Smash! was my favourite comic when I was a child. Sure, TV21 came very close, and I definitely consider that my favourite adventure comic of all time, but Smash! just had the edge for me because of its variety of material.
It has to be said that Smash! wasn't very slick compared to most of its rivals but when you're 7 years old, the odd sloppy layout and cheap printing isn't a deterrent... in fact that "rough and ready" aspect became part of the comic's appeal! There are a couple of things that were significant about this issue of Smash! as I'll reveal as we go along.
As I said, Smash! had a good variety of content; mixing up humour, home-grown adventure strips, Marvel reprint and DC's Batman all in one comic! (Yes, Odhams were officially licensed to put those strips in there.) The Batman stories were American Sunday newspaper strips, which actually ran only a week or three in Smash! behind their American printing. Batman was a huge hit on TV at the time so it was perfect for Smash's front cover.
As time moves on, no doubt comics like Smash! begin to look increasingly old fashioned to younger eyes, but in its day this was one of the coolest comics out there. Here's a few examples from its 28 packed pages...
One "tradition" in old comics that's thankfully behind us now (pardon the pun) is kids being whacked. Corporal punishment was of its time and was definitely over-used as a lazy ending in humour strips. The creators could be inventive though. Here's Percy (of Percy's Pets) being spanked by a fish. Art by Stan McMurtry...
The Rubberman was one of Odhams' home-grown superheroes, and a popular series in Smash! Art by Alfredo Marculeta...
Charlie's Choice often boasted excellent cartoon art by the late great Brian Lewis. And, oh-oh, another spanking scene. Sheesh.... British comics were weird...
Bad Penny was created by Leo Baxendale but he'd left Odhams by this point so this strip was by other hands. Not in Leo's league but it did the job and kept up the typical lunacy of over the top comedy situations...
By this issue, the Incredible Hulk reprints had used up the first six issues of his original mag and were now reprinting the material where he guest-starred in other comics. This is a reprint from Fantastic Four (serialised over a couple of weeks) but still presented as a Hulk strip. Art by Jack Kirby but with UK resizing to accommodate more panels on the larger British page size...
The Swots and the Blots were very popular. Even more so when Leo Baxendale took over the strip in March 1969, but at this time, in 1966, the strip was still being drawn by Ron Spencer...
If ever there was a Smash! strip begging to be collected as part of the Treasury of British Comics books it's The Legend Testers. Weird stories, and fantastic art by Jordi Bernet...
Here's one thing that makes this issue significant. It's the announcement of the 'Power Comics' logo that would start appearing on the covers of Smash! and Wham! (and subsequent companion comics) from the following week. (In memory it feels like the 'Power Comics' imprint was around for a long time but in fact it was only in use for slightly under two years. It vanished from the covers when Smash! was the only "Power Comic" left in late 1968.)
There's also an announcement about Pow! weekly, which would be on the shelves in early 1967. (The advert for the first Smash! Annual is a nice bonus too. A book I had in my Christmas pillowcase that year.)
Here's the other significant bit about this issue. The final episode of Ken Reid's Queen of the Seas! Great strip, but not the best printing... but you can see the full series sharply printed in greyscale on quality paper in volume 2 of The Power Pack of Ken Reid available from Irmantas Povilaika at this link:
https://www.kazoop-comics-shop.com
Smash! always brings back a lot of happy childhood memories for me. Rebellion are reviving the title for the Smash! Special next year but it'll be a vehicle for Fleetway characters such as The Spider, The Steel Claw, and Mytek the Mighty. Exciting news in itself, but I hope one day we'll see The Rubberman and The Legend Testers back too.
(All art in this article Copyright © Rebellion except for Batman ©DC Comics and the Hulk ©Marvel.)
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