Rebellion brings back SMASH! for a special nostalgia-fueled three-issue miniseries in October

In case you missed it from the SDCC mud settling, Rebellion has introduced a new superhero miniseries for October: Smash!. The US-format, three-issue collection can be written by author/artist Paul Grist (Kane, Jack Staff) joined by high notch artists Anna Morozova, Jimmy Broxton, and Tom Foster, with covers by Andy Clarke.

Smash! will function a who’s who of classic British supercharacters for an action-adventure romp – together with Jane Bond, The Steel Claw, Robot Archie, The Spider and extra. The first subject will launch October 25 in the UK and November 29 in the US [Diamond code AUG232169].

The plot synopsis:

“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 – but he has simply created a prize too alluring for felony masterminds to withstand!

“Sixty years later, terrifying high-tech thief The Spider organises a heist for his Crime Syndicate to the steal the statuette. But heroes from throughout the ages unite to confound the king of crime, and stop him from unleashing the demon hidden inside. Can they succeed and preserve 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, who’s heading up this new collection, stated:

“The Spider is, no doubt, my favorite British comedian character. There are others which can be extra well-known, extra heroic, or simply longer operating, nevertheless it’s the Spider that’s been residing lease free in my head since I first got here throughout him in the pages of a ‘Summer Special’ while on a caravan vacation with my household many summers in the past.

“So to be requested to write down a bunch of tales of his battles along with his extra ‘heroic’ contemparies wasn’t one thing I used to be going to show down! At least I may lastly get him to earn his preserve!

“The three-issue[s] that make up this collection of Smash! give the Spider a likelihood to cavort throughout 60 years of British comics historical past, crossing paths with the Steel Claw, Robot Archie and Adam Eterno, in addition to a few shock ‘guest stars’ alongside the way in which. I even get to write down a Janus Stark story to kick issues 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! was a British anthology comedian that ran from 1966 to 1971 – operating 257 weekly points earlier than being merged with rival comedian Valiant. The anthology ran reprints of US superheroes (equivalent to Marvel’s The Hulk and DC’s Batman) alongside British originated materials throughout many genres – together with journey, sports activities and humour. Smash!, Wham!, Valiant and extra had a variety of characters of the super-variety that stay fondly remembered years after they ceased publication – and Rebellion is eager to utilize that IP.

Rebellion has beforehand accomplished a Smash! special which spotlighted The Steel Claw, by Charlie Higson & Charlie Adlard; The Spider by Rob Williams & John McCrea; and others. It was launched in 2020. The announcement of the Smash! mini comes scorching on the heels of the Garth Ennis-spearheaded Battle Action miniseries, which has been operating to some success three points into its five-issue run (set to conclude in September), and youngsters humour revival Monster Fun which shifted from a bimonthly to a month-to-month schedule in June.