Atlas Comics

[ctc]

So;

I thought of this 'cos of the "70's non superhero" thread. Went to the comic shop this week, and they had a schload of old Atlas books in the discount bin. I don't know why; but I've had a weird fixation with them for a few years now.

If you've never heard of them:

The Atlas Archives

I find it so weird that they were essentialy Image BEFORE Image, but a lot less successful. Even thematicly; they were going for that darker/grittier/more violent/more sinister vibe; but in a weird 70's kinda way.

Anyone else ever read these books?

Don C.

[Timothy2251]

My brother and I had a couple - Tiger Man #3, Destructor #4 (Ditko art, yo!), and Phoenix the Protector #4. A friend of mine had the first issue of Grim Ghost and let me read that, but that was pretty much the limit of my Atlas experience (and the company folded soon after). I think I still have them somewhere in my collection.

Funny thing is I've been tempted to make a few customs of some of the characters... maybe someday.

[johnnystorm]

My understanding is that the Atlas line was created by Martin Goodman & son to compete directly with Marvel Comics, after Goodman had sold the company..I remember reading that it had something to do with Goodman& his son retaining creative control at Marvel after the sell-off, but then that control not being what they expected. They were pushed out of Marvel entirely, so they created Atlas, with the similar banner at the top to what Marvel was using then, and attempted to hire off all the top talent. Worked for the first 2-3 issues then went south rapidly after Jeff Rovin was put in charge. If you've ever read any of Rovin's "encyclopedias" they are a mish-mash of information and characters, interesting for what they are but hardly comprehensive. Marvel increased the amount of titles they were publishing(as did DC), in that era when the reprint titles were prevelant, quickly choking the stands and crippling Atlas.
Of the Atlas titles, I liked Grim Ghost by Ernie Colon; Scorpion by Chaykin; Planet of Vampires by Heath; and the Cougar (I dunno why, I know it was the first Atlas title I bought). Why no one ever tried to revive any of the better titles like PoV I don't know. Chaykin eventually redid the Scorpion at marvel as Dominic Fortune, and Demon Hunter by Rich Buckler transposed nearly intact into the Marvel Universe (and I've never beeen sure just how that happened). I guess the rights to everything is in one of those legal limbos.

[aquatroy]

The first 2 issues of Phoenix are really good. Worth finding. The 1st issue of Destructor is pretty good,too. Basic super hero funny book, but I think it's Ditko & Wood doing the illustration. That makes it worth picking up.

[kryptosmaster]

A few months back there was a guy selling a whole load of these in cherry condition on ebay and I did bid on them but I didn't want them bad enough to pay what they went for (not astronomical but I wasn't willing to pay more than a couple bucks each).
They did look interesting. I don't think I have any of them in my collection. Not really a big market for them as far as I know.
Rich

[StrangeVisitor]

Read The Grim Ghost & Weird Suspense featuring The Tarantula back in the old days. I thought that Tarantula was both fascinating & repulsive/scary as a arachnid-vampire. The titular characters either killed or sent criminals to Hell , sorta violent for 70's era newstand kid comics.

[Godzilla]

I think I still have my copy of tarantula from when I was a kid. It was weird, but I liked it.

[samurainoir]

My understanding is that the Atlas line was created by Martin Goodman & son to compete directly with Marvel Comics, after Goodman had sold the company..I remember reading that it had something to do with Goodman& his son retaining creative control at Marvel after the sell-off, but then that control not being what they expected. They were pushed out of Marvel entirely, so they created Atlas, with the similar banner at the top to what Marvel was using then, and attempted to hire off all the top talent. Worked for the first 2-3 issues then went south rapidly after Jeff Rovin was put in charge. If you've ever read any of Rovin's "encyclopedias" they are a mish-mash of information and characters, interesting for what they are but hardly comprehensive. Marvel increased the amount of titles they were publishing(as did DC), in that era when the reprint titles were prevelant, quickly choking the stands and crippling Atlas.
Of the Atlas titles, I liked Grim Ghost by Ernie Colon; Scorpion by Chaykin; Planet of Vampires by Heath; and the Cougar (I dunno why, I know it was the first Atlas title I bought). Why no one ever tried to revive any of the better titles like PoV I don't know. Chaykin eventually redid the Scorpion at marvel as Dominic Fortune, and Demon Hunter by Rich Buckler transposed nearly intact into the Marvel Universe (and I've never beeen sure just how that happened). I guess the rights to everything is in one of those legal limbos.

