THE DESTRUCTOR
This article came from OVERSTREET'S GOLDEN AGE QUARTERLY
- Issue #2, Oct-Dec'93, pg. 64, 65 by Gary Hackenburg.
''The Other Atlas''
It was late Fall of 1974. I was thirteen years old and had been collecting comics for four
years, so I thought I knew what to expect on that cloudy afternoon when I went over to my
favorite magazine store. There, of course, were the Marvel and DC titles, but something else
was there too. They billed themselves as Atlas, and it wasn't the old 1950's globe. I could tell
these weren't Marvel books, yet the style looked somehow familiar.
There were three titles: the Grim Ghost, who seemed to fall in between the Sceptre and the
Ghost Rider; Iron Jaw, a metal-mawed barbarian; and Phoenix, a human who fights aliens invaders
while wearing one of their own super-powered costumes. Inside it was announced that these were
the work of former Marvel publisher Martin Goodman (who had published the other Atlas),
operating as Seaboard Periodicals. And editing chores went to Jeff Rovin and Larry Lieber,
brother of the legendary Stan Lee. Larry let everyone know that ''..he had written and drawn
more Marvel heroes than he could remember and that he wanted Atlas Comics to have the same magic
that Marvel Comics had in the '60's.''
Atlas would publish a total of 23 titles, ranging from superhero through horror and crime
and war - even throwing in a western and a teenage series. They also produced four magazines,
one of which I have never seen, so I'm not totally sure that it exsits. The best thing about
this undeniable derivative line of books was that they spared no expense when it came to hiring
artists. They got many of the top talents of the time including Wally Wood, Jeff Jones, Steve
Ditko, Neal Adams, Mike Ploog, John Severin, Ernie Colon, Bernie Wrightson, Russ Heath, Howard
Chaykin, Mike Kaluta, Rich Buckler, and Jerry Grandenetti. Despite this impressive lineup (and
what it must of cost), Atlas kept their price level with that of the contemporary DCs and
Marvels at 25c.
But this would-be comics titan toppled all-too-soon, after less than one year. There were
two good reasons for this. The first was one that had plagued Goodman before, and helped kayo
the original Atlas: problems with the distributors. The second came when brother Stan initiated
a vast expansion over at Marvel that flooded the ever-crowded newsstands.
Hence the longest runs for any of these 23 Atlas titles were four issues. I reread many of
these books recently, and while the storytelling is only average, the art is excellent in quite
a few of them, including a lot of magnificent covers. These covers beat just about anything else
that was coming out at the time and hold well today.
Since most of these books guide for less than a buck, you can obtain the entire company
output (61 comics and 4 magazines) for around $70, but good luck finding them in high grade.
And a few of them, especially Vicki, are hard to find in any condition. Even the commoner titles
like Grim Ghost and Phoenix are scarce in grade. There's no telling what would have happened had
different circumstances allowed Atlas to flourish. But as these books age, their publisher's
flash-in-the-pan status should give them a desirable mystique. And collectors of all the various
incredible artists Atlas employed, will always be seeking these out as nice oddball examples of
their work.
If you have any stories or articles concerning Ditko's The Destructor, please E-MAIL me.
You will receive full credit for your contributions.