Manic Monday Bonus--The Queen, Demoted!!

In the early 1950s, Atlas published:

Nothing remarkable...gorgeous blonde living in Africa with her father, he is eaten by a lion, a trusted native trains her in the ways of the jungle...and she becomes Lorna The Jungle Queen.

Well, if you've read enough Golden Age jungle hero books, there's not anything particularly interesting about Lorna.

But after 5 issues, the book's title suddenly changed to:

There was no change is costume, origin story, cute jungle pet, tone, whatsoever.

For her last 21 issues, Lorna The Jungle Queen just became Lorna The Jungle Girl.

Why was she demoted from Queen to Girl?

Perhaps the was a copyright/trademark disagreement with some other "jungle queen"? Perhaps publisher Martin Goodman or editor Stan Lee had some odd whim that "Girl" would sell better than "Queen"? Was there a reason at all?

I'm sure there was some reason, but I've never been able to find it. That's your cue to tell me what you read in all your fancy book learnin', readers.

Or maybe we can just have her explain it herself when she turns up as a guest-star in the next Agents of Atlas story...

Friday Night Fights--Tip Of The Tounge Stlye!!

It's Friday Night Fights, man-on-animal action, blah blah blah...I'm sick, so let's keep this short.

Goofy warrior Ironjaw is wandering the wastes, pondering his secret origins, when something seem to be stalking him:

YAHHHHHH!!!

OUUUUCCCHHHH!!

Well, since this was your final issue, as well as your last appearance, I guess it really was the ultimate test, Ironjaw!!

Spacebooger is wondering what giant lizard tongue tastes like...

The answer was on the tip of the monster's tongue in Ironjaw #4 (1975), by Gary Friedrich and Pablo Marcos.

So now is the time for you to go and vote for my fight. Why? I'm ill, and maybe, just maybe, your support will help bring me back to health. So go vote!!

HOLY CRAP!!

UPDATE: It turns out I was too enthusiastic. See update at the bottom:

Atlas Comics is back!!!!!!

With J.M DeMatteis as editor-in-chief!!!

And the rights to all the Atlas characters!! Like Targitt!! And Tiger-Man!!

A couple of years ago I was wondering why no one had snatched up the rights to all those characters. Now we know!!

Can they succeed, recycling 1970s characters who were mostly vague clones of contemporary Marvel and DC tropes?? Who knows...but ATLAS!!!! Man...Atlas?!?! Who woulda thought...?

UPDATE: JM DeMatteis has clarified the situation, and it's not going to be a "full-out Atlas revival"--at least not yet:

One thing I’d love to clear up: the way the story morphed in the press it looks like a) we’re in the midst of a full-out Atlas revival and b) I’m the editor-in-chief of a reborn Atlas comics. That’s not the way it is. I’m EIC of Ardden Entertainment — we’ve recently relaunched both FLASH GORDON and CASPER (as CASPER AND THE SPECTRALS). Ardden is working with the Atlas license holders (sort of like a co-production between two film studios) to bring two titles out: GRIM GHOST and PHOENIX. That’s it for now. Two titles to test the waters. If they do well—and everyone hopes they do—there will, naturally, be more.

Dammit, where's my Tiger-Man?!?!

Tales From the Quarter Bin--Targitt!!

He was a former military man who saw his wife and child killed as innocent bystanders in a mob hit. After getting no justice through traditional channels, he goes on a one-man rampage against the mob, determined to kill them all...

No, I'm not talking about the Punisher, you silly people. I'm talking about John Targitt, the avenging angel of death also known as TARGITT!!

Yup, it's time to once again take a dip into Atlas waters. Barely a year after Frank Castle debuted in the pages of Spider-Man, Atlas' attempts to ape all things Marvel led, surely by coincidence, to a family-avenging vigilante who had no qualms about killing the bad guys. I assure you, a complete case of synchronicity...

But unlike the fun, gritty cover by Dick Giordano, the interior art by Howard Nostrand makes for a really odd story. His style here is almost cartoony, sort of Joe Staton-like, which makes for a fairly schizophrenic contrast with our Death Wish story line.

Perhaps it was necessary to soften the art in order to get this book approved by the Code. While Marvel was having the Avengers fight "zuvembies" because you weren't allowed to portray zombies in comic book, Atlas had a reputation of pushing the line on killings and violence and such. Well, on Targitt, they smashed through that line. And the Code never smacked them down (then again, they weren't around for long...). Ric Meyers script was heavy on slaughtering bad guys, and light on moralizing.

