Barbarians Featuring IronJaw No. 1: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

IronJaw, a barbarian living in a post-apocalyptic world, was created for Atlas/Seaboard Comics by Michael Fleisher. A representative of the "swords and sorcery" fantasy genre, IronJaw is best remembered for violent and misogynistic content notable even by the standards of the era.

In 1974-1975, Seaboard Periodicals began publication of "Atlas Comics." Seaboard founder, Martin Goodman, previously used the name for a line of comic books in the 1950s. That line of comics was renamed "Marvel Comics" in 1961. After leaving Marvel, Goodman created Atlas/Seaboard, hoping to compete with his former company, as well as with the other industry titan, DC Comics.

Atlas/Seaboard produced 23 titles, none that ran for more than four issues. Although attracting talents such as Steve Ditko, Neal Adams, and Wally Wood, the company was not successful, ceasing operations after one year. After a brief attempt to revive the brand in 2011, rights to the company's name and properties became the subject of a trademark suit, ceasing publication.

Materials, dates and provenance

• date made: 1975
• maker: Atlas Comics
• Object Name: comic book
• Physical Description: paper (overall material)
• Measurements: overall: 6 3/4 in x 10 3/4 in; x 17.145 cm x 27.305 cm
• place made: United States: New York, New York City
• Subject: Comics
• Subject: Fantasy
• ID Number: 2013.3039.001
• nonaccession number: 2013.3039
• catalog number: 2013.3039.001
• Credit Line: Gift of George R. Zug
• Data Source: National Museum of American History

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of American History through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed.