British Comics

Originally running from 1966 through 1971, Smash! was a weekly comic book anthology with a special place in British comics history — it was the original UK home for Marvel comics, with the American publisher licensing out characters like the Hulk and the Fantastic Four to Oldhams Press before establishing its own UK publishing arm in the 1970s. (DC did something similar; early issues of Smash! actually included both the Hulk and Batman reprints, as unlikely as that might seem now.)

This new incarnation of Smash! sees writer Paul Grist create a storyline that draws together some classic British adventure comics characters — including The Steel Claw, Janus Stark, and Jane Bond (yes, Jane Bond: she’s a British spy from '60s anthology Tina) to deal with the threat of the Syndicate of Crime, and its leader the King of Crooks.