Thread by @jeffs_comics

Who's Who in Atlas Seaboard Comics!
#WhosWhoAtlas

I saw a brief text document and thought it could use an 80s style enhancement.

Please enjoy a slowly growing sticky 🧵of long lost characters from Martin Goodman's mid 1970s Atlas Seaboard comics (to the extent I can)

#WhosWhoAtlas The Cougar

Part DeadMan, part Kolchak The Night Stalker!

There were only 2 issues, and they had completely different creative teams (even different editors). Done in familiar 70s Bronze Age horror style. The 3rd issue 'a crippled cougar' possibly permanently???

For credits for this and all entries, perhaps I'd do best just to point you to the GCD pages
Here it is for Cougar issue 1
comics.org/issue/28486/

And for the entire Seaboard line
comics.org/publisher/372/

#WhosWhoAtlas Sgt Hawk

The behind the lines army sergeant with the fierce passions and even fiercer mustache. Only one story told, by John Albano (better known for his humor stories). While not graphic, there is a lot of violence and suggested torture in this morality play.

#WhosWhoAtlas Andrax of the Elder Earth

Parts Buck Rogers and Jack Vance's Dying Earth

A German import, Andrax is by Miguel Cusso and Jordi Bernet. The beginnings of the story were adapted for the sole issue of Barbarians, making it like a portal fantasy for Thundarr fans.

#WhosWhoAtlas Rich Buckler's Demon Hunter

What?! You say this is Devil Slayer, but his colors are reversed? You're not wrong. A rootless psychic 'Nam vet is hoodwinked by a cult before turning on them. Like The Shadow vs a Demon Cult.

#WhosWhoAtlas Son of Dracula

A single appearance in Fright no 1, another horror themed comic. The spin here is a man who doesn't want to be what he is, and what he is isn't quite a vampire. Some interesting sexiness in the issue.

#WhosWhoAtlas The Grim Ghost

Take 3 parts Fleisher's The Spectre and add 1 part The Gentleman Ghost! By the end of the third issue, we had set up they dynamic of two people returned from Hell, as Satan's agents on Earth. Had it continued, Dunsinane would likely have rebelled.

#WhosWhoAtlas The Dragon

Appearing in one issue of Hands of the Dragon, we get a mix of TV's Kung Fu and Marvel's Iron Fist. There is a big 1970s vibe, with comments on war, the US atomic bombing of Japan, Japan's whaling industry, plus hippie versus police.

#WhosWhoAtlas The Bog Beast

As I am making this thread, I'm also reading the novellas published in 2020, beginning with Digging Dirt: Seeking The Bog Beast by Richard Levey. I'm a big fan of 1970s Man-Thing, so I didn't let any moss grow on me waiting to read this.

#WhosWhoAtlas The Bog Beast

The Bog Beast also crosses over from B&W horror magazine to color comic book, with a grand total of 3 adventures: two by Gabe Levy and Badia Romero.

The Bog Beast premiered in Weird Tales of the Macabre no. 2, with this glorious Valejo cover.

The novella, ah, fleshes out the first two adventures, using a modern framing story of a reporter. While it gets clumsy, it is still enjoyable as the original stories were told at breakneck speed. Why the 3rd tale is omitted I don't know, and no new adventures are related.

#WhosWhoAtlas The Bog Beast

A mute creature rises from the La Brea Tar Pits, to encounter humanity, often at it's worse. Of interest is that the origin tale has a fired and vengeful special effects genius named Harrysen - an seeming play on Harryhausen.

#WhosWhoAtlas The Supernatural

The backbone of the Atlas-verse is not superheroes as it is in Marvel or DC, but the supernatural. It is a world of vampires in the shadows, and werewolves in the moonlight, etc. These things are scarier without superheroes around.

Here's another one, John Targitt, which became, John Targitt, Man-Stalker. I went ahead and even bought and read the book (same cover as issue 1). Its, ah, well, very Death Wish / post Vietnam / Mack Bolan kind of stuff

John Targitt, the Man Stalker!

