Atlas/Seaboard October 1975.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Atlas/Seaboard; the company launched with a mission.

A mission to sink Marvel Comics and take over the American market.

With Marvel's former publisher Martin Goodman at the helm and a huge pile of cash in its bank account, it couldn't possibly fail.

And yet it did. A victim of the clumsiness of its comics and the randomness of its editorial decisions.

But did it at least go out in style?

It goes out with the Phoenix, in his fourth issue, having a dramatic change of direction when he tries to kill himself by friction - but is instead rescued by Teutonic aliens who employ nurses in space bikinis and give him a new costume, a new name, new powers and a new mission.

Surely, from now on, he'll be unstoppable.

Or would be if he hadn't already stopped.

Regardless, in some ways I'm glad the Phoenix is the last Atlas character to bite the bullet, as I always felt he was one of the company's more potential-packed super-doers. As such, it seems only right that he should outlive their lesser lights. Even if it is by just one month.

But this shall not be the end of the story.

Because, from nowhere, he and several other Atlas heroes will return, thanks to 2011's three-part Atlas Unified mini-series.

During 1974 & 1975, Atlas/Seaboard published 28 titles, all of which failed to survive past their fourth issue, and introduced a whole slew of new characters to the world, many of whom had a fondness for cannibalism and near-plagiarism. It would be easy to say they it was not a popular company but some of us have a respect for plucky underdogs and have fond memories of buying their books. In my case, during a two-week buying frenzy in the summer of 1975 when they seemed to be everywhere and really did look like they were here to stay.

Will we ever see their likes again?

We can only stare at any empty spinner racks we come across in our journey through life, and wonder...

Atlas/Seaboard September 1975.

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!

The company's best barbarian reaches his fourth and final issue, with what looks to be a dramatic battle with something or other.

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.

Unlike Wulf, Tiger-Man hasn't yet reached his fourth issue.

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.

That mag is Demon-Hunter and, thanks to the work of Rich Buckler and David Anthony Kraft, its titular star finds himself up against The Harvester of Eyes! which, from that title, sounds like a relaxing tale.

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?

Atlas/Seaboard August 1975.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

As we saw last month, we've entered a period in which Atlas/Seaboard is visibly receding from every shop that sells comics.

However, Chip and Martin Goodman are clearly not men to go down without a fight.

And so, this month, the venture brings us four more books to feast our eyes and minds upon.

Who could forget this issue?

Not me.

Not only does it carry articles about The Thing, Flash Gordon, Lon Chaney Jr and dinosaur-packed lost worlds, it also shares an exclusive eye-witness account of an encounter with the Loch Ness monster, in which the writer claims to have literally stepped on part of the beast, by accident.

To be honest, even as an eleven-year-old, I was sceptical of this claim.

You have to hand it to Vicki. She's survived where more ambitious Atlas protagonists have failed.

However, now even she meets her doom, as her fourth and final issue hits our spinner racks and does so with a bunch of tales reprinted from late 1960s Tower Comics' Tippy Teen issues.

"The World's Most Exciting Magazine!" smashes into the buffers with its second issue but does, at least, do so in style, thanks to a dramatic Neal Adams cover and interior action that everyone who's read it seems to have a fondness for.

Inside this not-so-death-defying issue, Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson spin a yarn in which feuding samurais encounter trouble with giant spiders.

We also discover eight pages of The Kromag Saga which I'm struggling to recall the details of. I think it might be a Ka-Zar type thing.

Then there's action from Tough Cop. I think that might be a law-enforcement type thing.

Then there's an article about The Towering Inferno.

And we round the issue off with Town Tamer and A Job Well Done. Both of which stories, I have no recollection.

Doom is piled upon doom because the Destructor too has met his Waterloo.

His fourth and final outing sees Gerry Conway and Steve Ditko produce a thriller the world can only know as Doomsday -- Minus One. Exactly what it entails, I'm struggling to remember but it looks to involve cave action with someone called The Outcasts!

The Grand Comics Database informs me our hero gains energy powers in this story.

This is good.

Energy is useful.

Atlas/Seaboard July 1975.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Hold on to your hats, literature lovers, because there's a whole mountain range of comics from Atlas to get through, this month.

With such activity, we can only assume the company's going from strength to strength.

Or is it?

Atlas heroes are not always famed for their staying power but Wulf the Barbarian's no quitter. Unlike some others, he's made it to his third issue and is still battling strong.

This time, he has a run-in with some rat-men and I seem to recall he encounters a sort of techno-mage blessed with a big industrial complex, or something. Is there a vague Wizard of Oz analogy-thing also going on with it all?

