Sunday, 19 February 2017
No. Nothing New.
And there isn't 4-5000 views a day and no one wants their book reviewed? Fair enough. I did say that if and when I got back onto the internet (temporarily) I would only post if something worthwhile came along.
In the meantime, to keep my mind going and expand other peoples minds I've posted more to the AOP Blog...I really need to replace that recent photo as I do look ill!
In the meantime, to keep my mind going and expand other peoples minds I've posted more to the AOP Blog...I really need to replace that recent photo as I do look ill!
Friday, 17 February 2017
Merriwether -The Test Of Satan!
Ben R. Dilworth
A4
Black and white
27pp
Price: £5.00 (excl. VAT)
Prints in 3-5 business days
At the end of Merriwether:Gods Demon-Thumper, the Reverend
had been confronted by Satan and as a consequence lay fatally injured.
Star of 1980s comics,Benjamin R. Dilworth, takes us through
the fleeting seconds before death as Merriwether has flash backs showing just
why he took on the career he did.
Be prepared for horror and a little tongue-in-cheek humour.
Horror fans will love this.
Thursday, 16 February 2017
"Atlas Titles to be published by Black Tower Comics"
I have been sent links and quotes from comic forums (I never go on them) stating that Black Tower Comics are to begin publishing the Atlas Comics characters.
Well, I can tell you that this is absolutely untrue! Seriously, I'd love to but financially I could not buy the copyrighted characters let alone afford the print runs that would be needed. Someone says that they "have seen art" which might mean they saw sample pages for a project featuring the old Atlas characters that was submitted in the 1990s. How they saw them I have no idea but they are NOT new art.
If anyone knew whether the rumour was true I think it would be me!
The Church of England Goes Hardcore -Merriwether: God's Demon-thumper!
54pp
A4 (Comic Album format)
Black & White)
Price: £5.00 (excl. VAT)
Prints in 3-5 business days
The Church of England goes hardcore (on demons)!
The complete Merriwether series, originally published in
Black Tower Adventure (volume 1) and A Little Midnight Horror–but with three strips never
before published -including the Reverend’s battle with the ultimate foe!
From The Horror Of Hob Street to The Village Of Demons and
Varney the Vampyre to The Fallen Angel himself, see how one Church of England
vicar deals hard-fisted (and with various spiked objects and blunt instruments) justice to the
ungodly...
...and pays the ultimate price!
If you were into Charlton Horror Comics or any horror comic
then this one is for you -and B&W is the perfect format for horror!
This is the original -NOT collected- edition with cover by Paul Ashley Brown
"The Angel of the Burning Death Walks among you!" -Krakos: Sands of Terror!
64pp
Black & white
A4 (comic Album format)
Price: £8.00 (excl. VAT)
Prints in 3-5 business days
Created by William A. Ward for Swan Comics in the 1940s. Krakos
was one of Ward’s supernatural anti-hero types. Used, with Swan’s permission, in
Black Tower Adventure strips in the 1980s/1990s, this is the character’s first
solo outing.
Krakos and the ancient gods of Egypt know each other well. On the
gods part they show frustration, anger as well as trickery to persuade. From Krakos all they receive in return is
contempt. But will Krakos, returning to Egypt , fulfill the Goddess Isis’ predictive dream
and become the Pharoah of a New Egyptian Kingdom
that will encompass all of the Middle East ?
The gods believe that he has to and must.
But did anyone actually ask Krakos?
The book contains information on Ward and his work plus
sample pages rescued after 60 years of neglect!
Note: newly recovered Krakos pages will appear in Black
Tower Super Heroes
"Twenty Groans for a Groan! Such is the Bat's vengeance!"-The Bat Triumphant!
Price: £8.00 (excl. VAT)
Prints in 3-5 business days
Starring The Bat -creatyed by William A. Ward!
In 1941 AD, The Bat sets about modernising the backward
Duchy of Stahl, over which his dynasty has ruled since 1410 A.D.. But he Bat is
involved in experiments with the infamous Count Cogliostro. One of these
experiments involves suspended animation and The Bat decides that he will be
the first test subject in a short experiment.
When he wakes, The Bat finds that not days have gone by but
51 years! Worse, his kingdom is in ruins and after the collapse of the USSR is now an
enclave of the old enemy Kamora. The Bat tries politics to win back his
homeland and when that fails he decides to do what he and his family has always
done -fight for it!
However, he is unaware that some old, and new, enemies are
lying in wait to stop him and all of them want one thing -- The Bat dead!
Originally a back up strip in Black Tower Adventure (vol. 1)
in 1994, The Bat Triumphant! proved very popular as an anti-hero. The story was
never completed. Now it is.
New edition -added art pages and bringing the creation of
William A. Ward for Swan Comics into stranger, modern times.
