ATARI FORCE #1
(Cover by José Luis García-López)
Published and © by DC, Jan. 1984
“Fresh Blood”
Synopsis: Across the universe, events start to bring future members of a next-generation Atari Force to New Earth.
Writer: Gerry Conway
Penciler: José Luis García-López
Inker: Ricardo Villagrán
Review: Eventually, Atari Force would join other licensed-property titles like Rom (see reviews) and Micronauts as comic-book series that were far better than they had any right to be. Atari Force starts a little slow, though, with an hodgepodge of sci-fi-plot staples and a cast of fairly cardboard characters. This debut issue gets a big boost from the art of José Luis García-López, showcasing the artist’s grasp of dynamic anatomy and always-sharp storytelling. It would take a few issues for Atari Force to find its story sea legs, but it was a fine-looking book from day one.
Grade: B
Second opinions: “Hey, 1984-Kevin thought it was awesome. And it probably was.” — Kevin Melrose, Robot 6. … Recommended by The Slings & Arrows Comic Guide (second edition).
Cool factor: For a comic based on a video-game company, this one’s pretty good.
Notable: The future letters page includes an essay recapping the earlier Atari Force promotional giveaway series, which was set 25 years before this issue.
Character quotable: “Trust me.” — Dart (are those ever good words?)
I vaguely recall seeing some house ads for this back in the day, at a point when I was slowly getting out of comics for a while, and thinking, “Oh, brother…”
Many years later, with the dawn of the internet, I was surprised to learn that this series has a legion of devoted fans and was seen as sort of DC’s version of the Micronauts. Of course, it’s hard to go wrong with anything drawn by Garcia Lopez. Too bad that, as in the case of Micronauts and Rom, various copyright issues have kept this from getting reprint treatment (20 issues plus one special? All that can be fit into a nice hardcover omnibus-type book, or at least a slim Showcase phonebook).
I have the Atari Force promotional giveaway that was an insert in some other comic. It was pretty good, but I never picked up the series. I wouldn’t mind checking it out in the dollar bin, for some Bronze Age fun.
I agree with Edo that it’s a shame copyright prevent it from being published. A list of such series could be a blog post in itself.
Hey, all. Sorry for the delay in responding; I was traveling for work and then had a nasty cold for a few days once I got back. Yes, Atari Force was a surprisingly good series. At least that’s how I remember it: I haven’t read them for years and I’m eager to see how they hold up. The García-López art in this first issue certainly held up well! I remember liking the mini-comics, which were really cool because they came with Atari 2600 cartridges. (I think it cost me several Slurpees in trade for Little Me to score those!) But it was with the regular series – which is basically “Atari Force: The Next Generation” – that it really took off.
And I agree: There are several really good series that are stuck in licensing limbo. Rom is at the top of my list; that series just screams three Essentials volumes! And Master of Kung-Fu – in limbo because of the Fu Manchu license – is another one I’d love to see. It’s mostly Marvel series that seem unreprintable; they often tied their licensed series into the Marvel U proper. That means neither Marvel nor a property’s current license holder can reprint the material. (Still, there’s hope: Marvel did negotiate a one-off Essential Godzilla volume. But my understanding is that Essentials offer a very small profit return, so it’s unlikely they’ll spend too much time or money on such a project.)
I want Essential Rom, dammit!
Cheers,
Andrew