New Avengers Comic in August 2012

[Dandy Forsdyke]

There seemed to be two pop groups in the 60's called the Avengers.

This interviews says "I started The Mighty Avengers in 1962 (I think).
I had already being playing in several semi-pro bands around Rugby, and was at the time an apprentice at the Coventry Bristol Siddeley Co, where I met Dave (Biffo) Beech and found out that he was one hell of a rock & roll drummer.
I was at school with Mike Linnell and Kevin (Bep) Mahon, and met them again when they were both playing with "Rockin" Chris Pottle (and his dad).
They both agreed to join us and the Avengers were born. (Changing to the Mighty Avengers to avoid confusion with the Birmingham group of the same name.)"

Yeah, cos that'll work.

I wonder what happened to ''Rockin'' Chris Pottle?

[Timeless A-Peel]

There seemed to be two pop groups in the 60's called the Avengers.

This interviews says "I started The Mighty Avengers in 1962 (I think).
I had already being playing in several semi-pro bands around Rugby, and was at the time an apprentice at the Coventry Bristol Siddeley Co, where I met Dave (Biffo) Beech and found out that he was one hell of a rock & roll drummer.
I was at school with Mike Linnell and Kevin (Bep) Mahon, and met them again when they were both playing with "Rockin" Chris Pottle (and his dad).
They both agreed to join us and the Avengers were born. (Changing to the Mighty Avengers to avoid confusion with the Birmingham group of the same name.)"

Yeah, cos that'll work.

I wonder what happened to ''Rockin'' Chris Pottle?

Oh, good, I was wondering how I was going to keep them separate from the Birmingham branch.

To make matters worse, they had to launch a comic called "The New Avengers" several years back, so not even TNA is safe. And of course, there's also a comic book Gambit that looks nothing like Gareth Hunt (although, to be fair, neither did a lot of the TNA Gambits. )

[Frankymole]

I wonder what happened to ''Rockin'' Chris Pottle?

And his dad!

[Brisco]

I just posted an interview with the new STEED & MRS. PEEL writer, Caleb Monroe, on the Double O Section:

http://doubleosection.blogspot.com/2012 ... peels.html

He says some interesting things about his approach to the series. He also says that the plan is for this to be an ongoing title, so I definitely recommend that fans support it by buying the individual issues so that we get more Avengers comics!

[Timeless A-Peel]

I just posted an interview with the new STEED & MRS. PEEL writer, Caleb Monroe, on the Double O Section:

http://doubleosection.blogspot.com/2012 ... peels.html

He says some interesting things about his approach to the series. He also says that the plan is for this to be an ongoing title, so I definitely recommend that fans support it by buying the individual issues so that we get more Avengers comics!

That was a great interview, Brisco! Thanks for that! You asked a lot of the questions I would have, especially about whether we'll see other characters than Steed and Emma in the future. I hope if the book runs long enough that we do.

Interesting to read that he came to the show through the movie, like I did. You can really feel that he's working with the series as though it had a movielike budget, and I'm interested to see how the plot unfolds to match that scope.

The one thing I can't go with him on is the gore, though. It wasn't just a product of the shows of the time, but a conscious creative choice to avoid blood as much as possible, just the way it was to have more blood in Man in a Suitcase. So I hope they don't rely on it too much. It feels particularly wrong when its meant to be set in the Peel era.

Thank you for such a great piece. There's another interview I found via Monroe's website which is worth a read as well. Spoiler warning as it also features the first few pages of issue #1:

http://geek-news.mtv.com/?p=89227

[Brisco]

Yeah, I'm with you on the gore, Timeless A-Peel. I think it's very clear from death scenes in episodes like "The Winged Avenger" or "The Hidden Tiger" that those POV death scenes (which could have been a good deal more graphic, even on Sixties television--and still manage to be quite unsettling, even witout gore!) were a distinctly stylistic choice. So I disagree with Monroe on that answer, and hope that the series doesn't go too far in that direction... but his reasoning does make sense from the perspective he's approaching the series. I'm really curious to see where he goes with this storyline and how those initial deaths in question tie in with the rest of the plot!

[Timeless A-Peel]

Yeah, I'm with you on the gore, Timeless A-Peel. I think it's very clear from death scenes in episodes like "The Winged Avenger" or "The Hidden Tiger" that those POV death scenes (which could have been a good deal more graphic, even on Sixties television--and still manage to be quite unsettling, even witout gore!) were a distinctly stylistic choice. So I disagree with Monroe on that answer, and hope that the series doesn't go too far in that direction... but his reasoning does make sense from the perspective he's approaching the series. I'm really curious to see where he goes with this storyline and how those initial deaths in question tie in with the rest of the plot!

Yes, I understand his justification for the blood. My worry is it might turn off some fans of the original series, or might keep new fans from getting into it if they think it's an accurate representation of the series. Maybe issue #1 was an extraordinary case, though, and it won't be as much of a going concern later on.

I'm really curious to see where the plot goes as well--it started with a bang (literally) and didn't really let you catch your breath after that. It's doing things with the series that I'm really curious to watch unfold. Looking forward to issue #2.

[robmyers]

I missed issue 2 but issue 3 was a good resolution to the first story and I'm looking forward to the next one.

The characters are well done, and despite some differences from the TV series in the structure of the story (Steed and Peel know things before the audience/reader does and reveal this after some time, there's a technical macguffin involving both characters) it *feels* Avengersy. The story really uses the "bigger budget" of the comic book format to good effect. And as with issue 0, the flaw in the villain's plan is classic Avengers.

I'm hoping for graphic novel collections.

[mousemeat]

"The Mighty Avengers"? The perils of having too many Avengers in the comics industry are making themselves known. If only Stan Lee could have come up with a different name in 1963...

I think even if Stan Lee had not come up with it someone else would have - 'The Champions', 'The Invaders', 'The Protectors' etc. They've all been used for comic book teams.

The Avengers wasn't even original when Sydney Newman used it (or Leonard White - whoever you want to believe). There was a feature film called The Avengers in 1950 and the creator of Doc Savage wrote about an adventurer called The Avenger way back in 1939.

doc Savage...now there's a blast from the cult hero past...one that ripe for being rebooted....