We get a Revenge Against the Mob story about a capable Vietnam Vet turned FBI Agent, which morphs into undercover Iron Man with some strange as yet undetermined powers fighting Atlas Evil. Three issues and a new book.

#WhosWhoAtlas Vengeance, Incorporated

As we look back on the characters of Atlas Seaboard, a little history might help. The following are comments taken from Jon Cooke's article in Comic Book Artist 16, and can be found here:
twomorrows.com/comicbookartis…

#WhosWhoAtlas Martin Goodman

I guess you begin with Martin Goodman (and there are darn few photos). He was a NY born publisher who formed Timely. He sold his publishing company in 1968, but remained publisher a few more years.

#WhosWhoAtlas Chip Goodman

Chip, Martin's son, was let go by the new management. The 64 year old Martin then goes to the mattresses over it by setting up a new operation, with the old name of Atlas.

A paradox is that to compete with Marvel and DC, Goodman needs to bring over that level of talent and does it by doing things he didn't do at Marvel, like returning original artwork or paying higher page rates.

And Goodman was able to generate positive press, and get shelf space on the spinner racks in 1974. <And where I bought a number> . Would Atlas Comics (of Seaboard Periodicals) become "The New Marvel"?

#WhosWhoAtlas What, dead so soon?

The new Atlas comics lasted less than a year, creating about 70 or so color and b&w comics and comic magazines.

#WhosWhoAtlas 1974

The comics industry was shedding readers. Inflation was running at 11% (tightening spending), people had color TVs and Saturday morning cartoons. The comics industry tried all sorts of things. An exciting time, but difficult.

#WhosWhoAtlas Take This Job and Shove It

Comic book creators were also increasingly unhappy at the Big Two. There is an anecdote about Martin Goodman saying "Who the Hell does Neal Adams think he is" that reminds me of why programmers left Atari to form Activision year later.

#WhosWhoAtlas The CCA-Lite

Atlas was also born as the Code was substantially weakened. It was an age <perhaps briefly> of b&w mags, social relevance and horror getting to climb out of the swamp. Atlas Seaboard comics seem to have this underlying horror bent baked in.

#WhosWhoAtlas Jeff Rovin

Jeff Rovin is a writer that keeps popping up in my hobbies. I have a number of his classic video game books on my shelf. He's done a lot over the years, including being the editor at Atlas Seaboard, and the source of a lot of what we know about Atlas.

Atlas began well, luring talent away with higher page rates, rights to creation of original characters, and the return of the original artwork. That is a big one. DC and Marvel would both adopt the return of artwork due to the pressure.

#WhosWhoAtlas Wrecage

Wrecage is an unpublished Steve Ditko character for Atlas. There are different stories about why it was unpublished, but this art is all I know of, despite one of the stories saying there was a finished story. Years later, Ditko did do a 'Recage'

#WhosWhoAtlas Wrecage

In Fall of 2020, Sam Rovin (son of Jeff Rovin) published a Wrecage novella. What, if anything, of Ditko is in here, I don't know. It has a Pandemic era setting (not 1970s), with a supersuit and a flawed hero and supporting cast.

#WhosWhoAtlas Wrecage

I put together an entry for Wrecage, but everything here is Sam Rovin - the name, the powers, the tone, all of it. There are some nods to the larger Atlas-verse, which I like (but no actual crossover).

#WhosWhoAtlas Wrecage by Steve Ditko / Sam Rovin

Wrecage is like Iron Man Who Hears Voices. Controlling heat and melting metal, he can immolate bad guys like Drew Barrymore. He is "helped" by two 'Demons', possibly from inner Earth, or Hell, or "Haydes".

