Atari Force was an interesting comic. For one thing, it was it much better than I expected a video game tie-in comic to be, with the interesting characters and absolutely gorgeous JL Garcia Lopez artwork. Still, I was not sure of what the actual connection to Atari was. Sure some of the characters wore the logo on their costumes, but it's not like the series was based on any Atari game that I was aware of - and I would have loved that.
Beautiful! I've always been fond of both those series.
ReplyDeleteIt was probably not so much a tie-in as an inspiration that _improved upon_ the source material! That's certainly how I felt about the original Marvel comic books loosely based on Spaceknight Rom and The Transformers.
ReplyDeleteAnd that goes double for the original Marvel adaptation of The Micronauts, as well!
ReplyDelete:-)
To the Alien Legion of Super Soldiers, May A Force always be with you.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, "Atari" is a Japanese word meaning "to hit the target," and in the board game Go, it's the equivalent of "checkmate."
ReplyDeleteI usually say that "Atari Force was much better than it had any right to be."
ReplyDeleteI have a Gil Kane splash from the series here: https://www.comicartfans.com/gallerypiece.asp?piece=1118827
Atari Force was originally a comic released with Atari games. Per Wikipedia:
ReplyDelete"The first Atari Force comics, which only counted five issues, were published in 1982 and were created mainly to illustrate story lines for home console games being released by fellow Warner Communications subsidiary Atari, Inc. The minicomics were packed in with the games Defender, Berzerk, Star Raiders, Phoenix, and Galaxian. The comics were written by Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas and the artists included Ross Andru, Gil Kane, Dick Giordano, and Mike DeCarlo."
I know that Wikipedia is chancy at best, but in this case it matches up with my memories; I have one of the books somewhere about. So it was based in Atari, for certain.
Nice cover!
ReplyDeleteI love Alien Legion. I've read them all except the most recent one that came out and I learned about it's existence recently. I really think it would make a great movie. I think I heard that it was being considered for a movie a few times but it never came to to be. If do right, Alien Legion could be a serious hit movie series. I still have hope that it will happen.
Ordinaryguy2
Love this one!
ReplyDeleteLike ELS said, it's based on the original mini-comics that were packed in with Atari 2600 games. Martin Champion was the leader of the original Atari Force, and Dart was the daughter of two of the original members
ReplyDeleteTwo teams I would love to see return. Alien Legion did return in a mini-series from Titan Comics. Dynamite Comics got the rights to Atari Force. They were suppose to publish it in trades but nothing I know of yet. They did collect the published issues of Swordquest and I thought they published the original 5 issues as a graphic novel but I am having trouble finding it.
ReplyDeleteMaybe DC and DE should do a crossover between Atari Force and Agent of T.H.U.N.D.E.R.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of aliens, how about a live cover of tv's My Favorite Martian with The Invaders David Vincent and then Greatest American Hero?
ReplyDeleteGiven the ease with which the genetically engineered host bodies disintegrated after clinical death, "Invaders" and "First Wave' might be easier to blend together with photo-captures.
ReplyDeleteAs I recall, in the original Atari Force comic, in a world which was rebuilding from some great collapse, Atari Labs had become one of the top developers of advanced tech. Kinda like Space-X and Microsoft and Tesla all in one package.
ReplyDeleteIs that Mother Gatecrasher of Technet in the upper right corner of the cover?
ReplyDeleteNope! It was an alien orphan (who was adopted and named Babe) from the planet Egg.
ReplyDelete