Reviewed by Subzero at Tales From The Kryptonian
Wednesday, 15 February 2017
Comics From the Ukraine Up-dated
I have searched for almost a year but had no success in finding comics from the Ukraine. However, I have found some covers -I think from Pinterest(?) as I got them before the computer broke down losing any links so apologies if you posted these there!
They deal with Cossack history in the Ukraine but I have no idea without seeing them! I'll post the images after the original posting.
I think that it is important to understand that comics are supposed to be cheap entertainment. They are something to take the mind of a child or adult away from everyday stress. I do not care what nationality you are, comics should entertain and inspire you. Perhaps even get you into creating comics of your own?
Scraps of paper (I started drawing as a kid on old blank invoice books), pencil, pen or ink and brush -doesn't matter: you have those then draw -even if only for yourself. And if you have internet access start posting or blogging about comics you like, create or that are from your country.
Now, the original post.
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How do young comic creators -a silly thing to write since no comic creator should be excluded due to age (or I'd be gone!)- get some recognition outside of the Ukraine?
First the article.
Many talented comics artists work in Ukraine, but say they have never gotten widespread recognition.
From cave paintings to murals and tableau, the art form of comics has a long, rich history.
And although comics filled their share of magazine pages in the Soviet days, they never gained cult status or international fame like Batman and Spider Man did in the U.S.
Still, Ukrainians love to watch Hollywood movies about superheroes. Yet many don’t know that their plots are based on comics or graphic novels. Comics in the U.S. evolved from short strips placed in early 20th century newspapers to entire stories with graphic images. Today, comics are an integral part of America. Japan’s manga comics are also a part of everyday life.
Homegrown comics in Ukraine have their own niche but aren’t mainstream. The field’s authors are trying to change that.
Recently authors of comics gathered at an international festival of graphic stories, which took place at Kyiv’s ArtPrichal gallery on Nov. 10-25.
“We decided to organize the festival to make more people familiar with this art and to meet old friends from Ukraine and abroad,” said Andriy Humeniuk, the festival’s organizer and manager of the Black and White association of artists.
Works of artists from Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Poland and the Czech Republic were also presented at the festival.
Local artists are gaining in prominence too. In October, experts embraced the nation’s first top notch product: a graphic novel about the fantastic adventures of Ukrainian Cossacks titled Daogopak by Maxim Prasolov, Oleksiy Chebikin and Oleg Kolov.
Moreover, Ukrainian creations are moving beyond the country’s borders. At the comic festival Comissiya in Moscow, Ukrainian artists took top honors, including Igor Baranko for his Maksim Osa (also about Cossacks), as did Yevgeniy Pronin for his work Well. Both were published by Eugenios, practically the only publishing house that prints comics in Ukraine, located in Odesa.
Unfortunately there are still no periodicals in Ukraine, but change may be around the corner. Fans of comic books still remember the once popular K9 magazine, which was published monthly until 2009, and widely available. Now the first issue of Ukrainian manga stories Hakken Seimei was published, but only 300 copies were printed with the authors funds.
Some people believe that paying for pictures is silly, even though the work is hard.
Arkadiy Medvedev, who owns an anime goods store and is the owner of Anime Line group, said: “Many magazines, with the transition to Internet space, are free to read so why pay when you can read for free. But a magazine is hard work, a classic, you can hold it, smell the ink.”
Medvedev laments that the average person isn’t interested in comics. Stores do not want to take alternative magazines, especially homegrown ones. They buy foreign goods, some of which are of worse quality, and thus do not give opportunity to authors and publishers to make money. Authors often do the drawings themselves at their own expense, and incur losses.
Unlike in America and Japan, there is no place to learn how to draw comics in Ukraine. Octane, the comic book author of Elven Magic said he first started drawing comics in grade school. After five years of drawing, he visited the site comics.com.ua, where Ukrainian comic artists gather.
“A piece here and a piece there, and I made a list of rules of how I should or should not draw,” said Octane.
For Aleph, the artist of the Mystery comic book, drawing “is still more of an art, (and) not commerce.”
There’s no shortage of Ukrainian talented artists and there are fans of comics in Ukraine despite distribution problems and building an understanding within a wide audience. Perhaps its’ possible to have a Ukrainian comic superhero depicted on T-shirts. And that day may come sooner than later.
_______________________
I think the easiest way these days is to look for Small Press publications that take contributions. No, they do not pay but then they are mostly not intended or expected to even make money back. In the 1970s-1980s, artists and writers wanting to get in to comics took a standard route.
Firstly, you had to show a publisher or editor that you could draw a comic strip. Believe me, when I was a comic creators representative -or "agent" as we preferred to be called- in the 1980s -1990s I could expect to see at least ten out of twenty packages of samples artists sent me to be just illustrations. Now this is, as I pointed out to the artists concerned, of no use.
Single page illustrations were cover material -in which case they had to be high quality- or to illustrate a text feature. A single illustration may look brilliant but if you want to get into comics you need to be able to submit comic strip samples. When asked to produce comic strips 9 out of the 10 were really so bad they could not be submitted to a company. I suggested concentrating on illustration work. I've neither heard nor seen work published from those people.
