In Finland, Dan Dare was part of the bi-weekly comic book magazine Nastasarjatin 1964 (a title originally simply known as Nasta on its debut in the 1950s), running from Issue One to Issue 21 and in one special preview published in 1963. Healso appeared in the monthly Peitsi magazine (literally Lance), a kind of “soft” military magazine for the families of armed forces personnel or World War Two veterans, between 1962 and 1965. More details here on DanDare.infoand there is a Nastasarjat cover gallery here Dan Dare would be unique to British comics in the way that meticulous attention was paid to both graphic realism and feasible plots. Hampson, for example, had staff act out the storyline before any drawing took place. Science fiction, whether in literature or film, has, in reality, always had more to do with the present rather than the future. The TV series Star Trek, for instance, is set in the 24th century, but was really more about the rapid changes taking place in American society during the 1960s.

Horde of Alien Locusts: The story 'The Red Moon Mystery' featured "space bees" that would strip planets of organic life. In Space, Everyone Can See Your Face: Every planet to have invented space travel has also invented a space helmet with a completely transparent visor.a b Badham, Matthew (17 August 2011). "Four-Colour Classics: Dan Dare - Comic Strip of the Future". Judge Dredd Megazine. No.314. Rebellion Developments. In 2017–18 a four-issue mini-series by Peter Milligan and Alberto Foche was published by Titan Comics. [11] In other media [ edit ] Radio [ edit ] Radio Luxembourg serial [ edit ] This ad for The New Adventures of Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future serial appeared in the 208 magazine in March 1952. This version has just been recovered and is extremely rare. Have a listen to the episode yourself at the following link...

In 2010, Variety announced that Warner Bros. was planning to produce a Dan Dare movie starring Sam Worthington in the title role. [20] Computer games [ edit ] Nephewism: Digby was raised by his Aunt Anastasia. Similarly, the only member of Dan's family we meet is Uncle Ivor. In September 2015, B7 Media secured the rights to produce a new Dan Dare audio drama series from the Dan Dare Corporation. The lead writers were Richard Kurti and Bev Doyle, with Andrew Mark Sewell as director and Simon Moorhead as producer; John Freeman served as creative consultant. [15] The first volume, released in 2016, starred Ed Stoppard as Dan Dare, Geoff McGivern as Digby, Heida Reed as Professor Peabody, Raad Rawi as the Mekon and Bijan Daneshmand as Sondar; [16] Volume 2 was released in 2017. [17] Both volumes were produced in association with Big Finish Productions. BBC Radio 4 Extra began airing the B7 episodes in August 2018. [18] Television [ edit ] The Morrison/Hughes Revolver series has been collected by Fleetway in 1991 as Dare: The Controversial Memoir of Dan Dare ( ISBN 1853862118).A 350kW medium wave transmitter – relocated from Junglinster to Marnach to provide a better reception in England and Scandinavia – did not go into service until 1956. THE CAST Drawn by Gerry Embleton, brother of Ron Embleton, also a comics legend, the new Dare was slated by traditionalists but loved by the audience it was intended for – the school children of 1982. The story went from strength to strength when Scottish artist Ian Kennedy took over the reins, but sadly went into decline in the late 1980s as a succession of replacement artists somehow failed to nail the essence of the character. Southport’s The Atkinson is hosting an exhibition to mark the centenary of Dan Dare creator Frank Hampson’s birth, which launches on 15th September 2018, and we have a some pictures of items that will be included here Appearing in Eagle from Issue One, Dan Dare was a space pilot of the future who had the valour and British-ness of a 1940s Spitfire pilot. Set in the 1990s, the long-running storylines of the strip saw Dan and his Interplanet Space Fleet colleagues visit faraway planets such as Venus and encounter numerous alien baddies, most notably the evil green Mekon and his people, the Treens.

