KOOBA COLA...the Soda Pop That NEVER Existed!

In 1940, Victor Fox, publisher of WonderWorld Comics, Mystery Men Comics, Weird Comics, and other titles featuring The Blue Beetle, Samson, and The Flame, among others, conceived an audacious marketing scheme.

Inspired by the success of Pepsi Cola and Coca-Cola, he decided to promote Kooba Cola, "The World's Newest and Best-Tasting Soft Drink!" in ads across his entire line of comic books!

It was also "Delightfully Refreshing" and "Contained 35 USP units of Vitamin B-1 for the Sake of Health and Nutrition!"

And, when Fox's The Blue Beetle starred in a short-lived radio show that summer, he was sponsored by Kooba Cola!

Wait a second...
What's that?
You've never even heard of Kooba Cola?

That's because it didn't exist, except as a logo, a couple of mocked-up bottles used as props in ads and some art reference for illustrators.

(You'll note they couldn't even figure out what the color scheme for the label was!

It changed from ad to ad!)

Fox thought he could create a demand for Kooba, then license the name to one of the big soft drink companies, let them do the work of actually creating, bottling, and shipping the stuff, then he'd rake in royalties on the name!

It didn't work.

The "buzz" never developed.

The soda pop was never actually produced.

Even Kooba's "sponsorship" of The Blue Beetle radio show was just part of the show's script, not paid ads! (One of the reasons the show only lasted four months!)

But, such visionary hucksterness should not be forgotten!

(Besides, the ads were rather kool.)

So we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ decided to re-present the Soda That Would Not Die on collectibles ranging from Beachwear to mugs, messenger bags (and the irony of doing bags with "Kooba" on them hasn't escaped us!) and hoodies at KoobaCola 1 and KoobaCola 2!

So celebrate what could have been one of the bubbliest success stories of soft drink entrepreneurship, but instead fizzled out and fell flat!

(You just knew we were gonna do a pun like that, didn't you?)  ;-)

Tibet--Birthplace of Lost Heroes, in a NEW museum exhibit!

Super heroes and Himalayan monasteries seem to go hand-in-hand.
In the Golden Age, next to exposure to something radioactive, being raised from childhood or trained after you crash-landed as an adult by Tibetan lamas was the primary factor in the creation of superheroes (and more than a few supervillains)!
For more than sixty years Tibet has figured in comic books from around the world, at times creating and at times perpetuating notions of an otherworldly land roamed by the yeti, inhabited by wise and powerful lamas, or full of dark magic.
Characters as diverse as Mickey Mouse, the historical Buddha, Tomb Raider Lara Croft, Amazing-Man, The Flame, Wonder Man, and The Green Lama have either been trained or had major storylines set in that remote land.

The exhibition Hero, Villain, Yeti, currently running at New York's Rubin Museum of Art features the most complete collection of comics related to Tibet ever assembled, with examples ranging from the 1940s to the present.
More than fifty comic books from the Belgium, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, and the United States reflect on the depiction of Tibet, tracing the historical roots of prevailing perceptions and stereotypes and their visual and narrative evolution over time.

Tibet—both real and imagined—appears across comic book genres, including fantasy comics about superheroes and villains, mythical creatures, and the search for mysterious lands, people, and objects; biographies of holy figures like the Dalai Lama and the Buddha; political comics; and educational comics.

Visitors are invited to read dozens of original comic books—a number of which have been translated into English for the first time—at a reading station in the exhibition.
And, on Friday, January 13th, 2012, there will be a multi-media presentation of a new production based on one of the Green Lama's comic book stories!
The Rubin Museum is at 150 E 17th Street, between 6th & 7th Avenues.
We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ would suggest, if you go, go clad in appropriate garb like a t-shirt or sweatshirt or a canvas tote bag from our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ collection...

Amazing-Man

The Flame

The Green Lama
Wonder Man

or the classic comic characters' kool retro logos on

Lost Heroes LogoWear!

Attack of the SuperPowers Sunday!

For the next few Sundays, we're going to present the nifty updated designs of the Project SuperPowers characters by Alex Ross along with links to a couple of Squidoo pages of background info and links about the series and characters...
Alex Ross' Project SuperPowers
(featuring characters who've been cover-featured)
Alex Ross' Project SuperPowers Strikes Again!
(featuring the other characters)
Erik Larsen's the Next Issue Project & Savage Dragon
(featuring several of the same characters as Project SuperPowers and others, but set in a different universe!)
as well as a solo page for
The Classic Blue Beetle

In addition, you can find Atomic Kommie Comics™ kool kollectibles emblazoned with the ORIGINAL 1940s classic cover art featuring these characters...
Blue Beetle (aka Big Blue)
& Sparky
Cyclone
(in Solo Heroes)
The Flame
The Grim Reaper
(in Solo Heroes)
RocketMan & RocketGirl
(aka the Zip-Jets)
Samson & David
V-Man
YellowJacket (aka Jack)
(in Solo Heroes)
at
Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™!
(Unfortunately, neither Black Venus nor The Hood had solo cover appearances, so we don't have anything on them...yet!)

