimmick, Scott’s maybe offspring’s name is Cyclops-Lass….and I don’t know if I can’t even handle all that. Marvel Guy already got name dropped and the tag team flyers are Cherub and Daycrawler. Looking back, this opening page was perfectly done. Each character gets a 1 liner that encompasses who they are.  The writing following that page should have kept that hype going but the weak ass, old mutant jokes were a bore. Luckily, there was some good artwork in those opening pages to keep my attention. Now I gotta say, after the “first team mission” portion of this book, Ayala does an amazing job of being a magician with the pen an giving us the answers that are obviously kicking around in everyone’s head, while never revealing all of her cards. We find out why these kids are fighting crime out in the streets, if…