No doubt following the success of the format of the Scream! archives Rebellion have announced a similar collection for the first twelve issues of the seminal UK weekly anthology series Action. This kind of presentation gives readers the experience of reading classic British comics material as it was originally meant to be seen. Let’s hope that there are plans to continue in this vein! The first dozen issues of 2000 AD for example, or the complete Starlord? All the info in the press release below…
CELEBRATING FIFTY YEARS OF BRITAIN’S MOST CONTROVERSIAL COMIC!
Violent, gritty and unrelenting, Action comic was the brainchild of Pat Mills and Geoff Kemp. Tasked with creating a new anthology comic for the IPC’s boys adventure division, the pair rapidly developed a winning formula: reimagining existing story ideas from fresh perspectives and infusing them with a health dose of modern realism.
With strips such as Hookjaw, Dredger, Look Out For Lefty and Blackjack, success was instantaneous but so was the criticism. Many members of the press – including The London Evening Standard, The Sun and the Daily Mail – were quick to denounce the comic, while Mary Whitehouse and the pressure group “Delegates Opposing Violent Education” piled pressure on the IPC board to do something about it.
In less than a year, Action had been pulled from circulation, then returned months later, a sanitised, pale shadow of its former self. But the spark had already been lit. Action had made its mark and became the catalyst for the evolution of the British comics scene, paving the way for 2000 AD and the subsequent British invasion of UK talent into America.
Now, for the first time in decades, Rebellion are collecting Action in a series of new archival editions, containing all of the strips and some of the editorial that created so much infamy back in the 1970s!
With brand-new introductions from Pat Mills, the legendary co-creator, editor, and writer of Action, as well as from series writer Steve MacManus, this is a sensational new release which champions firebrand comics at their most powerful and controversial.
Find out just what the shock and awe was about – featuring the original colour pages as originally published, Volume 1 of Action: Before The Ban collects together the first twelve issues of Action, originally published across 1976.
Available in standard and webshop-exclusive editions, Action: Before The Ban defies the censors and proudly celebrates a landmark series in comics history!
