Atlas/Seaboard Comics

Atlas/Seaboard Comics

Company type	Private
Industry	Comic books publishing
Founded	24 June 1974 (1974-06-24)
Founder	Martin Goodman
Defunct	1975 (1975)
Headquarters	New York City , United States
Products	Comic books, magazines

Atlas/Seaboard Comics represented a line of comic books produced by the American publisher Seaboard Periodicals during the mid-1970s. Although marketed under the name Atlas Comics, this entity is separate from the 1950s Atlas Comics, which served as a forerunner to Marvel. The company's main offices were situated on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, New York City.

Establishment

Martin Goodman, the original founder of Marvel Comics and former publisher of Magazine Management, departed from Marvel in 1972 following its sale in 1968. On June 24, 1974, he founded Seaboard Periodicals with the objective of rivaling major industry players such as Marvel and DC Comics. Goodman appointed Jeff Rovin, who had experience at Warren Publishing, as editor for the color comic series, while Larry Lieber—brother of Marvel’s editor-in-chief Stan Lee—was entrusted with overseeing black-and-white magazine publications.

Rovin’s appointment was largely due to his background in comics and mail order operations, which supported Seaboard’s financial stability. Lieber was responsible for approximately 25% of the output, focusing chiefly on genres like police dramas, Westerns, war stories, and horror anthologies. After Rovin left the company, Lieber assumed editorial duties for the color comics as well. Steve Mitchell handled production management, and John Chilly fulfilled the role of art director for black-and-white magazines.

Goodman extended an editorial position to former Marvel editor-in-chief Roy Thomas; however, Thomas declined, expressing skepticism about the company’s viability in a competitive market.

Lieber later reflected that dividing editorial responsibilities between Rovin (color comics) and himself (black-and-white magazines) created challenges. The high freelance fees placed financial strain on a company still trying to establish its foothold. Following Rovin’s departure amid declining sales, Lieber took over all editorial work and was compelled to reduce creator payments in order to keep the operation afloat.

Closure

Atlas/Seaboard attracted prominent industry professionals by offering some of the highest payment rates at the time, returning original artwork to creators, and allowing them to retain rights to their original characters. This approach brought in renowned talents such as Neal Adams, Steve Ditko, Russ Heath, John Severin, Alex Toth, Wally Wood, Howard Chaykin, and Rich Buckler.

Despite this talent pool, distribution challenges hindered widespread availability, and consumer interest waned rapidly as many titles were perceived as derivative of existing Marvel properties—for instance, The Brute bore strong resemblance to the Hulk, while Blazing Battle Tales was reminiscent of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos. Facing poor sales performance and losses across all series, Martin Goodman ultimately shut down the company by late 1975 after releasing 23 comic book titles and five magazines; none extended beyond four issues. Certain characters from Seaboard later influenced Marvel creations—Howard Chaykin’s Scorpion inspired Dominic Fortune, while Rich Buckler’s Demon Hunter served as a basis for Devil-Slayer.

Chip Goodman

According to some accounts, Martin Goodman established Atlas Comics partly out of dissatisfaction with Cadence, Marvel's new proprietors, for not retaining his son Charles "Chip" Goodman in the editorial director role. Nevertheless, writer Gary Friedrich contended that Martin's chief objective was expanding the business by offering competitive pricing under Larry's management, rather than seeking personal retaliation. Marvel’s art director John Romita Sr. viewed the initiative as a reprisal since Chip had been anticipated to succeed Martin but was let go following Martin's exit.

Although Chip managed Seaboard Comics, he reportedly showed little enthusiasm for the comic book business. Roy Thomas observed that despite placing Chip in charge, Martin treated him with disdain, highlighting a difficult father-son relationship. This tension inspired a fictionalized depiction in Ivan Prashker’s short story "The Boss's Son," published in Playboy, which unexpectedly resulted in Prashker receiving an editorial position instead of being dismissed.

Revival

Around 2010, Jason Goodman, grandson of Atlas Comics founder Martin Goodman, collaborated with Ardden Entertainment to revive Atlas Comics, launching with two "#0" issues spotlighting Grim Ghost and Phoenix. These characters, along with Wulf the Barbarian, were featured in the miniseries Atlas Unified, announced in September 2011.

Nemesis Group Inc., under Jason Goodman's leadership, later uncovered that Jeffrey Stevens had secured the "Atlas Comics" trademark in 2005. Nemesis initiated legal action in 2010, arguing Stevens had not actively used the trademark. The dispute reached trial but was dismissed with prejudice in 2013 due to Nemesis Group’s procedural missteps. In 2014, Stevens transferred the trademark to Dynamite Characters LLC. Subsequently, Nemesis Group submitted a new Atlas Comics logo application in 2016, indicating a possible challenge to Dynamite’s ownership.

By May 2019, a reconstituted Atlas entity surfaced with SP Media Group holding majority shares and Goodman maintaining a stake, demonstrating ongoing attempts to reinvigorate the brand within the competitive comic market.

Comics

Source unless otherwise specified:

• Barbarians starring Ironjaw (1 issue)
• Blazing Battle Tales featuring Sgt. Hawk (1 issue)
• The Brute (3 issues)
• The Cougar (2 issues; created by Steve Mitchell)
• Demon Hunter (1 issue)
• The Destructor (4 issues; artwork by Steve Ditko and Wally Wood)
• Fright starring Son of Dracula (1 issue)
• The Grim Ghost (3 issues)
• Hands of the Dragon (1 issue)
• Ironjaw (4 issues; covers for #1 and #2 by Neal Adams)
• Morlock 2001 (3 issues; final issue retitled Morlock 2001 and the Midnight Men)
• Phoenix (4 issues; last issue titled Phoenix...The Protector)
• Planet of Vampires (3 issues)
• Police Action featuring Lomax and Luke Malone (3 issues)
• Savage Combat Tales starring Sgt. Stryker's Death Squad (3 issues)
• The Scorpion (3 issues)
• Tales of Evil (3 issues; includes Bog Beast and Man-Monster)
• Targitt (3 issues; #2 renamed as John Targitt...Man Stalker)
• Tiger-Man (3 issues)
• Vicki (4 issues; reprints of Tower Comics’ humor series Tippy Teen)
• Weird Suspense featuring the Tarantula (3 issues)
• Western Action starring Kid Cody and Comanche Kid (1 issue)
• Wulf the Barbarian (4 issues)

Magazines

• Devilina (2 editions)
• Gothic Romances (single edition)
• Movie Monsters (4 editions)
• Thrilling Adventure Stories (2 editions; Tiger-Man featured in the first)
• Weird Tales of the Macabre (2 editions; includes Bog Beast)

Film adaptations

After acquiring the Atlas characters and intellectual properties from Nemesis Group in May 2019, the company revealed intentions to release theatrical films starting in 2021. Weed Road Pictures, under Akiva Goldsman's leadership, was commissioned to create ten story concepts, with one chosen for further development. A first-look agreement was established with Paramount Pictures. Goodman was appointed as publishing head and executive producer for Atlas, while Spike Seldin took on the role of president of production. On August 28, 2024, Paramount declared its plans to initiate a cinematic universe centered on Atlas Comics properties, beginning with Devilina.

External links

• Atlas/Seaboard at the International Catalog of Superheroes.