STEED AND MRS. PEEL: THE SECRET HISTORY OF SPACE

"Mrs. Peel, We're Needed"

I flat out love THE AVENGERS, the 1960s British television series about two of the greatest spy/crime fighters of the 20th century: John Steed and Emma Peel. As portrayed by Patrick Macnee and the criminally beautiful Diana Rigg, Steed and Mrs. Peel made the perfect pair of adventurers. The series was brilliantly written, with scripts mixing espionage, science fiction, death traps, martial arts, wicked humor and a delightfully effervescent chemistry between the two leads. Steed was suave, assured, debonair and always the gentleman (though far from a wimp). Mrs. Peel, decked out in various leather catsuits, was supremely capable, smart as a whip, quick with a quip and could hold her own in hand-to-hand combat with any foe. In short, THE AVENGERS was a true original, an utterly delightful slice of '60s pop culture and one of the best of the endless parade of spy/secret agent properties that blossomed in the wake of the worldwide success of James Bond.

BOOM! Studios has recently produced an ongoing STEED AND MRS. PEEL comic book series. I recently purchased the second trade paperback collection (published in 2013) of issues #4-7. Subtitled "The Secret History of Space", the volume finds Steed and Peel involved in a bizarre black and white ball for starters, an encounter that leads into a wonderfully outre two-parter in which they discover (literally) how "time flies". The final tale involves an epidemic of suicides in a small Welsh mining community.

All of the material by scripter Caleb Monroe perfectly captures the spirit and essence of the television series. The artwork, by Yasmin Liang, is serviceable enough but a bit cartoony. Nonetheless, the storytelling is clear and clean and the likenesses are, for the most part, spot on.

All in all, STEED AND MRS. PEEL: THE SECRET HISTORY OF SPACE, is a fun return to the world of two beloved characters. It's done with respect and admiration and a ton of charm. Thumbs up.