Wednesday, August 02, 2023

Rebellion Releases — 2 August 2023


Smash! – A new superhero mini-series launches in October!

Superheroes from across the ages – assemble! A brand new comics mini-series is unleashing the power of some of comics’ greatest characters of all time!

Rebellion is pleased to announce that Smash!, new three-issue US-format mini-series, is coming this October.

Written by renowned artist/writer Paul Grist (Kane, Jack Staff), this fast-paced action-adventure mini-series features the very best and the most outlandish heroes, superheroes, and anti-heroes that comics can offer!

From two very different 1960s secret agents – Jane Bond and The Steel Claw – to mechanical menaces Robot Archie and the murderous AI Max from The Thirteenth Floor, and villainous anti-hero The Spider and supernatural avenger Cursitor Doom, this is a series a whole century in the making.

With each issue featuring brand new art from Tom Foster (Judge Dredd), Anna Morozova (Lowborn High) and Jimmy Broxton (Hope), and stunning covers by Andy Clarke (Batman and Robin), Smash! #1 arrives in comic book stores and on the 2000 AD webshop and app on 25 October, retailing at £4.99 (UK) and $7.99 (US).

This brand new mini-series unleashes the power of some of the last century’s greatest comic book characters. Having been inspired by them to create his acclaimed self-published series Jack Staff, Grist now realises his vision with the original versions of these legendary characters.

In Victorian London, when the legendary elastic-limbed escapologist Janus Stark traps a demon in a stone idol, hoping to seal away the malevolent monster for all time – yet he has just created a prize too alluring for criminal masterminds to resist!

Sixty years later, terrifying high-tech thief The Spider organises a heist for his Crime Syndicate to the steal the statuette. But heroes from across the ages unite to confound the king of crime, and prevent him from unleashing the demon hidden inside. Can they succeed and keep the evil of the stone idol contained?

However, The Steel Claw and Jane Bond are assigned to halt the theft, but they encounter a mysterious stranger who throws both sides’ plans into disarray.

Paul Grist said: “The Spider is, without doubt, my favourite British comic character. There are others that are more famous, more heroic, or just longer running, but it’s the Spider that’s been living rent free in my head since I first came across him in the pages of a ‘Summer Special’ whilst on a caravan holiday with my family many summers ago.

“So to be asked to write a bunch of stories of his battles with his more ‘heroic’ contemparies wasn’t something I was going to turn down! At least I could finally get him to earn his keep!

“The three-issue that make up this series of Smash! give the Spider a chance to cavort across 60 years of British comics history, crossing paths with the Steel Claw, Robot Archie and Adam Eterno, as well as a few surprise ‘guest stars’ along the way. I even get to write a Janus Stark story to kick things off!

“But don’t worry, it doesn’t require the reader to have read years of British comics in order to appreciate it. But I hope that it will give the you, the reader, a flavour of the range, variety and, quite frankly, the sheer bonkersness of British comics over the years!”

Smash! is the latest comics mini-series from Rebellion, with Garth Ennis currently leading the charge with the five-issue Battle Action and YA/teen one-shot special Mega-City Max bringing audiences new takes on popular characters from the dystopian world of Judge Dredd.

Smash! #1 is out on 25 October, with subsequent issues released monthly.

And now, this week's releases...


2000AD Prog 2343

Cover: Dave Taylor.

Judge Dredd: A Fallen Man by Ken Niemand (w) Tom Foster (a) Chris Blythe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Portals & Black Goo by John Tomlinson (w) Eoin Coveney (a) Jim Boswell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
Tharg's 3rillers: Maxwell's Demon by David Barnett (w) Lee Milmore (a) Quinton Winter (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
Hershey: The Cold in the Bones by Rob Williams (w) Simon Fraser (a) Simon Bowland
Azimuth: A Job For Suzi Nine by Dan Abnett (w) Tazio Bettin (a) Matt Soffe (c) Jim Campbell (l)


Monster Fun #10 (2 Aug-5 Sep 2023)
Cover: Abigail Bulmer.

Gums by Stacey Whittle (w) Brett Parson (a+l)
Kid Kong by Alec Worley (w) Karl Dixon (a+l)
Hell's Angel by Chris Garbutt (w+a+l)
Space Invaded by John Lucas (w+a) Barbara Nosenzo (c) H.A. O'Millar (l)
Steel Commando by Ned Hartley (w) Dan Boultwood (a) Leila Jess (l)
Martha's Monster Make-Up by Dave Bulmer (w) Abigail Bulmer (a+l)
Witch vs Warlock by Derek Fridolfs (w) Rebecca Morse (a) Hadrian Yannou (c) Ozwaldo Sanchez (l)
The Leopard from Lime Street by Simon Furman (w) PJ Holden (a) John-Paul Bove (c) SquakeZz (l)
Global Ghoulies by Henry Flint
Franken Critter by The Feek (w) Steve Roberts (a) Harvey Caldarone (l)

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