Heroes from across the ages – assemble! Rebellion’s brand new comics mini-series, SMASH!, is unleashing the power of some of Britain’s greatest comic characters of all time, launching this week.
Written by renowned artist/writer Paul Grist (Kane, Jack Staff), Smash! – which takes its name from a weekly comic published in Britain in the 1960s – is a glorious, enjoyable and fast-paced action-adventure mini-series, hitting comic shops tomorrow, Wednesday 25th October 2023, and 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), Jimmy Broxton (Hope), and V.V. Glass (Mega-City Max) and stunning covers by Andy Clarke (Batman and Robin).
This brand new mini-series unleashes the power of some of Britain’s greatest comic book characters, who first appeared in long-running weekly comics such as Lion and Valiant, that sold in their millions at their height.
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.
“The Spider is, without doubt, my favourite British comic character,” enthuses Paul Grist. “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! #1 costs £4.99 (UK) and $7.99 (US) and is in comic shops from Wednesday 25th October, with subsequent issues released monthly. To order either Smash! issue #1 or the entire three-issue miniseries as a bundle, head to the British Treasury of Comics Webshop here
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.
Categories: British Comics, Comic Previews, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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