View source for Atlas (DC Comics)

{{Short description|DC Comics characters}}
{{Infobox comics character
|image = 1st Issue Special 01.jpg
|converted = y
|caption = Atlas as seen on the cover of ''1st Issue Special'' (April 1975).
|character_name = Atlas
|real_name =
|publisher = [[DC Comics]]
|debut     = ''[[1st Issue Special]]'' #1 (April 1975)
|creators  = [[Jack Kirby]] (writer & artist)
|alter_ego = Atlas
|full_name =
|species   = [[Human]] (empowered)
|homeworld = <!-- optional -->
|alliances = [[Justice League]]
|partners  = <!-- optional -->
|supports  = <!-- optional -->
|aliases   =  <!-- optional: actual identities the character uses, not nicknames -->
|powers    = Superhuman strength and invulnerability
|cat = supervillains
|subcat = DC Comics
|hero = n
|sortkey = Atlas
}}
'''Atlas''' is the name of different characters appearing in [[American comic book]]s published by [[DC Comics]]. The first Atlas is a [[superhero]] and [[antihero]] who debuted in ''[[1st Issue Special]]'' #1 (April 1975) and was created by [[Jack Kirby]].

==Creation==
In 1st issue special #1 editorial discussed the creation of Atlas in "The Story Behind the Story"

Legend has it that [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]] was the king of [[Atlantis]], and the leader of the [[Titans]] that [[Zeus]] overthrew. For his role championing the titan cause, he was condemned to carry the heavens on his shoulders. Yet what is a legend? The Dictionary defines legend as "a story coming down from the past; especially one popularly accepted as historical though not verifiable." But Modern interpretation has given the word legend the quality of something larger than life... more dramatic, more powerful, more unique. And that's appropriate for our new version of Atlas. Certainly our hero is larger than life. Laden with qualities beyond the reach of ordinary mortals. The only part of the description that doesn't work is the "coming down from the past" section, but that's easily enough explained. This is the era of instant legend. Electronic media and mass market magazines publicize any extraordinary feat so rapidly that new heroes... new legends, are born everyday. No sooner has the world record for anything has been broken than the media use their influence to announce the birth of a new star and so the value of age wanes. A story is no longer a classic because it has been handed down from generation to generation. Our classic are now the tales aimed at our decade, our year, our instant. Which brings us to Atlas #1. If there's been one theme running through comics career of Jack Kirby, its been legend and that applies on two levels: The first being the new characters who he's raised to the quality of legend, and the second the numerous experiments with magazines devoted to modern versions of the legends of the past. Whether its [[Greek mythology|Greek]], [[Roman mythology|Roman]], [[Norse mythology|Norse]] or entirely new gods, alien races with stature approaching godhood have always entered into the Kirby scheme of themes. Nowadays its very popular to hypothesize about the possibility of alien races landing on earth and giving unintentional birth to the concept of pantheons of gods, but Jack Kirby envisioned such events years earlier. In that sense, Atlas is the latest in a long series of visions of the past/present/future unknown. It possess the qualities that made the earlier Kirby creations so popular, and draws upon the concept of legend again. But more importantly it is an entire new speculation-a new addition to the Kirby mythos. How it develops, whether it gains the vast popularity of the other Kirby myths, only time will tell. Its up to you, the readers, to tell us if you want this magazine to continue, even an incredibly fast artist like Jack Kirby can only do a certain number of magazines at once, and if you want this to be one of them-let us know."

==Publication history==
The first Golden Age version of a character named Atlas in DC Comics appeared in ''[[Action Comics]]'' #121 (June 1948).<ref>{{cite web |date=April 21, 1948 |title=''Action Comics'' #121 - Is Atlas Stronger Than Superman? You'll Find the Answer in This Exciting Adventure: Superman Vs. Atlas! (Issue) |url=http://www.comicvine.com/action-comics-is-atlas-stronger-than-superman-youll-find-the-answer-in-this-exciting-adventure-superman-vs-atlas/37-115077/ |access-date=September 23, 2016 |publisher=Comicvine.com}}</ref> The second appearance of an Atlas was in ''Action Comics'' #320 (January 1965).<ref>{{cite web |title=''Action Comics'' #320 - The Three Super-Enemies! / The Man Who Broke Supergirl's Heart (Issue) |url=http://www.comicvine.com/action-comics-the-three-super-enemies/37-114909/ |access-date=September 23, 2016 |publisher=Comicvine.com}}</ref> The third was in ''Action Comics'' #353 (August 1967).<ref>{{cite web |title=''Action Comics'' #353 - The Battle of the Gods!; The Cosmic Collectors! (Issue) |url=http://www.comicvine.com/action-comics-the-battle-of-the-gods/37-121652/ |access-date=September 23, 2016 |publisher=Comicvine.com}}</ref>

The Jack Kirby Atlas' first and only appearance prior to ''[[Superman (comic book)|Superman]]'' #677 was in ''[[1st Issue Special]]'' #1.<ref name="ReferenceA">''1st Issue Special'' #1 (April 1975).</ref> [[James Robinson (comics)|James Robinson]] brought Atlas back in ''Superman'' #678. According to Robinson, Atlas is going to save humanity: "The way I like to look at him is like in the [[Marvel Universe]], [[Namor]] is a hero but he really skates the fine line between being a hero and a villain, but he stays on the side of the hero. Atlas, skates that line between hero and villain but he ultimately always falls on the villain side". He continued to say that Atlas will become a major player in the [[Superman]] mythos moving forward and there will be some real twists to the character.<ref>{{cite web |date=May 23, 2008 |title=Golden Age James Robinson II: Superman |url=http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16541 |access-date=September 23, 2016 |publisher=Comicbookresources.com}}</ref>

One of the earlier characters named Atlas re-appeared in [[Grant Morrison]]'s ''[[All-Star Superman]]'', where a version of Atlas appears in issue #3. This Atlas is more closely based on the mythological figure of [[Atlas (mythology)|Atlas]] and competes with Superman and [[Samson]] to "win" [[Lois Lane]], similar to the story in ''Action Comics'' #320 from January 1965.

