Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.
***
It's a calamity worthy of Atlas Comics themselves!
As Sean rightly pointed out; last month, I forgot to look at the September comings and goings of the greatest comics publisher of 1970s!
But, right now, is where I put that right!
I do know this tale's called Death-Night in the Darkling Forest! and it's brought to us by the nocturnal majesty of Mike Friedrich and Jim Craig.
But, apparently, they're not the only ones involved, because the story has four inkers; Dan Adkins, Pablo Marcos, Frank Giacoia and Aubrey Bradford. I can only assume that's because it's so awesome that only the combined power of four delineators could possibly restrain it.
Regardless, it's followed by the single-page Larry Lieber editorial What's Happening With Atlas!
I've not read that but, having encountered the contents of earlier such articles, I suspect it'll be about the great plans the company has for the future as it soars to ever greater heights.
The GCD informs me that 267,000 copies of this issue were printed, including 15,000 for the UK market. All of this month's Atlas comics seem to have had the same size print-run.
Like Wulf, however, he has reached his last issue.
And he does so by battling a mad psychotherapist who uses his powers of hypnosis to make his patients kill themselves.
Fortunately, his attempts to do the same to our hero completely fail. Mostly due to dumb luck rather than any traits that hero actually has.
With all these deaths of short-lived titles, one might think it's all doom and gloom for the company.
But it's not.
Even as we experience the demise of those other mags, a brand new contender appears to steer the company towards a safe, secure and thrilling future.
I know little of the contents of this one but I do know it'll be the only issue of this comic ever produced.
Or will it?
Or will Kraft and Buckler sneakily transfer the character across to Marvel Comics by renaming him Devil-Slayer?
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15 comments:
Not only did Buckler rename Demon Hunter to Devil Hunter and move the character to Marvel ( as you note) , he later renamed/revamped him again as Bloodwing for his own short lived indie mag Galaxia.
Demon Hunter was probably one of Atlas' best comics , so it was a pity it came out the month that the company went bust.
I don’t think I’ve ever actually read WULF#4 but I’ve flipped through it several times and thought the art was OK-ish. Jim Craig’s art looked better here as inked by Adkins, Giacoia, Marcos and and Bradford than in his other Atlas outings inked by Jim Mooney.
I haven’t looked at TIGER-MAN#4 in ages, but I remember the Ditko/Milgrom art being kinda ugly.
DEMON-HUNTER #1 isn’t really a “good” comic but it’s somewhat interesting and I kinda/sorta like it. The story is pretty dumb and illogical but I think it’s one of Buckler’s better art jobs in this particular mode (when he wasn’t leaning into so heavily into the Kirby-isms and the Adams-isms).
b.t.
So Charlie dug out COMIC BOOK MARKETPLACE #77, April 2000. (Man i loved that magazine!)
This issue covers ATLAS comics, providing apparently the first-ever compilation of covers, release dates, artists, writers for every issue. It’s the complete package!
The issue provides a one paragraph summary that they repeat from a fanzIne entitled “INSIDE COMICS “from the winter of 1975, basically right at the death of Atlas. They then reprint a portion of that fanzine:
“What we have is a sordid tale of violated deals with creators, ownership disputes, and other incidents of office politics so common in the PERLMAN age of comics.”
Various examples are provided involving Chaykin, Mike Fleischer, Sal Amendola, Larry Hama (Wulf), Mike Ploog, Jim Warren…
Sounds like so many other comic tales…
"As a harvester of eyes for a mysterious cult - - he has been endowed with certain powers..."
'Harvester of Eyes' refered to the Demon Hunter himself, Steve. Not that it was meant to be taken literally, as he didn't actually harvest any eyes in the story. But as I'm sure a cosmopolitan man of broad cultural horizons such as yourself is aware, the title was a Blue Öyster Cult reference.
Which would continue when Demon Hunter re-emerged as Marvel's Devil-Slayer in the Defenders 'Xenogenesis' storyline, and had to deal with the Agents of Fortune, and Revenge of Vera Gemini. The 70s, eh?
Just say no to Satan, kids!
-sean
Anyway, having been outed in the post as the one here with enough interest in Atlas to have demanded further coverage, it's only right to thank you for going back and covering September '75, Steve. I hope you weren't too distracted from listening to the new Taylor Swift album, or whatever it is you were up to this weekend.
Btw, despite what Paul wrote, this was not Atlas' final month! Theres still another comic to come, with an October cover date...
-sean
Hey! Woah! Spoilers!!!
Oop your right Sean I forgot there was a final comic from Atlas......
Who needs a Taylor Swift album when there's the Tory conference to enjoy.
What do mean 'spoilers', Prowler? I was quite careful not to give away the title or issue number of the final Atlas comic!
-sean
Colin, apparently it's the Margaret Thatcher Hundredth Birthday Disco at the conference tonight!
-sean
Politics… you guys dont know politics.
Trump had ICE agents raiding an apartment building in Chicago by repelling out blackhawk helicopters like its phuking Mogadishu 1993.
The supreme court stacked with Catholics who said it is ok to randomly arrest people based on skin color and the income of the neighborhood.
And now threatening to use the Insurrection Act.
All that while being a fiscal conservative and running up a $2,000,000,000,000 deficit in 6 months.
That’s politics.
Trump's speech to the generals was farcical and proves he's got dementia.
The M.P. hotline just rang,
Did somebody mention B.O.C.?
And Anon, that scene you described made me think of the Blues Brothers. Y'know, the end? I can imagine Jake and Elwood being chased by an army of ICE agents repelling from helicopters and climbing up buildings.
I hope Bad Bunny has a gassed-up car and an escape route planned at the Superbowl.
And sunglasses, and a full pack of smokes.
M.P.
Well, Bad Bunny is Puerto Rican and, as of 1917, granted full US Citizenship therefore can fully move throughout the United States without need of any immigration papers. He's seeking to stand with individuals who, unlike him, do not have legal status to move or, in fact, be in the United States. His "escape plan" would entail... um, walking off the stage?
I do find it interesting that ABC, CBS, and NBC all sent reporters to cover the Military Meeting where both Secy Hegseth and President Trump both spoke yet none of those reporters mentioned anything about Trump's "farcicial speech" or any obvious signs of dementia. I would surmise therefore, that the three Major News Medias are not only covering for the current Administration but also in "cahoots" with their agenda...
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