There you go. Proof positive that people can never accuse me of being vague about things.

Publisher Martin Goodman once famously told Stan Lee that people wouldn't buy a comic about someone with spider-powers.

And it seems he was right because, after just three missions, the Tarantula finds his adventures coming to a premature end.

But what a way to go, with something or other happening that involves living gargoyles!

But you know who else comes a cropper this month?

None other than John Targitt himself!

And even a new costume and the appearance of all-time great super-villain Professor Death can't save his book from the curse of cancellation!

And yet another Atlas title hits the buffers.

And does so just as it introduces sensational new super-doer the Man-Monster.

I can shed little light on the Man-Monster, as I've never read this one but I do know he's a former champion swimmer and that the villain of the piece is called Hell-Blazer.

But fans of series, "regular," the Bog Beast need not despair. Despite the arrival of that new character, the Bog Beast gets one last outing when, in this issue's back-up strip, he discovers There's a Vampire Killer Still at Large!

Can the Scorpion buck the trend and survive and thrive where others are stung?

No, he can't.

Despite getting a brand new costume and being transplanted from the 1930s to the 1970s, he too comes crashing to an early demise with his third issue.

But how is it possible that he's failed when he's up against villainy as profound as that of the Golden Fuhrer who I'm sure bears no resemblance at all to Marvel's Red Skull.

Is the dedicated Atlas fan to be downhearted by all these cancellations?

No, he isn't - because he's still got Sgt Stryker and his Death Squad to keep his spirits up!

If this wasn't also their final issue.

In this month's thrilling excursion, we encounter Kill Rommel and Dead-Man's Ridge! brought to us by Archie Goodwin, Al McWilliams, and Jack Sparling.

Anybody want to bet any money on whether this will be the final issue of Planet of the Vampires?

I think we can all guess that it shall.

My knowledge of this month's tale is especially clueless but I do know it's called The Blood Plague! and comes from the brains, pencils and typewriters of John Albano and Russ Heath.

And now we encounter Atlas' most radical response yet to the failure of almost all its books.

And that's to kill a central character!

It's true. It's clearly been decided by someone in authority that a child-murdering tree isn't the best lead for a comic. And, so, he's bumped off this issue, with the plan being for him to be replaced in the book by The Midnight Men.

Sadly, that plan won't work and the comic will never be seen again.

And nor will the Midnight Men!

Apart from all that, the most intriguing aspect of this issue is it's drawn by Steve Ditko but inked by Bernie Wrightson which is a combination that should be enough to get any comic flying off the shelves.

The internet informs me that 260,000 copies of this issue were printed, with 15,000 of them for sale in Britain. This would appear to be a typical print-run for the company and its books.

But at least we can rely on Ironjaw to not go down like a sack of potatoes.

And he hasn't. He's managed to make it to his fourth issue!

Which will be his last.

It appears that, before he goes, we encounter the origin of our, "hero," who I vaguely recall having been some sort of happy-go-lucky, chilled-out peacenik entertainer who loses his jaw and turns into a psychotic thug.

It seems that even Satan can't stop the Grim Ghost's newest foe!

Having said that, the villain is dead by the end of the tale. So, he can't be that tough.

Elsewhere, Satan increases the Grim Ghost's powers, but that won't be enough to save him from his real enemy, which is public apathy. Sadly, this will prove to be Grimmy's final issue.

But all these people getting their comics cancelled after just three issues are slackers.

The Cougar manages to get his scrapped after only two!

It's true, the Hollywood stuntman turned mediocre crime-fighter has a run-in with a werewolf - who's killing everyone the Cougar knows - before ascending to the Great Stuntman Social Club in the Sky.

It's hard not to warm to the Brute, a simple soul who just wants to be left alone to eat human flesh, but even that isn't enough to save him and he too hits his final issue this month.

In this sensational thriller, our protagonist is captured by the police but escapes.

However, in another location, mad scientist Rolf Hendrick unleashes his cyborg Doomstalker upon the world!

But forget the Cougar's failure after just two issues, because Blazing Battle Tales has a gauntlet of its own that it wants to throw down - by getting cancelled after just one!

In it, Sgt Hawk encounters The One-Armed Beast  -which doesn't sound very scary. I'd be far more worried about the danger it poses if it had two of them.

That's followed by The Sky Demon in The Sky Demon!

And that's followed by Private William Swanson in The Bronze Star Winner.

Atlas/Seaboard June 1975.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

The Greek Titan Atlas was, famously, strong enough to hold up the sky but can Atlas the comic company even succeed in preventing the roof from falling in on it?