==Fictional character biography==
===Titan version===
The first Atlas is based on the [[Atlas (mythology)|Greek mythological figure]], a [[Titans|Titan]] who was forced to support the Earth as punishment for his participation in the [[Titanomachy]]. During the "[[War of the Gods (comics)|War of the Gods]]" storyline, Atlas was later found by [[Hercules (DC Comics)|Hercules]] to be holding up Themyscira on his shoulders. He is also one of the deities who empower [[Captain Marvel (DC Comics)|Captain Marvel]] when [[Shazam (wizard)|Shazam]] asks for his stamina in a flashback.<ref>{{multiref2|''Whiz Comics'' #1. Fawcett Comics.|''Superman'' #28. DC Comics.|''Wonder Woman'' Vol. 2 #58. DC Comics.|''War of the Gods'' #4. DC Comics.}}</ref>

===Atlas I===
The second Atlas is an orphan who is raised by the traveler Chagra after the lizard king Hyssa massacres his people. After defeating Hyssa, Atlas becomes a villain and enemy of Superman.<ref name="ReferenceA" /><ref name="dc-ency">{{Citation  | last = Wallace  | first = Dan | contribution = Atlas | editor-last = Dougall  | editor-first = Alastair  | title = The DC Comics Encyclopedia  | page = 29  | publisher = [[Dorling Kindersley]]  | place = London  | year = 2008 | isbn = 978-0-7566-4119-1}}</ref><ref>{{multiref2|''Superman'' #677-679 (August–October 2008)|''Superman: Secret Files 2009'' #1 (October 2009)|''Justice League of America'' vol. 2 #42 (April 2010). DC Comics.
}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Greenberger |first1=Robert |last2=Pasko |first2=Martin |title=The Essential Superman Encyclopedia |date=2010 |publisher=Del Rey |isbn=978-0-345-50108-0 |page=17}}</ref>

===A.T.L.A.S.===
{{expand section|date=October 2024}}
A new incarnation of Atlas inspired by the ''[[Teen Titans (TV series)|Teen Titans]]'' version, whose name is an acronym for '''Automated Titanium Lethal Attack Sentry''', appears in the "[[Dawn of DC]]" [[Cyborg (DC Comics)|Cyborg]] miniseries.<ref>''Cyborg'' Vol. 3 #3. DC Comics.</ref>

==Powers and abilities==
The first Atlas has super-strength and invulnerability.

==Other versions==
An alternate universe variant of Atlas appears in ''[[Kingdom Come (comics)|Kingdom Come]]''.

==In other media==

* Atlas appears in ''[[Teen Titans (TV series)|Teen Titans]]'', voiced by [[Keith David]].<ref name="btva2">{{cite web |title=Atlas Voice - ''Teen Titans'' (TV Show) |url=http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/tv-shows/Teen-Titans/Atlas/ |access-date=July 13, 2024 |publisher=Behind The Voice Actors}} A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref> This version is a robot and member of the [[Brotherhood of Evil]].
* Atlas appears in ''[[All-Star Superman (film)|All-Star Superman]]'', voiced by [[Steve Blum]].<ref name="btva">{{cite web |title=Atlas Voice - ''All-Star Superman'' (Movie) |url=http://www.behindthevoiceactors.com/movies/All-Star-Superman/Atlas/ |access-date=July 13, 2024 |publisher=Behind The Voice Actors}} A green check mark indicates that a role has been confirmed using a screenshot (or collage of screenshots) of a title's list of voice actors and their respective characters found in its credits or other reliable sources of information.</ref>
* Atlas appears as a character summon in ''[[Scribblenauts Unmasked: A DC Comics Adventure]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Eisen |first=Andrew |date=October 2, 2013 |title=DC Characters and Objects - ''Scribblenauts Unmasked'' Guide |url=https://www.ign.com/wikis/scribblenauts-unmasked/DC_Characters_and_Objects |access-date=July 13, 2024 |website=IGN |language=en}}</ref>
* The robot version of Atlas appears in ''[[Teen Titans Go! (2004 comic series)|Teen Titans Go!]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=''Teen Titans Go!'' #20 - Secret Moves (Issue) |url=https://comicvine.gamespot.com/teen-titans-go-20-secret-moves/4000-119177/ |access-date=July 13, 2024 |website=Comic Vine |language=en}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[List of Superman enemies]]

==References==
{{reflist|3}}

==External links==
* [http://www.dcuguide.com/who.php?name=atlas2 DCU Guide: Atlas] {{Webarchive|url=https://archive.today/20130102195840/http://www.dcuguide.com/who.php?name=atlas2 |date=2013-01-02}}
* [http://www.comicvine.com/atlas/29-28129/ Comicvine: Atlas]
* [http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=16541 CBR: James Robinson Interview]
{{Superman characters}}
{{Jack Kirby}}
[[Category:Characters created by Bill Parker (comics)]]
[[Category:Characters created by C. C. Beck]]
[[Category:Characters created by Jack Kirby]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1940]]
[[Category:Comics characters introduced in 1975]]
[[Category:DC Comics characters with superhuman durability or invulnerability]]
[[Category:DC Comics male superheroes]]
[[Category:DC Comics male supervillains]]
[[Category:DC Comics characters with superhuman strength]]
[[Category:Fantasy comics]]
[[Category:Fictional kings]]
[[Category:Groups of fictional characters]]
[[Category:Mythology in DC Comics]]