Let's skip over the explosion of the plane his family was on (because I don't feel like scanning a 2 page spread today). Meet John Targitt, FBI agent who manages to get over the grief of his family's death awfully quickly.

So he travels to Boston to hunt down the mobsters responsible, but they try to take him out first:

But he strikes back, because all rogue FBI agents are packin' knives, and know how to throw them.

We then venture in a Dirty Harry rip-off, as Targitt tortures his perp by pummeling him in the knife wound he just caused. Note the cartoony look...why, torture is almost fun!!

Well, the next perp in the chain continues the Dirty Harry swiping, stealing lines almost verbatim, and without irony:

But John Targitt will not put up with copyright infringement!!

Yes, his head is completely through the door. Yes, he's dead. But he's only the first, as Targitt goes on a murder spree that makes Frank Castle look like Mary Marvel (oops, not such a good example any more, is it?)

First, let's take out a hitman--Archie-style!!

Cartoony or not, that's dead. So, John, really--what's the best way to deal with criminals?

Oh. Okay. That explains this and this:

Enough. I've shown you less than half of the killings this issue, including Targitt blowing up hoods with hand grenades, and shooting down the head hoodlum's helicopter.

Interestingly, while Targitt could be seen as a Punisher knock-off, it should be noted that Punisher had only appeared once by that point, and was hardly the monster success that he is today (that didn't happen until the 80's, especially after Frank Miller made him cool again in his Daredevil run). So it's not as if Atlas were aping a hot comic trend. And younger fans, especially readers of today's Punisher stories, should realize that this level of violence--especially killing with guns--was completely uncommon in 70's books. it just didn't happen, especially at the Big Two.

It's also interesting that in that first Punisher story, the hero of the comic provided a moral counterpoint to Castle's Death Wish crusade. Not so here, as there's no one trying to stop Targitt from his rampage as an "avenging angel" (actual quote from the story!!). This was a common view in films of the day, but not so much in comics, mostly because of the Code.

Of course, this was Atlas. By the next issue (seriously...they re-thought the premise after one issue!!), the title of the mag was changed to John Targitt...Man-Stalker. Targitt was given a Marvel-like costume, and was now officially working undercover for the FBI, spending less time killing mobsters, and more time preventing the "Arabs" from stopping the Alaskan pipeline from being built, so they can raise oil prices (seriously). By the third (and final) issue, Gerry Conway was on board and co-scripting, and the "Marvelization" of the book was complete:

Really, now. That could be a generic Daredevil or Captain America cover from 1975, couldn't it?? Oh, Atlas...

So the moral of the story? If Martin Goodman had stayed on as Marvel publisher, this could have been what the Punisher looked like after a couple of appearances:

Tales From the Quarter Bin--...Does Whatever a Tiger Can...

Back in 1974, if you wanted superhero comics, there were only two companies, Marvel and DC. Charlton had essentially dropped out of the superhero biz, while First, Comico and Eclipse were as yet undreamed of. So really, readers had little choice.

Except for one brief, not-so shining moment. For less than a year, an alternative stalked the landscape like a decaying zombie: Atlas Comics (also known as Atlas/Seaboard, to distinguish them from one of Marvel's earlier nom de guerres).

Founded by former Marvel owner/publisher Martin Goodman, Atlas is remembered today as something of a pioneer in creator rights. In order to compete with the Big Two, Atlas payed crazy high page rates to their artists, promised artists the return of all their art, and was the first in industry with a type of profit sharing/ownership of characters writers and artists created. A lot of notable veterans and young up-and-comers did work for Atlas. And there was serious excitement about the enterprise in the trade press and even the "regular" media.

Sadly, Atlas was also known as one of the most mismanaged companies EVER. Goodman assumed that he could duplicate Marvel's success without the magic of Stan & Jack & company. So he hired Stan's brother to be editor, and then micro-managed every creative decision to "make it more like Marvel." (A glance at this page of all the Atlas logos should give you an idea of how much they were trying to ape Marvel) At his insistence, Atlas often re-booted mags after 2 or 3 issues, completely changing their creative teams and premises on a whim. He installed his universally disliked son, Chip, as publisher, and many blamed his...well, his lack of comics background and creative sense for the constant shifts of direction. And, sad to say, most of the comics were crappy.

