Action Man Steve MacManus was paid £10 a time by IPC to perform death defying stunts in response to readers’ requests. Unfortunately, Steve didn’t stay with Action for very long, even though he remained the public face of the comic until its demise in 1977. This means that there weren’t really that many stunts performed.
Although appearances were regular in the early issues, they soon dried up after Steve moved on to 2000AD, with the exception of a single outing that was held back and published at a later date.
Below are the twelve stunts that Action Man undertook, mainly at circuses, with El Hakim.
• In 2016, Rebellion published The Mighty One, a book about Steve’s time at Fleetway and Egmont, which includes material about his rime on Action. You can buy it here on Amazon, read our review here and read Steve’s own memories of dealing with unsolicited submissions to 2000AD here
14th February 1976 – Fire breathing at a circus with El Hakim
21st February – Grappling with a Boa Constrictor at Chessington Zoo
28th February – Karate lessonswith the Karate King in Chiswick
6th March – Running an Army assault course with the Royal Greenjackets
13th March – Firefighter training with the London Fire Brigade, up a 100 foot ladder
20th March – Laying on a bed of nails at a circus with El Hakim
27th March – Learning to drive a London Transport double-decker bus on a skid pan
10th April – Descending into the London sewerage system
17th April – Stilt walking at a circus with El Hakim
1st May – Hot air ballooning at 2,000 feet
8th May – Riding a motorbike from London to Brighton and back at high speed
14th August – Dry skiing at Alexandra Palace
An Action Man Diary 1977, detailing all but the last of the stunts performed in 1976, appeared in the Action Annual 1977.
Text © Moose Harris
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