#WhosWhoAtlas Licensed Characters

Instead of directly licensing characters like Charlton, Atlas would create a suspiciously similar substitute. Por ejemplo, instead of The Omega Man, we got Planet of the Vampires. <The Star Wars license would one day be important for Marvel>

#WhosWhoAtlas Michael Fleisher

If the Atlas-verse has a feel, its one of supernatural horror. Rovin brought in none other than Michael Fleisher, who was still writing The Spectre in Adventure Comics for DC at this time. Fleisher did 11 books over 5 titles.

#WhosWhoAtlas Larry Lieber

Martin Goodman brought over Larry Lieber (who is still with us!), and made him editor for the b&w magazines. When Rovin left, Lieber took over the color comics as well.

#WhosWhoAtlas The Brute

Little bits Planet of the Apes, Frankenstein, The Hulk, Scooby Doo's Night of a Frozen Fright, Koko the Gorilla, and Bigfoot. The first two issues (Fleisher) showcase horror and death, the last feminism and a supervillain.

#WhosWhoAtlas The Doomstalker

The Brute gets a mild make-over in issue 3, and an opponent - Doomstalker. Doomstalker is a cyborg, like Six Million Dollar Man and like Deathlok, and wears an outfit like The Punisher, all new on the scene at the time.

#WhosWhoAtlas Gary Friedrich

This was nearing the tail end of Gary's comic book career, after working at Marvel on a host of titles. He was brought in by Larry because Martin wanted more of a Marvel look and feel. This is why the books are known for significant changes.

Atlas and Originality

Atlas was trying really hard to be like Marvel, and some of the characters, like The Brute, are criticized for being knock-offs (of the Hulk, here).

I would say that a) has merit but b) comic books have knock-offs all the time.

Atlas and Originality

For instance, every Avengers reader knew the Squadron Sinister were knock-offs of the Justice League. These are some really fun stories, and the knockoffs became popular in their own right.

Atlas and Originality

Atlas wasn't only looking toward Marvel, but to Warren (where Jeff Rovin was from) as well. This is going to lead us to look at Devilina, lead story in her namesake anthology magazine. So, who is she? Was the magazine any good?

Atlas and Horror

Shout out to Grady Hendrix's Paperbacks from Hell, which I read a year or so ago. Atlas is happening during this time when horror generated best sellers like The Exorcist. Atlas will use horror imagery, like Devilina, prominently in their advertising.

#WhosWhoAtlas Tales of the Sorceress

It looks like Devilina was originally going to be a horror host in a magazine called Tales of the Sorceress. Instead, the magazine was named for her (all the better to compete with Vampirella)

< sexy promotional art by Ernie Colon ? >

#WhosWhoAtlas Devilina

Devilina is the lead figure in two issues of Devilina magazine. A sort of Super Sexy Phantom Stranger, an angelic on Earth, but fighting evil in a bikini instead of a fedora.

#WhosWhoAtlas Gredown of Sydney, Australia

The Devilina stories <and others> were reprinted in Australia in Pit of Evil no 2, by Gredown. Gredown also published some *unpublished Atlas* in other works.

* thanks to ohdannyboy.blogspot.com for the info

Atlas Comics and "Going There"

You can read this disturbing story, Lay of the Sea, at raggedclaws.com It is from Devilina no 1, a mermaid version of I Spit On Your Grave. I don't know how deep Warren went, but Atlas would go pretty dark and pretty deep.

Atlas does a Western for Christmas, 1974

It might seem odd to pursue a Western comic book in 1974, but both Marvel and DC still had a cowboy hat in the ring. Also, if you have Larry Leiber, it seems natural you'd try, and so they did.

#WhosWhoAtlas Western Action

"Derivative" is the adjective that will come to mind. It is clearly a 2nd hand Marvel Western. In addition, it was competing against numerous Giant Size Marvels on the racks (and the height of the Kung Fu craze).

#WhosWhoAtlas Kid Cody: Gunfighter

With an origin story right out of The Rawhide Kid (and the same tailor) and a face like Doug McClure, the only original bits were adding in Gabby Hayes (more or less) and 'you can smell the horse crap' realistic art by Doug Wildey.

