Book Cover

Action - Before the Ban Volume 1: The Archival Collection

Contributor(s): Mills, Pat (Author), Wagner, John (Author), Finley-Day, Gerry (Author), MacManus, Steve (Author), Mitchell, Barry (Artist), Dorey, Mike (Artist), Sola, Ramon (Artist), Gosnell, Kelvin (Author), Tully, Tom (Author), Lalia, Horacio (Artist), Belardinelli, Massimo (Artist)

ISBN: 9781837866694

Publisher: Rebellion

Hardcover
$60.00
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Pub Date: February 24, 2026

Lexile Code: 0000

Features: Price on Product

Target Age Group: NA to NA

Physical Info: 1.10" H x 10.90" L x 8.50" W ( 3.45 lbs) 384 pages

Series: Archival Collections

Descriptions, Reviews, etc.

Description: A brand-new hardback containing the first 12 issues of Britain's most controversial comic, Action, published to coincide with its 50th anniversary.

CELEBRATING FIFTY YEARS OF BRITAIN'S MOST CONTROVERSIAL COMIC!

Violent, gritty and unrelenting, Action comic was the brainchild of Pat Mills and Geoff Kemp. Tasked with creating a new anthology comic for the IPC's boys adventure division, the pair rapidly developed a winning formula: reimagining existing story ideas from fresh perspectives and infusing them with a healthy dose of modern realism. With strips such as Hookjaw, Dredger, Look Out For Lefty and Blackjack, success was instantaneous but so was the criticism. Many of the press including, The London Evening Standard, The Sun and the Daily Mail were quick to denounce the comic, while Mary Whitehouse and the pressure group, Delegates Opposing Violent Education, piled pressure on the IPC board to do something about it.

In less than a year, Action was pulled from circulation, then returned months later, a sanitised, pale shadow of its former self. But the spark had already been lit. Action had made its mark and became the catalyst for the evolution of the British comics scene, pathing the way for 2000 AD and the British invasion of UK talent into America.

Collected here are the first twelve issues of Action, containing all of the strips and some of the editorial that created so much infamy back in the 1970s.

Brief description: Pat Mills is the creator and first editor of 2000 AD. He developed Judge Dredd and is the writer-creator of many of 2000 AD's most popular stories such as Sláine, Nemesis and A.B.C. Warriors. Amongst his credits are Marshal Law (Marvel and DC Comics), co-created with Kevin O'Neill, the French graphic novel series Requiem, Vampire Knight with artist Olivier Ledroit, and Be Pure! Be Vigilant! Behave! The Secret History of 2000 AD and Judge Dredd. His current projects include Joe Pineapples: Tin Man, illustrated by Simon Bisley and Clint Langley, Spacewarp, and Kiss My Axe! The Secret History of Sláine the Warped Warrior.

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