Children of the Atom #1 defies being discussed. It is a story focused on discovering its own premise—a mystery carefully hidden away in promoting the series and far less carefully hidden in the 34 pages building to cliffhanger revelation. That makes it difficult to review or recommend so as to protect the reading experience, but that’s still possible as I’ll endeavor to prove here. However, that doesn’t end the difficulties of discussing this debut because the lack of clear context and motivation when introducing five new characters leaves their introduction hollow. Only at the end of the issue do readers even understand what story is being told, which raises a lot of questions, but no more compelling reasons to continue reading.