Atlas/Seaboard Week, Day 3: Get your stinking teeth off me, you darn dirty vampire

Remember last year when the Aries VII Mars probe returned to Earth? Sure, we all do! On second thought, let's remember 1968 when Charlton Heston vacationed on the Planet of the Apes, a planet of apes! Suddenly, apes were all the rage! The world had gone bananas for those marvelous monkeys and those charming chimpanzees! With each sequel gorill-owing in popularity, it's no surprise that Marvel Comics began publishing Planet of the Apes black-and-white mags and a color comic starting in 1974! So it was a natural for Larry "The Man's Brother" Lieber to publish this obvious competition:


Cover of Planet of Vampires #1 (February 1975), cover art by Pat Broderick, inks by Neal Adams



Wow, that actually sounds like a pretty cool idea: a planet of vampires! You'd buy that book, wouldn't you? (Well, that would be your first mistake.) But you can't say Atlas didn't mean well, as far as books concerning vampire planets are concerned. The three-issue run is filled with competent art by Pat Broderick (#1-2) and Russ Heath (#3)—like so many of the Atlas books, there's a lot of strong talent on this comic, including Larry Hama scripting ish #1. Aboard the Aries VII as she returns to Earth, we meet cranky Captain Chris Galland, leader of the five-person crew...


Panels from Planet of Vampires #1, script by Larry Hama, pencils by Pat Broderick, inks by Frank McLaughlin



...wait, make that four-person crew...





...and they're suspicious that life on Earth in the year 2010 may have taken a turn for the worse. Hey, those new Obama policies just take time to work!





Trapped between two warring races, the Yangs and the Kohms the bureaucrats and the savages, our team's keeping their eyes open for bizarre anomalies and suspicious behavior...





Could it be...that they have landed on...a planet of vampires??? Eh, not really:





Y'see, it's only a planet of metaphorical vampires. (Which is a little like a planet of symbolic Frankensteins.) There's no capes, bats, or fangs in Planet of Vampires...just a ruling class capturing and draining the blood of the mutated savages to battle a plague that has destroyed Earth's civilization. Kind of like the Reagan years, huh? (See? Fair and balanced smartass comments!) Which makes the cover of issue #2 the most "this scene does not appear in this comic"-est comic book cover of all time!:


Cover of Planet of Vampires #2 (April 1975), cover art by Neal Adams and Dick Giordano



That means Cap'n Chris and his star-trekkin' crew now has a new mission: to kick vampire butt!


from Planet of Vampires #1



To be fair, Planet of Vampires is more than just a battle against inhuman monsters book. It is also a nuanced and reflection metaphor for racism, humanism, and the civil rights movement in the troubled 1970s...





...for two panels, after which is reverts into a them-vs.-us deathfest-o-rama.





It's a concept that appears to be difficult to remember by the time we get to ish #2, which is why Crewperson Elissa Exposition restates the plot so far:


Panels from Planet of Vampires #2 (April 1975), script by John Albano, pencils by Pat Broderick, inks by Frank McLaughlin, letters by Alan Kupperberg



And, just in case you've forgotten the plot after a few pages, we pull out several miles to give ourselves some room to have more exposition:





Well, by this point, surely you're going to remember all that by the time we reach issue #3.


Panels from Planet of Vampires #3 (July 1975), script by John Albano, pencils and inks by Russ Heath, letters by Alan Kupperberg



Our hardy four-person crew...





...I mean three-person crew...





...two-per...





(tapping my hoof impatiently)





Ah, there we go. Total cast annihilation: achieved. So, next issue? What have you got for us?

Two-page "next issue" spread in Planet of Vampires #3, art by Larry Lieber and Al Milgrom
(Click picture to Planet of Wolfmen-size)


Cool! I can't wait for issue #4...which never came out as the series ended with #3. It's a solid sign of how abruptly the Atlas/Seaboard line shut down. Ambitious, somewhat competent, well-meaning, but by the end of '75, dust in the wind. (Then again, aren't we all?)

But at least we got three issues of subtle, nuanced political and social commentary, right?


From Planet of Vampires #2



So long, you wacky, way-out Planet of Vampires! Get outta here, you nut!



Atlas house ad, below. See, that's your problem right there...introducing twenty-one different #1 comics within one month? That's insane! No one today would do anything so suicidal!!!


House ad from The Phoenix #1 (January 1975)



Luckily, if those comics didn't move, Atlas could sell off stuff from their parents' basement:


Atlas Fantasy Mart ad fromThe Cougar #2 (July 1975)

Tomorrow night: Cody Starbuck Dominic Fortune Reuben Flagg Cass Pollack ehhhhh, just be here and we'll figure it out together.

365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 250

Each year as I travel through the 365 days with one or some of my favorite characters, I'm on the lookout for original comic art of those heroes to collect, enjoy, and feature in this here blog feature what we call 365 Days with.... That's why I recently bought this bee-yootiful inked sketch by Evan "Doc" Shaner: it perfectly captures the immense essence, heroism, and blowhardiness of my favorite Warrior Three, Volstagg!




(Yep, Volstagg...you probably have.)

The Voluminous One will soon hang in a position of grandeur in El Casa Bully (right near the Lois Lane poster). And you can buy one of Doc's gorgeous works by stepping on over to his shop blog.

You really should: not only is Doc a genius with the pencil and pen, he's also an A-1 Top Guy in my little stuffed book. Y'know why? Well, it turns out...wait, wait, I'm not gonna tell you...yet.

