Script-wise, I've been enjoying Steed and Mrs. Peel: We're Needed so far. Writer Edginton is a true fan and he seems to be doing a good job adapting the original show to the medium. In an interview with Bleeding Cool last May, Edginton said, "The original series, especially the Emma Peel run, is quirky and quaint; there’s a much lighter, surreal, comic touch to the show than had what gone before. Steed had previously worked alongside Cathy Gale, Venus Smith, Dr. Martin King, and Dr. David Keel, and those episodes had a much harder edge. The show was more a gritty, espionage drama which fitted in with what was then the post-war mentality. Britain was still in austerity mode and Russia was emerging as the new threat to world peace. The shadow cast by the fall-out from the Second World War was being felt politically, socially, and economically. The Emma Peel era proved to be a unique barometer of the times. The mood of the show and the country lightened. The show went from black and white to color. It perfectly matched the feel of Britain and London in the swinging ‘60s, a colorful mix of optimism and hedonism. The design and style of Emma Peel’s clothes were a mirror of the times and they’re often what people remember the show for. Likewise, John Steed’s sharply tailored gentleman dandy outfits were indicative of Victorian/Edwardian tailoring at the time. It was all about style.
"It’s not something I’d envisaged ever having the
opportunity to do, so to say I’m thrilled is an understatement. I’m 50, I grew
up with shows like The Avengers, The Prisoner, Danger Man, Man in a Suitcase, The
Champions, Strange Report, Department S, and so on. They’re in my DNA, along
with all the Gerry Anderson shows and Doctor Who. The Avengers holds a very special time, place, and
tone for me. They’re part of a bedrock of British television that has formed
and shaped me as a writer. In one way or another, it informs everything I do.
I’ve now been given the opportunity to come full circle and write about the
characters who inspired me to do what I do in the first place." Cover price is $3.99 and you can find issues #1 and #2 at your local comic shop or on-line at Boom! Studios. Issue #3 and #4 coming up seem to sport especially uninteresting covers, so I'm hoping Boom! will offer some variant designs to entice collectors to keep buying individual issues. They might also consider sticking with Zhang. As a fan of Francavilla, I'd also love to see what he'd do with the characters.
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