General Category > Comic Related Discussion
Atlas Comics returns
John C:
--- Quote from: bchat on September 18, 2010, 08:09:30 AM ---I'm not a big enough fan of the old line to have read everything about them, so I have some questions.
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I should have run a disclaimer before I posted, but I think I've actually read more ABOUT Atlas than FROM Atlas, starting with links from Jim Shelley's (Flashback Universe) blog post about a year ago on the Atlas books. I read the Morlock 2001 series, and one or two others. Like yourself, I have a pile in here, but haven't taken the time to go through much of it.
--- Quote from: bchat on September 18, 2010, 08:09:30 AM ---
--- Quote from: John C on September 17, 2010, 04:55:50 PM ---Keep in mind that they may be strongly limited in what they can use. By every account of Atlast that I've read, they attracted talent by giving the character rights (whatever they are beyond trademarks) to the creators. So we may never see an Atlas Scorpion, as the rights could rest with Chakyin.
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Might that be part of the reason that the books (for the most part) "changed directions" after a few issues ... in effect, the creators would get to keep their "character rights" while Atlas continued to use (and own) the Trademark on a changed/altered/all-new character they could claim sole ownership to?
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I suppose it's possible, though it would seem like an odd choice as they were still trying to find their footing and bring in top talent. While I don't have any experience in the field, obviously, the Goodmans and their staff didn't seem to be much on long-term strategy, just getting the talent (and thus the sales, in theory) as early as possible. So I don't see what good character rights would be when you lose the reader draw of the writer who owns the version you're avoiding.
--- Quote from: bchat on September 18, 2010, 08:09:30 AM ---
--- Quote ---And on top of that, a good number of the properties are blatant ripoffs of things they wanted to license, but couldn't get the money for. In the more litigious environment of today, "Planet of Vampires" could well be a pretty big risk, for example.
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I never heard that said before (ripping-off an idea they wanted to license). What was Planet of Vampires a rip-off of? Again, I haven't read that book yet, so maybe it's obvious, but, to me, it just sounds like a neat concept that's similar to a lot of things and not one single thing specifically.
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Oh, it was developed to adapt (and continue) "The Omega Man," the "I Am Legend" adaptation starring Charlton Heston. They modified when they decided not to spend the money, but that's the core. Likewise, the Scorpion was developed as the Spider and the Cougar as Kolchak the Night Stalker. There might have been another on the list (other than the Brute aping the Hulk, I mean--clearly, nobody expected to license a comic book character for another comic book).
Not that they couldn't have (or didn't) develop into something unique, mind you, just that the core concept is a rewrite of someone else's material. And while not illegal in any sense, it would limit the marketplace utility to come back and compete with revivals of those very originals.
bchat:
--- Quote from: John C on September 18, 2010, 10:59:01 AM ---I should have run a disclaimer before I posted, but I think I've actually read more ABOUT Atlas than FROM Atlas, starting with links from Jim Shelley's (Flashback Universe) blog post about a year ago on the Atlas books. I read the Morlock 2001 series, and one or two others. Like yourself, I have a pile in here, but haven't taken the time to go through much of it.
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I read a lot of the articles on the "Atlas Archives" site and did read Jim Shelley's post on Atlas, plus other things here & there, but I guess the "similar to/blatant rip-off of such-and-such" parts of what was said never stuck with me ... everything is influenced by something else, after all.
--- Quote ---Oh, it was developed to adapt (and continue) "The Omega Man," the "I Am Legend" adaptation starring Charlton Heston. They modified when they decided not to spend the money, but that's the core. Likewise, the Scorpion was developed as the Spider and the Cougar as Kolchak the Night Stalker. There might have been another on the list (other than the Brute aping the Hulk, I mean--clearly, nobody expected to license a comic book character for another comic book).
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I never would have made the connection between The Cougar (which I didn't care for) & Kolchak (which I like but haven't seen enough of).
I like the movies Last Man on Earth, Omega Man and I Am Legend, so now I'm interested in digging-out the first two issues (missing the third) of Planet of Vampires to see if it's anywhere near as good.
I've only flipped through the first issue of Scorpion. It looked pretty good but came across to me as more of an imitation of the James Bond films, which I'm not really a fan of, to be honest.
Geo (RIP):
--- Quote from: bchat on September 18, 2010, 06:45:56 PM ---I like the movies Last Man on Earth, Omega Man and I Am Legend, so now I'm interested in digging-out the first two issues (missing the third) of Planet of Vampires to see if it's anywhere near as good.
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I liked the Planet of the Vampires series too when it came out. The third issue featured Russ Heath art. I was a bit disappointed that the series stopped with that third issue and didn't continue at the time.
Cover shot of issue 3: http://yfrog.com/ht48968j
Geo
narfstar:
I have paper and digital of most of these. I enjoyed them when they came out but it seems that the ones I liked least originally I enjoyed the most many years later. Planet of Vampires being a prime example.
John C:
--- Quote from: bchat on September 18, 2010, 06:45:56 PM ---I read a lot of the articles on the "Atlas Archives" site and did read Jim Shelley's post on Atlas, plus other things here & there, but I guess the "similar to/blatant rip-off of such-and-such" parts of what was said never stuck with me ... everything is influenced by something else, after all.
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From Jon Cooke's Comic Book Artist #16 article, by way of the Atlas Archives:
--- Quote ---...the editor pursued pulp characters The Avenger and The Spider; movie creature Godzilla and his Toho monster brethren; TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker; and the Charlton Heston film, The Omega Man. Martin Goodman deemed all the licenses to be too expensive and suggested a Timely-worn tradition to swipe. The Spider became The Scorpion, Kolchak became The Cougar, and The Omega Man became Planet of Vampires. Why pay when you can steal?
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http://www.atlasarchives.com/history.html
As I said, this isn't necessarily a terrible thing for them to have done, nor does it mean those stories must somehow be, by definition, unoriginal. However, I do think it damages the marketability and almost certainly limits the scope of licensing opportunities. After all, what studio would want to risk a Scorpion movie when Conde Nast (I believe) could show up demanding a cut of the revenue and the Spider rights are probably just as easy to get?
And getting back to the reason I brought it all up in the first place, if you add in the writers holding the rights to many characters, it can explain why the "relaunch" is so small and starting with relatively obscure titles.
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