The Comic Strip Adaptations - series discussion

Spaceship Dispatcher · Sat Apr 04, 2015 10:53 am

News and chat about this exciting new series, with thanks to DerekD for getting the ball rolling with the thread for the original announcement, but please keep chat here limited to these new episodes and the performances (in their own right) therein once released.

mrs_emma_peel · Post by **mrs_emma_peel** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 3:30 pm

I'm looking forward to the Big Finish adaptations of the Diana Comic Strip stories. Fabulous news.
I'm extremely impressed with the Diana magazine artwork -
meticulously well drawn and far more detailed than the illustrations of the Steed and Mrs Peel Boom comic strips.

I wonder who wrote the Diana stories and who will be cast as Emma Peel?
They definitely capture the spirit of the Steed/Peel era along with splendid touches, twists and feel of a Francis Durbridge mystery-thriller with Paul and Steve Temple story-lines combined with the suspense and adventure of John Buchan's 39 Steps and Peter O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise.

Spaceship Dispatcher · Mon Apr 06, 2015 4:18 pm

mrs_emma_peel wrote:I'm looking forward to the Big Finish adaptations of the Diana Comic Strip stories. Fabulous news.
I'm extremely impressed with the Diana magazine artwork -
meticulously well drawn and far more detailed than the illustrations of the Steed and Mrs Peel Boom comic strips.

I wonder who wrote the Diana stories and who will be cast as Emma Peel?
They definitely capture the spirit of the Steed/Peel era along with splendid touches, twists and feel of a Francis Durbridge mystery-thriller with Paul and Steve Temple story-lines combined with the suspense and adventure of John Buchan's 39 Steps and Peter O'Donnell's Modesty Blaise.

Ah, thank you! I have never read the comic strips and was wondering what the style was like and what type of story they featured...

The comparison between The Avengers and Paul Temple is an interesting one.

mrs_emma_peel · Post by **mrs_emma_peel** » Mon Apr 06, 2015 4:40 pm

Many thanks, here are a few examples of the covers & art-work

This first story looks like a cross between Castle De'ath and Honey for the Prince.

This new story-line reminds me of a Paul and Steve Temple mystery.

Mrs Peel captured, bound and placed into a cider-press is very reminiscent of the Mrs Peel wine-press torture scene in A Surfeit of H2O.

From the Winged Avenger web-site:
The Avengers strip in issues 199 to 224 of the D.C. Thomson-published Diana comic is considered by many to be the acme of the comic book appearances of the show, with many people drawing attention to the quality of the art. According to David A. Roach in a letter to Comics International in September 2000, 'the strip's principal artist was Emilio Frejo, who was helped out by his fellow Bermejo studio member Juan Gonzalez Alacrejo on about half the episodes'. Roach also waxes lyrical about the art on many of the other strips in Diana contemporary to The Avengers.

The art is, indeed, wonderfully detailed, and utilises photo-reference material skilfully without drawing too much attention away from the story. The final and best story, pits Steed and Emma in mortal combat against several of their most diabolical enemies, and has something of a 'Dressed To Kill' or 'Superlative Seven' feel about it.

http://wingedavenger.theavengers.tv/comics/diana.htm

My thanks to Alan of Avengers Declassified for the Diana strips

Brisco · Post by **Brisco** » Tue Apr 14, 2015 8:50 am

I'm very excited for this series! That said, I really hope that Big Finish hires good writers to flesh out these stories. Because what's great about the Diana comics is not the stories; it's the artwork. The storylines themselves tend to be pretty simplistic, as they were meant for kids whereas the show was designed to appeal to adults (with kids as a bonus). They were also meant to work in two-page installments and wrap up in eight pages or so. So obviously there's a lot of room to augment them in fleshing them out into hour-long audio dramas, and I'm sure that's what Big Finish will do!

It seems to me that the obvious candidate to play Mrs. Peel opposite Wadham's Steed would be Rachel Sterling. Whether she would want to do it is another matter (though she hasn't shied away from following in her mother's footsteps before, playing her role in a stage version of Theatre of Blood), surely she'll at least be asked...?

Brisco · Post by **Brisco** » Tue Apr 14, 2015 8:54 am

Oh, and the news that Big Finish will publish a collection of the Diana strips in book form was as welcome to me as the audio drama announcement--possibly more so! I love the art in these comics, and can't wait to have a handy book version to read and sit on my bookshelf. I wonder though--does this arrangement mean that Boom! have lost the license to print Avengers comics? Or is reprinting older material a whole separate license?

It would sure be great to see ALL the original comic strips reprinted eventually. Especially "The Growing Up of Emma Peel" and the Cathy Gale material! But I wonder if the fact that they were published in so many different places makes the rights hard to sort out?

Spaceship Dispatcher · Tue Apr 14, 2015 9:50 am

@ mrs_emma_peel - thanks for sharing those, they do look very good! Looking forward to seeing them in a complete volume.

@ Brisco - in the past, I have found Big Finish a bit 'hit and miss' with this sort of thing, but they are pretty good at keeping to a style once established. If they aim to make them fit the production style of the Lost Stories, that is to say less pacey and effects driven than some of their other ranges, and especially if they ask John Dorney to be involved then I think it should work.

Frankymole · Post by **Frankymole** » Tue Apr 14, 2015 11:16 am

Lisa Bowerman is an actress and an audio-play director at Big Finish; she played Dr Who's companion Bernice Summerfield who was partly-based on Emma Peel, so maybe she'd be more likely than Rachael Stirling to play the part, though I would love Rachael to do it!

Spaceship Dispatcher · Tue Apr 14, 2015 2:07 pm

Frankymole wrote:Lisa Bowerman is an actress and an audio-play director at Big Finish; she played Dr Who's companion Bernice Summerfield who was partly-based on Emma Peel, so maybe she'd be more likely than Rachael Stirling to play the part, though I would love Rachael to do it!

Hi Frankymole, good to see you back online! If I remember right, Rachael Stirling was the actress we agreed would make a good Emma (for obvious reasons) when we chatted about it on Horizon; but you're right that it's more likely to be part of the BF rep company with Lisa Bowerman, Beth Chalmers or maybe Sarah Mowat who led their Dalek Empire audios in the past.

Jace · Post by **Jace** » Sat May 09, 2015 4:13 pm

it's so fun to see these scans of the comic strip- thanks for posting! i can't wait for the compilation. now i'm really interested in tracking down some original comics for my collection!