Artists tended to submit strips to Small Press publications or contribute to them if published by their friends. Most of the big names in US comics from the 1960s on did so. In the UK people like Warren Ellis, Paul Neary, Matt (D'Israeli) Brooker, Shane Oakley, Art Wetherell, Kev Hopgood, Kev Sutherland and Mark Millar had work in zines before "fame and fortune".
What having your work published in a zine -a Small Press comic- achieves is that, if you are a writer, it shows how good your writing and scripting skills are. For an artist it shows your skill at sequential art and if you contribute to a number -or just one- publication you start to build up a portfolio that an editor or publisher can look at.
I once knew an artist (we'll not name him to save embarrassment) who told me at one of the old UK Comic Art Conventions: "I'm too good to just work for nothing. What's the point in that -working for free!" When I next met him it was four years later. He was working for Marvel UK and I think he then went on to freelance in the US. He told a youngster: "Look, you have to build up a portfolio to show editors. Contribute to zines or publish your own. You'll build up that portfolio" and I stood stunned. It seems that after not having companies knocking at his door he had decided to work for Small Press mags and got a portfolio of published work together which impressed -I think Paul Neary- the boss at Marvel UK.
So, never be afraid to offer work -most Small Press publishers are contactable via email or websites.
The other option is, with print on demand, put your own comics together. Send them to publishers or specific editors: "Submissions Editors" are basically there to send out photocopy rejection letters or rejection emails. That is their function. Try to get to the editor.
If you can try to get to comic events in other parts of Europe. Show your work around and hand out portfolio samples to publishers.
Certainly comics are becoming more noticeable and I thought this article on the Global action Plan International website was interestinghttp://www.globalactionplan.com/comics_Ukraine
Comics program in the Ukraine
Drawing for Life (Comics for Sustainable Lifestyle ) is a program developed by the international NGO network Global Action Plan International with the support of the Swedish Institute, and in cooperation with several organizations in Belarus. From Belarus the program has already (2012) spread to Kosovo and India.
The program is currently conducted in Ukraine together with a local Ukrainian NGO: Teachers for Democracy and Partnership.
An early Belarusian attempt to use comic books in environmental education was launched on International Water Day in 2002, with a comics contest among school children learning French.
Lydia Pshenitsyna drew ‘water’ stories told by two young environmentalists, and invited students to come up with the end of the story. This contest aroused great interest and participants drew their own stories, in French, about water protection. However, the competition was a short-term phenomenon, and there was no follow-up.
In 2007 Global Action Plan, in the course of a project meeting in Belarus, asked about interest in exploring comics as a tool for education for sustainable development. Subsequently a first workshop was held in Minsk in 2008 for professionals and students. Esbjörn Jorsäter, Swedish comics teacher, and Marilyn Mehlmann, Global Action Plan International, designed the workshop, which was supported by the Swedish Institute, especially program officer Judith Black.
In 2012 GAP International invited Ukraine to take part in the Belarusian project. TDP organized a seminar for Ukrainian teachers and trainers on possibilities of using comics as a tool for teaching different subjects. After the seminar, participants conducted workshops in their regions for local teachers. The teachers expressed great interest in this methodology and requested more seminars to further explore and understand the methodology.
After the initial workshop, the initiative has come from teachers who are members of TDP. GAP's major commitment is to develop a networking environment where knowledge and experiences can be shared. The project therefore builds on the successful collaborative effort in the ESDA project.The results of the ESDA project and the 'Drawing for Sustainable Lifestyle' seminar inspires the teachers to continue participating in initiatives that are introduced by GAP and TDP.
________________________
This article covered 2013-2014 and trying to find out how it has developed hasn't been easy though I'm not giving up as anything to do with getting younger -or older- people involved in creating comics or art should be encouraged.
I thought to check Comics Vine (another site where I'm listed, though, again, I'll blush if I state that) and, yes, there is an entry under Ukraine for comics:
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe.
ahh.
Not quite what I was expecting. Comic books in which Ukraine is mentioned in some way. Disappointing to say the least.
There is even less on Ukraine comics than on Bulgarian comics. Again, please, if someone has links to publishers or websites please let me know.
I really would like to see what is going on there in 2015!
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And here are those covers I found!
The Hooper Interviews
From a huge selection of interviews covering the Small Press, Independent and mainstream Comics from the UK , Europe and US. Here are a few of the best interviews from 30 years.
Paperback
Perfect Bound
A4 (cms=20.98 wide x 29.69 tall)
B&W
365 pages
profusely illustrated with art and photographs.
£20.00
ISBN 9781326210113
Prints in 3-5 business days
Someone referred to it as “Comics 101” –background info on creators, how they got started, what tools and even paper/board they use. Damn near damaged my wrist because it is a BIG book. And Who exactly is interviewed in this book?
