John Steel Thriller Picture Library Special
Sharper than Bond,
cooler than The Saint – the indefatigable British spy John Steel is back!
The John Steel Files
collects two Steel stories golden age of spy fiction, featuring stunning art
from legendary artist Luis Bermejo (Creepy, Vampirella).
Re-presented for a
modern audience, these never-before-reprinted comics have been coloured by
breakout colourist Pippa Bowland (2000 AD) and will feature a brand new cover
by V. V. Glass (The Last Witch).
he 128-page comic book
special features the stories 'Bullets in the Sun' (from Thriller Picture
Library #371), where a British MP turns to his old WWII comrade, John Steel,
after being blackmailed by sinister forces to keep him quiet about an
international double-cross; and in 'Play It Cool' (Thriller Picture Library
#379), while investigating the disappearance of Senator Harding's son in
France, Steel discovers a link to what seems to be a murder on the streets of
Paris!
Originally a secret
service agent during World War II, Steel first appeared in Super Detective
Picture Library #157 in September 1959 and became a regular in the pages of the
publisher Fleetway’s popular Thriller Picture Library from November 1960, a
line of 64-page digest-sized black and white comic books that ran serialized
stories, usually consisting of two comic panels per page.
Steel’s exploits helped
make Thriller Picture Library one of the best-selling titles on the newsstand
and it featured a variety of war, spy, and detective heroes such as ‘Battler
Britton’, ‘Spy 13’, and ‘Dogfight Dixon’.
Bermejo took over the
series in 1960 and may have influenced the decision in early 1961 to transplant
Steel from World War Two into the Jazz Age. Gone were his spying exploits in
favour of life as a private detective.
Influenced by the
contemporary sophistication of the early James Bond novels, Steel found himself
in a world of jazz cafes and shady deals. This switch was reflected in the
title of Steel’s stories too – this collection will feature the classics ‘Play
it Cool’ and ‘Bullets in the Sun’.
Luis Bermejo Royo’s
diverse career spanned Spanish, British, and American comic book industries and
his style is instantly recognisable on series such as Adventures of the FBI,
Apache, Tarzan, John Steel, Johnny Future, Vampirella, Captain Thunder, and his
adaptations of Lord of the Rings and books by Isaac Asimov and Raymond
Chandler. He passed away on 12 December 2015.
