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''Action'' was a controversial weekly British anthology comic that was published by IPC Magazines, starting on 14 February 1976. Concerns over the comic's violent content saw it withdrawn from sale on 16 October 1976. It reappeared the following month, in toned-down form, and continued publication until 12 November 1977, at which point it was merged with ''Battle Picture Weekly''. Despite its short lifespan, ''Action'' was highly influential on the British comics scene, and was a direct forerunner of the long-running ''2000 AD''. ==Publication history== The comic was devised in 1975 by freelance writer/editor Pat Mills, at the request of publishing house IPC. It was intended to reflect the changing social and political times of the late 1970s, and to compete with DC Thomson's war-themed ''Warlord'' title. ''Warlord'' was a new type of British boys adventure comic, focusing on military action, with tougher heroes and storylines than had been seen previously. The title was a huge success, and inspired IPC to launch ''Battle Picture Weekly'' in direct competition. ''Battle'' had been created by Pat Mills and fellow freelancer John Wagner, and was also very popular. ''Action'' was intended to be more contemporary and 'realistic'. IPC's John Sanders was chosen to edit the title, with Mills, Wagner, and Steve MacManus contributing stories. The team evaluated several names, including ''Boots'' and ''Dr Martens''. The comic was briefly to have been called ''Action 76'', with the title incrementing each year, until it was named simply ''Action''. Many of the stories in ''Action'' were what Mills called "dead cribs", essentially rip-offs of popular films, books, and comic heroes. Rather than being a straight copy, the "cribs" in ''Action'' had their own slant on the idea. ''Hook Jaw'', for example, combined environmental issues with the graphic gore and shark anti-hero of Steven Spielberg's film ''Jaws'' (1975), a box-office success, while ''Hellman of Hammer Force'' was a ''Warlord''/''Battle''-style World War II adventure told from the point of view of a German Panzer commander. The first issue was published on 7 February 1976, with a cover date of 14 February 1976. The comic was instantly popular, particularly for its gritty tone and graphic gore. Within weeks the media had picked up on the title's violent content. The London ''Evening Standard'' and ''The Sun'' ran major articles on the comic, with the latter echoing the Victorian "penny dreadful" by dubbing ''Action'' "the sevenpenny nightmare" (the cover price was 7p). Over the next few months ''Action'' was the centre of a campaign led by Mary Whitehouse, of the National Viewers and Listeners Association, to censor or ban the comic. IPC eventually started to moderate strips to forestall possible boycotts by newsagent chains such as W.H. Smith. In September 1976 John Sanders appeared on the television programme ''Nationwide'', where he tried to defend the comic from a vigorous attack by interviewer Frank Bough. Although ''Action'' remained popular, its days were numbered. Pressure within IPC's higher management, and alleged worries that the two major newsagent chains, W.H. Smith and John Menzies, would refuse to stock not just ''Action'', but all of IPC's line, led to the 23 October issue being pulped. The title returned on 27 November (cover date 4 December), but the violence was toned down, and the previous sense of anarchism was replaced by a safer, blander feel. Stories like ''Hook Jaw'' were no longer drenched in blood and gore, but instead were full of safer and more reliable heroes, and traditional villains. Sales dropped drastically, and the last issue before merging with ''Battle'' was published on 5 November 1977 – dated 11 November. ''Battle'' became ''Battle Action'' until 1982, at which point the ''Action'' name was dropped entirely. However 'Action' annuals continued to be published separately from 'Battle' annuals yearly up until 1985.〔Action Annuals 1975–1985〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Action (comics)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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