And don't forget to buy the Project SuperPowers comics and collections including Black Terror, Death Defying 'Devil, Masquerade, and Project SuperPowers Volume 2!

SuperPowers Sunday Returns!

For the next few Sundays, we're going to re-present the updated designs of the Project SuperPowers characters by Alex Ross along with links to a couple of Squidoo pages of background info and links about the series and characters...

Alex Ross' Project SuperPowers
(featuring characters who've been cover-featured)

Alex Ross' Project SuperPowers Strikes Again!
(featuring the other characters)
Plus a solo page for...
The Classic Captain Future
(Both of them. Click on the link.
You'll see what I mean!)

In addition, you can find Atomic Kommie Comics™ kool kollectibles emblazoned with the ORIGINAL 1940s classic cover art featuring these characters (in alphabetical order)...
Captain Future (aka Zeus)
Cat-Man (was Cat, now Man-Cat)  
& Kitten
Dynamic Man
Fighting Yank
The Flame
HydroMan (now called Hydro)
Major Victory
(in Flag-Draped Heroes)  
The Owl
Silver Streak
StrongMan
(in Solo Heroes)  
The Target & Targeteers
at
Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™!
(unfortunately, The Woman in Red was never cover-featured, so there's no goodies featuring her...yet!)

And don't forget to buy the Project SuperPowers comics and collections including Black Terror, Death Defying 'Devil, Masquerade, and Project SuperPowers Volume 2!

Fire, Fire, Burning Bright...

Super heroes and Himalayan monasteries seem to go hand-in-hand.
In the Golden Age, next to exposure to something radioactive, being raised from childhood or trained after you crash-landed as an adult by Tibetan lamas was the primary factor in the creation of superheroes (and more than a few supervillains)!
Look at The Shadow, Amazing-Man, The Green Lama, etc, and later; Iron Fist, The Shroud, Dr Strange, and Dr Doom. (Even The Batman and Doc Savage visited lamaseries during their teens to train!)

Baby orphan Gary Preston was raised by a group of mystic priests to be an example of the pinnacle of human mental and physical development.
In addition, they trained him to control any fire in his immediate vicinity as well as regulate his own body temperature from normal to just short of bursting into flame himself! (He eventually learned how to do that, too!)
He was armed with a technologically-advanced pistol-sized flamethrower with a self-renewing fuel supply, since he couldn't create fire, just manipulate it.
And, as a final gift, he was taught how to enter flames without harm, then teleport himself to anywhere else in the world there was a fire, and appear, unharmed, from within it!
Thus armed and outfitted in a yellow and red costume, Gary returned to the Outside World as...The Flame!
(And before you ask, he arrived on the comics scene several months before The Human Torch debuted in Marvel Comics #1!)

His first appearance (and origin recounted above) was in WonderWorld Comics #3, created by writer / artist Will Eisner (The Spirit) and artist Lou Fine, who also did most of the covers!

The Flame went on to become one of Fox's top three superhero stars, as evidenced by his starring role in all seven issues of the anthology comic Big 3, which he shared with The Blue Beetle, Samson, and later, V-Man.
He also had his own title for eight issues.
He remained the lead feature in WonderWorld Comics until #33, the final issue, in 1942.

There was a brief revival in the 1950s, then he disappeared, not to be seen, except in comics reference books, until 2007 when Alex Ross revived him as one of the many Golden Age characters returned to action in the new Project SuperPowers mini-series!

Of course, we at Atomic Kommie Comics™ have revived The Flame as part of our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ line, including six of his best 1940s covers, including his first appearance, on t-shirts, messenger bags, mugs and other kool kollectibles!
And, there'll be a The Flame 2010 12-Month Calendar with a dozen dynamic covers on sale this August!

This summer, don't let your cash burn a hole in your wallet!
Put it to good use; The Flame collectibles for you or your pop-culture collecting loved one!

And catch The Flame in fantastic, fiery action in Project SuperPowers Vol 2, on sale NOW!

SuperPowers Sunday

For the next few Sundays, we're going to present the updated designs of the Project SuperPowers characters by Alex Ross along with links to a couple of Squidoo pages of background info and links about the series and characters...
Alex Ross' Project SuperPowers
(featuring characters who've been cover-featured)

Alex Ross' Project SuperPowers Strikes Again!
(featuring the other characters)

In addition, you can find Atomic Kommie Comics™ kool kollectibles emblazoned with the ORIGINAL 1940s classic cover art featuring these characters...
Captain Future
Cat-Man (now Man-Cat) & Kitten
Dynamic Man
Fighting Yank
The Flame
HydroMan (now called Hydro)
Major Victory
The Owl
Silver Streak
StrongMan
The Target & Targeteers
at
Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™!
(unfortunately, The Woman in Red was never cover-featured, so there's no goodies featuring her...yet!)

