Posted By Dan Greenfield on Oct 26, 2024 | 7 comments

Artist Steven Butler shares his pitch…

By STEVEN BUTLER

I was 10 years old in 1975, when I first encountered Atlas-Seaboard Comics — and my life was forever changed. I remember seeing them on a spinner rack at one of the local pharmacies in my small Mississippi hometown of Lucedale. I had been a comic book fan for several years by that point, and was used to making semi-weekly visits to the same pharmacy just to find anything new on the stands from my favorite creators like Jack Kirby, John and Sal Buscema, George Pérez, and Jim Starlin. I distinctly remember being really excited about seeing these new, vibrant comics with awesome looking characters sharing the rack with all of my regulars. I think it was the second issue of Planet of Vampires that I saw first, and that cover by Neal Adams dazzled me from across the room, luring me to the spinner rack like a moth to flame.

Pencils by Neal Adams, inks by Dick Giordano

Now, I had no idea at the time about the history of this new upstart company, and how publisher Martin Goodman evidently created the entire line as a very targeted way of trying to “stick it” to Marvel, which under new ownership, reneged on a deal to keep his son Chip on as editorial director.

All my 10-year-old self knew was that here was a brand new line of comics that looked every bit as good as Marvel and DC, and that I could get in on the ground level with them — a very appealing draw.

I do remember trying to pick up as many Atlas titles as I could, but I suppose the distribution was spotty, because only certain issues were available. But, for the most part, I highly enjoyed every issue I bought — they might have looked like Marvel Comics in their art style and cover trade dress, but the stories were anything but! They were more like the stories I would read in Warren magazines – more adult-oriented with harder hitting violence and an overall feel of a more cynical nature.

I was still enjoying the books almost a year later and was perplexed to find one day that they were no longer on the racks. Unware of any news outlets that could explain what happened, I just chalked it up to the company not being able to make a go of it in a crowded marketplace, and went on buying the comics that were still on the stands — Marvel, DC, Archie, Gold Key and Harvey.

But I never forgot about Atlas-Seaboard. Those comics had made such an indelible impact on me that they stuck with me through my high school years, and all the way through my own career as a professional comic book artist.

I remember the very brief Atlas “revival” in 2010, with new comics using some of the original Atlas characters. I thought about submitting some of my own work to the company making those comics, but by the time I got around to doing so, it had stopped producing the Atlas material.

Flash forward to 2020: I had been teaming up with my buddy Mort Todd on some Charlton Neo projects, when we started talking about our shared love of Atlas/Seaboard Comics. Mort had connections so we decided to work up a pitch for our own revival — it wasn’t so much a reimagining as it was going to be a continuation of where the Atlas line left off in 1975. It was submitted, but for whatever reason, it didn’t go anywhere. As many other professional creators can attest to, there are a lot more pitches that never get picked up compared to the number that get the green light.

However, with Atlas-Seaboard being so prominent in the news lately — with the new Mego action-figure line having an exclusive deal with Wal-Mart — I thought I would showcase the art that I did (with Mort on colors) for our 2020 series pitch, on my Facebook page Steven Butler Studios. That post got a lot of traffic  and I’m now happy to share that art here at 13th Dimension. I’m also sharing a few recent pieces I did of two of my favorite-but-obscure Atlas characters — Demon Hunter and Phoenix the Protector.

I believe many of us comics creators get into this uniquely odd profession out of a deep desire to continue to cultivate that “sense of wonder” that we ourselves experienced when we first encountered the magical medium of comics as young children. I know for myself that comics is the No. 1 catalyst that inspired me to become an artist in the first place, and Atlas/Seaboard played a huge role in that. They were among the first titles that made me realize that I wanted to draw comics for the rest of my life.

I hope you guys enjoy the artwork. Maybe some Atlas work is in my future, maybe not. All I know is that I had a great time drawing these guys, and I hope it shows.

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MORE

— MEGO’s New MARVEL Line of Figures Launching in DECEMBER. Click here.

— The TOP 13 ATLAS/SEABOARD Comic Book Titles — RANKED. Click here.

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Steven Butler is a professional artist who has worked for Archie Comics and Marvel.