Karen Rubins -The Dark, The Witch and other books
Alan Class -the man behind the Class Comics series
Kate Glasheen -the incredibly talented artist on Hybrid Bastards, Bandages and other works
Tom Pinchuck -writer of Hybrid Bastards
Dave Ryan -the artist/writer behind War of The Independents
Jon Haward -UK artist who worked of Tales of the Buddha, Dan Dare and more
Ron Fortier -the man behind Mr Jig-Saw and Airstrip 27 books
Michael Cho -creator of Max Finder Mysteries and some really cool art
Then there are a bunch of interviews related to The Black Coat that was published by Ape Entertainment -Francavilla may be a name familiar to DC and Marvel comic fans these days:
Jeremy Colwell
Ben Lichius
Adam Cadogan
Franco Frankavilla
The comic character Gumby also returned to comics and that created another series of interviews titled: The Gumby Interviews (Gumby, himself, was never interviewed)
Mel Smith
Paul H. Birch
Rick Geary
Joe Martino -from Ripperman to Shadow Flame
Yishan Li -Seriously, do I have to explain who Yishan Li is? DCs Blue Beetle, the Buffy comic and much more!
Pekka Manninen -As far as I am concerned, Finland 's top comic creator and I'm not saying that because I am the UKs top Kapteeni Kuolio (Captain Gangrene) fan!
Lauren Watton -Pink Apple Jam and Sweatdrop Studios
Willie Hewes -Amaranth and Itch! publishing
Emma Vieceli -come on. Star of stage and musicals not to mention one of the UKs top Manga artists -Manga Shakespeare, Dragon Heir and more.
Sonia Leong -another noted UK Manga artist whose credits include Romeo and Juliet for Manga Shakespeare.
Nick Defina -the man behind Septagon Studios and Scorn
Donna Barr -The Desert Peach and so much more that you can check up on at her Midnight Library blog. She's a comic book Goddess.
Roberta Gregory -The other comic book Goddess and pioneering female creator. Roberta created Bitchy Bitch and many other characters.
Jeff Brooks -the man behind the UK editions of Classics Illustrated
Matt (D'Israeli) Brooker -from zines to "proper comics" including Deadline in the 1980s
Tania Del Rio
Holly Golightly -Broadsword Comics, Archie, Schoolbites and much more (below)
Vanessa Wells -superb creator of a comic I loved titled Shrouded and much more these days -http://www.vanessa.withbits.com
Marv Wolfman -Yes. The Marv Wolfman.
Morag Lewis -another UK Manga artist who worked with Sweatdrop Studios
The Etherington Brothers -if you've ever been to a good UK event you will have seen the duo behind Malcolm Magic, The 8th Moon Sketchbook, Moon and more.
Nicole Damon -CBOs favourite fantasy art model. Nicole has worked with Ben Uriegas, Loprenzo Sperlonga, Greg Hildebrandt and others.
Olivier Cadic -the man who brought Franco-Belgian comics to the English language readers via Cinebook The 9th Art! Everything you need to know.
Mike Western -"The Guv'nor" of British comics with strips such as The Wild Wonders, The Leopard From Lime Street and so many more to his name they would need a book to list.
John Cooper -Again, a creator who worked on many UK comic strips from Judge Dredd, One-Eyed Jack, Johnny Red and many others.
Atlas Aarden -The End Of The Line?
I have checked and, apart from The Atlas Archives site, the Aarden-Atlas Face Book and web pages appear to be gone. In fact, the biggest presence on the internet looking at Aarden-Atlas is....this blog!
So I am checking. Any news and I will up-date.
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SORRY-This post totally vanished and I thought "Atlas has disappeared, too" comments were a joke. Blogger!
This is a "bit" of a re-post. I write "bit" because I've added a lot to it! More covers to make those who like their text broken up with eye-candy. But since this is about comics how could I not include covers?
And if you haven't checked out Tales from the Kryptonian you ought to. Subzero just did a very nice posting on French comics so plenty of covers there.
Let us begin the Reverend Hooper's Sunday Sermon!
***************
Back in March, 2011, I announced, with all the overly excited boyish enthusiasm of an original fan, that Atlas Comics(Seaboard Periodical) was back! If you missed the article here it is:
Atlas Is Back! You DO Remember Atlas??
Some thirty-five (thirty-five??) years ago I was living in a caravan between Ramsgate and Margate, Kent. Don’t ask why –hush-hush- but it got boring. Walks down to look at the Hoverport and the very noisy hovercraft coming in and out, listening on a little transistor radio to pirate radio station "Mi Amigo" and shopping trips into Ramsgate.
I picked up a few very cheap comics but not much since there ain’t that much storage space in a caravan! I walked into a newsagents next to Woolworths in the High Street. There were comics I had never seen before –Atlas. Hang on, wasn’t that a former Marvel Comics company name? Had they gone back to using it? I grabbed a bunch of the comics and itsy bitsy teensy-weensy brother Mike and I hoofed it back home.
