Show Us Your Atlas Books - Have A Cigar 26 26

[rjpb]

I showcase also panels from the Katz and Sale stories. Katz gave the editors their money's worth!

 

What I really like about the two panels is the underground comix feel to them. Of course, Katz was a mainstay in the underground scene. However the Sale panel has a bold look that reminds me of the work of Spain Rodriguez. I wonder whether Stan Lee (also the defacto art editor) appreciated the experimental style of some of his Atlas freelancers? I'll bet he was laissez faire and didn't say much to displease the artist. After all he allowed Krigstein to stuff those time-sliced narrow, animated panels in a four pager.

 

The "underground" look of Sale's work is what made me a fan.

[Scrooge]

Fourth in a series is Battle-ground # 4

 

In issue 4, we have (courtesy of AtlasTales.com):

 

F-430 Commie Death Trap by Joe Sinnott

F-392 Pillbox! by Mort Drucker (?)

F-384 Stonewall! by John Severin

F-442 That's My Boy! by Ayers & Ernie Bache

 

A couple of new artists sneak in the rotation behind another Heath cover.

 

I showcase panels from Sinnott in his best Heath-esque manner (thanks rjpb for pointing out the obvious that Sinnott's work of the period looks an awful like Heath's). Who said Heath drew the best tanks? Sinnott can hold his own. I follow that up with another great at details, a panel from Severin in this Civil War piece.

 

 

 

[adamstrange]

I'm particularly fond of this story -- it's an excellent example of Katz's art.

 

 

 

[BOOT]

 

 

Scrooge, great posts!

 

I wish the boards had a "LIKE" button. Sometimes life's too busy for a full reply to each post.

 

 

[Frisco Larson]

 

Very cool Steve and a pedigree to boot

[Frisco Larson]

A recent Atlas purchase

 

[Scrooge]

Fifth in a series is Battle-ground # 5

 

In issue 5, we have (courtesy of AtlasTales.com):

 

F-691 They Strike by Night! by Joe Sinnott

F-651 Kitchener's Mob! by John Severin

F-656 The Observer! [Notes: Story regarding the Crimean War and Florence Nightengale] by Jay Scott Pike

F-683 The Dying Man! unIDed

 

The regulars are back to pack this issue. No significantly impressive art job in this issue though. One has to find the attraction in the text. To that effect, I excerpted a couple of panel series from the first and the last job. You should get the general sentiment from these last few panels. The first one is told from the perspective of the young Korean boy, hence the stilted grammar.

 

 

 

[rockman2008]

It's a real shame Atlas cranked out a lot of sappy stories about war orphans going off with American GI's. They've dealt with stories of war orphans before but they always inevitably lead to an unsatisfactory conclusion. Since we've been talking about RQS, this next story is one my favorites. "Black Hate!" (MAN COMICS #12) seems to approach the issue with some honesty but the writer paints himself in a corner by the last page. Personally I'd rather have the story end on the fifth page and leave it ambiguous. The change in characterization is too sudden and mars a good story.

[RICK STARR]

I came across this RQ Sale 5 pager from Strange Tales # 29. One of his better horror stories.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Scrooge]

Sixth in a series is Battle-ground # 6

 

In issue 6, we have (courtesy of AtlasTales.com):

 

G-37 Able Company Strikes! by Jay Scott Pike (?)

F-961 We Set a Trap by Mac L. Pakula

G-52 Lawrence of Arabia by Mort Lawrence

G-89 Shell-Fire! by Ayers & Ernie Bache

 

Rockman, I hear you about sappy but I've become inured to those. Recall, these are post-PX ban so maybe Stan really tried to avoid any controversial topics and a repeat ban so it might have influenced his stance and it dovetailed into that story style you mention you do not care particularly for. But, wait, I will take sappy over silly most times. Silly war story you ask, well, yes, with the one below with "Chowhound" as Able company's scout. See hilarious panels below. I add a couple of eerie panels from the Pakula job during WW I. The Lawrence of Arabia story is not a bio story but only cover one incident. Wish it had been more large scale, still a fun little story.

 

 

 

[rockman2008]

I came across this RQ Sale 5 pager from Strange Tales # 29. One of his better horror stories.