Dan Dare had been created by artist Frank Hampson as the lead character for Marcus Morris' boys comic Eagle in 1950 and been an instant success. Dare become a cultural icon in Britain, with the character's name even becoming cultural shorthand for derring-do in space. [1] However, in 1959 financial problems saw the Eagle sold to Odhams Press, who fired Hampson and his acclaimed art studio to cut costs. By the time Odhams were absorbed into IPC Magazines in 1969 and Eagle was merged with Lion, the strip had been running reprints for two years. [2] Since then the character - or more precisely a descendent thereof who had the same name, personality and plot function - had been resurrected with mixed results in 2000 AD before a more enduring revival in IPC's new version of Eagle from 1982. The latter was still running in 1990 (having returned to telling new adventures of the original version of the character the previous year) as the character's 40th anniversary approached; however, while moderately successful in the contracting British children's comics of the time, neither the new Eagle or its Dan Dare strip made the same cultural impact as their illustrious forebears. [2] [3] Schematized Prop: The strip would sometimes include cutaway technical drawings of the spaceships and other tech. Norman Wright and Mike Higgs. The Dan Dare Dossier: Celebrating the 40th Anniversary of Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future (London: Hawk Books, 1990) [nonfiction: chap: hb/] The Dan Dare in the second Eagle volume was the Great, Great Grandson of the original space hero (although from issue 388, the comic reverts to stories featuring the original Dare).Here are some more interesting blogs to read: Life in Thailand, Life, Stuff and Things, Flash Online Games News and Peter Inns's Blog Morrison also drew parallels between the role of Dare in the story and the treatment of Hampson and other creators involved in work for hire in the comic industry. Hughes insisted that he had "complete respect" for the original and that the pair were not intending to "trash anything for cheap effect". [1] Hughes felt imitating Hampson's style would be "almost impossible to pull off" [5] and applied his own "less is more" approach to the character. [4] Morrison would note that the story began as a parable about Thatcherism and it was only towards the end of the writing process that the realisation it could also function as a comment on the treatment of the likes of Hampson crystallised. [7] Publishing history [ edit ] Hampson returned full-time in 1955, starting "The Man from Nowhere" trilogy, which took Dan and his companions outside the Solar System for the first time. Instead the industry's growth seemed to be in adult-orientated comics. [4] IPC's successor Fleetway Publications attempted to gain a foothold in this market with the fortnightly anthology Crisis, which was enough of a success for editor Steve MacManus to be given the go ahead for a monthly companion title, Revolver. MacManus selected Peter Hogan as editor, and the pair began to search for stories. Grant Morrison approached them with an idea for a revisionism Dare story had had conceived in 1987,; the promotional opportunity of both having a Dan Dare strip to tie into the 40th anniversary and having Morrison - who had recently broken through in the American market with Arkham Asylum and Animal Man for DC Comics - was not lost on the Revolver team. [5] [6] Digby (Albert Fitzwilliam Digby) was Dan's Wigan-born batman. Rotund and sometimes bumbling, he provided comic relief. He was fiercely loyal and the only character apart from Dan to appear in every story. His favourite recreation was sleeping and he was fond of traditional English food. His nearest relative was his Aunt Anastasia, after whom Dan named his spaceship.

A Father to His Men: Sir Hubert, as Dan explicitly pointed out to some politicians who wanted to destroy a space station he was on at the time. Dan himself was more of a Brother to his Men. Shiny-Looking Spaceships: The ships weren't usually shiny as such, but were almost always brightly coloured (The spaceship interiors, on the other hand, were often cramped and utilitarian).

The Eagle became immensely popular with people of all ages. Schoolchildren across Britain smuggled copies into school. The Lancet even reported on a doctor who read the Eagle on his ward rounds. Downer Ending: Dare, Grant Morrison's miniseries from the early 1990s, warps the original, idealistic Dan Dare vision of the 1990s into a satire of the real 1990s bequeathed to Britain by the Thatcher government. An injured Dan Dare comes out of retirement to investigate a conspiracy that's already claimed Peabody's life and goes on to claim Digby's. In the final chapter it's revealed that the British government has sold out to the Mekon. The story ends with Dare setting off a nuclear explosion that wipes out the Mekon, the corrupt government, and himself, along with an unspecified but no doubt large number of innocent bystanders — with the possibility left open that it may already be too late to prevent the horrors of the Mekon's plot running its course. Many early stories in The Eagle were written by Chad Varah, who was later to go on and found The Samaritans. Dan Dare was created by Frank Hampson and first appeared in Eagle #1(01) (1950). Hero of the Spaceways True Companions: The regular cast changed with each story, but the members would always be unfailingly loyal to one another.