The Agents of ATLAS Thread

[Dread]

3-D Man is looking pretty interesting here. He certainly has enough power for the Agents of Atlas, as well as his own secrets. He should fit right in on a team with an alien, a death-robot, and a former siren.

I do like the idea that Delroy is a bit of a "marked man" for super-heroes after icing Crusader. He did over-react to the whole Skrull Invasion thing, but war can do that to someone. Especially since he was, basically, an athlete turned cult spokesman turned superhero, not a soldier. Crusader actually met quite a few heroes in MARVEL TEAM UP and AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE, so a few would likely have taken his death personally. Of course, he seemed to "fade away" with his reality warping ring of his, and for all we know Parker could bring Crusader back in some odd way. I mean, his AVENGERS VS. ATLAS mini had an odd enemy.

Given that Marvel has done a mighty job using mini's and back-up's to keep this franchise alive, I really think a better idea would have been a debut relaunch with a $3 price tag, to encourage retailers to order as many copies as possible. Instead they'll just treat it as AGENTS OF ATLAS #13, and probably order about 20k at best. But, more is always awesome, and this'll be on my pull list.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I'm really looking forward to how Parker handles Delroy. As ridiculous as his Skrull murder-frenzy was in Secret Invasion, it could provide some rich material for new stories in Atlas.

 

[Dread]

In his defense, the Skrulls showed up in Time's Square are were on quite a "murder frenzy" of their own, so some over reaction isn't completely unjustified. But, yeah, there is some ore for stories there, especially since the Agents are all Cold War vets, and the hunt for Commie spies was somewhat akin to Skrulls. You never knew who was one sometimes.

 

[NDX]

3D Man never even registered until he went on a Skrull murder spree. I found it rather entertaining. So his involvement in the upcoming Atlas book has me interested.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

In his defense, the Skrulls showed up in Time's Square are were on quite a "murder frenzy" of their own, so some over reaction isn't completely unjustified. But, yeah, there is some ore for stories there, especially since the Agents are all Cold War vets, and the hunt for Commie spies was somewhat akin to Skrulls. You never knew who was one sometimes.

And yet, somehow, the Agents never devolved into murdering psychopaths. Funny, that.

 

[Dread]

3D Man never even registered until he went on a Skrull murder spree. I found it rather entertaining. So his involvement in the upcoming Atlas book has me interested.

Untrue. He was an instructor at Camp Hammond before SECRET INVASION. In fact he was leading around trainees during WORLD WAR HULK, which was a year sooner. Many of them ditched him to try to fight the Hulk, though, and had to be rescued by the Shadow Initiative.

And yet, somehow, the Agents never devolved into murdering psychopaths. Funny, that.

War does different things to different people in different eras. Plus, in his defense, he only got that way after running around with the Skrull Kill Krew too long, so maybe it was peer pressure. I mean, Grant Morrison created them! Nothing Grant Morrison writes or makes can EVER be stupid or disappointing!

As I said in another post, Delroy is basically an athlete turned superhero turned cult spokesman turned Avenger before he was thrust into working for a shady Initiative and then a brutal alien war. Imagine if LeBron James suddenly sprouted super-powers, and then started becoming a superhero spokesman for Scientology before, I don't know, someone figured out that they're all run by Crab People. Then he's thrown into the front line of a major terrorist strike in Time's Square in which he has to team up with a militia group from down south to survive. He'd probably be messed up a little.

Delroy usually defends himself with the "war is hell" reasoning; that in the field of battle a split second decision or hesitation can mean life or death. On the other hand, he's seemed to want to retire after the whole Skrull hunting business, and one imagines he may need a little incentive to join Atlas.

 

[NDX]

Untrue. He was an instructor at Camp Hammond before SECRET INVASION. In fact he was leading around trainees during WORLD WAR HULK, which was a year sooner. Many of them ditched him to try to fight the Hulk, though, and had to be rescued by the Shadow Initiative.

What I should say is that 3D Man, as a character, didn't register to me. He wasn't even a D-lister to me. Just a shmoe in a goofy costume. His time during the Secret Invasion made me interested in him, and actually looking forward to him in Atlas.

 

[Dread]

What I should say is that 3D Man, as a character, didn't register to me. He wasn't even a D-lister to me. Just a shmoe in a goofy costume. His time during the Secret Invasion made me interested in him, and actually looking forward to him in Atlas.

