1970’s Atlas Comics Line Being Revived
Atlas Comics, the 1970s upstart designed to rival Marvel Comics, is being revived in time for New York Comic-Con next month. In a Deadline Hollywood exclusive, Jason Goodman, grandson of Marvel founder Martin Goodman, revealed that the line is poised to be revived beginning with Phoenix and Grim Ghost.
Handling the creative will be Ardden Entertainment’s Brendan Deenan, working with J.M. DeMatteis as editor-in-chief. Together, the pair previously produced a well-received adaptation of Flash Gordon and Casper the Friendly Ghost. No creative assignments were announced in the story but will be unveiled at the convention where both Atlas and Ardden will have table space.
“Although my grandfather eventually sold Marvel, he insisted on keeping Atlas Comics in the family,” Jason Goodman told Deadline. “As a result of his vision, Atlas Comics is the largest individually-held library of comic book heroes and villains on the planet. We have 28 titles and hundreds of characters imagined by some of the greatest minds in the industry.”
In 1972, Goodman sold Marvel Comics and by June 1974 decided he wanted to keep his hand in and created Atlas, a name once used by the company. His son, Chip, was its publisher, a role Martin intended Chip to have at Marvel, but one denied him by the new owners. It was always speculated Martin founded Atlas to beat Marvel in revenge.
Martin Goodman hired former Warren editor Jeff Rovin and Larry Leiber, a relative and brother to Stan Lee, to run the color comics and black and white magazines respectively. Both men always felt they were given the wrong jobs.
The line aggressively launched after luring many of the biggest names working in comics to produce covers or stories. Atlas paid top rates and offered creator participation, making them a more attractive outlet than either DC Comics or Marvel.
However, no sooner did titles launch than they were ordered retooled to more closely resemble Marvels’ heroic universe. An example was Howard Chaykin’s pulp-inspired The Scorpion, but after two issues he quit when orders to update it came down. He took his unfinished work to Marvel, reworking it into Dominic Fortune.
The line lasted long enough to publish approximately 60 color comics and nine black and white magazines.
I wonder if Ernie Colon is available to work on Grim Ghost again? Haven’t seen his work since the 9/11 G/N.
This is going to be AWESOME! Can’t wait for the movies, video games, toys and the like.
Uh, what about the COMICS?
This is going to be AWESOME! Can’t wait for the movies, video games, toys and the like.
Uh, what about the COMICS?
I am behind this all the way. Atlas had some amazing potential, but it was just the wrong time in the comics industry. If Goodman had waited until the 79-82 range, when Eclipse had carved out a niche and other independents were popping up, Atlas probably would have thrived.
Parts of the above press release are untrue. Reason why Atlas comics failed were too many titles at once which caused the major wholesaler distributors to not place Atlas comics out on the racks. The LA county distributor was a main culprit in Calif. I know this cuz I owned comic book stores in the Bay Area. We dealt with Gilboy in Oakland and Golden Gate in SF. LA store owners were contacting us to get copies to sell, they could not get them.If Goodman had intro’d his line slower, it would have thrived
Parts of the above press release are untrue. Reason why Atlas comics failed were too many titles at once which caused the major wholesaler distributors to not place Atlas comics out on the racks. The LA county distributor was a main culprit in Calif. I know this cuz I owned comic book stores in the Bay Area. We dealt with Gilboy in Oakland and Golden Gate in SF. LA store owners were contacting us to get copies to sell, they could not get them.If Goodman had intro’d his line slower, it would have thrived
I wonder if Ernie Colon is available to work on Grim Ghost again? Haven't seen his work since the 9/11 G/N.
If they’d been smart enough to keep the comics consistent and build readership before they started changing them, they’d have been a lot better off; i bought the first issues of a couple (The Scorpion, for instance) and then dropped them like hot potatoes when they screwed them up.
If they’d been smart enough to keep the comics consistent and build readership before they started changing them, they’d have been a lot better off; i bought the first issues of a couple (The Scorpion, for instance) and then dropped them like hot potatoes when they screwed them up.
I am behind this all the way. Atlas had some amazing potential, but it was just the wrong time in the comics industry. If Goodman had waited until the 79-82 range, when Eclipse had carved out a niche and other independents were popping up, Atlas probably would have thrived.
This is going to be AWESOME! Can't wait for the movies, video games, toys and the like.
Uh, what about the COMICS?
Parts of the above press release are untrue. Reason why Atlas comics failed were too many titles at once which caused the major wholesaler distributors to not place Atlas comics out on the racks. The LA county distributor was a main culprit in Calif. I know this cuz I owned comic book stores in the Bay Area. We dealt with Gilboy in Oakland and Golden Gate in SF. LA store owners were contacting us to get copies to sell, they could not get them.If Goodman had intro'd his line slower, it would have thrived
If they'd been smart enough to keep the comics consistent and build readership before they started changing them, they'd have been a lot better off; i bought the first issues of a couple (The Scorpion, for instance) and then dropped them like hot potatoes when they screwed them up.
In my case,Atlas sounded great back then, but never made it into town. (Yes, we had comics sold in town back then. Just not now.) Presumably the distributors did not want to deliver them. Yes, there were too many of them, and all at once (I think).They were like the 25 cent double sized comics from Marvel 1967-68. Never made it to town, but the unattainability made them seem the more magical.But I won’t believe this is a big deal until they get a firm grounding.
In my case,Atlas sounded great back then, but never made it into town. (Yes, we had comics sold in town back then. Just not now.) Presumably the distributors did not want to deliver them. Yes, there were too many of them, and all at once (I think).They were like the 25 cent double sized comics from Marvel 1967-68. Never made it to town, but the unattainability made them seem the more magical.But I won’t believe this is a big deal until they get a firm grounding.
In my case,Atlas sounded great back then, but never made it into town. (Yes, we had comics sold in town back then. Just not now.) Presumably the distributors did not want to deliver them. Yes, there were too many of them, and all at once (I think).They were like the 25 cent double sized comics from Marvel 1967-68. Never made it to town, but the unattainability made them seem the more magical.But I won't believe this is a big deal until they get a firm grounding.