Turned out this was not Marvel. And the characters were almost British in their anti-heroic way.
Firstly, there was Tiger Man (alias Dr Lancaster Hill). I suppose you want to hear about this so...
Dr Hill was working at a medical clinic in Zambia when he injected himself with the chromosome that gives a tiger its strength and speed and it transforms him. Dr Hill now has abilities on a par with the great cat. Dr Hill returns to New York City he meets up with his sister, pleasant enough? Oh, come on –this is comics! Dr Hill’s sister is shortly thereafter robbed and murdered by two criminals working in a rodeo. Adopting the identity of Tiger-Man, he tracks them down and kills them. Tiger Man’s gloves also sport razor sharp claws –very pre-Wolverine or even my own Celtic hero the Badger.
Dr Hill was working at a medical clinic in Zambia when he injected himself with the chromosome that gives a tiger its strength and speed and it transforms him. Dr Hill now has abilities on a par with the great cat. Dr Hill returns to New York City he meets up with his sister, pleasant enough? Oh, come on –this is comics! Dr Hill’s sister is shortly thereafter robbed and murdered by two criminals working in a rodeo. Adopting the identity of Tiger-Man, he tracks them down and kills them. Tiger Man’s gloves also sport razor sharp claws –very pre-Wolverine or even my own Celtic hero the Badger.
In the black and white Thrilling Adventure Stories #1, the gore factor is much higher –the criminal boss he goes up against is eaten by piranhas! I think I re-read this Ernie Colon fest several times the first day. As I recall, Brother Mike giggled.
I love Tiger Man and at least his origin is not as odd as the UK Tiger Man’s! But having said that, every comic in Africa from (believe-it-or-not) Tarzan, Gara, the UK Tiger-man and others encountered tigers in Africa. Now there is something I'll be delving into at a future date in a BTCG comic.
Then, returning to Atlas, there was of course, The Tarantula. Or, as he was known before he went all "arachno", Count Eugene Lycosa. You see, a European nobleman, an ancestor of his, was cursed by a witch burned at the stake. This cursed passed from generation to generation making them “were-spiders.”
European nobility and their weird ways, heh?
European nobility and their weird ways, heh?
Anyway, the 1970s Count Lycosa would transform into the were-spider but tried everything to avoid taking innocent lives. Instead he focussed on the worst criminals and scum around -and all that entails. “Oh, a Spider-man rip-off!” you say. Uh-uh; as The Tarantula, Lycosa was a predator and would eat human victims.
And Pat Boyette was the artist –I just don’t think it could have been any better. I’d been a Boyette fan due to his Charlton work. This was all exciting stuff. I mean, Boyette drawing a were-spider I was in seventh heaven!
Screeches of “Ernie Colon rocks!” came with the story of Matthew Dunsinane, an infamous highwayman in colonial America in the 1740s. Dunsinane hid his identity behind the mask and persona of the Grim Ghost. However, after robbing the coach of Lord and Lady Braddock in 1743, Dunsinane’s luck ran out when the beautiful Lady Braddock lures him into a ”honey-trap” and he was captured and unmasked. Just three weeks later he is hung by the neck until dead…then the story really picks up.
For Dunsinane’s soul went straight to…HELL! And there he is met by the Fallen Angel himself. Old Nick. Behelzebub—oh, you’ll know all that. Anyway, Satan offers Dunsinane a choice of suffering in purgatory for all eternity or -here it comes- he can return to the world of the living and harvest evil souls for him. Hmm, red-hot pokers up the jacksie for all eternity or…? Dunsinane chose to harvest evil souls.
And so, Dunsinane finds himself in 1970s New York where Satan thinks he can make a good start in his Grim Ghost persona and, riding a jet-black flying horse and carrying a brace of spectral pistols, off Dunsinane goes.
Oh, Satan apparently has a black sense of humour. Dunsinane is forced to work with non-other than the treacherous harlot Lady Sarah Braddock!
Boo!
Hissss!
Boo!
Hissss!
His greatest foe was the demon Brimstone, who sought to topple Satan and rule Hell in his place.
The usual anti-hero action was underway when Dunsinane found himself in the middle of a Hellish uprising. The demon Brimstone wanted to topple Satan and looked in a strong position and made some interesting offers. The Grim Ghost sided with …SATAN!?! I know. That’s what I thought. Can you believe it?
Man, I still take those issues out every-so-often and Colon’s work just looked..luscious.
Wulf The Barbarian and the origins of the character are explained by The Atlas Archives thus:
”…On a nameless world in a forgotten time…” there lived a man called Wulf. Orphaned 10 years ago when his parents, the king and queen, were slain in an ambush staged by trolls in the service of an evil sorcerer, Wulf has spent the last decade training for the day he would return to claim his birthright.