And don't forget to buy the Project SuperPowers comics including Black Terror, Death Defying 'Devil, Masquerade, and Project SuperPowers Volume 2!

The Coming of...CALENDARS!

Among our most popular items are 12-month calendars.
(Y'know, the ones with different illustrations for each month.)
Last year we almost doubled the selection of subjects, and you pop culture aficionados responded by gobbling them up like there was no tomorrow (pun intended)!

Plus, there were several subjects that you requested we do calendars about!
No fools we, if the demand is there, supply it we will!

So, for 2010, ATC is unleashing the following ALL-NEW calendars...
Basil Rathbone IS Sherlock Holmes!™
(replacing Sherlock Holmes: the Greatest Sleuth of All!™ which will return, revised, in 2011!)
Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ Team-Ups
(classic covers featuring two or more characters together who already had their own strips or titles!)
Classic The Owl
Classic Monster of Frankenstein
Classic The Flame
Classic Doc Strange
Classic DareDevil
Classic Captain Future
(featuring all three versions--original pulp hero and both comic incarnations!)
Classic Cat-Man
Classic Blue Beetle
Classic Amazing-Man
Captain MidNight™
Phantom Lady™
Mr District Attorney™
(replacing Crime & Punishment™)
Captains of the Comics!™
(replacing Captains of the Cosmos™)
Jungle Girls™

Masked Western Heroes™
Aviators of the Golden Age of Comics™
(replacing War: Past, Present & Future™)

Along with heavily-revised versions of these previous best sellers...

Mystery / Crime
Good Girl / Bad Grrrl™
Horror
Horror Comics of the 1950s™
Camp / Kitsch
Seduction of the Innocent!!™
Romance
True Love Comics Tales™
Sci-Fi / Fantasy
Martians, Martians, Martians!™
Thrilling Science-Fiction Tales™

SuperHeroes
Heroines!™
Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™
MORE Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™
1st Appearance Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™
Flag-Waving Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™
Classic Black Terror
Classic Green Lama
Classic Fighting Yank
Western
Western Comics Adventures™
Real-Life Western Comics™
The Cisco Kid & Pancho™

BTW, The NEW versions have black background covers to differentiate them from the previous versions, which had white background covers.
Buy 'em!
Trade 'em!
Collect them all!

Supermen! & Lost Heroes: the PERFECT present!

We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ are ecstatic that some of the "lost" classics of the Golden Age of Comics are being made available to a graphic novel-hungry audience in the magnificent new tome SUPERMEN! The First Wave of Comic Book Heroes! Fantagraphics has done absolutely spectacular work with previous 1930s-40s reprint albums and follows thru here equally well with a handsome volume worthy of any fan's library!)
We believe that Supermen! would make a great graduation or birthday gift for the graphic story aficionado in your life, especially when combined with one of the Golden Age-themed goodies from our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ collection, which features some of the exhibited heroes including...
Blue Bolt, The Claw, The Clock, DareDevil, The Face, The Flame, Marvelo, Silver Streak, SkyMan, and Sub Zero, in some cases, using the same cover art, on t-shirts, mugs, messenger bags, and other assorted items
Note: Marvelo & Sub Zero are in the Solo Heroes section, since we only have one cover for each character (at present)

As they'd say back in the 1940s: "Gosh, they'd make a swell present for a comics-loving guy or gal!"

Heroes of the Golden Age Return...

I'm ecstatic to finally see Alex Ross' Project SuperPowers!
It's everything I hoped in a Golden Age revival; respectful to the original material, but willing to tread new ground. Beautiful covers, nice inside art (though I hear the artist will, unfortunately, be leaving soon.), clever writing.
Two words: BUY IT!

And, if after reading Project SuperPowers #0 (Available now! BUY IT!), you have a craving for kool kollectibles based on the ORIGINAL 1940s versions of the characters, pop over to Atomic Kommie Comics: Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics where their classic cover art has been digitally-restored and remastered onto goodies ranging from messenger bags to t-shirts to mousepads to blank sketchbooks to Lord-Knows-What-Else. It's NOT Alex Ross, but it IS some of the best comics art ever from greats like Mac Raboy, Lou Fine, Reed Crandall, and Alex Schomburg, among others! Plus: multiple cover images for a number of characters including Black Terror, Fighting Yank, The Face (Mr. Face), Miss Masque (Masquerade), Samson, The Flame, Green Lama, The Owl,and Frankenstein (F-Troop)

One more time: BUY PROJECT SUPERPOWERS!