#WhosWhoAtlas Doug Wildey

Kids of my generation know him best for Jonny Quest. He worked for Goodman back in the 50s, including doing Westerns such as The Outlaw Kid, an antihero. He only did this single story for Atlas / Seaboard, but the art is really stand-out.

Tales of the Spinner: Atlas vs Marvel

Just looking at December 1974, Atlas has 9 comic books and 2 magazines out. This is the giant-sized tsunami of more than 50 comic books and magazines from Marvel alone they were up against.

The Atlas offerings in December 1974, again from Mikes Amazing World. There are a few eye-catching covers, and that's not a bad start, but the spinner rack only has so much space.

Atlas and the White Indian

Perhaps going back to Nathaniel Bumpo being brought up by Delaware indians, but the boy raised as a "white indian" is a recurring theme in adventure fiction, including in Jonah Hex. The Apache Kid is from 1950s Atlas.

DC's Jonah Hex and Scalphunter were both white men raised by Native Americans, both premiering in Weird Western Tales with the relaxing of the CCA. Even Crocodile Dundee is in this category.

#WhosWhoAtlas The Comanche Kid

Created by Steve Skeates (Abbott & Costello) and Jack Abel (All-American Men of War), this is another white boy raised by indians. The hook here is he is trying to atone for a moment of hesitation. <54>

#WhosWhoAtlas Frank Thorne

Perhaps best known for Red Sonja and his erotic characters, he did a number of covers for Atlas Seaboard, and one b&w story: Lawrence of Arabia.

#WhosWhoAtlas Gaspar Saladino

The letterer is credited as coming up with all the logos in the Atlas Seaboard line. He worked on a lot over the years.

Great interview by Bryan Stroud at nerdteam30.com/creator-conver…

Atlas and the Tippy Teen

In the late 1960s, Tower Comics had some success with a teen-com starring Tippy, which even had spin-offs for her friend Go-Go, and a title called "Teen In".

<Wonderful covers by Samm Schwartz>

Tippy Becomes Vicki

I've read that Tower somehow messed up copyright, and under the laws in the 1960s, the characters became public domain. Goodman put on new covers, altered "Tippy" to be "Vicki" and republished Tower's work.

Vicki isn't all that Bad

Remember *everything* else is the same. Go-Go is Go-Go, etc. These Tower comics are public domain and online. As both an Archie and Atlas fans, I enjoy these.

<It is not obvious to me how they fell into public domain>

#WhosWhoAtlas Vicki

According to Don Markstein, Atlas Seaboard bought the rights to Tower's Tippy Teen, and she isn't public domain? Jinkies, a mystery.

In any case, some 'tastes familiar' high school hijinks to lighten up the Atlas Seaboard brand. <60>

Atlas Seaboard Resources

When I started this endeavor, it was 'to the best I can'. As I keep digging, I am lucky to find a lot of material online, like the review below.

majorspoilers.com/2013/11/17/ret…

Atlas Seaboard Resources

There are also more Atlas Seaboard fans out there than I had realized, including @GailSimone

Atlas Seaboard Resources

There have been some books published recently, discussions on who owns the brand, who owns the characters, revivals, possible movies, etc.

I don't know if there is a good place for that info, but try your LCS. At the very least, it'll be a fun talk.

Atlas Seaboard Resources

A 2019 article from Bleeding Cool on some Atlas Seaboard love. This is rather interesting given how short-lived the line was, shifting ideas and teams, and the tight competition on the spinner racks, especially from Marvel.

bleedingcool.com/comics/gail-si…

Atlas: Have Whip, Wil Travel

Jeff Rovin and Larry Lieber had planned a whip theme Western hero for Atlas. Oddly, I would encounter such a character soon after in DC's Flash comics 1 reprint. That character, like Vigilante, operated in contemporary (1940s) times.