After his trainer/mentor is killed by the same troll who killed his mother 10 years earlier, Wulf avenges his mother’s death, reclaims his father’s sword from the slain troll, and begins his long awaited trip home. As Wulf rides homeward with the intent to raise an army to raid the evil sorcerer’s lair and free his hereditary kingdom, he encounters many magic-induced obstacles conjured by his foe.”
More of a sci fi character to start with was astronaut Ed Tyler -The Phoenix.
After months on board the "Threshold 1" space station, the three-man crew were forced to abandon ship after an air-leak. The escape shuttle made a three-point emergency landing (Here, There and Everywhere!) in the Arctic –Tyler was thrown across the ice and left near to death.
However, Tyler was saved from freezing to death by the Deiei, an alien race that had been monitoring mankind for years from within a secret hidden base in the frozen north. This was no real act of kindness since the Deiei feared that a rescue party might discover their presence.
Tyler awoke to find himself a prisoner rather than a guest and the truth was soon revealed to him. The Deiei, it seems, had been involved in the evolution of the human race but had become ashamed at the failings of humanity –war, etc..
So what do a bunch of self-righteous aliens with a god complex decide to do? They planned to quite literally wipe the slate clean by destroying humanity. Tyler could not be allowed to go free and expose them, the Deiei planned to keep him captive for the rest of his life. However, as such pains-in-the butt aliens tend to do, especially when they think they are superior, they ruled Tyler to be harmless and left him unguarded. The resourceful astronaut managed to steal a space suit and arm himself with “atomic transistors” –and then he made his escape.
Tyler reached the nearest human population centre which happened to be Reykjavik, Iceland, hours later. Here he discovered that the Deiei were causing the very earth beneath the city to collapse using nuclear particles. No self-respecting human could just stand back and watch so Tyler raced back to the alien base to stop this attack. The Deiei were having none of this interference and especially not from a human using their technology.
It was the ensuing fight which set off an nuclear blast that destroyed the aliens’ headquarters. Tyler then returned to Reykjavik to help the survivors and it was here that the media dubbed him the “Phoenix,” risen from the ashes of the city. Meanwhile some Deiei survivors, and they were really teed off and swore revenge; they would kill Tyler and then destroy the human race.
Tyler -The Phoenix- was attacked by a Deiei spaceship a short while later, a distraction of sorts (if such superior entities felt they needed one) as the main force of Deiei craft headed for New York. Phoenix survived the attack and learned of the armada and headed off to intercept it. After a fierce battle the alien Deiei fleet was destroyed and Phoenix was triumphant (oh, and New York was saved, though I’m guessing that you guessed that, right?).
Tyler then had to think about his newfound role in life –he was now a protector and example to mankind. He decided to lead humanity from the evil path the Deiei predicted they would follow. Tyler dedicated himself to saving Mankind as The Phoenix
Then The Phoenix became…The Protector and got a more super-hero style costume. Why? Well, he was not the only character to adopt the super hero style but the change in this case involved more aliens. Tyler felt guilt-ridden about the near destruction of Reykjavik and New York and basically breaking down since he felt Man had no chance to survive the further onslaught of the Deiei. He decided to fly into space and commit suicide.
Tyler awoke to find himself aboard an alien space station. He was badly burned and his face swathed in bandages, he was not a happy bunny as he was taken to meet his alien rescuers. This time, however, things were not so sinister. The aliens called themselves the “Protectors of the Universe” and had been behind the Deiei monitoring of Mankind’s development. This race was also disappointed by Mans development but unlike the Deiei, bless them, they were willing to give us a chance.
The alien leader, the Magus, declares that Ed Tyler would be solely responsible for Mankind’s shot at redemption. Tyler is given new powers and a new face and given the name of The Protector before being sent back to Earth to redeem mankind or it would be destroyed. Two-faced aliens!
Phoenix/Protector was not as anti-hero or gory but there was, as far as many were concerned, a controversial aspect. Helping to save Man from evil, dying and being resurrected to help redeem mankind…holy –! Ed Tyler was Jesus-like!! That argument still continues today amongst fans old enough to remember the series though that period also spawned another “saviour” in comics –Marvel’s Warlock!
But there was also The Brute, wonderfully drawn by none other than the original JLA artist, the great Mike Sekowsky! I loved this book, too. Not really the Hulk but you could see what Atlas was aiming for. The Destructor and Morlock 2001 and the barbarian Iron Jaw -other great characters and it might even be argued that with Morlock, Atlas were aiming for a character similar to The Heap, Swamp Thing or Man-Thing.
Lesser remembered characters but still great were The Cougar,a stunt man who gets into costumed action, the Dark Avenger, Rich Buckler'sDemon Hunter, Manstalker, Scorpion -created by Howard Chaykin as a 1930s adventurer but with the third issue Chaykin was gone and a costumed character replaced the adventurers outfit. And, naturally, the Bog Beast.
