Celebrate the legacy of the legendary comic that they tried to ban with the new Action 2020 special!
Packed with the same blend of unbeatable characters and no-holds-barred action, Rebellion's latest special is being brought to you by the best talents of today, including Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys), Ram V (Batman, Paradiso) and Henry Flint (Judge Dredd)!
Some of the most popular strips from this most influential of comic books return in the all-new special: there's killer shark action in Hookjaw by Keith Richardson and Dan Lish, juvenile delinquency in Kids Rule OK by Ram V and Henrick Stahlstrom, frontline German Panzer with Hellman of Hammer Force by Garth Ennis and Mike Dorey, merciless secret agent action with Dredger by Zina Hutton and Staz Johnson, and the brand new Hell Machine by Henry Flint and Jake Lynch.
The Action 2020 Special will be on sale from newsagents and comic book shops on Wednesday 25th March.
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| A taster of Mike Dorey's new Hellman story |
Launched in 1976 by writer and editor Pat Mills, Action‘s blend of no-holds-barred action, unbridled anarchism, and violent riffs off popular films earned it immediate acclaim. The gritty tone and graphic gore of strips such as Hook Jaw, Hellman of Hammer Force, BlackJack, Death Game 1999, Kids Rule OK, Dredger, and Look Out For Lefty delighted readers but quickly attracted the attention of public moralists, with the comic branded “the seven-penny nightmare” by the press.
A campaign by the infamous Mary Whitehouse and her National Viewers and Listeners Association led to threats of a boycott of all publisher IPC’s titles by newsagent chains such as WH Smith and John Menzies. This in turn led to pressure from publisher IPC’s higher management and the 23 October issue was pulped.
When the title returned that November, the violence was heavily toned down. Sales of this neutered Action dropped dramatically and it was folded into stablemate Battle a year later. However, Action remains one of the most influential comic books in British history, leading to Mills creating 2000 AD and also inspire a generation of comic book readers and creators!
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They’ve battled the greatest threat to the universe and now the story of The Vigilant comes to an end with an explosive grand finale this June!
The story of Rebellion’s super-team of classic British comic book characters, The Vigilant, will come to a reality-shattering conclusion in the pages of the Judge Dredd Megazine #421, on sale 17 June 2020.
After two spellbinding special issues, these home-grown superheroes – Dr. Sin, Blake Edmonds, Thunderbolt the Avenger, The Steel Commando, Dr. Sin, Pete’s Pocket Army, Death-Man, Yāo and The Leopard from Lime Street – leap forth once again from the Rebellion archive of more than a century of classic comics.
Writer Simon Furman (Transformers), artist Simon Coleby (Judge Dredd), colourist Len O’Grady (Jaegir), and letterer Simon Bowland (The Boys) reunite for this explosive climax to The Vigilant saga – Nightcomer Beth Rogan has had a vague vision that one of the team will betray his or her comrades, and that’ll allow the evil Doktor Von Hoffman to usher in a Hell on Earth. Can Dr Sin’s crew stop the demon Mazoul’s terrifying Blood Rapture from becoming a reality?
Readers will once again get the chance to enjoy the return of these iconic British characters as they face their deadliest threat – one that may destroy them for good!
This issue of the Judge Dredd Megazine will also come bagged with a 64-page graphic novel featuring stories from the original incarnations of these legendary comic book heroes, giving readers fascinating context to The Vigilant’s final mission!
The complete story of The Vigilant, featuring work by Simon Furman, Simon Coleby, DaNi, Henrik Sahlstrom, Warwick Fraser-Combe, Staz Johnson, Will Sliney, and Jake Lynch, will be collected in a 128-page paperback graphic novel this September.
Editor Keith Richardson said: “It has been an honour to usher in the new era of exciting stories featuring some of the greatest adventure characters in British comics, created by the best of British talent. Stay Vigilant!”
Will the original Action comics ever be reprinted (or any series from therein as Rebellion is doing with other British comics)? There was a book that came out eons ago that told the story of the Action comics and reprinted some of the series (although many artists were left unidentified—I recognized Horacio Altuna among them and other Argentinian artists too). BTW, Altuna drew some of the Dredger stories.
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