#WhosWhoAtlas Whiplash

I took the liberty of fleshing out Whiplash, as a Western character from Old Florida, based on a real whip using "Cracker Cowhunter" named Bone Mizell, and painted by Remington in 1895 (Below).

<slide 66>

#WhosWhoAtlas Alex Toth

Alex Toth was another big name the Goodman's and Rovin secured for Atlas Seaboard. He did one color war story, and a grim pessimistic b&w 70s police tale for Thrilling Adventures.

#WhosWhoAtlas Walter Simonson

Walt Simonson, an outstanding new talent at the time, did a few stories for Atlas Seaboard including this b&w fantasy samurai story for Thrilling Adventures.

#WhosWhoAtlas Archie Goodwin

Goodwin did a number of war stories and some superhero stories for Atlas Seaboard, including this b&w fantasy story with Simonson, Temple of the Spider.

Atlas losing licenses

Jeff Rovin did want to license some characters, but while in negotiation about the The Avenger, DC came in and got the license instead. Goodman didn't want to pay Toho for Godzilla, but a few years later, Marvel did.

#WhosWhoAtlas George Torjussen

Painter, photographer, and sculptor from St Olaf did some magazine covers for Seaboard, including Movie Monsters 3.

He later worked with Mego toys in the 1970s (possibly doing head sculpts, as Neal Adams did most of the art)

#WhosWhoAtlas Greg Theakston

Superfan, comic book historian and artist Greg Theakston did the Planet of the Apes cover for Movie Monsters 2. He also created the Theakstonizing process to bleach colors out of a printed comic book page, where no original existed, for reprinting.

Greg Theakston also did the Harryhausen Cyclops cover for Movie Monsters 1. Theakston worked on everything from MAD magazine and Playboy to DC and Warren, and did a lot of work on Jack Kirby and Bettie Page. He passed in 2019.

<slide 73>

Atlas goes Feral

Recall that Marvel's tough feral anti-hero Wolverine appears in the Summer of 1974, and got an unusual amount of publicity. Take a cannonball express to November 1974 and Atlas seems to have a clone. Was that enough time? Or did both look to Timber Wolf?

#WhosWhoAtlas Tigerman

Appearing in Thrilling Adventure Stories and color comics, we get this post 'Nam antihero. Lots of people, including Steve Ditko (whose cover reminds one of Hulk 180) were involved in one of Atlas Seaboard's best remembered characters. <slide 75>

#WhosWhoAtlas My Secret

A few Atlas Seaboard publications are hard to find, including the 'confessions mag' My Secret.

As for "Holy Grail" of Atlas
I've read there is *only one* copy of My Secret 2 in existence.

#WhosWhoAtlas Gothic Romances

Running just one issue, but with a painted cover by Elaine Duillo - a pioneering artist of romance covers. She not only broke into a male dominated field, but introduced elements such as more male nudity, and a particular model, Fabio.

Atlas Falls in Love

From Dark Shadows to the shelves of gothic romance paperbacks of virginal young ladies and brooding men in old mansions. The Big Two, and others, knocked on those creaky wooden doors too, so no surprise Atlas tried as well.

Atlas and ... Gwen Stacy ???

I must be seeing things?

As we segue into the Atlas vigilante cops, one of the girlfriends looks mighty familiar...

Marvel killed off Gwen Stacy in the Summer of 1973, but Atlas has this dead ringer in the Winter of 1975.

Atlas Comics go to War

If DC had Sgt Rock, and Marvel had Sgt Fury and Captain Savage, then so would Atlas. Atlas's anthology, Savage Combat Tales (Note the name) was not "Make War No More", but it did show the human cost of war, and of how a good man struggled with killing.

#WhosWhoAtlas Sgt Stryker's Death Squad

Mix Sgt Fury with the Dirty Dozen and Sgt York, and serve boiling hot. Sgt Stryker is not a grizzled noncom, but a young kid from Dogpatch, USA, leading a team of uncouth irregulars, killing when needed, and getting the job done. <81>

#WhosWhoAtlas Ramm and Hill

One story, by Archie Goodwin, in Savage Combat Tales of a young white draftee in the Marines and a Black veteran in the Pacific Theater. Atlas had few Black characters, but Ramm is the intelligent, capable hero here.

