I don't remember Atlas myself, but I'm pretty sure my older brother had a few issues of
The Grim Ghost lying around when I was a nipper! Anyway, he, along with
The Phoenix will relaunch at The New York Comic Con next month, with updated versions of several of Atlas' other titles such as
The Scorpion, The Cougar, Planet of Vampires and
Ironjaw expected to follow.
Atlas was actually founded by the same man who started up Marvel comics, Martin Goodman. But he sold Marvel to Cadence Industries in 1970 for millions of dollars and the promise that his son Chip would stay on as editorial director. Bur the story goes that Stan Lee was having none of it and gave Chip the boot, prompting Chip and his father to launch Atlas in the hopes of vanquishing Marvel. Needless to say, that didn't happen and Atlas eventially folded. But now Goodman's grandson Jason is brining Atals back..
"Although my grandfather eventually sold Marvel, he insisted on keeping Atlas Comics in the family," Jason said.
"As a result of his vision, Atlas Comics is the largest individually-held library of comic book heroes and villains on the planet. We have 28 titles and hundreds of characters imagined by some of the greatest minds in the industry."
Film, TV and video game rights are available for all of Atlas' characters so in the current Hollywood climate, where anything based on a comic book is fair game, expect to see some of these characters hit the screen at some point. Providing the re-launch is successful that is.