In the end, no Atlas title made it past 4 issues, and most didn't make it that far. The promises of returning art to the artists were largely broken, because much of the artwork was "stolen." And ater 10 months the comics line was no more.

And as for the ownership of creations, well, that turned out to not be pretty worthless for characters that lasted 2 issues and no one remembers. And it's hard to imagine in this day of The Twelve and Project Superhero, but as far as I know no one anywhere has resurrected a single Atlas character from limbo.

Which brings me to Tiger-Man. or is it Tigerman?

Special anal note: although the name Tiger-Man is hyphenated both in the logo and in the word balloon on the cover, it is NOT hyphenated anywhere on the inside, including the indicia. Do you know how much that bugs me?

Anyway, behind the (great) Ernie Colon cover, what do we get? A boring melange of a generic Marvel(ish) book and the Death Wish movies. And enough violence and cleavage to wonder if the Comic Code was paying attention to the new kid on the block.

We start on page 1, as a sexy nurse is assaulted by two hippie/biker-looking goombas, just because, apparently.

Wait a minute: run that line by me again!

Their bikes were "demolished in the war"?!?! What war?!? What, were they in the Hell's Angels Brigade in 'Nam? What war? How? And what of their brother in the body cast, who's never mentioned again?!?! Uh....head exploding...

Fortunately, our hero makes his first appearance, ready to save the damsel from the bikers with purple hearts (for their bikes):

Now on this page, and only this one, the colorist or printer screwed up, and forgot to color in the blue for the tights covering Tiger-Man's arms and legs. So in our hero's very first appearance, he's colored wrong. Which results in a disturbing image:

But he does manage to stop the cads, although a bit violently for these pre-Wolverine days:

Note the decidedly over-the-line violence (and killing? they're very vague, probably intentionally) and the "Holy God!" exclamation. Code anyone? Meanwhile, our naughty nurse flashes some cleavage and first states the meme that will inform our hero's journey:

Yup, New York is Hell.

So who is Tiger-Man? Well, young doctor Lannie Hill (so incompetent is our flashbackery, that we don't find his surname until 2 pages into the flashback, and his first name until 5 pages into his origin) is interning in "African Zambia." He becomes fascinated by "the survival instinct of the inhabitants of this region" (it seems that animals in our continent just lay down and die, or something). So how does he pursue this field of inquiry?

(Yes, go ahead, insert Monty Python joke here...get it out of your system).

Ignore how or why a man-killing Indian tiger is still alive and hanging around Zambia. Instead, ponder that, somehow, studying a predator from India is supposed to tell Dr. Hill about the survival instinct of African prey. This is making DC science look good...

Of course, he takes it himself...duh. And, remember, when you're a scientist:

Yup, why worry about what effects might be? Why, that would be actual science!! The result:

Again, duh. Anyway, he returns home to New York City, where his sister is an actress in a hit Broadway show!! Which somehow leads to this:

Yup, two rogue rodeo folk (?) who decide to take in a Broadway show (??), decide the actress must be rich (???), find out where she lives (????), break in, and kill her (and maybe rape her, too...).

So of course, Lannie uses his tiger powers to track them down, and once again lays down the verdict on what life in NYC is like:

You object to "mugging" before "murdering?" And isn't "stealing" redundant after "mugging?"

The final fate of our scum? Well, here's another reason why it's hard to believe that this is a 1975 Code approved book:

All we're missing is the "Snikt."

So what's the verdict on Tiger-Man? Exploitative crap, or prescient vision of what the comics industry was heading to? Gabe Levy and Ernie Colon, what were you thinking about while creating this? (Note: in one of those Atlas shifts discussed above, Gerry Conway and Steve Ditko took over the mag for issues 2 & 3, and considerably lightened the tone to something more Marvel-like).

And when is someone going to snap up the rights to some of the Atlas characters, and incorporate them into, say, the DC universe? And when will someone tell me whether or not his name should be hyphenated!?!?!?!

On a final note, after Atlas/Seaboard dumped their comics line, Chip Goodman stayed with Seaboard as publisher of the...ahem...adult magazine Swank for several years. I've always wanted to legitimately mention Swank in a comics post, and here's my chance.

Much of my discussion of Atlas' history is indebted to The Atlas Archives website...check it out for an in-depth look at a much-forgotten period of modern comics history!