That's really interesting! I was wondering about the "Atlas" name given the fact that Marvel used Atlas prior to the Silver Age Marvel days. Thanks for the info.


Wow! Devilina! I have this one...

Great cover, insides not so much.

[samurainoir]

Planet of the Vampires looks good.


Larry Hama and Pat Broderick. Looks like Atlas was a training ground for a few names.

[ctc]

>My understanding is that the Atlas line was created by Martin Goodman & son to compete directly with Marvel Comics,

The Atlas Archives site explains it; but this is pretty much it. Even THAT reminds me of Image, the idea that the instigators broke off from a bigger company to persue their own ideas. Larry Lieber was a big part of it too. (And he's Stan Lee's brother....)

>Worked for the first 2-3 issues then went south rapidly

Yeah. Most of the books lated for one or two issues; I think four was the max.

>Marvel increased the amount of titles they were publishing(as did DC), in that era when the reprint titles were prevelant, quickly choking the stands and crippling Atlas.

I wonder if that was the case. I've never seen records of how much Atlas was selling, so I have no idea how big a threst they were. It'd be cool to find out.

>Why no one ever tried to revive any of the better titles like PoV I don't know.

Given the amount of recycling in the entertainment world these days I'm surprised too. Atlas had a few good books. Lots of neat ideas, even if the execution was uneven.

>I guess the rights to everything is in one of those legal limbos.

I've never seen refrence to any of these characters POST Atlas, so that's another interesting fact I'd like to know....

Don C.

[The Toyroom]

What happened was after Martin Goodman sold Marvel to Cadence, his son "Chip" was supposed to be given the title of editorial director. Cadence reneged and Goodman got miffed and decided to show them!

They raided Marvels' talent with promises of $$$ but things quickly went south because of poor editorial direction....Goodman was too cheap to pay for licenses so had instructed Rovin to create a bunch of knock-offs (for example Omega Man inspired Planet of Vampires, The Spider became The Scorpion, etc.). When Rovin started doing his own thing on these titles, Goodman demanded they be more like Marvel. Rovin got fed up and jumped ship and things were turned over to Leiber. Meanwhile "Chip" Goodman was causing all sorts of commotion and problems across the board. It just ended up being one big out-of-control disaster.

[samurainoir]

I always wondered what happened to Larry Leiber. He seemed to just disappear from Marvel at a certain point.

Chip wasn't the only son of a Marvel employee who ran amuck... remember Solson Comics? Sol Brodsky's son started that one in the eighties post TMNT black and white boom/bust.

[johnnystorm]

Solson did Reagan's Raiders, a weird little political parody comic that ran 2 issues. And somewhere I have the really bad THUNDER Agents update one-shot they did. I think the rest of their line consisted of bad TMNT wannabes.

Looking over that Atlas website I realize there was a lot of pretty good comic ideas. I have some of the issues, and sometimes think about buying everything, because Atlas is one of those vintage lines of which you could actually collect the entire output at a fairly reasonable price.

Not via Ebay though, I was just looking at some lots in the $20-30 range..Atlas is best collected via flea markets and quarter boxes, and would be worth searching out until you only neede a coule issues. The only Tough Title would probably be VICKI, the teen-Archie style comic, of which I've only seen an issue or two in the wild over the years.

I might try putting together the lot, just to do it, not through any great love of the line. Might be an interesting project.

[ctc]

>remember Solson Comics?

SOMEONE does:

Stupid Comics

>Looking over that Atlas website I realize there was a lot of pretty good comic ideas.

They're really were, and the execution wasn't horrible; especially compared to some of their contemporaries. Even the ripoffs were different enough from the sources to stand on their own. All told, I kinda see them as one of comics' missed opportunities.

....and we all know it's only a matter of time 'til someone licenses one of 'em for a bazillion dollar film....

Don C.

[Earth 2 Chris]

I got Rovin's Encyclopedia of Super Heroes when I was only 11, and it's chock-full of entries and art from the Atlas line. I wondered why for years. It's always left me fascinated with these titles, but I've never held a single one in my hands.

Chris