I remember eagerly awaiting the coming of the new comic book company that would give Marvel and DC a run for their money. It had to be great and successful using all the top talents of the day. Then they had the magazine editor do their color comics and the color comics editor do their magazines. The rest is history. I still have most of them. I think Vicky is the hardest to find. I do not know if anyone actually bought any off the stands.
Let me tell you an interesting Atlas/Seaboard story, narf,
Long before anyone really knew that the company was even GOING to exist, let alone what it would be called, I received a phone call from Chip Goodman. He evidently got my name and address out of my
Doug Wildey: The Movie Cowboy book and called information. I wasn't hard to find. He introduced himself and said he wanted to get in touch with Doug. I didn't know why.
Now, I wasn't prepared to give out Doug's phone number without his permission, so I told Chip to call me back in a couple of days. I called Doug, got his okay, and waited for the call back. As I waited, I thought about all the questions I would like to ask Martin Goodman about Timely/Atlas, the bullpen, the implosion, etc., since that was the focus of my collecting in those days. So, the call comes back and it's BOTH Chip and Martin Goodman on the line. I guess they were trying to show that they were legit and serious. I was convinced.
I chatted very briefly with them about the Doug and the
Movie Cowboy book, gave them Doug's phone number, and then asked politely if I could ask Martin a question or two. He said yes, and I said that I wanted to talk to him about ATLAS.
There was a deafening silence on the line for at least 30 seconds. NO one was supposed to know the name of the new company or even that there WAS a new company and here this bozo from California was blurting those secrets out over an unsecure phone line! At the time, I couldn't understand what the problem was or why the Goodmans said "not now" and hung up on me. I never heard from them again and about nine months later, when the first Atlas/Seaboard issues hit the stands, I suddenly understood their reactions. I suppose I never would have heard from them if they hadn't wanted Doug for their new company, but I keep thinking of all the direct questions I COULD have gotten answers to if ONLY they hadn't chosen ATLAS as the name of that company. My one chance and fate thwarted me. Sigh...
At least I tried. And I also can honestly say that I scared Martin Goodman. For a few minutes there he was positive that something had leaked.
Peace, Jim (|:{>