But who or what was Atlas Comics, or Seaboard Periodicals. The UK had no really wide-spread fanzines back then so it took a while to filter through. The Atlas Face Book pages cites Wikipedia:
“Atlas/Seaboard is the term comic-book historians and collectors use to refer to the 1970s line of comics published as Atlas Comics by the American company Seaboard Periodicals, to differentiate from the 1950s’ Atlas Comics, a predecessor of Marvel Comics. Seaboard was located on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City.
Marvel Comics founder and Magazine Management publisher Martin Goodman left Marvel in 1972, having sold the company in 1968. He created Seaboard Periodicals in June 1974 to compete in a field then dominated by Marvel and DC Comics. Goodman hired Warren Publishing veteran Jeff Rovin to edit the color comic-book line, and writer-artist Larry Lieber, brother of Marvel editor-in-chief Stan Lee, as editor of Atlas’ black-and-white comics magazines. Lieber later became editor of the color comics following Rovin’s departure. Steve Mitchell was the comics’ production manager, and John Chilly the black-and-white magazines’ art director. Goodman offered an editorial position to Roy Thomas, who had recently stepped down as Marvel Comics editor-in-chief, but Thomas “didn’t have any faith in his lasting it out. The field was too shaky for a new publisher.”
You can find the Wikipedia entry here:
The Atlas Face Book page is here (though there is little there):
The best place to go on the net is The Atlas Archives which has a fuller history and explains why the Atlas logo was altered to be less
“up yours, Marvel!”:
Interestingly, there were some larger format anthology books and me being a horror fan....well, Devilina and Weird Tales of the Macabre I had to get! Black and white with grey washes -rather like some of the Marvel mags of the time.
"Illustrated stories of female-filled fantasy"....behave yourselves!
"Illustrated stories of female-filled fantasy"....behave yourselves!
John B. Cooke also wrote a terrific article on Atlas for Comic Book Artist #16, which you might find near impossible to get in the UK/Europe but the item “Vengeance Incorporated” is reprinted on The Atlas Archives site.
So then came the death of Atlas (Seaboard) and we had to wait until the New Atlas arrived. We were promised a return to past glories. Excellent!
I had the new books on order and Tony Isabella was back to writing comics! I had hoped they stayed true to the characters origins back in 1974/1975 Atlas Comics and their dark anti-heroes were some 10-15 years ahead of their time, though Archie Comics "Red Circle" in the 1980s broke a few taboos before it, too, faded away and then DC and Marvel were hailed as the "innovators"!
The company was setting out to do what DC did years later with The Dark Knight Returns and The Watchmen. I was anxious to see what these new versions were like and how they panned-out.
The company was setting out to do what DC did years later with The Dark Knight Returns and The Watchmen. I was anxious to see what these new versions were like and how they panned-out.
I hoped this would be good.
I even kept my fingers crossed that the original books might be brought together in a collection -rather like the Essentials or DC Showcase
Presents format- because the comics I had wouldn't suffer more thumbing-through!
Various reasons were given as to why Atlas was so short lived in the 1970s but I hope this incarnation would continue much longer…
if they were good!
The art shown didn’t look so bad and being a big fan, like many other fans, I thought “YEAH!”
Well, to be honest, the artwork by Kelley Jones on The Grim Ghost was so poor that my one time favourite character wasn’t even worth bothering with. It was AWFUL. Not just down to personal taste either; I exchanged a few emails with die-hard 1970s Atlas fans who have simply cancelled their standing orders for the book. Tony Isabella and Stephen Susco’s story and plot is quite ponderous and at issue 6 all I’m thinking is that I’ve wasted valuable money.
Jim Krueger/Brendan Deneen and Dean Zachary’s work on Phoenix has me divided. The art was okay to a degree. It was far better than in Grim Ghost. But I started getting bored of the whole “He’s dead….now he’s alive again….now he’s dead…” you get my point. It seems to be getting absolutely nowhere and I keep hearing comments such s “great art” but story?
there was no "hook" to catch the reader. Looking at the issues again recently, I realise the art was not great but still passable. The story/script is as bad as I thought. Some times, if you leave a gap of time between reading something and go back you can look at it and see that you may have been wrong. Sadly, not with this one.
The hit comic has been Wulf. Now stranded on Earth, Wulf is written by Steve Niles who seems to understand how to write a story and plot things properly! The art by Nat Jones is gritty and nice. The colour work by MAI works well. Hey, they re-introduced Lomax NYPD and then…Iron Jaw! This book was going great guns.
However, there was a "fly" in the Atlas ointment. You could read all these titles in ten minutes -that is all three titles in ten minutes in one sitting. There are 22 pages per issue BUT Grim Ghost and Phoenix had little substance to them. The two main titles of the 1970s Atlas were reduced to being not "B" listers but "Z" listers.
Perhaps these titles were a bit light-weight because they were merely establishing things before the rumoured "Big Event". Yes, I was clutching at straws even then.