 

Excellent example. This story is from his peak period of 1954 when his art reached an intensity in fine lines and cross-hatching. The influence here is Mort Lawrence, whom he had assisted over at Orbit. The style that many have noted to resemble Maneely is actually a rough simplification of this style. Nearly all RQS work from 1954 deserve classic status.

 

I will be posting more Sale stories later in this thread.

[rockman2008]

Rockman, I hear you about sappy but I've become inured to those. Recall, these are post-PX ban so maybe Stan really tried to avoid any controversial topics and a repeat ban so it might have influenced his stance and it dovetailed into that story style you mention you do not care particularly for. But, wait, I will take sappy over silly most times. Silly war story you ask, well, yes, with the one below with "Chowhound" as Able company's scout. See hilarious panels below. I add a couple of eerie panels from the Pakula job during WW I. The Lawrence of Arabia story is not a bio story but only cover one incident. Wish it had been more large scale, still a fun little story.

 

If you think the Atlas war stories were bad, Kanigher over at DC took war stories to new sappier lows. To add insult to injury, he hired Hank Chapman (post-Atlas) to hack out stories involving animal mascots. It's no wonder some comics scholars don't see Chapman in high esteem say compared to Kurtzman, in spite of his outstanding contribution to the genre from 1951-52. Btw, that "My Buddy" story I posted earlier is a favorite of an EC scholar and fanzine editor.

[Scrooge]

If you think the Atlas war stories were bad, Kanigher over at DC took war stories to new sappier lows.

 

Well, if I thought they were that bad, I wouldn't be collecting them. I'd take an Atlas War over most DCs though I am thankful for the DC Showcase editions that allow me to read those without having to collect them. I am going through the recent The Losers volume in parallel to the Atlas at the moment.

 

I was just commenting on your "sappy" comment re: the adoption of the Korean boy in an earlier post. In fact, if you take the sappy out, the death of the boy's parents in an act of revenge by the "commies" because their village stood behind the couple earlier, while sappy to some I am sure, makes for interesting reading to me. Still, my favorite stories tend to be the historical tales.

[rockman2008]

From Journey Into Unknown Worlds #24:

 

 

 

 

[Pat Calhoun]

Great !!!

[RICK STARR]

Wow!! Never seen that one. Spectacular RQS.

[Scrooge]

From Journey Into Unknown Worlds #24:

 

I read that one several months back when I got this copy of the book. Not great but it allowed me to read that Sale story

 

 

 

[Scrooge]

Seventh in a series is Battle-ground # 7

 

In issue 7, we have (courtesy of AtlasTales.com):

 

G-274 The Rifleman! by Mort Drucker

G-276 Under Fire! by ??

G-258 Battle Stallion! by Robert McCarty

G-309 Mule Skinner! by Joe Sinnott

 

Well, now the title has completely moved away from those fantastic historical jobs by Severin and Katz and veered into the mundane stories about equipment. The first story is told from the point of view of the private's garant, a piece that would be more at home in PS Magazine than here as it become an eerie love story between man and machine gun then in Stallion, we celebrate the war horse and in Mule Skinner, we celebrate the mule ... which was already celebrated a couple of issues back with a story very similar on how mules were integral to the advance in the Italian mountains as the invasion of Italy made its ways northwards and supplies needed to be transported over craggy terrain to the front troops.

 

To showcase variety, I include two panels from McCarty and a couple from Sinnott's job selected mainly for the panel on the left -

 

 

 

[Scrooge]

Eighth in a series is Battle-ground # 10 (yes, I don't have 8 & 9 )

 

In issue 10, we have (courtesy of AtlasTales.com):

 

H-523 The Decision Of Captain Kellner! by Don Heck

H-540 Behind Enemy Lines! by Bob Forgione & Jack Abel (?)

H-491 Attack By Night! by Vic Carrabotta

H-538 Man With The Flag! by Joe Sinnott

H-574 Balloon Barrage! by Mac L. Pakula

 

Another ho-hum issue. It really feels like we're in 1956 with shorter, less well-crafted stories, a far cry from the early 1954 issues. Still, I'll take a Heck story any day and then try to enjoy the rest for the entertainment they provide, what little that might be.

 

I include two panels from Heck and another from Pakula (I wonder if these pamphlets are copy of actual ones; no time for research though and they probably are not) -

 

 

 

[rockman2008]

From Mystic #35: