The Crunch

The Crunch was launched by DC Thomson on 20th January 1979, ad proclaimed itself to be 'the sensational new paper with the most dynamic bunch of stories ever! A surprisingly edgy (for the normally conservative Thomson's) title, it introduced Ebony, a character who was not only the first female action hero in a British boys comic, but also (astoundingly, for the time) black! Other strips featured included 'Hitler Lives' (by Pat Wright), 'Arena' (by Alcatena), 'The Mantracker' (by Alberto Salinas) and 'The Walking Bombs' (by Denis McLoughlin). The title lasted just 54 issues to 26th January 1980 before being merged with Hotspur.