| Atari Force | |
|---|---|
 Cover art for Atari Force #1. Art by Ross Andru and Dick Giordano. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| First appearance | Atari Force #1 (1982) |
| Created by | Gerry Conway and Roy Thomas |
| In-story information | |
| Base(s) | Scanner One |
Atari Force is the name of two comic book series published by DC Comics from 1982 to 1986. Both were loosely based on trademarks of Atari, Inc.
The first Atari Force title was a series of minicomics created in 1982 to be packed in with certain Atari 2600 video game titles from fellow Warner Communications subsidiary Atari, Inc. The five games that include the comics are 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.
An Atari Force special insert appeared in two comic books cover dated January 1983 [1] and served as a prequel to the ongoing series launched a year later. The insert was the story previously published in the Phoenix minicomic, but the story title was changed to "Code Name: Liberator" and the featured ship's name became Liberator. In addition, the art for the aliens showed them as more frog-like. Atari released a Liberator arcade game featuring Commander Martin Champion and the Atari Force name.
In 1983, DC Comics published a graphic novel based on Star Raiders that tied into the mini-comics. It was the first title of the DC Graphic Novel series. It was written by Elliot S! Maggin and illustrated by José Luis García-López. The graphic novel was a larger format than normal comic books, and reached a much larger market (via comic book specialty stores) than the small subset of persons who bought the 2600 cartridge.
The second series (Jan. 1984 - Aug. 1985) was released monthly, in conventional comic-book format, and lasted for 20 issues. [2] Gerry Conway returned as writer while José Luis García-López became the main pencil artist. However, original series concept artist Ross Andru did draw issues #4–5. In issue #13, Eduardo Barreto took over as penciler and, in #14, Mike Baron became the regular writer through the final issue, #20. Issues #12-20 also featured backup stories by different writers and artists. In 1986, a "Special" issue was released with work by different creators, some of whom had done backup stories for volume 2. The backup story of issue #20, "Hukka vs. the Bob!" by Keith Giffen, Robert Loren Fleming, and Karl Kesel, was reprinted in the Best of DC #71 digest, containing the Year's Best Comics Stories, in April 1986, and was voted as one of the best comic book stories of the year in Comics Buyers Guide magazine, among others.
In 2015, Dynamite Entertainment announced plans to reprint the original comic book and release new comics based on Atari properties: Asteroids , Centipede , Crystal Castles , Missile Command , Tempest , and Yars' Revenge . [3] The reprinted Atari Force comics were solicited in 2017, but never materialized.
The original Atari Force was a team of humans from different nations using the multi-dimensional starship Scanner One to search for a new planet for humanity to inhabit as the Earth was facing ecological devastation. The team was handpicked by A.T.A.R.I. (Advanced Technology and Research Institute), and consisted of Martin Champion as mission commander, Lydia Perez as pilot and executive officer, Li-San O'Rourke as security officer, Mohandas Singh as flight engineer, and Dr. Lucas Orion as medical officer. A semi-sentient alien creature, named Hukka because of the noise he made, later joined as team mascot.
The second team, formed approximately 25 years after the first, was also led by Martin Champion. He was convinced that the original team's nemesis, the Dark Destroyer, still existed. Although he was correct, most of the rest of humanity did not believe it, but humored him due to his heroic status in successfully leading the original Atari Force to find New Earth. Other team members included Christopher "Tempest" Champion, son of Martin Champion and Lydia Perez; Erin "Dart" Bia O'Rourke-Singh, daughter of Mohandas Singh and Li-San O'Rourke; Hukka; Morphea, an insectoid empath; Babe, an alien toddler of immense size and strength; and Pakrat, a humanoid rodent thief. Later additions to the team were Blackjak, Dart's human lover; Taz, a short alien warrior; and Kargg, the Dark Destroyer's former chief underling.
