Monday, September 23, 2019

Agents of Atlas and Martian Manhunter



I quite liked The Agents of Atlas  when they were introduced.  It was an interesting team of offbeat characters that paid respect to Marvel's long publishing history.  I see that there is a new version of the group out now, but only Agent Jimmy Woo of the original line up is included in that, working with an all-Asian roster.  I've seen Gorilla Man appearing in some Avengers titles, hopefully the rest of the original team will find new homes as well.

18 comments:

Hello room service, send up a room! said...

Didn't Jimmy start off in SHIELd?
Wonder if they will ever say he was born a woman and transgendered into a guy to help sales. How are sales of Marvel? Not the movie tickets but the books?

Cavillier1970 said...

Now this is another one I'd love to write. I can already see the story in my head. Years ago I was part of a Yahoo fan fic group that focused on the Lost Generation maxi series and how the heroes beat the skrulls and there were various titles. I took on the one dealing with the Thunderbolts. But there was a title that did five 'issues' of the 1950s Avengers and added a few other members who I can see joining the team. Namora, who did, Janya, and the Cold Warrior. As for the Manhunter I loved his single series from the 90s and how they showed he had other identities during other eras, like as the Bronze Wrath who worked w/ the JSA and the Justice Experience.
Here I can see J'onn discovering some sort of plot from the skrulls so huge he needs help. Now the Lost Generation is another title I'd love to see added here Keep up the great work.

Carycomic said...

Gorilla Man now works for Deadpool's team of mercenaries. Primarily as an interpreter for the Hit Monkey! As for the ex-Killer Robot...

Doesn't "he" now work for Robo-Force? ;-)

Carycomic said...

P.S. @ Room Service: Jimmy Woo started out as a Chinese-American FBI agent serving as the personal arch-enemy of the Golden Age Yellow Claw. With YC's grandniece, Suwan, as the love interest with divided loyalties.

Anonymous said...

Will they meet the aliens of Mars Attack?

Simreeve said...

Nice!
I remember enjoying the the issue of 'What If?' in which the team that became the Agents originally appeared.

Carycomic said...

@Anonymous: does Bill Joel shoot down enemy aircraft with an "ack-ack" gun?

;-D

Bob Greenwade said...

Lovely cover, Ross! This is actually the first I've heard of t he Agents of Atlas, and you have me intrigued. On the whole I think I would've wanted to put Wonder Woman with them (given her connection to mythological Greece, as is the name Atlas; and also because she was one of the three DC superheroes who were actually publishing during the "Dark Age" of comics), but that doesn't make the work here any less impressive.

If the Agents of Atlas make a return to this blog, I'd like to see them go up against another character who was active during this time (albeit not in comics): Godzilla!

Cavillier1970 said...

Actually Bob it's a reference to the Atlas Mountains. The original team/idea was from a legendary What If issue of the Avengers forming in the 1950s. It's an amazing story and part of the collection when the team was made to exist in the 616 universe.

Anonymous said...

@Bob: it's also an in-joke reference to the name of the publishing company in between "Timely" and "Marvel." A name that was later revived, by a short-lived publisher called Seaboard, in the mid-1970's. That Atlas Comics had, as its spokesperson, Larry Lieberman. Stan The Man's own brother!

Carycomic said...

@Anonymous: Well, you're 90% right.

His name was just plain Larry Lieber. Lol!

Anonymous said...

No, Cary. With a piano sound. But I'm not really sure how it goes.

Anonymous and Proud of it! said...

Forget J.J. They needed Plastic Man if not the Freedom Fighters as well.

Carycomic said...

@Anon: it's simply a matter of trust. ;-D

Unknown said...

Love the Edsel!!!

Bob Greenwade said...

Cav & Anon: Nonetheless, there's a correlation in the name, even if it's just a homonym.

Carycomic said...

What's a homonym?

Shhhhhhh! Don't ask; don't tell.

;-)

yo go re said...

I didn't realize there was a new Agents of Atlas series until you mentioned it here. I took a look at the first issue yesterday, though, and have some good news for you: there's a backup story in each issue dealing with the "real" team and what they're doing behind the scenes!

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