#WhosWhoAtlas The Blue Leopard

Conway and Ditko created a Black Panther expy, although debuting as an "avenging" antagonist for the anti-hero Tigerman. The story from Tigerman 2 is unresolved.

<slide 83>

Atlas and the 1971 CCA

While we are familiar with the new tolerance for 'literary' monsters in General Standards - Part B, the Comics Code Authority also slightly relaxed Part A to allow for crooked cops and glamorous criminals - as long as they were handled appropriately.

Atlas and the Anti-Hero Cop

"He's a loose cannon, but dammit, he's the best we have"

The late 60/early 70s movies started to give us the "Cowboy Cop". More than just a noir detective, these were police detectives that were fantasies of breaking the rules to punish.

#WhosWhoAtlas Sam Lomax, NYPD

The Atlas comics version of Dirty Harry Callahan, right down to the Magnum pistol. Neither Marvel nor DC really wanted to go with this kind of one man army vigilante cop, but Atlas has him as the lead in three issues of Police Action.

#WhosWhoAtlas Luke Malone, Manhunter

Reviving a pre-code Marvel Atlas title with Police Action, Malone is the backup feature and the 2nd Cowboy Cop (later P.I.) cut from the Dirty Harry mold. He even has Bullitt's green car.

Atlas and the 1972 Olympics

From the horror of the Munich Massacre, to doping, to the fraud of the US/USSR basketball final, the games had few bright spots. This is against the backdrop of the war in Vietnam and the beginnings of the Watergate scandal as well.

Atlas and Mark Spitz

There were two bright spots in the 1972 Olympic Games. The Soviet gymnast Olga Korbut changed and popularized the sport, and American swimmer Mark Spitz - winning 7 Gold medals with a handsome rebellious mustache

#WhosWhoAtlas The Man-Monster

What If "Mark Spitz became the Hulk?"

Paul Sanders is a post Olympic swimming champion who encounters a comic book mishap and is transformed into a monster with great strength but only hazy thoughts. Heat toggles the transformation.

<slide 90>

#WhosWhoAtlas Pablo Marcos

Peruvian artist Marcos began working on American comics about this time, working with Marvel, DC, Warren and Atlas. He would work on several titles as either penciler and/or inker, such as The Brute.

#WhosWhoAtlas Mike Sekowsky

Golden Age artist who worked for both DC (Justice League of America) and Marvel and then for Atlas on a number of titles. Roy Lichtenstein lifted several of his panels in the 1960s.

Atlas does The Apocalypse

The End of the World was popular, so Atlas would take a bit of Planet of the Apes, a bit of Killraven with a Martian invasion, a bit of The Omega Man with vampire humans, and a bit of Mother Earth Gone Crazy.

Atlas: Day of the Vampires

Since Marvel was having success with Tomb of Dracula, we get Planet of the Vampires with various creative talents. Like Planet of the Apes, our crew dwindles from 5 to 2 (and likely to 1 had issue 4 gone through). It is science fiction horror.

<94>

Atlas: Death in the Long Grass

Planet of the Vampires would use many different ideas. The vampires ("Domies") live in a domed city (as we'd see in Logan's Run) and prey on the savage normies. This horror scene below is Russ Heath art

Atlas: Beneath the Planet of the Vampires

The series ends with just 2 of our flight suited astronauts left alive, somehow reunited and finding some beast / Morlock race beneath the Dome City in Manhattan.

<slide 96>

#WhosWhoAtlas Planet of the Vampires

Captain Chris Galland, Astronaut, a man returned to an Earth barely alive after nuclear and biological chaos. Survivors are either savages or technological vampires or maybe worse?

