The Avengers Dead Duck

THE AVENGERS OFFICIAL NOVELISATIONS

The Laugh Was On Lazarus by John Garforth


First published in the UK by Panther Books early in 1967, this was then published in the USA in May, 1967 and then reprinted (with a different cover) in 1969.  It is worth noting that the cover of the second edition features Tara King, even though she does not appear in the book.


From the back of the UK edition (and no it doesn't make any kind of sense at all):
Mrs. Peel: Take that, you yellow-toothed lout... Hallo, Emma Peel here.  Doing wonderful things with an umbrella in a simply gory fight-to-the-death with four grim-faced zombies.  I was wondering, though... just how do you kill someone who's already dead?

Steed:  Mmmmmm... Quite tasteful this 1945 Chateau Mouton Rothschild!  Must say I prefer it to chasing corpses round graveyards in a neo-Gothic drama that surpasses even Dr. Caligari's nastiest dreams!  In fact strictly H-certificate Steed.  And there's a mad vicar, to top it all, planning to H-Bomb the Pentagon!  Talk about transplanted brains and jellied hearts...


The Laugh Was On Lazarus - UK Cover
The Laugh Was On Lazarus, UK edition

And from the back of the first US edition:
What is the world coming to when...

  • Men are raised from the dead

  • to become loathsome zombies

  • commanded to trap JOHN STEED and EMMA PEEL in the Highgate Mausoleum

  • only to end up being stabbed to death by the umbrella-wielding Mrs. PEEL?

What does it all add up to - this unorthodox melange of transplanted brains, jellied hearts and homicidal seductresses?  The answer is - a horrifying plot against the Pentagon, which will be H-bombed unless certain diabolical forces are stopped at once!

The Laugh Was On Lazarus - US first edition
The Laugh Was On Lazarus, first US edition

The Avengers - The Laugh Was On Lazarus - Second US cover
The Laugh Was On Lazarus, second US edition

OTHER EDITIONS

The Laugh Was On Lazarus was published in France ('Drôles De Morts', pub. 1967 by Roman, translated by Marie Watkins), Germany  ('Die traurigen Toten von Highgate' - The sad corpses of Highgate, pub. 1967 by Heyne, translated by Fritz Moeglich), in Chile ('Los Vengadores - Se Rieron de Lzaro', pub. 1968 by Zig Zag, translated by Lina Larran) and in Holland ('Lijken In Actie', pub. 1967 by Bruna).  The German translation was reprinted in the anthology MIT SCHIRM, CHARME UND MELONE. Subtitle: "Neue Fälle für John Steed und Emma Peel", published in 1998 by HEYNE-Verlag Munich for 14,90DM.  This anthology may still be available in Germany.  The French translation was reprinted in Chapeau Melon et Bottes de Cuir, published by Fleuve Noir in 1998.

The Laugh Was On Lazarus - French edition
The Laugh Was On Lazarus, French edition

The Avengers - French anthology
French anthology, featuring The Laugh Was On Lazarus


The Laugh Was On Lazarus, German edition


60s German anthology, featuring The Laugh Was On Lazarus


90s German anthology, featuring The Laugh Was On Lazarus

The Laugh Was On Lazarus - Dutch edition
The Laugh Was On Lazarus, Dutch edition

REVIEW
To follow...

 

on to The Passing of Gloria Munday