Given the short-lived nature of Atlas's books, it's a bit of a shock but Vicki's managed to achieve a third issue.

And it's not even the final one!

Inside, we encounter such classic material as Company Loves Misery, Lamping Along Together, Let's Get in Shape for Summer!, Weanie Meanie and The Vicki Fun Page! Mostly reprinted from the 1960s pages of Tippy Teen and Teen-In.

Once more does Tiger-Man leap into the fray!

And he does so in a tale which features the Blue Leopard who, in the absence of any other information, I shall assume to be the villain of the piece.

The final issue of Police Action smashes us in the face with Sam Lomax in ...One Hot Dog With Murder, Please! and Luke Malone in something called ...Rock and Robbery.

But Sam and Luke; will we ever see their like again?

Police Action may have died but nothing can kill Phoenix. Not even the Devil, Yetis or the Loch Ness Monster, all of whom turn up in this unlikely tale set in the Himalayas.

But our hero doesn't get this issue all to himself.

Instead, he has to share it with a backup strip starring brand-new crime-fighter the Dark Avenger who must thwart the plans of the Rat Pack!

Atlas finally gets a martial arts hero of its own. Albeit one who looks like he was designed by Frank Robbins.

I can shed no light upon the contents of this one, not even whether it's any good or not but I can reveal it's brought to us by the talents of Ed Fedory and Jim Craig and that, despite appearances, Fearless Frank seems to have had no involvement in this mag.

Tragically, this seems to be the only issue of the book that will ever appear.

I can share little insight into the contents of this one either, but it stars a character called Adam Lucard and is the handiwork of Gary Friedrich and Frank Thorne.

This comic too will only last for one issue before being terminally staked through its heart.

But back to hardier fare, as the Destructor hits his third issue, and a confrontation with the Huntress who's been hired by the mob, to bump him off.

And it looks like she might just do it!

Ironjaw already has his own book but it seems that's not enough to contain awesomeness on his scale. And so he finds himself being granted a second vehicle for his talents.

The first tale of the issue, which stars the man himself, is called The Mountain of Mutants and, to the shock of no one, contain mutants.

That's followed by a yarn in which a 1970s decathlete is catapulted into a barbaric age, 2,000 years in the future.

Sensationally, this is another book which will survive for just one issue before folding.

Atlas/Seaboard May 1975.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

Last month, the world's challengiest comics company published a magnificent thirteen titles.

Will it be equally ambitious, this month?

No.

It won't.

In fact, it'll only bring us three books.

Clearly, it's decided to concentrate on quality over quantity.

The Scorpion hits his second issue.

And does so by doing something or other.

From that cover, I'm going to guess the pulp adventurer's up against more zombies than you can shake a stick at, while the internet informs me that a voodoo witch is also involved.

That sounds like bad new for all involved.

Better news for the rest of us is the strip's still being pencilled by Howard Chaykin, and this issue's inked by the powerhouse quartet of Bernie Wrightson, Mike Kaluta, Walt Simonson and Ed Davis.

The Scorpion may have reached his second issue but Atlas' most brutal barbarian of them all has reached his third!

And he's up against the Lizard King!

No, that doesn't mean he's confronting Doors frontman Jim Morrison. Instead, he's doing something that involves the death of Woogins.

I know. I can't believe it either. Woogins was my favourite comic book character of all time! And now he's gone!

But that's not all. We also witness the deaths of Marius and Manlius!

How will we ever carry on without Manlius?

Perhaps more significantly, we experience our first meeting with Ironjaw's adoptive father.

And I suspect that means we get to discover more about the past of the metal-mandibled mayhem-meister.

Devilina hits her second issue!

Unfortunately, it's also her last!

Regardless, within her 68 pages, we encounter Curse of the Ra Scarab, Vendetta, The Devil's Procuress!, The Prophesy and Night Creature. All of which, from their plot summaries on the Grand Comics Database, sound quite gruesome and unpleasant.

But that's not all we find, because the issue also takes a look at everyone's favourite new movie that's setting the box office alight; Flesh Gordon.

Atlas/Seaboard April 1975.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

It's another month for us and a bumper one for Atlas, as yet more of its magic arrives to fuel our imaginations.

But just what will that seemingly unstoppable juggernaut of a minnow throw at us, this time, to convince us to dump Marvel Comics and pledge our allegiance to the new kid on the block?

Wulf the Barbarian hits his sensational second issue and does so by getting up to something or other.

Frankly, I've no idea what that something or other is, even though I've read it. But I do know it involves various people returning from the dead and is brought to us by the suitably sorcerous team of Larry Hama and Klaus Janson.

