Ray Palmer grew up in Ivy Town, where as a physics graduate student, he discovered a White Dwarf Star Fragment that had fallen to Earth. Investigating matter compression, Ray theorized that if he were to grind a lens from this fragment and focus ultraviolet light through it, he could shrink anything struck by the light down to a fraction of its original size.

Using it on himself, he discovered that although he could shrink to subatomic sizes, he retained his full mass, making him a formidable combatant. Ray created the identity of the Atom and began a career of crime fighting in Ivy Town. The Atom later joined the Justice League of America.