Atlas is the name of different characters appearing in
American comic book
An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...
s published by
Marvel Comics.
Erik Josten
Erik Josten, also known as Power Man, Smuggler, Goliath and Atlas, is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character has been a prominent member of both the Masters of Evil and the Thunderbolts ...
is the most notable of the known characters that used the name Atlas while another character is an adaption of the
Titan of the same name.
Character history
Erik Josten
Erik Josten used the Atlas alias during his time as a member of the
Thunderbolts
A thunderbolt or lightning bolt is a symbolic representation of lightning when accompanied by a loud thunderclap. In Indo-European mythology, the thunderbolt was identified with the 'Sky Father'; this association is also found in later Hell ...
.
Steve Rand
Steve Rand is an actor who is the star of a popular
sword-and-sandals film. He was considered the most handsome actor in all of
Hollywood
Hollywood usually refers to:
* Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California
* Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States
Hollywood may also refer to:
Places United States
* Hollywood District (disambiguation)
* Hollywood, ...
. While working in the film ''Atlas and Bathsheba'', Steve met his stunt double named Jimmy where Steve insisted on doing his own stunts like the one that involved him swinging over a flaming pit. Despite Jimmy's warnings, Steve went ahead with the stunt where it went horribly wrong where the accident disfigured him. Upon becoming delusional five years later, Steve Rand began to think he was Atlas and started targeting anyone that was involved in the production of ''Atlas and Bathsheba'' where he used the jawbone of a
donkey
The domestic donkey is a hoofed mammal in the family Equidae, the same family as the horse. It derives from the African wild ass, ''Equus africanus'', and may be classified either as a subspecies thereof, ''Equus africanus asinus'', or as a ...
to kill them. After killing five people, Atlas confronted the film's producer Simon Kolb. Upon unmasking himself to Kolb, Atlas killed him. Then he was attacked by
Werewolf by Night and held his ground against him where he thought that Werewolf by Night was Jimmy and defeated him. After killing the leading lady for ''Atlas and Bathsheba'', Atlas confronted the film's screenwriter Buck Cowan only to be confronted by Werewolf by Night where Atlas thought he was Jimmy. Their fight went from
Hollywood Boulevard to
Mann's Chinese Theatre. Before Atlas could kill Werewolf by Night, Buck used the gun Jack Russell gave him to shoot Atlas in the back causing him to fall face-first into the wet cement that an unidentified celebrity was going to put their hands in later on which led to Atlas' death.
Atlas (Titan)
Atlas is one of the
Titans. He took a lesser goddess named Pleione as his wife. When it came to the
Titanomachy, Atlas sided with his father
Cronus
In Ancient Greek religion and mythology, Cronus, Cronos, or Kronos ( or , from el, Κρόνος, ''Krónos'') was the leader and youngest of the first generation of Titans, the divine descendants of the primordial Gaia (Mother Earth) and ...
in his fight against
Zeus. While most of the Titans that were on Cronus' side were imprisoned in
Tartarus, Atlas was condemned by Zeus to hold up the heavens. His location was at the
Atlas Mountains
The Atlas Mountains are a mountain range in the Maghreb in North Africa. It separates the Sahara Desert from the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean; the name "Atlantic" is derived from the mountain range. It stretches around through Moroc ...
in what would be
Morocco. When Perseus neared his location after slaying
Medusa, Atlas tried to warn Perseus to not take the apples of the Hesperides only for Perseus to use Medusa's head to turn him to stone.
[''Greek Mythology''] Atlas was restored to normal two generations later where he had his encounter with
Hercules who asked for his help in obtaining the Golden Apples. While Atlas obtained the apples, he planned to leave Hercules to take over only for Hercules to trick Atlas into holding the clouds again.
The Axis Mundi that Atlas was positioned somehow shifted to
Washington, D.C. as Atlas still held up the heavens. On September 18, 1793, Atlas appeared to
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
when he made Washington, D.C. the capital of the
United States of America. In the present, Artume freed Atlas from his fate using the Omphalus in exchange for revenge on Hercules. Using the
Washington Monument, Atlas attacked Hercules only to be defeated by him and
Namora.
Dallas Riordan
Erik Josten's ionic form later possessed Dallas Riordan which empowered her with the ionic energy, enabling her to operate as Atlas for a short time.
[''Thunderbolts'' #57. Marvel Comics.]
References
{{reflist
External links
Atlas (Steve Rand)at Marvel Appendix
Atlas (Titan)at Marvel.com
at Marvel Appendix
Articles about multiple fictional characters
Marvel Comics characters
Set index articles on comics
Atlas (mythology)
Classical mythology in Marvel Comics