But you can find out tomorrow! Tune in Thursday: same Doc time, same Doc channel, to see another startingly wonderful piece of artwork from Mister Shaner that blew my little stuffed mind. (Seriously. I was picking pieces of fluff out of the carpet all night.)

Ghost Rider's bony, bony feet don't fail him now

Hello there Mid-Day pals 'n' gals! (Which is not to say gals can't be pals.) Usually in this noontime spot we'd have another thrilling installment of Mid-Day Matinee—this week, all week: Atlas/Seaboard Week! But I forgot the first rule of blogging the Mid-Day Matinee: K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple, Stuffedbull)! I've been leading your through the World o' Atlas with so many scans that my prep time, like Batman's has skyrocketed!

So, for the rest of the week (all week), let's do a temporary switcharoo: Atlas/Seaboard Week entries will move to the evening, so look for one later tonight!

In the meantime, to keep you giggling through your lunch hour (please do not choke on your tuna sammich, though), here's

The Time That Ghost Rider Ran Away!

Panels from Marvel Spotlight #11 (August 1973), script by Gary Friedrich, pencils by Tom Sutton, inks by Syd Shores, colors by Glynis Wein, letters by John Costanza

So remember: when your freakin' head is on fire because you sold your soul to Satan and you need to get away from Satan's minions...just run away, okay? Take a clue from Ghost Rider! RUN AWAY! RUN AWAY! He's escaping as covertly as a flaming skulled guy in motorcycle leathers can escape.

Do Daleks Dream of Shaun the Sheep?

365 Days with the Warriors Three, Day 249

Panel from Thor #393 (July 1988), script by Tom DeFalco, pencils by Ron Frenz, inks by Brett Breeding, colors by Christie Scheele, letters by John Workman, Jr.

Atlas/Seaboard Week, Day 2: With Great Power Comes Great Destruction

Today: The Destructor!




No, not those guys. (And if you listened to that song any further than the first scream, you're a bigger metal fan that I'll ever be.) No, I mean this guy:


The Destructor #2 (April 1975), cover art by Larry Lieber and Frank Giacoia



Whoa, that pretty much looks like every single Marvel Comics cover during the mid-seventies, doesn't it?


Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man #11 (October 1977), cover art by Al Milgrom



Atlas may not have had as popular a character as Spider-Man, but they did have one thing Marvel didn't have anymore: Steve Ditko!


Splash page of The Destructor #1 (April 1975), script by Archie Goodwin, pencils by Steve Ditko, inks by Wally Wood



Yep! The creator of The Question, Hawk and Dove, and The Creeper; the co-creator of Spider-Man, Doctor Strange, and Captain Atom, Steve Ditko turns his prodigious pencil towards 717 Fifth Avenue in 1975, co-creating with Archie Goodwin a hero "born of fury! Sworn to Vengeance! He is..." The Destructor, one of the very few Atlas mags to last past three issues. (i.e., it lasted four issues.) Destructor was a one-man felony-fightin' action hero determined to take down organized crime the old fashioned way...by throwing it into some boxes!


From The Destructor #1



Secretly Jay Hunter, Destructor gained his super powers when his scientist father...well, let's let Goodwin/Ditko tell us, okay?


From The Destructor #1



Get all that? Don't worry if you didn't. Here's another origin montage from later in the same issue.


From The Destructor #1



Okay, just in case you haven't been paying attention, let's go over that one more time:


Panels from The Destructor #2 (April 1975), script by Archie Goodwin, pencils by Steve Ditko, inks by Wally Wood



Atlas/Seaboard notoriously attempted to capture the zeitgeist of Marvel Comics by creating similar-looking comics. Perhaps, in some cases, a little too closely. By now you may have spotted Destructor's vague resemblance to a certain web-slinging guy over at the House of Ideas:


From The Destructor #1



I'm pokin' fun here, but I love the art in The Destructor, especially the first two issues where Ditko was inked by Wally Wood. But there wasn't a lot tremendously innovative here: from the slim, swinging, leaping hero to his guilt-filled death of a loved one origin, Destructor was bidding for slices of those cool, crisp, Spider-Man dollars. In the following year, Marvel itself would figure out the best way to get more Spider-Man dollars with the premier of Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man, but until then Atlas seems to have been hoping you'd grab Destructor. Even Ditko's artwork and some solid scripts by Archie Goodwin couldn't save the series from cancellation with ish #4. But in the meantime, swell Stevarino art, lots of broken furniture, and the debut of The Atlas/Seaboard Universe's version of J. Jonah Jameson:


From The Destructor #1



Some fairly lame villains didn't help matters, I'm afraid. Umm...did Steve realize exactly what it looks like he's drawing here? Um, not that I know anything about that.


Panels from The Destructor #4 (August 1975), script by Gerry Conway, pencils by Steve Ditko, inks by Al Milgrom, letters by John Duffy



Still, hoods were tossed, beams were swung from, and chairs were broken, and eventually The Destructor could sit back, relax, and eat a healthy dinner of a delicious bowl of hard-boiled eggs.


From The Destructor #1



The Destructor! He kinda looked like Spider-Man and he got his own dad shot in the chest, but every comic fan of the 1970s still remembers his haunting battle cry!:


From The Destructor #1



"One thing I do worry about is your distribution. Your other titles are impossible to find." Uh oh...that's a bad omen.


Letter column page from The Destructor #3 (June 1975)



Big names, grand plans, eventual collapse:


Text page from The Destructor #1



Make...Mine...Atlas!


House ad from The Cougar #2 (July 1975 )


Tomorrow: a planet where vampires evolved from men?