JOHN STEEL

John Steel is an agent with British Military Intelligence.

Steel was for several years a police officer in London. He must have been good at his job because he reached the rank of sergeant at what seems to be a relatively young age (he looks to be in his early 30's to me in the pictures of his first missions). He was a detective with the C.I.D. and judging from his record, he was very good at his job and well respected. Not to mention much needed as he discovers when in September of 1939 as Britain declared war on Germany over the invasion of Poland, Steel tried to resign from the Force to join the war effort but was denied as being too important. "Crime isn't going to vanish because there's a war," cites his superintendent.

Almost immediately after that refusal, Steel found, in the first recorded adventure, a crime in progress where one man was shot and the assailant was fleeing. Chasing that man down until the perp fell to his death, Steel would learn of a German spy ring operating around Europe gathering industrial diamonds for the war effort. Seizing his opportunity, Steel offered his assistance since he spoke French and German fluently. Two days later, he was "seconded for special duty with the War Office", attached to "Military Intelligence, Special Branch" and from then on he was a "Special Agent".

Steel would have many harrowing adventures during those War years, taking him all across the world getting into situations where he would barely escaped death on many occasions. Considering the eagerness with which he accepted each mission and the annoyance he would show when an injury would sideline him for a time, Steel was loving the excitement and was definitely in his element.

When the War came to its end, Steel decided he did not want to return to the police force and instead started his own private investigative company. It would seem obvious from the locales these new types of missions, recorded in "Casebooks", took place in that his experiences during the War and the contacts he made doing them would come in handy in getting business. Steel would remain quite busy for some time. Certainly the names of some of the casebooks gives the definite impression his connection to British Intelligence, whichever group he worked with, remained a good one and we are told that MI5 had "persuaded him to carry out one or two freelance assignments" but for the most part he was dedicated to going after the "crooks and killers" you might brush against in the streets of London.

This was done, we are told in the first adventure in his new occupation, with a difference. "Most people would have described Steel as a private investigator - a professional witness with a living to earn. ... [They would be wrong.] ... Steel had money of his own, a cool hatred of injustice in all its forms, and no need to make a profit out of fighting it." That does explain his ability to travel as much as he does.

Steel is a tall, very athletic, blond-haired, handsome man. He has an eye for lovely ladies and with his looks and physique and confidence, it is no wonder that they have an eye for him. In the case of Lucette, a female French Intelligence operative that he met and fell for in his first mission, he even proposed marriage but she declined "until the War is ended" leaving him to stay single and available. We would not see Lucette again but we would find an impressive number of other beautiful women to occasionally get his attention.

Good Lines:
- Regarding his parachute just before a jump into enemy territory, John Steel says, "If it doesn't open, our orders are to take it back and make a strong complaint."
- When someone describes a bad part of London as a jungle, Steel replies, "It is a jungle. It's made of bricks and asphalt. The wild animals wear bowties and pigskin gloves - but it's a jungle. Jungles are very interesting places."
- John Steel "was a man who hated to be puzzled".
- A successful man gives advice to a jazz musician and somewhat rebel, "Make sure you're a success in life, son. It's vital. Society rewards a successful rebel - but the other sort they usually hang".

The first set of adventures of John Steel, Special Agent, told in the pages of Super Detective Library while he served in World War II are exciting and well written storied but there is not very much to differentiate Steel's adventures from those of his colleague in that publication, Spy 13. They are a bit more personal than Spy 13 but not by much.

When he shows up after the War in Thriller Picture Library, the stories show us a good deal more about the man and his humanity. The tales are also extremely well written and full of twists and action and excitement.

Whoever was doing the writing knew what he was doing and the artwork, black and white, was very well done. I can see why he held on as long as he did because a John Steel - Special Agent story was a lock on a good tale worth the half-hour to read it.