Spies and Gladiators

 

Mr. Steed and Mrs. Peel were Britian's top spies, but in the first of two stories in their only Gold Key comic book appearance, they stumbled into a case purely by accident. 

Because Marvel already had a popular comic book titled The Avengers, Gold Key titled their book John Steed Emma Peel. It was cover dated November 1968 and called John Steed Emma Peel. Perhaps the title change to something awkward (a simplier Steed and Peel might have been better) was one of the reasons it didn't catch on. But, regardless, the stories in this issue were a lot of fun.

The issue leads off with "The Roman Invasion." (Writer and artist both unidentified.) As I mentioned above, Steed and Peel stumble upon this case. They are on a picnic when they spot two men dressed as ancient Roman soldiers fighting each other. One of them is knocked unconscious, forcing our heroes to intervene to save that man's life. The fight scene that follows, by the way, is entertaining and allows both Steed and Peel to show off their fighting skills.

They load both Roman soldiers into their car and drive to a hospital, but one of them wakes up and makes a break for it. He's soon calling in a warning to his mysterious bosses.

We gradually figure out what's going on along with Steed and Mrs. Peel, but here's a brief summary. A movie with a Roman Empire setting is being filmed in England. A foriegn power (East Germany, perhaps, to judge from the Germanic names used by the bad guys) is smuggling in agents by having them pose as extras in the film. A British agent found out about it--he's they guy who is still in the hospital at this point.

While Mrs. Peel remains at the hospital to question the agent, Steed checks out the film set, where he's soon roped into becoming another extra. Because he forgets to take off his bowler at first, the bad guys soon spot him. While an arena fight is being filmed, Steed ends up in an actual to-the-death fight with one of those bad guys.

Fortunately, Mrs. Peel has questioned the now-conscious agent and finds out what's going on. By stealing a scooter and then stealing a chariot, she arrives in the nick of time to save Steed. The enemy agents are rounded up and the day is saved. Steed and Peel continue their picnic with the chariot rather than their car.

The art work and the fight scenes really are fun, with the above image of Mrs. Peel charging in on a chariot being a highlight of the tale. "The Roman Invasion" does a pretty good job of catching both the humor and the sense of adventure inherent in the TV series.

That's it for now. Next week, we'll begin a journey through an issue of Superman Family. In the first story, Jimmy Olson plays hockey and dodges killers.