However, there was a "fly" in the Atlas ointment. You could read all these titles in ten minutes -that is all three titles in ten minutes in one sitting. There are 22 pages per issue BUT Grim Ghost and Phoenix had little substance to them. The two main titles of the 1970s Atlas were reduced to being not "B" listers but "Z" listers.
Perhaps these titles were a bit light-weight because they were merely establishing things before the rumoured "Big Event". Yes, I was clutching at straws even then.
Then we got to Atlas Unified -the “Big Event”.
A few people noticed something about the "Big Event" book. Only 22 pages -so just a regular comic. I’m not sure if the thick paper they printed on was supposed to make us think there is more? It was the theory going around at the time anyway. As a writer, Tom Peyer has produced a story trying to spin an air of mystery but it is just a confused mess and it just is not helped by the absolutely awful art of Jimbo Salgado. Anatomy -out the window. Very basic art with as little background as possible which ain’t helping to hide the art flaws
In all honesty I just opened the book. Looked at it. Closed it. Opened it again. Didn’t help. Just very bad art. This is what us Atlas fans were built up to expect to be the event.
Oh. And Phoenix dies again. Permanently. But he’d be alive again soon so do not worry.
I noticed the list of characters from the inside front cover: Kid Cody. Wulf. Phoenix. Kromag The Killer. Scott Galland (who?? I have no idea who this is so I’m guessing a new character). Sgt Hawk. Vicki. Luke Malone: Manhunter and, of course, the Grim Ghost. I think some of these are the badly drawn quartet on the last page of the book?
I just got the book out again. Yes, the artwork is BAD.
If I didn’t like the Grim Ghost in his own book I hated the character in Unified. For one thing he now seemed to be a mummy -there just simply were and are not enough "WTF?!" to cover this.
At $2.99 (which UK stores charged as £3.00 so I was paying more than a US reader) I was robbed. If this was supposed to be the biggest ever event in (New) Atlas Comics history then all I can say is I was not surprised so many were jumping the Atlas fan-ship. Talking to UK store owners as well as fans in the US, I learnt that a lot of standing orders on the regular titles and for Unified have been cancelled. Sadly, there are some who were quite happy with the art which is very, very sad.
In the 1970s Atlas had great artists and writers but lasted little over a year. I foresaw, on CBO, the new Atlas going as well.
Ernie Colon was the artist who made The Grim Ghost such a hit originally -his art just oozes style. And he is STILL working today:
So why didn’t the new Atlas owners pull him on board? Please don’t tell me it’s because they would have had to pay more?
And, to relaunch it, why didn’t they get Sal Almendola to draw The Phoenix as he did in the 1970s?
If these characters are so great and “needed reviving” why then try smothering them to death??
You know, I shouldn’t care but I do.
This return had so much promise but I see myself cancelling standing orders. What is worse is that there are good amateur artists out there who could have done a far better job on both Unified and Grim Ghost.
I really, really really wanted Atlas to succeed and be with us a long time but if they made it to 2013 I’d have been very shocked.
I was expecting to hear about cancellations which would have been sad. I think the bosses need to sit down, look at those 1970s comics again and re-think. Thirty years later the original Atlas series’ are far superior in both story and art compared to the modern incarnation.
***********************************
Well, as it turns out I was right. Again. Although cover art for six Atlas Unified books was released along with some story details that made it sound almost like DCs Crisis on Infinite Earths, the series never got to issue 3.
Everything went quiet. No one from store managers to distributors could give a definitive "the next issue will be out in---" And fans thought the Atlas boss was giving them the runaround. We then heard "These are not the 1970s Atlas characters but re-imaginings". "WTF?" time again. Why, if these were much loved characters that Aarden were "bringing back" did they have to be "re-imagined"?
I was in contact with Jason Goodman and even made a few suggestions -hey, why not? I was told "this" then told "that" and last I heard everything was set for a revival..two years ago?
I'm not sure what the problem was but if you want to revive the 1970s characters it makes sense to make them the 1970s characters and get the creative teams back. It just looked like the whole New Atlas was produced on the cheap.
It was a sad little revival but it could be successful but you have to be true to the originals.
Everything went quiet. No one from store managers to distributors could give a definitive "the next issue will be out in---" And fans thought the Atlas boss was giving them the runaround. We then heard "These are not the 1970s Atlas characters but re-imaginings". "WTF?" time again. Why, if these were much loved characters that Aarden were "bringing back" did they have to be "re-imagined"?
I was in contact with Jason Goodman and even made a few suggestions -hey, why not? I was told "this" then told "that" and last I heard everything was set for a revival..two years ago?
I'm not sure what the problem was but if you want to revive the 1970s characters it makes sense to make them the 1970s characters and get the creative teams back. It just looked like the whole New Atlas was produced on the cheap.
It was a sad little revival but it could be successful but you have to be true to the originals.
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