Oh, okay. When you said "registered", I thought you meant literally, as in registered with the SHRA. Not as in, "he didn't make an impression until SI".

He is, naturally, a creation of the Busiek/Perez run of AVENGERS that began in 1998. He's probably fared better than their other creation, Silverclaw (who in many ways is a rip of DC's Vixen, only from South America I believe). Considering Silverclaw was somehow related to Edwin Jarvis, it is kind of funny how little she has popped up since. Ms. Marvel arrested her during CW and that was it. One would think Jarvis might have sent her an invitation to Pym's Avengers. Or...maybe not.

Delroy was hardly a perfect person before he became a superhero; his athletic career was derailed when it was revealed that he'd used steroids to get ahead. Then he hooked in with the Triune Understanding, who was basically a super villain cult movement. Then he didn't really do much beyond some cough & spit appearances in some brawls until AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE and specifically their SECRET INVASION segment. Still, when Boomerang's athletic career was derailed (not even for 'roids, but for placing bets like Pete Rose), he became a crook, so at least Delroy never stooped to that level. I do think he will be interesting on the ATLAS team, too.

Of course...if Crusader ends up having survived Delroy's attempt to kill him and ends up becoming a super-villain, it is totally Delroy's fault.

 

[NightBeetle]

GORILLA MAN #2 (of 3)
Written by JEFF PARKER
Penciled by GIANCARLO CARACUZZO
Cover by LEONARD KIRK
As Ken Hale's mission takes him further into the jungle, he goes further into the wild past life that lead to him becoming the Gorilla-Man. Young Ken meets a beautiful girl named Lily but makes some powerful enemies!
40 PGS./Rated T+ ...$3.99

 

[TheCorpulent1]

I can't wait until Ken's mini starts.

 

[NDX]

I can't wait until Ken's mini starts.

Agreed.

Oh, okay. When you said "registered", I thought you meant literally, as in registered with the SHRA. Not as in, "he didn't make an impression until SI".

He is, naturally, a creation of the Busiek/Perez run of AVENGERS that began in 1998. He's probably fared better than their other creation, Silverclaw (who in many ways is a rip of DC's Vixen, only from South America I believe). Considering Silverclaw was somehow related to Edwin Jarvis, it is kind of funny how little she has popped up since. Ms. Marvel arrested her during CW and that was it. One would think Jarvis might have sent her an invitation to Pym's Avengers. Or...maybe not.

Delroy was hardly a perfect person before he became a superhero; his athletic career was derailed when it was revealed that he'd used steroids to get ahead. Then he hooked in with the Triune Understanding, who was basically a super villain cult movement. Then he didn't really do much beyond some cough & spit appearances in some brawls until AVENGERS: THE INITIATIVE and specifically their SECRET INVASION segment. Still, when Boomerang's athletic career was derailed (not even for 'roids, but for placing bets like Pete Rose), he became a crook, so at least Delroy never stooped to that level. I do think he will be interesting on the ATLAS team, too.

Of course...if Crusader ends up having survived Delroy's attempt to kill him and ends up becoming a super-villain, it is totally Delroy's fault.

So it sounds like he was nothing special until A:TI.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

He never really distinguished himself until then. He was basically a manipulated middleman in Busiek's Avengers before he defected and became a hero. But I'd kind of prefer a low-key character than a character who becomes a kill-crazy psycho at the drop of a hat.

 

[Dread]

I can't wait until Ken's mini starts.

Me neither. Hopefully it will be better than Uranian's mini.

Agreed.


So it sounds like he was nothing special until A:TI.

More or less.

He never really distinguished himself until then. He was basically a manipulated middleman in Busiek's Avengers before he defected and became a hero. But I'd kind of prefer a low-key character than a character who becomes a kill-crazy psycho at the drop of a hat.

But would a low key character have gotten any attention? Low key characters die in background panels and never return. Prodigy was the only one of the Slingers who supposedly became an alcoholic anti-establishment shouter, yet he is the one who has had the most exposure since their mini ended. Hornet is dead and Dusk hasn't popped up since a MS. MARVEL arc where she was one of Puppet Master's love slaves. Ricochet shows up for LONERS material, which was last seen in WAR OF KINGS: DARKHAWK #2, where he barely had a few lines. There's a saying about squeaky wheels. The reason why characters sometimes are written in extreme ways to garner attention is it works.

