Atlas holds a special place among aficionados of the genre, producing more horror titles and issues by far, than anyone in the industry. While the quality of EC's six horror/sci-fi titles was unsurpassed with their elite cadre of talent, Atlas was the equivalent of the B-movies studio, churning out anywhere from 8 to 12 different horror titles a month, giving a wider array of artists, including some of the best craftsmen of the era, a chance to show off their talents: in addition to those already mentioned, future volumes will include Bill Everett, John Romita, Bernie Krigstein, Jerry Robinson, Harry Anderson, and Matt Fox. Stories from Marvel's Atlas line have barely been reprinted. The Fantagraphics Atlas Comics Library is the first attempt to publish a carefully curated line of Atlas titles. Our first volume, Adventures Into Terror, includes a treasure trove of stories drawn by many of the most stylistically accomplished artists of the Golden Age including George Tuska, Carl Burgos, Mike Sekowsky, Joe Maneely, and Joe Sinnott. Highlights include Russ Heath's two-part story 'The Brain' from issue #4 and 'Return of the Brain' from issue #6; Basil Wolverton's classic 'Where Monsters Dwell' from issue #7; Gene Colan's moody 'House of Horror' in issue #3; and Don Rico's wild layouts are on display from #4's 'The Torture Room. ' The stories are written firmly in the tradition of the pulpy, perverse, borderline deranged style that brought Fredric Wertham, the United States Senate Sub-Committee, and public opinion down like a sledgehammer on comics in the early 50s. Edited by Atlas scholar Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, scanned directly from the published comics, and meticulously restored by Allan Harvey, the first volume of the new Fantagraphics Atlas Library series is an event among comics lovers, collectors, and historians

Shortly after launching his men's adventure line of comic books in 1949 (and just before he published his first war title), Atlas publisher Martin Goodman found, in the middle ground between crime and men's adventure, the sneakier, conspiratorial sub-genre of spy comics. The first title was Spy Cases (soon followed by Spy Fighters and Kent Blake of the Secret Service) and the contents were Cold War noir stories, as Doug Grant, Secret Agent, protected America's interests, fighting commies from behind the Iron Curtain. Led by superlative action/adventure artwork by Al Hartley (later Bill Savage) and supported by Atlas titans including Gene Colan, Bill Everett, Russ Heath, Jerry Robinson and Joe Maneely, America ferrets out sinister threats in thrillers like: 'The Traitor!,' 'Discs of Death,' 'Frame-Up in Red,' and 'The Case of the Missing B-29!' All spy comics had healthy runs and by 1952, the Korean War made its? presence felt in every adventure title. Patriotic, but also subtler, darker and more sinister than the familiar costumed hero titles, the spy genre is a little-seen aspect of Marvel's deep history.

Atlas holds a special place among aficionados of the genre, producing more horror titles and issues by far, than anyone in the industry. While the quality of EC's six horror/sci-fi titles was unsurpassed with their elite cadre of talent, Atlas was the equivalent of the B-movies studio, churning out anywhere from 8 to 12 different horror titles a month, giving a wider array of artists, including some of the best craftsmen of the era, a chance to show off their talents: in addition to those already mentioned, future volumes will include Bill Everett, John Romita, Bernie Krigstein, Jerry Robinson, Harry Anderson, and Matt Fox. Stories from Marvel's Atlas line have barely been reprinted. The Fantagraphics Atlas Comics Library is the first attempt to publish a carefully curated line of Atlas titles. Our first volume, Adventures Into Terror, includes a treasure trove of stories drawn by many of the most stylistically accomplished artists of the Golden Age including George Tuska, Carl Burgos, Mike Sekowsky, Joe Maneely, and Joe Sinnott. Highlights include Russ Heath's two-part story 'The Brain' from issue #4 and 'Return of the Brain' from issue #6; Basil Wolverton's classic 'Where Monsters Dwell' from issue #7; Gene Colan's moody 'House of Horror' in issue #3; and Don Rico's wild layouts are on display from #4's 'The Torture Room. ' The stories are written firmly in the tradition of the pulpy, perverse, borderline deranged style that brought Fredric Wertham, the United States Senate Sub-Committee, and public opinion down like a sledgehammer on comics in the early 50s. Edited by Atlas scholar Dr. Michael J. Vassallo, scanned directly from the published comics, and meticulously restored by Allan Harvey, the first volume of the new Fantagraphics Atlas Library series is an event among comics lovers, collectors, and historians

Shortly after launching his men's adventure line of comic books in 1949 (and just before he published his first war title), Atlas publisher Martin Goodman found, in the middle ground between crime and men's adventure, the sneakier, conspiratorial sub-genre of spy comics. The first title was Spy Cases (soon followed by Spy Fighters and Kent Blake of the Secret Service) and the contents were Cold War noir stories, as Doug Grant, Secret Agent, protected America's interests, fighting commies from behind the Iron Curtain. Led by superlative action/adventure artwork by Al Hartley (later Bill Savage) and supported by Atlas titans including Gene Colan, Bill Everett, Russ Heath, Jerry Robinson and Joe Maneely, America ferrets out sinister threats in thrillers like: 'The Traitor!,' 'Discs of Death,' 'Frame-Up in Red,' and 'The Case of the Missing B-29!' All spy comics had healthy runs and by 1952, the Korean War made its? presence felt in every adventure title. Patriotic, but also subtler, darker and more sinister than the familiar costumed hero titles, the spy genre is a little-seen aspect of Marvel's deep history.