<slide 97>

#WhosWhoAtlas Steve Ditko and Wally Wood

See Ditko's distinctive quirky visuals titles and Wood doing some of the inks in The Destructor.

Had Atlas bought T.H.U.N.D.E.R. Agents from Tower (instead of Tippy Teen) - Just Imagine!

<slide 98>

Atlas Knows Talent

Steve Ditko pencils (1-4), Wally Wood's inks (1-2), and add in veteran Archie Goodwin (1-3) with the Manhunter saga only a few months behind him, and Gerry Conway (4), come together to create The Destructor and his rogues gallery.

How did it go?

<slide 99>

#whoswhoatlas The Destructor Part 1

The indicia says $1.50 for 6 issues, but it only ran 4. We get a variation on a #Spiderman origin, but updated to the jaded mid 1970s with an unlikeable protagonist on more of a Bronson Revenge feel than "With Great Power..."

<slide 100>

#WhosWhoAtlas The Destructor Part 2

The storytelling is rapid, Ditko's pencils always charm me, there are some nice 70s elements (the feminist villain), but its still on a contemporary Ghost Rider level of mediocre quality.

<slide 101>

Atlas Fans Love Steve Ditko

While I'm creating some entries for the Supervillains of the Destructor, you can see from a rare Atlas letters page that fans loved seeing Ditko.

Check out the page from issue 4, with his pencils and inks on the maniacal mob murder.

<slide 102>

Atlas and the Ditko Villains

The Destructor introduces at least one supervillain per each of its four issues. While The Destructor himself is rather uninteresting, you can see more of Ditko in the rogues - although derivative of his previous works. <103>

#WhosWhoAtlas The Slaymaster

Looking like The Question wearing The Shocker's mask, we get a nearing retirement veteran mob assassin (he could be played by Danny "I'm getting too old for this" Glover), setting up a deathtrap at "The Giant Novelty Company" like a Batman villain.

#WhosWhoAtlas Deathgrip!

The image here is Lieber channeling Kirby, but inside he is totally a Ditko "Doctor Octopus Academy of Middle Age Villainy" graduate. We got backstory and motivation, unbelievable rubber maskery, and a gruesome death (he no doubt survived)

<slide 105>

#WhosWhoAtlas Doctor Shroud

This is the face of evil - facial hair and shading and smirk. He's some well to do scientist mobster schemer mastermind with a "Darkriver Project" in the works. Enemy of The Destructor, and capable of creating high tech weapons.

<slide 106>

#WhosWhoAtlas The Huntress

What do you get when you mix Kraven the Hunter with some Catwoman and 1970s style feminism? You get The Huntress! Another in the growing Rogues Gallery of the Destructor.

<slide 107>

#WhosWhoAtlas Lobo

Look its Timberwolf! Its Wolverine! Its Lobo!

The minion of The Huntress, a tracker and a fighter, and gun toting sidekick who just wants some respect. Almost certainly survives his battle with The Destructor, and probably saves The Huntress.

<slide 108>

#WhosWhoAtlas The Outcasts

Gerry Conway comes in on issue 4, and the title has a retooling. The Destructor gets new powers, and the mob vengeance story is replaced with a more traditional comic book one - a group of mutants / inhumans called The Outcasts

#WhosWhoAtlas Kronus and Sister Siren

The Eye is like Cyclops
Kronus can transport you to a strange dimension
Sister Siren has the creepy mind control voice

They want to recruit The Destructor in some sort of crusade, presenting a more noble face to him.

<slide 110>

#WhosWhoAtlas The Dark Avenger

A single appearance as a back-up feature in issue 3 of The Phoenix, gives us a superhero vigilante with the "Take that Marvel" name. Gritty grimy 70s stuff, full of switchblades, street crime and urban tenements.

<slide 111>

#WhosWhoAtlas The Phoenix

The first 3 issues of The Phoenix place an astronaut in a strangely religious role, as he fights back against an alien species, the Deiei, intent on destroying mankind - their creation. He walks on water, parts the Hudson, and more.