The way I see it, Delroy got a bit "shell shocked" after being drafted into a war. That isn't far removed from what happened. The SHRA was very much like a draft; superheroes had no choice but to enroll, and had no choice of where they were stationed or against whom they were chosen to fight. It wasn't his fault the Skrulls invaded, and they were more than willing to kill; one of his Initiative students, Geldoff, got executed in Time's Square on TV. Did he takes things too far at the end? Sure. But he also was around fanatical anti-Skrull fighters in the SKRULL KILL KREW, who in that situation happened to be critical. He was hardly the only super hero who was slaughtering Skrulls left and right during the war; Gravity killed quite a few without a second thought. Spider-Man wasn't lecturing anyone to pull their punches or anything.

Spider-Woman went around killing Skrulls after the invasion was over in her own series. Is she a "kill crazy psycho" now, too? How about Iron Fist? He's been wasting low level Hydra goons whenever they fought for quite a while, and that was under Brubaker & Fraction.

Every superhero is either willing to kill or willing to accept killing in others at Marvel now. "Henchmen", whether alien or human, are seen as fodder and their deaths are not missed or mourned. It is vastly out of character for many (even if standard fare for action heroes in film), but the major positive is that it may be causing the popularity of anti-heroes like Wolverine to diminish from the high's of the 90's or even 2002. Their antics are no longer shocking and they are no longer mysterious, and thus they are no longer as cool.

Delroy overreacted and made a mistake during war with Crusader. He's not Carnage. There is a major difference. By that logic, any soldier in the middle of war who happened to kill a civilian is no better than Charles Manson. I believe there is a major distinction. As ATLAS opens it doesn't seem as if Delroy was awarded a medal or especially proud of what he did with Crusader - when the original 3D "Men" want to claim Delroy was better at it than them, he declines to accept that praise. He seems to be "retired" at the moment getting looked at by reality TV hacks. Personally, a little tragedy or making up for a bad mistake can sometimes do a lot for a character. Look at what removing those details have done to make Hal Jordan even MORE or a flat one note stiff than he was before.

 

[NDX]

Just thought I'd post this: Gabriel Hardman signed an exclusive contract with Marvel.

http://marvel.com/news/comicstories.13040.gabriel_hardman~colon~_agent_of_art

His deviantart page, filled with great sketches.

http://heathencomics.deviantart.com/

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Awesome. Hardman's great. He kind of came out of nowhere, but his art is absolutely perfect for the Agents of Atlas. I'm glad he went from filling in or doing flashback portions of the previous Agents of Atlas series to being the full-time penciler for Atlas.

 

[hippie_hunter]

Atlas has been canceled with issue #5

 

[Tron Bonne]

Looks like it's joined the prestigious done in five club along with S.W.O.R.D, Doctor Voodoo and Exiles. That's kind of sad to think about, even in today's market, damn

 

[NDX]

I have a feeling that Atlas is a story that will be best told in minis and specials. With the recent Marvel Boy mini and Namora special, as well as the upcoming Gorilla Man mini, I expect the series to continue in fashion similar to AoA vs. Avengers or X-Men had done.

Still, *******s for ****canning this series so soon.

 

[Dread]

http://www.comicsalliance.com/2010/...le-on-gorilla-man-the-end-of-agents-of-atlas/

Yeah, ATLAS is done. Sales for issue #2 were about 16k. There was no way Marvel was going to let it go beyond an arc with that. I imagine YOUNG ALLIES won't be much better, since it's first issue barely sold in the Top 100.

At the very least, Marvel gave this franchise a good honest try. Just retailers and fans, clogged with too many $4 books, didn't respond.

The series may continue in additional mini's or just as a plot device Parker uses in the books he does write. Still a shame, though. But it's had more of a try than a lot of other franchises.

 

[hippie_hunter]

http://comiccritics.com/2010/06/17/agents-of-atlas-anonymous/

 

[Dread]

http://comiccritics.com/2010/06/17/agents-of-atlas-anonymous/

I could so see Bendis really doing that to them.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

Eh, it was gonna happen sooner or later. The masses wouldn't know a great comic if it bit their collective face off, so I enter any new series that doesn't feature a major character fully expecting it to be canceled pretty quickly these days. Atlas was good while it lasted; that's about the best we can hope for now.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

They just need to let it be a back up in something. I think it probably found a solid home there.

 

[TheCorpulent1]

But Hercules doesn't have a regular comic anymore, either.

 

[Jennifer Walters]

That's true, but I'm sure they could easisly put it as a back up in say..Thor or a Hulk book.