Oh. And there may be a water monster involved.

Probably one with tentacles.

Wulf's not the only one getting a second issue, because the Tarantula is back and up against no lesser menace than the Spider Priestess herself!

My memories of this are also vague but I shall assume she's the one who turned him into an arachnid nightmare in the first place.

Also, I think her name is Nora.

You have to give Atlas credit. You don't get many American comic book characters called Nora.

And the Brute also lands his second yarn.

In this one, mad doctor Karlheinz Speer kidnaps the scientists who rejected him, then turns them into reptile men who can survive a nuclear holocaust.

I think I'm starting to see why they rejected him.

But hold on. What's Plastic Man doing in a comic from Atlas?

Despite first appearances, it seems the hero of this comic isn't Plastic Man at all - but a man called the Cougar who seems to facing the menacing menace of Baron Krolok the vampire.

I assume he's no relation of Count Orlok.

Those not paying full attention to that cover may think the Destructor's battling that Nazi fiend Baron Strucker.

But, no. It would seem he's contending with a man called Deathgrip who I can say little about but I think we can all guess just what his power is.

And Morlock is also back.

For some reason, I'm struggling to recall the plot of this one.

Is this the issue in which our hero kills and eats a small girl and then encounters what are clearly the Droogs from A Clockwork Orange, on a train, before eating them?

More vampiric vexations greet us when our favourite astronauts encounter a troublemaker who may bear a noticeable resemblance to Dracula but who isn't really Dracula.

This month reminds us that you can't keep Lomax and Luke Malone down.

I know nothing of the stories within this issue, other than its first tale is called ...Taxi 2147 is Missing! while the second is Whatever Happened To Luke Malone?!

And what fresh new Hell awaits Sgt Stryker?

It would seem we get more of an origin that involves General Wright promoting him to sergeant before pardoning four arrested soldiers and naming them the Death Squad.

But there's more because we also find a back-up strip called Chennault Must Die!! which stars good old Warhawk.

The Bog Beast is here and I'm sure that can mean nothing but trouble for everyone.

That's followed by a chiller called The Last Train and then one titled Requiem for a Werewolf! These are tales which give Tom Sutton and Jerry Grandenetti the chance to show off their horror skills.

A major change comes over John Targitt, as he suddenly gains a costume and is re-dubbed Man-Stalker.

My memories of this one are fuzzy but, beyond our hero's acquisition of a new wardrobe, I do feel I recall his boss not being altogether trustworthy.

I would claim a sensational new hero makes his debut but I do believe he's already appeared in one of Atlas's other books.

Plus, let's be honest, he's not exactly sensational.

Regardless, when Lanny Hill's sister is killed by wrongdoers, the dashing doctor decides it's time to put on a costume presented to him by an African chieftain and use his unique skill-set - gained from injecting himself with tiger hormones - to track down and slaughter the scoundrels.

And, finally, this month, Vicki is also back, with a string of fun short stories reprinted from the 1960s.

Atlas/Seaboard March 1975.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon. 

***

After last month's almost melodramatic increase in output; this month, the company settles down a bit and gives us just five books.

But what will those books be?

The Grim Ghost gets his 2nd issue and does so by foiling a high-seas robbery before hosting a house-warming party, before protecting a Police Commissioner from murderous kidnappers.

You've got to hand it to Grimmy. He might dress funny but he takes his job seriously.

There's also a 2nd issue for Ironjaw when the brutal barbarian blunders, battles and bludgeons his way out of his latest bout with danger.

But not before he's had the chance to slaughter yet more innocents and guilty, including the odd bear or two.

And we're on a hat-track of characters enjoying their 2nd-ever adventure, as Phoenix joins in the fun.

Having said that, I'm seriously struggling to recall what happens in this issue. I do suspect, however, that he's temporarily reunited with his wife before butting heads, once more, with those pesky aliens.

Not everyone, it seems, is on their 2nd issue. Take John Targitt, for instance. He's only on his first.

From what I can recall, the hard-bitten government agent is out for revenge when someone explodes his wife.

The other thing I recall is that, despite the script's Dirty Harry vibe, Howard Nostrand draws the tale in a style more suited to something published by Archie Comics.

It's time to hide behind the sofa because Weird Tales of the Macabre returns for what will prove to be its last-ever issue.

And in that issue, we encounter:

The Bog Beast.

Dr. Mercurio's Diary.

Carrion of the Gods.

The Films of Edgar Allan Poe.

Who Toys With Terror!

and

The Staff of Death.

Masterpieces all, I have no doubt.