In relaunching Atlas/Seaboard Comics, movie producer Steven Paul knows exactly what he wants for the brand.
And it isn’t comic books.
“There is not a lot of money in publishing,” Paul said at his office in Westwood. “It’s an entree in.”
The characters Atlas creators came up with 50 years ago, with names like the Grim Ghost, the Phoenix, Devilina, Morlock and Demon Hunter, are “edgier” than those from Marvel and DC comics, Paul said.
“They are very much a 70s New York kind of characters, which I like,” he added.
The Walt Disney Co. owns Marvel while Warner Bros. Discovery Inc. is the parent of DC.
Disney acquired Marvel in late 2009, receiving New York City-based Marvel’s catalog of more than 5,000 characters, such as Spider-Man and the Guardians of the Galaxy.
Like Marvel and DC, Paul said he plans take Atlas/Seaboard characters into different mediums.
“My model is to bring out feature films, work on television series, animation and merchandising,” he said.
He already has deals in place with Paramount Pictures and Walmart on the first and last of those endeavors.
With Paramount, the Hollywood film studio, Paul is in development on films based on the characters Devilina and Grim Ghost.
He said he figured doing a deal with the studio made sense since it wasn’t doing much in the superhero category.
“I thought it would be a good opportunity for them, and they thought the same,” Paul said. “So, we put together a development and co-financing deal with the studio.”
Headquartered on the Paramount lot is SP Media Group and its president, Scott Karol. The company’s offices are in what was Elvis Presley’s dressing rooms when the singer lived on the lot. There are often tour groups looking in the windows, Paul said with a laugh.
SP Media Group is the parent company to a number of the companies Paul owns and runs, including Atlas Comics which was originally founded in 1974 and is marking its 50th anniversary this year.
SP Media owns and controls companies that specialize in the development, production, finance and distribution of feature films; talent management, comic books, merchandising, real estate, a TV network and owns a large library of films.
“Very few independent companies, if any, do all of this,” Paul said.
Its recent Walmart deal came together because Paul had a history of working with the retailer.
In 2016 he bought a company called Echo Bridge that was involved with distributing DVDs through Walmart.
Frank Barbieri, vice president of content and digital at Walmart, said that the company was excited to further enhance the collectibles experience in stores and online.
“As well as connecting the comic book community with exclusive merchandise inspired by dynamic Atlas character designs for fans to fall in love with all over again,” Barbieri said in a statement.
Atlas/Seaboard has also developed a line of apparel with clothing manufacturer Mad Engine in Glendale and a line of collectible action figures with Mego Toys in New York City.
Learning to sell
The 65-year-old Paul grew up in New York City and came to California in the early 1970s where he was a child actor in films and television shows. His formal schooling ended in the ninth grade at Bancroft Junior High in Hollywood.
He was still in his teens when he put together his first film, “Falling in Love Again” starring Elliot Gould, Susanna York, and Michelle Pfeiffer. The 1980 film was also directed by Paul.
He presold his second film, “Slapstick of Another Kind,” based on the late Kurt Vonnegut novel “Slapstick” and starring Jerry Lewis, Madeline Kahn and Pat Morita, while at Cannes promoting his first movie.
“People bought the second movie,” Paul said. “Before I knew it, I had a model that I could keep doing over and over again.”
Then other filmmakers started coming to him asking to sell their movies.
“I started selling other people’s movies and I became one of the most prolific and proficient fellas who was doing that around the world,” he said. “So that was the beginning of one of my businesses.”
Paul began to get a reputation in the movie industry of being a guy who was able to make pictures happen.
“I wasn’t reliant on one person or one company. If one person didn’t like it, I could go to another person,” Paul said. “I’d find a way to get it done.”
A new comic book company
In 2019, Paul heard about a comic book company with many of the same writers as Marvel which was started by the same man who founded Marvel: Martin Goodman.
He connected with Jason Goodman, Martin’s grandson, and they decided to revive Atlas/Seaboard, also started by Martin Goodman back in 1974 although by January 1976 it had become defunct.
“I thought it would be a great opportunity and got excited,” Paul said. “Here we are on the ground floor.”
Like his other companies, Paul self-funded the acquisition of Atlas/Seaboard and used no outside investors. He declined to provide the purchase price of the comic book company.
The characters and world-building behind Atlas/Seaboard dates to the golden age of comic books, crafted by some of the best creators of all time, Goodman said.
“We aim to honor their legacy and my grandfather’s vision to build a powerhouse source of content and innovation,” he said in a statement.
Also brought on board by Paul for the relaunch of the comics line was Jeff Rovin, Atlas/Seaboard’s former editor-in-chief.
Having been an editor for major comic book publishers, “it’s safe to say that it’s an honor to reintroduce Atlas/Seaboard to the world,” Rovin said.
“The possibilities of what’s next for Atlas/Seaboard is exhilarating and something that I’ll be extremely proud to watch flourish for years to come,” Rovin added in a statement.
Paul, Goodman and Rovin appeared last month at New York Comic Con alongside Mego President Marty Abrams, award-winning comic writer and artist Larry Hama, and Ric Meyers, Atlas/Seaboard’s former assistant editor and writer, to promote the comic line.
There is definitely a business in Atlas/Seaboard, Paul said, because of who the comics were made by and who the founder was.
“There is a brand recognition, I believe, that can be built off of Atlas,” Paul added.
