Atlas Comics is back!!!!!!
With J.M DeMatteis as editor-in-chief!!!
And the rights to all the Atlas characters!! Like Targitt!! And Tiger-Man!!A couple of years ago I was wondering why no one had snatched up the rights to all those characters. Now we know!!
Can they succeed, recycling 1970s characters who were mostly vague clones of contemporary Marvel and DC tropes?? Who knows...but ATLAS!!!! Man...Atlas?!?! Who woulda thought...?
UPDATE: JM DeMatteis has clarified the situation, and it's not going to be a "full-out Atlas revival"--at least not yet:
One thing I’d love to clear up: the way the story morphed in the press it looks like a) we’re in the midst of a full-out Atlas revival and b) I’m the editor-in-chief of a reborn Atlas comics. That’s not the way it is. I’m EIC of Ardden Entertainment — we’ve recently relaunched both FLASH GORDON and CASPER (as CASPER AND THE SPECTRALS). Ardden is working with the Atlas license holders (sort of like a co-production between two film studios) to bring two titles out: GRIM GHOST and PHOENIX. That’s it for now. Two titles to test the waters. If they do well—and everyone hopes they do—there will, naturally, be more.Dammit, where's my Tiger-Man?!?!
5 comments:
I've always wished for the day when Iron Jaw might return!
Seriously, probably not the best market to re-introduce the Atlas characters into...especially with marginal characters like the Archie/Red Circle heroes bombing so thoroughly at DC. Still, companies like Dynamite Entertainment seem to be finding some success with old characters...so who knows?
Mark--my perception is that Red Circle bombed, at least in part, because of a complete lack of commitment from DC. No "top-tier" or popular writers or artists were assigned, and no DC heroes worth mentioning appeared, despite the series' being set in the DC Universe. If they'd have Geoff Johns write an issue, or Rags Morales to draw one, or even a damn Jim Lee cover;, or had Batman or Superman or the JLA guest-star, then maybe they could have driven some initial sales.
Instead, they treated it like a red-headed step-child, and made it so obvious that no one in the DC brain trust remotely cared about the project, that is was a foregone conclusion that the whole shebang would end in early cancellation, and the fans wisely never invested.
Hopefully the Atlas brain trust will be a little more committed than that, as this is their whole raison d'etre, and not a side project. (Which, of course, doesn't mean it will be good...but Iron Jaw!!)
Another thought--Atlas reprints!!! One phonebook-sized omnibus could reprint pretty much 100% of their 70s output, as a cheap way to build interest!
Hmm. If it were me, I'd be testing the waters with Tiger-Man and Planet of Vampires instead.
And "yes, please" to reprints!
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