Action Comic UK: Britain's Most Controversial Comic Gets Its Archival Revival

Fifty years on, Action Comic remains one of the most provocative titles ever to come out of British comics. It was the brainchild of Pat Mills and Geoff Kemp. Born from a brief to create a new anthology for IPC's boys' adventure division, the pair wasted no time making it something altogether more dangerous.

Violent, gritty and unrelenting, they reimagined existing story ideas from fresh perspectives. They infused them with a healthy dose of modern realism, developing a winning formula that would change British comics forever.

With strips such as Hookjaw, Dredger, Look Out For Lefty, and Blackjack, success was immediate. However, criticism was also swift. Many members of the press, including The London Evening Standard, The Sun, and The Daily Mail, denounced the comic quickly. Mary Whitehouse and the pressure group "Delegates Opposing Violent Education" increased pressure on the IPC board to take action.

In less than a year, Action Comic had been pulled from circulation, then returned months later. It was a sanitised, pale shadow of its former self. But the spark had already been lit. Action had made its mark. It became the catalyst for the evolution of the British comics scene, paving the way for 2000 AD and the British invasion of UK talent into America.

Now, for the first time in decades, Rebellion are collecting Action Comic in a series of new archival editions. They contain all of the original strips and the editorial that created so much infamy back in the 1970s.

Brand-new introductions come from Pat Mills, the legendary co-creator, editor, and writer of Action, and from series writer Steve MacManus. It is a sensational release that champions firebrand comics at their most powerful and controversial.

Find out just what the shock and awe was about. Volume 1 of Action: Before The Ban collects the first twelve issues, featuring the original colour pages as 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!