The John Steel Files - a Thriller Picture Library collection

Before I saw the solicit for The John Steel Files in Previews some months ago, I had never seen, nor even heard, of the character before.  But, as a comic fan who enjoys mysteries and adventure stories as well, I figured I would give this a shot.  As explained on the inside front cover of this collection, John Steel was a secret service agent during World War II, but once the war ended, Steel became a private detective and eventually went back to the world of espionage who worked cases involving blackmail and political intrigue.  This collected edition, published by Rebellion as a part of the Treasury of British Comics, features two stories starring the determined detective.

Interestingly enough, as with some American comics back in the Golden Age of comics, credits were not always set forth in published comics, so it is unknown who wrote these stories; however, the front inside cover indicates that Luis Bermejo provided the art for these two tales.  The cover also gives credit to Pippa Bowland, and although there is nothing in the book that actually says what Bowland did, an online search reveals that Bowland is a colorist, and so Bowland provided color to the never-before-reprinted stories contained in this book.

The first story in The John Steel Files is "Bullets in the Sun," finds Steel assisting an old friend from the military, who is being blackmailed into staying silent about information he has about a coup set to take place in a South American country trying to gain their independence from a tyrannical ruler.  It seems someone has kidnapped Paul Vallance's son in an effort to keep him quiet.  Steel and his young protege, Riff Morgan, are soon on the case.  They head off to New York, where they make contact with a jazz musician who may able to assist them - only, he betrays them, and Steel and Morgan find themselves in some very dangerous escapades as they narrow down the search for Keith Vallance.  The story is gritty, filled with violence and death, but Steel is not the kind of man to back down from a fight, and he sticks with it to the very end.

The second story is "Play It Cool," in which Steel is hired by Senator Harding to track down his son.  He hasn't heard from his son in over six months, and he's fearful that his son could be mixed up in something criminal.  The Senator can't go to the police, as it could create a scandal that he is hoping to avoid.  So, he turns to Steel. With Riff Morgan once again in tow, Steel heads off to Paris, France to begin his search for Robert Harding.  Along the way, he discovers a con being played by the criminal element of the great city, where they ply an unwitting victim with drinks, lead him to a faux fight, and then the victim wakes up with a bloody knife in his hands and a dead body next to him!  It seems a man named Bobo has set up this con to entrap young men with money into doing his bidding - and when they are of no more use to him, he uses them as the next body!  Morgan becomes bait, and soon enough, Steel is able to track down this mysterious Bobo and confront him once and for all to find out the truth of what really happened to Robert Harding!

Bermejo's art is a bit "rough," but that pretty much fits with the stories.  It's interesting that he alternates between some highly detailed panels, with backgrounds completely filled in (from the woodlined walls of the jazz bar with posters and liquor bottles to the sights and sounds of New York City) to other panels that are completely bare except for the characters in the scene.  I imagine it was to keep focus on the characters in those particular panels, rather than detract from them with their surroundings.  I would be interested to know who the author is, though - as Steel and Morgan come across in many ways as a sort-of "Batman and Robin" duo - the grown man running around fighting crime with his teenage protege who really shouldn't be involved in such dangerous situations (such as being used for bait to catch the crooks in the second story!).  I would love to see more of these stories reprinted, as they were actually rather good, and based on the info provided on the inside front cover, Steel was a regular feature in Thriller Picture Library comics back in the 1960s.  (I'm assuming that is a British comic series, since this reprint was provided by the Treasury of British Comics.)

Would definitely recommend this book for comic fans who like gritty crime tales!

RATING:  9 golden horns playing the heart of jazz out of 10 for sharing some great vintage comic stories with today's readers - making me long for the days when comics were actually packed with story and not just 20 pages of splashy art!