Why torture you all by withholding
Sunday's Babe of the Day for any longer
than I have to? Only a sadist would deprive
you of DIANA RIGG as EMMA PEEL in the
above skimpy rig-out, so here she is for you to
drool over. If you didn't know, the character's
name came about 'cause the producers of The
AVENGERS wanted a woman who had bags
of 'Man Appeal' - or 'M Appeal' for short.
Honest, that's how they chose her name
(or so the 'official' story goes).
Yes,Kid - I knew Emma Peel meant M Appeal. I'm not old enough to have seen the original Avengers, it's the New Avengers from 1975-76 that I remember (Joanna Lumley - a future Babe of the Day ?). Even my mother knew that Diana Rigg was in The Avengers and she'd never even watched the show - that's real fame ! That picture you've shown is (I believe) from an episode where Emma Peel becomes the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club (or something) and surely it can't be a coincidence that the X-Men's Jean Grey was also the Black Queen of the Hellfire Club - somebody had been watching The Avengers I think. In fact I've often wondered if the Marvel Avengers got their name from the UK series - the UK serial began not long before the launch of Marvel's Avengers, could Stan Lee have heard of the series and used the name ? If not, then it's a strange coincidence that the same name should be invented twice around the same time.
ReplyDeleteI met her once, outside a pub in the rain. I was having a cigarette ( this was years before the ban, so I'm not sure why I went out for a fag ), she was just standing there, watching the world go by. we nodded briefly at each other, but didn't talk. as I was going back inside, I said, " You were my first crush. " she smiled, and said, " I get that a lot. " & that was it. I spent the rest of the night feeling all warm & fuzzy. she's lovely.
ReplyDeleteThere was also a character in the X-Men called Jason Wyngarde (from Peter Wyngarde/Jason King) who was a member of The Hellfire Club, so the writer was obviously a fan of British TV shows, CJ. Perhaps Stan was aware of the Avengers programme, and either subconsciously or deliberately used the name because it was a good one. I wouldn't completely rule out coincidence 'though - stranger things have happened.
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You lucky bloke, Joe. (Should've chanced your arm, my son. Bet you now wish you had, eh?)
(Originally posted on 10 August 2014 at 14:55.)
Whether by intention or coincidence, Marvel ended up publishing three other comics with titles that were the same as TV series: The Champions, The Defenders, and The Invaders. (That is not counting licensed properties like Star Trek, Star Wars, and Battlestar Galactica, which were actually based on their namesakes.)
ReplyDeleteThen there was Avengers #83, where Goliath, Quicksilver, and the Vision show up at the Halloween party in Rutland, Vermont. The guests include Roy and Jeannie Thomas. He says, "It's the Avengers!" She says, "Which one is Mrs. Peel?"
I remember buying that issue of The Avengers, and even the shop where I bought it from all that time ago, TC. Don't have it anymore, but I've got a reprint of it in a Masterworks volume. I'm surprised that Marvel never did a comic called The Protectors; even 'though the word is a synonym for 'defenders', it was a British TV show in the '70s.
ReplyDeleteI remember Robert Vaughn and Nyree Dawn Porter ("the Contessa") as The Protectors. It was syndicated in the US in the late 1970's and early '80's, along with The Adventurer, starring Gene Barry and Barry Morse.
ReplyDeleteI have total recall for esoteric trivia, but can't remember anything important.
-TC
How about The Revengers for a title, TC? Wolverine would be the leader 'cos he's mental.
ReplyDelete"The Revengers" was the title of a run-of-the-mill Western in the early 1970's. It starred William Holden, Ernest Borgnine, and Woody Strode. IIRC, Donald Hamilton also used it as the title for one of his Matt Helm novels.
ReplyDeleteI could see a "Revengers" team that would include Wolverine and the Punisher. But they might end up killing each other instead of the villains.
Sounds great. Have a six-issue mini-series on my desk by later today.
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