2022 is the 40th anniversary of Action Force toys and to mark the occasion, Rising Sun Comics Non-Profit Division has been publishing Action Force: Redux!, an all-new, full-colour, weekly web-comic and monthly printed title, penned by Blood For The Baron‘s Jim Marshall. Right now, the team are running a Kickstarter campaign to raise funding for Action Force: Redux 04, and there’s still time – just – to back it.
Action Force were original British 1982 toys which had assorted re-coloured GI Joe and Cobra toys dotted amongst their ranks. Then in 1985 the Palitoy design team were suddenly laid off, meaning the Action Force range abruptly switched to 100% GI Joe toys (albeit with new stickers) as well as rebranded vehicles from the previous years’ range.
The ongoing comic Battle Action Force (which was itself a weekly anthology mix of World War 2 stories and Action Force promotional content) managed to rise above all this craziness and retcon a coherent story. World Enemy Number One saw Baron Ironblood betray his entire army of Red Shadows, only to reinvent himself as Cobra Commander.
However, even though the toys were no longer on the shelves, the Red Shadows refused to die. Time and again fan-favourites like the Black Major, Red Laser, Red Vulture, Z Force and the SAS returned to battle both Cobra and the new Joe-based Action Force. It’s a fascinating story which didn’t end there.
Action Force: Redux is set in and around the events of World Enemy Number One, written to both flesh-out the fall of the Red Shadows and to explore the unanswered questions for the original characters who were suddenly conscripted into the new order…
This project features the artistic talents of the brothers Robert Atkins (GI Joe, Transformers, Spider-Man, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Brian Atkins (Final Street, Family Graves), Simon Gough (GI Joe, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ringside), Geoff Senior (Action Force, Transformers, Zoids, Death’s Head, Dragon’s Claws, Judge Dredd, To The Death), Kev Hopgood (Action Force, Zoids, Iron Man), Patrick Goddard (2000AD, Judge Dredd, Sniper Elite), Alejandro Cabral (GI Joe, Action Force: Millerverse, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Ghostbusters, Tales from the Crypt, Eternal Descent), Mariano A’Q (Masters of the Universe), kerowack! (MASK ’85, MASK ’86), Rodolfo Valenzuela (Loaiza Fortun, Aztec) cartoonist Alan Schell (Action Force: Millerverse) and columnist Ian Wheeler (Doctor Who).
In addition to the latest issue, for those of you late to the party, campaign add-ons include Action Force: Redux issues 01 A, 01 B, 02 A, 02 B, 03 A and 03 B, the Action Force: 40th Anniversary Special and Action Force: 40th Anniversary DVD, as well as the 300-page Action Force: Declassifed and Action Force: Palitoy Collectors’ Guide books from BFTB.UK.
Stretch goals include Action Force: Redux issues 05-12, three 100-page collected edition Trade Paperbacks with a triptych cover, a Trade Paperback slipcase and a 300-page Digest collected edition with wraparound cover.
• You can back Action Force Redux 04 here on Kickstarter
Please note the 300-page Action Force: Declassifed and Action Force: Palitoy Collectors’ Guide books from BFTB.UK, offered as add-ones, both weigh 1300g. As the maximum weight Royal Mail will carry is 2000g, they each need to be shipped separately
Action Force and all related properties are copyright Hasbro, Inc. These are fan-based comics. After production costs, all profits are donated to the National Health Service and the People’s Dispensary for Sick Animals
Copyright Rising Sun Comics 2022. ‘Back Issues’ font courtesy of www.blambot.com. All rights reserved.
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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