THE HUNTERS (1982)

Larry Fox and Ned Hare, the Hunters, are agents of S.I.6.

They are also the stars of a "new explosive programme [that] had just started on British television".

We meet them for the first time as the Range Rover in which they are pursuing a bad guy storms into view, both front doors open with each fellow leaning out of the speeding vehicle with guns blazing. Then as the action puts the pair on a cliff's edge with a nasty fellow pointing a submachine gun at them offering them the chance to "take some bullets or jump over the cliff edge", we watch them take the latter and plunge off it backwards.

All for the sake of the camera and the resulting initial episode of "The Hunters" on TV. And the resultant horde of excited new fans willing to wait hours for a chance to greet their newest idols.

Which is what The Chief, the balding, mustached head of S.I.6, was planning. Making Fox and Hare famous action stars provides "the perfect front" for it "means they can carry out the Department's worst jobs" under the cover of being so well known. While I am not sold on the excessively overt is the new covert concept, The Chief, who is acting the part of their manager, is.

Concerning that Department, the "S.I." stands for Special Intelligence. The similarity of the acronym to that of MI6 is obvious but it would appear that S.I.6 is its own organization, albeit a whole lot smaller.

Both Fox and Hare are tall, rugged and burly men in their late 20s or early 30s. They both are (usually) clean-shaven with bushy hair. Hare's is blond and straight while Fox's is dark and curly. [Well, usually. Most of the stories are told in black&white graphics but occasionally a colored page show up and sometimes in those the hair color gets confused.]

We do not get much backstory on these two agents-turned-actors. We do, however, get to see them in a ton of action scenes with much of their exciting escapades being seen by bystanders as all part of the show.

     I got a kick out of the concept of this series from the beginning. Totally unrealistic but still a hoot. Two handsome, athletic fellows who are British operatives starring as action heroes in a television series about two handsome, athletic fellows who are British operatives.

     The publishers were pretty cool to let the writers/artists spread most of the stories over several issues, giving the plot a chance to really build up and the two guys many chances to get into and out of tricky situations.

     The artwork is really good and the stories are interesting and varied. The best part is the banter between the two leads, guys who enjoy each other's company while having a blast almost getting killed at least once a week.