Atlas Comics: Would a Successful Relaunch Be Possible?

[alton]

I recently found a small batch of the original Atlas Comics to add to the smaller pile I found a few years ago. Prior to this I became aware of the line only because of the ill fated Relaunch One as I call it. From what I have read of the Original Atlas they went from interesting to totally lousy. Many of them by artist writer ex patriots from Marvel and helmed by Larry Lieber. The 3 worst in my opinion were Brute,Morlock 2001, and Tigerman. The attempt to blend Horror elements with whatever the central themes were supposed to be made the characters Brute and Morlock violent and unsympathetic to me. Both characters killed children. Tigerman was just lousy. However some of the characters that saw a reboot a few years ago showed promise. What was your take on Original Atlas, Atlas Two, and a possible New Atlas?

[MajorHoy]

I recently found a small batch of the original Atlas Comics to add to the smaller pile I found a few years ago. Prior to this I became aware of the line only because of the ill fated Relaunch One as I call it. From what I have read of the Original Atlas they went from interesting to totally lousy. Many of them by artist writer ex patriots from Marvel and helmed by Larry Lieber. The 3 worst in my opinion were Beast ,Morlock 2001, and Tigerman. The attempt to blend Horror elements with whatever the central themes were supposed to be made the characters Beast and Morlock violent and unsympathetic to me. Both characters killed children. Tigerman was just lousy. However some of the characters that saw a reboot a few years ago showed promise. What was your take on Original Atlas, Atlas Two, and a possible New Atlas?

By the way, the really "original" Atlas Comics would be those published in the +/-1950s by the company that would become Marvel in the 1960s.



I liked some of the Atlas/Seaboard comics when they originally came out in the 1970s (yes, I bought them off of spinner racks back then), but whether they could be successfully relaunched these days would be a tough sell since there are plenty of other companies already saturating the market. If they wanted to try and use top writing and art talent to gain attention, then that would lead to higher product costs. (And people already complain that comic books cost too much $'s.)
It's not necessarily impossible, but they'd need more than just nostalgia to gain and keep customers.

[md62]

I liked the 1975 Atlas Comics. Like any comics publisher there were some good ones & some bad ones. The only title I bought from the relaunch was Phoenix. I enjoyed it but it wasn't amazing. I don't think Atlas would survive in today's market for reasons listed in the above post. However I do think a few titles could maybe find some footing if they were brought into an established company like Valiant. I could see Phoenix existing in the Valiant Universe.

[WeirdSpace]

Under the wings of Dynamite or IDW, they may be able to resurrect the universe and keep it going for a while. Project: Superpowers did really well in the beginning, I think they just overextended themselves with too many series at once.

[alton]

By the way, the really "original" Atlas Comics would be those published in the +/-1950s by the company that would become Marvel in the 1960s.



I liked some of the Atlas/Seaboard comics when they originally came out in the 1970s (yes, I bought them off of spinner racks back then), but whether they could be successfully relaunched these days would be a tough sell since there are plenty of other companies already saturating the market. If they wanted to try and use top writing and art talent to gain attention, then that would lead to higher product costs. (And people already complain that comic books cost too much $'s.)
It's not necessarily impossible, but they'd need more than just nostalgia to gain and keep customers.

I was thinking MG's attempt after he sold Marvel and his Grandsons relaunch that flopped for various reasons. Very few people know or care about the pre Marvel Atlas /Timely catalogue although I am a fan of anything Agents of Atlas in the modern era. Great artwork you've downloaded. I don't think nostalgia would work here because Atlas wasn't around long enough to build a large enough fan base unlike Gold Key for instance. Between bi monthly schedules and distribution wars as I understand some of the history this kept Atlas struggling to gain a foothold. A few of the titles like Targitt ,Phoenix,GrimGhost,Wulf and drastically rewritten versions of Iron Jaw and Tarantula might fly however. Thanks for the input once again.

[alton]

I liked the 1975 Atlas Comics. Like any comics publisher there were some good ones & some bad ones. The only title I bought from the relaunch was Phoenix. I enjoyed it but it wasn't amazing. I don't think Atlas would survive in today's market for reasons listed in the above post. However I do think a few titles could maybe find some footing if they were brought into an established company like Valiant. I could see Phoenix existing in the Valiant Universe.

Good points here,thanks.

[alton]

Under the wings of Dynamite or IDW, they may be able to resurrect the universe and keep it going for a while. Project: Superpowers did really well in the beginning, I think they just overextended themselves with too many series at once.

Dynamite continues to over extend itself which is why I stopped buying their titles but IDW or another company could work.

[CaptCleghorn]

I liked Chaykin's original Scorpion which could easily be redone. I also read Phoenix, but was unimpressed.

[MyriVerse]

Under the wings of Dynamite or IDW, they may be able to resurrect the universe and keep it going for a while. Project: Superpowers did really well in the beginning, I think they just overextended themselves with too many series at once.

IIRC, the owner of the 1970s Atlas marks gave Dynamite the license just a few years ago.

[MajorHoy]

I liked Chaykin's original Scorpion which could easily be redone.

Actually, it was. By Chaykin at Marvel.

[WeirdSpace]

IIRC, the owner of the 1970s Atlas marks gave Dynamite the license just a few years ago.

I can only find a reference to the rights to the name Atlas going to Dynamite, and I don't remember reading about this anywhere. Do you have a link?

[MyriVerse]

Yeah. It was just the Atlas name that went to Dynamite, not the characters.

[alton]

I recently found a small batch of the original Atlas Comics to add to the smaller pile I found a few years ago. Prior to this I became aware of the line only because of the ill fated Relaunch One as I call it. From what I have read of the Original Atlas they went from interesting to totally lousy. Many of them by artist writer ex patriots from Marvel and helmed by Larry Lieber. The 3 worst in my opinion were Brute ,Morlock 2001, and Tigerman. The attempt to blend Horror elements with whatever the central themes were supposed to be made the characters Brute, and Morlock violent and unsympathetic to me. Both characters killed children. Tigerman was just lousy. However some of the characters that saw a reboot a few years ago showed promise. What was your take on Original Atlas, Atlas Two, and a possible New Atlas?

Sorry I meant Brute not Beast.

[son_ofgolem]

Sorry I meant Brute not Beast.

I liked the destructer and iron jaw i like to see them remade.

[Cyberstrike]

Dynamite continues to over extend itself which is why I stopped buying their titles but IDW or another company could work.

Dynamite suffers from what I call "the new toy syndrome" it's basically boils down to this:

Dynamite: "We going to bring back all public domain characters."
Then they get the rights to Jack Kirby's creator-owned stuff:
Dynamite: "Now forget those PD characters we got the rights to all of Kirby's creator-owned stuff."
Then they get the rights to pulp heroes.
Dynamite: "Now forget about those Jack Kirby characters, we got the rights to pulp heroes."
Then they get the right King Syndicate characters.
Dynamite: "Now forget those King Syndicate characters we got the rights to Gold Key Characters."
Rince and repeat.

Dynamite has had over 4-5 different superhero-style universes but they never stick with them, because then they get a new property and focus all their energy into that new property until they get another new one takes their place.