<slide 112>

#WhosWhoAtlas The Protector

Issue 4 of the The Phoenix is rebranded with a new writer. There is a lot of faux Kirby in this reboot for no apparent reason. The religious theme continues, except now the astronaut is tasked with being a paragon and finding "the good".

<slide 113>

#WhosWhoAtlas The Wenching Hour

Atlas Seaboard submitted their material to the CCA for the stamp of approval. Maybe this was on par with what was being approved in Marvel's Conan the Barbarian (and Giant-Sized Man-Thing) but lots of gal flesh abounding.

<slide 114>

#WhosWhoAtlas IronJaw

Fleisher's future barbarian ran in 5 issues, but only 3 by Fleisher. The change in the last two are dramatical curtailments on his character ('civilizing the barbarian'). Pablo Marcos handled all but the 1st issue's art.

<slide 115>

#WhosWhoAtlas Wulf

Larry Hama's Wulf the Barbarian is the tale of young prince and his magic sword, that seeks to retake his throne and topple the evil sorceror behind it all. One issue even has a very Hyborian Age-esque map. 4 issues, highly variable artwork.

<slide 116>

#WhosWhoAtlas Morlock

Michael Fleisher gives us plant man Jekyll / Hyde set in a graphically brutal police state dystopia with thought police and clockwork orange teenagers. Morlock kills people, with either deadly fungus or by dissolving them, in every issue.

<slide 117>

#WhosWhoAtlas The Midnight Man

Issue 3 of Morlock records another big change with Friedrich writing, and Ditko and Wrightson doing the art. Ditko doing Dystopia is Dynamite (the cops!). MM is some Phantom of the Opera revolutionary, but at the end *everyone dies*.

<Slide 118>

#WhosWhoAtlas The Golden Fuhrer

Martin Goodman ordered "Make it like Marvel", and the results were devastating on the Scorpion. Issue 3 converted him into a #Spiderman wannabe fighting a Red Skull wannabe. Breevort suggests "Gabriel Levy" may have been a pseudonym.

<slide 119>

#WhosWhoAtlas James Craig

Jim Craig is a Canadian artist (on Facebook), who would do work on titles like Master of Kung Fu, and moved into doing storyboarding after that. Here is some of his Hands of the Dragon pencils.

<slide 120>

#WhosWhoAtlas Howard Chaykin

Young freelance Howard Chaykin could have been a rock for Atlas to build something on, but it didn't last. Chaykin later illustrated Marvel's comic Star Wars. George Lucas specifically requested that Chaykin as the artist.

<slide 121>

#WhosWhoAtlas The Scorpion

Howard Chaykin's 1930s pulp action hero, with the enigmatic twist of being immortal. All sorts of fun, with a bit of sexy and violence in Chaykin style. Only 3 issues, just 2 with Chaykin.

<slide 122>

Atlas and Dominic Fortune

Moro Frost, the Scorpion was redesigned for Marvel as Dominic Fortune, so Chaykin must have retained the rights. Very much the same, but I integrating a pulp hero into a superhero universe just loses a lot for my interest.

<slide 123>

#WhosWhoAtlas The Tarantula's Villains

The antagonists in the 3 issue run of Weird Suspense. The tarantula priestess is downright Hammer stuff, with body horror 'fate worse than death' as well as a high body count. The image is from a movie poster.

<slide 124>

#WhosWhoAtlas The Tarantula

Ending this thread where it began, with The Tarantula. Fleisher and Rovin gave us a truly horror soaked spin on #spiderman Issue 3 of Weird Suspense has Friedrich and Lieber replace them, but its not very jarring here.

<slide 125>

Atlas Revivals

There have been attempts at revivals, including a 2010 attempt by Ardden Entertainment. Today, SP Media Group may have clear rights, including some books. There are also other places to look for Atlas stuff.

<slide 126>

@threadreaderapp please unroll