Digital Comic Museum
General Category => Comic Related Discussion => Topic started by: bchat on September 16, 2010, 06:31:20 PM
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This has nothing to do with Golden Age comics, but ...
Just saw some articles about Jason Goodman relaunching Atlas Comics (with help from Ardden Entertainment). From the two images I've seen (one each of Phoenix & Grim Ghost), it almost looks like what DC did with the Archie heroes (visually speaking, of course). Just curious as to what anybody else thinks of this news.
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This is a return of the 70's 'Atlas-Seaboard' company, not the Marvel predecessor.
I enjoyed the comics, especially the early issues.
As the line is going - will the new line last longer then the original?
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This is a return of the 70's 'Atlas-Seaboard' company, not the Marvel predecessor.
Yeah, I should have clarified that. Personally, I hear "Atlas" and I think of Goodman's company from '74-75, but I should have realized that most people would think of "Atlas Comics" from the 1950s.
I enjoyed the comics, especially the early issues.
My brother had a few Atlas comics when I was growing-up, so I've always been aware of them. Several years back I got on a kick of grabbing whatever issues I could find (conventions & off eBay), but I'm still missing books (I don't have any of the magazines) and haven't read all the ones I do have. I liked Grim Ghost, Tiger-Man, the first issue of Phoenix (haven't read the rest yet), Hands of The Dragon and Destructor, but didn't care for Cougar or Targitt.
As the line is going - will the new line last longer then the original?
Will it last more than 11 months? Yeah, probably, if they stretch things out ... which they probably will.
Will any title last more than 4 issues? Who knows? Depends on the books themselves. Personally, I don't care much for the image of Grim Ghost I've seen in the press releases, and the picture of Phoenix shown on some sites reminds me of what DC did with the Archie heroes.
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According to their editor-in-chief (http://www.jmdematteis.com/2010/09/empire-of-my-own.html), the buzz from internet fandom has somewhat exaggerated Ardden Entertainment's actual plans. According to him, they're only reviving two characters, not the entire Atlas line.
Oh well... it's a start. ;)
-- Kevin Yong
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I liked the two they've chosen but I recall enjoying Vampire Planet and The Scorpion titles the most.
-Yoc
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Yeah, people have a habit of blowing things out of proportion. I figured they were starting with GG & Phoenix and then going from there, since the press release on Ardden's site didn't mention anything else. I certainly didn't think "Atlas" was coming back as a full-blown line with a dozen titles ... it didn't work the first time, and it certainly wouldn't work now.
I haven't read Planet of Vampires yet (I'm missing the last issue), but that wouldn't be a bad follow-up to GG & Phoenix. Anything that isn't flat-out superheroes is probably the best direction for Atlas to go in, since there's so much superhero stuff out there already.
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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.
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.
But hey, more power to them for finding a niche. Hopefully, they'll do something good.
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I do not think there is enough money in comics for anyone to make a fuss about a rip off. The money is in movies and movies are from originals and vice versa
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Possibly not, but every publisher is going to make that decision differently. You might think it'll be fine and I might risk it, but neither of us are businessmen who need to make those sorts of decisions and risk our money and reputations on it.
Plus, since a lot of comic book publishing is around specifically (as you suggest) in hopes of getting a movie deal...well, you don't really want to hype the Cougar when someone else is doing a Kolchak revival, do you? That's money spent without any license coming in.
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I'm not a big enough fan of the old line to have read everything about them, so I have some questions.
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.
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?
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.
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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I'm not a big enough fan of the old line to have read everything about them, so I have some questions.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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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.
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.
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).
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.
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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 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
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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.
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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.
From Jon Cooke's Comic Book Artist #16 article, by way of the Atlas Archives:
...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?
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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I got them all with the exception of the mags and Vicki. I posted a series on my blog about them and wanted to see how the stories turned out/ how the third issue switch affected the titles I hadn't completed so I filled in the issues I was missing.. Planet of Vampires might have started of to ape Omega Man/I am Legend but by the time the third issue switch rolled around you have a planet with vampire spiders/vampire people/ and who knows what other kind of vampire creatures they had planed. I think it went pretty far from the source by the time it ended with issue 3. My personal favorites are Targitt (before the switch/new direction really hit with issue 3), Brute (Michael Fleisher written issues) Steve Ditko's work on Destructor, and Morlock 2001. Grim Ghost was a good title plenty of potential and Phoenix was one of the few Atlas titles that the third issue switch/new direction actually made even more interesting. Atlas/Seaboard stood out to me because it pushed the limit of what you could do in comics father than either Marvel or DC did back then, I don't know if the new relaunch will carry on in the same vein but I'm looking forward to giving it a shot.
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I got them all with the exception of the mags and Vicki. I posted a series on my blog about them
I've got the following mags, RKB,
should anyone ever need the info:
Devilina #1,2
Gothic Romances #1
Movie Monsters #1-3
Thrilling Adventure Stories #1,2
Weird Tales of the Macabre #1,2
Peace, Jim (|:{>
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The mags have always been harder to come by. I have been able to find the comics anytime I needed them except Vicki, but have not seen the mags often especially the romance.
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I guess you just had to be there when they hit the stands, Narf.
Since this was posted awhile ago and on GAC, perhaps I can share this my one and only Martin Goodman story again:
http://goldenagecomics.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1500.msg15660.html#msg15660 (http://goldenagecomics.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,1500.msg15660.html#msg15660)
Department of missed opportunities.
Peace, Jim (|:{>
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Just read that Ardden Entertainment's Editor-In-Chief J.M. DeMatteis is leaving the company due to "creative differences" over the Atlas revival. I also saw that "Wulf The Barbarian" is part of the revival (in addition to Grim Ghost & Phoenix).
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I got them all with the exception of the mags and Vicki. I posted a series on my blog about them
I've got the following mags, RKB,
should anyone ever need the info:
Devilina #1,2
Gothic Romances #1
Movie Monsters #1-3
Thrilling Adventure Stories #1,2
Weird Tales of the Macabre #1,2
Peace, Jim (|:{>
??? Gothic Romances #1 is a tough one to find! My Secret is supposedly the rarest. Neither are comics though.
Gene