British Update: Mrs. Peel – We’re Needed! TV’s Avengers in Diana
*Girls’ Comics: The TV show the Avengers was a huge phenomenon in the 1960’s, reaching its peak when the debonair John Steed was partnered by Mrs. Emma Peel, a dynamic figure who grabbed the consciousness not only of men and boys – for obvious reasons – but of women and girls, who saw in her a more adventurous role model than the usual TV fare. The Avengers, like many popular TV series, were adapted into comics, but unusually, they appeared not only in general-interest adventure series, such as TV Comic, but also in girls’ weeklies. “The Growing Up Of Emma Peel” (or Emma Knight as she then was) ran briefly in June & School Friend, but more significantly in 1967, Diana ran the Avengers in glorious full-colour from issues 199-224, eight separate adventures of Steed and Mrs. Peel which, unlike their rather anodyne TV Comic counterparts, captured the feel of the TV series with a darker tone, including violence and occasional fatalities, unusual for the traditionally sedate Diana. Incredibly sought-after, the Avengers issues never stay with us for long, so we are pleased to announce a run of issues #211 to #224 – the latter the final Avengers appearance. We open with the close of their battle with the Vikings, then have in the entirety of their clashes with Black Heart and her Seven Dwarfs, the Mad Hatter, and the Secret Six. Sumptuous artwork by Emilio Frejo, assisted on many issues by studio-mate Juan Gonzales Alacrejo, makes these a delightful set of ‘bonus episodes’ for fans of the series!