Mar 20 2025 109 mins 1
New Episode - Barrie & James Tomlinson - Battle Action Force Interview, with bonus guest Brian Hickey
Mark & Tim talk about all things Battle Action Force with Editor Barrie Tomlinson, his son & AF writer James "Nicholas" Tomlinson, and also with Battle Action Force Treasury author Brian Hickey.
We start the episode discussing BAF history with Barrie and James, and finish up the episode with an update from Brian on the lat4est with the BAF Treasury editions.
Recorded as talking heads video with a few BAF images included.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/S3G3RlB5DLg
Or more tightly edited audio only episode
Action Force was launched in the pages of the Battle Comic in 1983, which was retitled Battle Action Force and ran until 1986 when the license moved to Marvel. After that the Action Force strip was replaced in the pages of Battle by the adventures of a new team "Storm force". The earliest Action Force stories have been collected in 3 Battle Action Force Treaury deluxe harcovers from Total Toy books/ Skeletron/ Rebellion. https://www.totaltoybooks.com
Barry Tomlinson, was Group Editor at IPC, and British boys comics legend, his work incledes;
Lion, Tiger, Roy of the Rovers, Top Soccer, 2000AD, Battle, Speed, The New Eagle, Scream, Mask, Super Naturals, Wildcat, Hot-Shot, Ring Raiders, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles Adventures, Toxic Crusaders, The Big Daddy Annuals, The Geoff Boycott Annual, The Suzie Dando Annual, Johnny Cougar’s Wrestling Monthly, Scorer, one-off specials, magazines, World Cup poster magazines, sports quiz books, greetings cards, Ladybird books
James Tomlinson AKA James Nicholas (aka P Rudge) was one of the most prolific Action Force strip writers for Battle, writing c 30 stories, and going on to have writing career across boys comics, licenensed comics, and newspaper stips, including; Eagle, Battle, Scream! Ring Raiders, MASK, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.
Battle Action force strips by James included:
Codename Stakeout
Codename Quickfire
Tank Hunt
Sea Fury
Death Castle
Codename Kraken
Origins
Gung-Ho
The Baroness
Storm Shadow
Major Bludd
Cobra
The Great Cobra Robbery
Death in South America
Arctic Terror (P Rudge)
Venom of Cobra
Snow Job
Showdown for the Shadows!
London in Peril
The Ultimate Crime
Cobra Victory
Duke's Revenge
The Raid!
Operation Deep Cover
Sea Wars!
Battle for the Skies!
Death in the Everglades
Crisis in Space!
Battleground
Mark & Tim talk about all things Battle Action Force with Editor Barrie Tomlinson, his son & AF writer James "Nicholas" Tomlinson, and also with Battle Action Force Treasury author Brian Hickey.
We start the episode discussing BAF history with Barrie and James, and finish up the episode with an update from Brian on the lat4est with the BAF Treasury editions.
Recorded as talking heads video with a few BAF images included.
Youtube: https://youtu.be/S3G3RlB5DLg
Or more tightly edited audio only episode
Action Force was launched in the pages of the Battle Comic in 1983, which was retitled Battle Action Force and ran until 1986 when the license moved to Marvel. After that the Action Force strip was replaced in the pages of Battle by the adventures of a new team "Storm force". The earliest Action Force stories have been collected in 3 Battle Action Force Treaury deluxe harcovers from Total Toy books/ Skeletron/ Rebellion. https://www.totaltoybooks.com
Barry Tomlinson, was Group Editor at IPC, and British boys comics legend, his work incledes;
Lion, Tiger, Roy of the Rovers, Top Soccer, 2000AD, Battle, Speed, The New Eagle, Scream, Mask, Super Naturals, Wildcat, Hot-Shot, Ring Raiders, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles Adventures, Toxic Crusaders, The Big Daddy Annuals, The Geoff Boycott Annual, The Suzie Dando Annual, Johnny Cougar’s Wrestling Monthly, Scorer, one-off specials, magazines, World Cup poster magazines, sports quiz books, greetings cards, Ladybird books
James Tomlinson AKA James Nicholas (aka P Rudge) was one of the most prolific Action Force strip writers for Battle, writing c 30 stories, and going on to have writing career across boys comics, licenensed comics, and newspaper stips, including; Eagle, Battle, Scream! Ring Raiders, MASK, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles.
Battle Action force strips by James included:
Codename Stakeout
Codename Quickfire
Tank Hunt
Sea Fury
Death Castle
Codename Kraken
Origins
Gung-Ho
The Baroness
Storm Shadow
Major Bludd
Cobra
The Great Cobra Robbery
Death in South America
Arctic Terror (P Rudge)
Venom of Cobra
Snow Job
Showdown for the Shadows!
London in Peril
The Ultimate Crime
Cobra Victory
Duke's Revenge
The Raid!
Operation Deep Cover
Sea Wars!
Battle for the Skies!
Death in the Everglades
Crisis in Space!
Battleground
