Comics based on toys usually held only marginal interest for me, but there were a couple of exceptions. The Micronauts was based on some of my favorite toys of my youth, and featured the gorgeous art of Michael Golden. The fact that Marvel had the characters firmly rooted in the Marvel universe, with plenty of guest appearances, made it even better. I didn't really pay much attention to the video game tie-in aspect to Atari Force, it was the amazing artwork of Jose Luis Garcia Lopez that drew me in. I'd love to see either of these teams return, but with tangled rights situations, I am not holding my breath.
Atari Force is a guilty pleasure for me, I know it's kinda cheesy but still really good stories by Gerry Conway and as you said amazing artwork. Micronauts comics are good too, but it's having some of the toys i remember, and in the movie Time Bandits the kid has Micronauts. Did some of the toys have magnets that clicked the torso to the limbs and head? Or am I recalling a different toy? Rom the space knight?
ReplyDeleteI remember the magnets too.
ReplyDeleteWooooow. Just Wow. I love this so much. I only started collected comics as a third grade schooler in 1983, and I would stare at the cover of The Micronauts, but would never buy one since 1) they were simply too unfamiliar to me, and 2)I had limited resources (60 cents was a lot of money back then, I had to be quite careful each month, I usually brought only one comic a week, so that four or three comics a month.) The Micronauts never made the cut! But the covers, those cover by Michael Golden were fantastic!!
ReplyDeleteWho owns The Micronauts? Hasbro? Mattel? Fisher Price?
ReplyDeleteSome of the toy tie-ins were surprisingly good. e.g., Rom: Space Knight.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Ross did a "team" team-up, which I always like.
indeed ROM spaceknight was a great toy tie-in as well as The Micronauts which comes as no surprise given they were both written by Bill Mantlo. as for Mike Golden i saw him just a couple of months ago at a con in San Jose CA.
ReplyDeleteI only vaguely remember the Atari force but I love how you tied them together this way very cool stuff!
ReplyDeleteEither you've been listening to our FIRE AND WATER PODCAST, or we're just totally in synch! Your recent entries include: Firestorm, Aquaman, Micronauts, Atari Force, and other characters we've been discussing on our show. Crazy!
ReplyDeleteLoving your work!
The Irredeemable Shag
FIRESTORM FAN(dot)com
Just a quick follow-up... I've been finding myself less and less excited by recently published comics. However, I find tremendous enjoyment in reading comics from the early 1980s through about 1988. In conversations I've been using Micronauts as an example. Reading just one issue of Micronauts from the early 1980s provides so much enjoyment and story. Nowadays you have to read an entire trade paperback to get the same amount of story and fulfillment. I've been working my way through volume 1 of the Micronauts over the past year and I'm loving it!
ReplyDeleteI've also purchased the entire run of Atari Force and it's sitting in a pile waiting for me to read. Can't wait!
Loving your posts everyday!
The Irredeemable Shag
Shag, it sounds like a case of great minds thinking alike!
ReplyDeleteMicronauts was my jam, both the toys and the comics. I have every issue of every volume of the comic. I have several issue that are so worn I probably should replace them. I bought the first issue of Atari Force and while the art was amazing the story was a little thin. The ROM toy was based on the comic I believe. Marvel currently has the rights to Micronauts and the rumor is that JJ might be making a movie about them.
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