The universe would like me to share an anecdote about the short-lived comic-book company Atlas, founded in 1974 by Martin Goodman, who also founded another company you might have heard of—Marvel Comics!

As I’ve mentioned before, Sean Howe, author of Give Our Regards to the Atomsmashers!, is working on a book about Marvel in the ’70s. His mention of Atlas in an e-mail today sent me scurrying to the vault …

So here’s a memo, dated March 18, 1975, from Marvel Publisher Al Landau to Production Manager Sol Brodsky that was then forwarded to Editor-in-Chief Len Wein before eventually making its way to Editorial Assistant me.

Obviously, Landau was hoping there’d be a smoking gun that would prove Marvel had been ripped off. (more…)