Writer: Grant Morrison
Artist: Ian Gibson
Published by Boom! Studios
While people are watching the movie “The Avengers” there is an equally cool or cooler BBC television property also called “The Avengers”, which made for kind of an average film but we did see Sean Connery cast as a Bond villain which was kind of interesting. The best Avengers episodes featured John Steed and Emma Peel, as kind of British freelance spies. The shows were very stylized and featured lots of oddly empty streets, incredible set designs and plenty of science fictional elements. Emma Peel was also one of the hottest women to ever grace the small screen. I’m fairly certain that I found her appealing even at the age of six when these first television episodes aired in the 60s. Her costume was a black leather suit where she would use her “Karate”.
So, I was looking forward to these new “Avengers” comics which are now called “Steed and Mrs. Peel“, probably called such because of copyright or trademark reasons, or perhaps just to stop all the confusion. I was looking forward to it also because these books were to be written by Grant Morrison, known to be a “hot” writer but so far I haven’t really been that impressed with anything he’s written. However, this is one of the earlier pieces he’s published. The dialogue works between Steed and Mrs. Peel and the plot seems to be, well, brilliant. It has something to do with nuclear codes and puzzles. Seems like a roundabout way to delve into cryptography. Definitely the most interesting part of the story. I found out that this was originally published in the 90s and that Boom! studios bought the rights and are merely reprinting them. It does have the features and mark of the old television series. There are weird characters. There’s also some ingenious settings. Here’s one:
The art isn’t bad. It just seems a little sketchy. And frankly you would need an artist who was really good with the female figure to pull off a sexy Mrs. Peel. His Emma Peel is just so so, although she’s still an action hero. One odd bone to pick at: It’s not entirely clear when this is happening. Is the story happening in the 60s when the show first came on the air in black and white? Or is it happening in the 90s when this was republished? That isn’t clear except for one panel at the bottom of the page 20, here:
That looks to be a desktop computer with a floppy disk drive. This is definitely the early 90s. I guess you can do the same thing with movies just by looking at the size and shape of their cellphones. Overall, it didn’t blow me away. But the plot concerning puzzles and secrets, or the things that people do kill over, does intrigue me. I will read the next one. 3 out of 5 stars.
Related: One of the best television themes ever comes from the tv series “The Avengers”. One point that I didn’t mention above is that Patrick Macnee (not dead after checking his online presence, but around 88) was the consistent presence. The best episodes, for me, were the ones with Diane Rigg as “Mrs. Peel”.
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