Shazam mentions that he saved Atari Force from taking down the Game Master in Gamelands in Shazam! v3. #14 (November 2020). [4]
Captain Marvel, also known as Shazam and the Captain, is a superhero in American comic books originally published by Fawcett Comics and currently published by DC Comics. Artist C. C. Beck and writer Bill Parker created the character in 1939. Captain Marvel first appeared in Whiz Comics #2, published by Fawcett Comics. He is the alter ego of Billy Batson, a boy who, by speaking the magic word "Shazam!", is transformed into a costumed adult with the powers of superhuman strength, speed, flight, and other abilities. The character battles an extensive rogues' gallery, most of them working in tandem as the Monster Society of Evil, including primary archenemies Black Adam, Doctor Sivana and Mister Mind. Billy often shares his powers with other children, primarily his sister Mary Batson and their best friend/foster brother Freddy Freeman, who also transform into superheroes and fight crime with Billy as members of the Marvel Family, also known as the Shazam Family.
A minicomic is a creator-published comic book, often photocopied and stapled or with a handmade binding. In the United Kingdom and Europe the term small press comic is equivalent with minicomic, reserved for those publications measuring A6 or less.
Leonard Norman Wein was an American comic book writer and editor best known for co-creating DC Comics' Swamp Thing and Marvel Comics' Wolverine, and for helping revive the Marvel superhero team the X-Men. Additionally, he was the editor for writer Alan Moore and illustrator Dave Gibbons' influential DC miniseries Watchmen.
Richard Joseph Giordano was an American comics artist and editor whose career included introducing Charlton Comics' "Action Heroes" stable of superheroes and serving as executive editor of DC Comics.
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DC Comics Presents is a comic book series published by DC Comics from 1978 to 1986 which ran for 97 issues and four Annuals. It featured team-ups between Superman and a wide variety of other characters in the DC Universe. A recurring back-up feature "Whatever Happened to...?" had stories revealing the status of various minor and little-used characters.
The Power of Shazam! is a 1994 hardcover graphic novel, written and painted by Jerry Ordway for DC Comics. The 96-page story, depicting the revamped origins of former Fawcett Comics superhero Captain Marvel, was followed by an ongoing series, also titled The Power of Shazam!, which ran from 1995 to 1999.
The Bronze Age of Comic Books is an informal name for a period in the history of American superhero comic books, usually said to run from 1970 to 1985. It follows the Silver Age of Comic Books and is followed by the Modern Age of Comic Books.
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Uncle Marvel is a fictional character appearing in American comic books formerly published by Fawcett Comics and today by DC Comics, who appears in stories about the Marvel Family team of superheroes.
Ross Andru was an American comics artist and editor whose career in comics spanned six decades. He is best known for his work on The Amazing Spider-Man, Wonder Woman, The Flash, and The Metal Men, and for having co-created the character called The Punisher.
Liberator is an arcade game released by Atari, Inc. in 1982. It is based on the Atari Force comic book series published by DC Comics from 1982 to 1986. Liberator has been described as the opposite of Missile Command, in that the player destroys cities from space instead of defending them from the ground. Only 762 arcade machines were ever made.
Robert Kanigher was an American comic book writer and editor whose career spanned five decades. He was involved with the Wonder Woman franchise for over twenty years, taking over the scripting from creator William Moulton Marston. In addition, Kanigher spent many years in charge of DC Comics's war titles and created the character Sgt. Rock. Kanigher scripted what is considered the first Silver Age comic book story, "Mystery of the Human Thunderbolt!", which introduced the Barry Allen version of the Flash in Showcase #4.
Tawky Tawny is a fictional character, an anthropomorphic tiger who appears as a supporting character of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family in superhero/talking animal comic book stories published by Fawcett Comics and later DC Comics.
Notable events of 1982 in comics.
Tempest, in comics, may refer to:
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The Trials of Shazam! is a comic book published by DC Comics from 2006 to 2008. The twelve-issue limited series, written by Judd Winick and illustrated by Howard Porter and Mauro Cascioli, was later reprinted in three paperback collections. The story was an attempt to update Captain Marvel for a modern audience. It received mixed reviews from critics and its changes to the franchise were reverted shortly after it concluded.