Action Force
Action Force joining Battle was an exercise in necessity. Sales had been declining for a number of years as war stories mostly shifted out of favour with the average comic reader, so when Action Man relaunched itself in Britain, Battle's then editor Terry Magee struck a deal with Palitoy to help market the new line. June 4th and 11th's issues of Battle saw an Action Force insert introducing the eponymous and colourful team, and proved sufficiently popular that they were permanently installed come 8th October 1983, when the comic was also renamed to Battle Action Force. Over half the comic was given over to Action Force related stories, and though this meant the non-Action Force strips were decimated, it probably gave the formerly ailing title a few more years of life. However, after three years Palitoy were sold off and the American parent company, who had already given the U.S. license to Marvel, transferred the British license to Marvel U.K. The backgrounds and many of the character names Battle had established for the toys were ditched in favour of their American versions, G.I. Joe, though some resurfaced years later as writers who remembered the Battle version fondly found ways to incorporate and accomodate versions of those backstories alongside the G.I.Joe mythos.
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