Information AboutDan Dare |
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Dan Dare is a classic British Science Fiction Comic hero, created by Frank Hampson for the Eagle Comic story ''Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future'' in 1950. Although the stories were set in the late 1990s, all the characters act and talk similarly to those in British films of that period much like they did in World War II - it could be described as " Biggles in Space" (or the British equivalent of Buck Rogers ). It was distinguished by its long, complex story lines, snappy dialogue and meticulous animation-style artwork by Hampson and other artists including Harold Johns , Don Harley , Bruce Cornwell , Greta Tomlinson , Frank Bellamy and Keith Watson . THE 1950S Dan Dare first appeared on the cover of the first issue of the weekly comic strip magazine ''The Eagle]]'', on 14 April 1950. There were two large colour pages of this story per issue. The artwork was of a very high quality, being the product of a team of artists working in a studio system, based at Frank Hampson's house in Epsom , Surrey . This included scale models of spaceships, and models posing in costume as points of reference for the artists. Occasionally, ''Eagle'' incorporated "centrefolds" of the fictional spaceships, such as Dan's ship the ''Anastasia'', quite reminiscent of the cutaway drawings of aircraft in aviation magazines, or even ''Eagle'' itself. The storylines were long and complex, sometimes lasting for over a year. Attention was paid to scientific plausibility, with the science fiction luminary Arthur C. Clarke acting as a science and plot adviser to the first strip. The stories were set mostly on planets of the Solar System , which were presumed to have extraterrestrial life and alien inhabitants, as was common in science fiction of the era before the space probes of the 1960s proved that the most likely worlds were really lifeless. The first story, for example, begins with Dan Dare as pilot of the first successful flight to Venus. The quality of the strip, along with its popularity, remained high throughout the 1950s. In the late fifties ''Eagle'' acquired a new editor who objected to the high cost of the studio system, and the conflict caused Frank Hampson to leave the strip in 1959, in the middle of a long plot arc that saw Dan searching an alien planet for his long-lost father. Production of the strip fell to Frank Bellamy , whose ultra-modern 3-dimensional style contrasted sharply with Hampson's, despite efforts to smooth the transition. However, Bellamy's work breathed life into the strip and is generally considered to be a high point in its history, at least artistically. Characters Dan Dare was surrounded by a varying cast of characters, which initially consisted of:
This lean-faced character was immediately recognizeable by the outer tips of his eyebrows, which were always wavy. His uniform looked like a typical British Army one (Frank Hampson used his own uniform as a model), though of a much lighter green colour. In place of British rank insignia it had coloured stripes and circles on the shoulderboards. His cap badge was a vertical, antique rocketship in a circle with one five-pointed star on either side. Initially, Dare was to be portrayed as a Chaplain as opposed to an adventurer.
Vehicles Spacecraft of various designs were presented in the series as the product of the inhabitants of the various planets. The vehicle most identified with Dan was the winged "Anastasia," named after a relative of Digby who was instrumental in the first story. It employed technology stated as coming from various planets. In a break from typical conventions, it was piloted by lying prone on a couch and holding motorcycle-like control bars. Later a completely alien ship was adopted and re-named the "Zyl-bat". There was also an experimental time travelling ship called ''Tempus Frangit'' ( Latin : "Time Breaker"). There were land and air vehicles in the series as well. In the first stories, the cars were practically Art Deco in form, while some flying machines were based on the early helicopters of the time. THE 1960S In 1960 the artwork was taken over by Frank Bellamy and Don Harley , and the look of the strip was changed significantly, with the colourful, rounded rocket ships replaced by angular silver craft, and changes to the space suits and insignia. The changes were never wholeheartedly taken up, however, and the look was erratic from then on. In 1962 the strip was removed from the front page to the inside of the comic, in black and white, and was drawn by Keith Watson . Over the remaining years the strip varied in format and quality, sometimes returning to the front page in colour, until it was brought to a conclusion in 1967 with Dan retiring as a pilot and becoming Space Fleet controller. ''Eagle'' merged with the magazine '' Lion '', and strips from the 1950s were reprinted until it folded in 1969. THE 1970S In 1977, Dan Dare appeared once again in the first issue of '' 2000 AD '' The first story had the character revived from suspended animation after two hundred years to find himself in a totally different world. The Mekon had also survived to return as Dan's arch-enemy, but otherwise the supporting cast was entirely different, as was the tone of the strip (heavily influenced by the Punk movement, as was much of 2000 AD) and the personality of the title character. The strip was initially illustrated by Massimo Belardinelli , and later by Dave Gibbons . In the series Dare was launched on a deep space mission in the style of Star Trek . The Mekon then returned to frame Dare for murder. It proved popular for a couple of years, until it faded from view and was dropped by ''2000 AD'' in 1981 with Dare still seeking a reprieve. THE 1980S In 1982 ''Eagle'' was re-launched, with Dan Dare once again its flagship strip. The new character was the great-great-great-grandson of the original, and again the only surviving original character was the Mekon. The initial artist was Gerry Embleton, who drew the new Dan to resemble the original exactly, however he was quickly replaced by Ian Kennedy, who re-designed the hero to have a younger look and blond hair. As with the original Eagle, the opening Dan Dare story was an epic, lasting for approximately 18 months, written by Pat Mills and John Wagner . It opened with a flashback to the previously unseen final defeat of the Mekon by the original Dan, after which he was sealed inside an artificial asteroid and exiled into space. Centuries later he was accidentally freed and returned to conquer Earth. A few years later the new Dan returned from a deep space mission to find Earth under Treen rule and set out to free the planet. His new supporting cast included Lt Helen Scott, a leader of the Earth Resistance, and Valdon, a renegade Treen somewhat similar to the earlier Sondar. One controversial part of this storyline was a lengthy flashback which Retcon ned the original Dan to be a veteran of World War II and to have travelled through time to the era in which his adventures in the original Eagle took place - this was presumably an attempt to explain why a hero in the age of space travel had a 1950s outlook on life. After this initial storyline other writers were used and different supporting characters came and went, including Professor Pinkerton, a female scientist somewhat similar to the earlier Professor Peabody, and a new Digby (again, a descendant of the original). The Mekon was generally the foe in alternate stories. In 1987 the strip received a makeover and became more like a Space Opera , with increasing levels of Violence . Now drawn by John Gillatt, Dan took on more of a "tough guy" look. He led a team of "space commandos" and packed a hi-tech gun reminiscent of that carried by Judge Dredd . During the 1980s Dan Dare also starred in a series of three computer games for the Commodore 64 /128, ZX Spectrum , Amstrad CPC and Atari computers. The first of these was a different game on each system; the second and third were shoot-'em-ups. All three games were based on the look of the 1950s strip rather than the contemporary comics.
THE 1990S In 1989, Dan Dare was re-launched in a deliberate return to the original character, with the first story drawn by Keith Watson and later ones by a variety of other artists. The strip initially kept to the look of the original, but was once again updated in 1990. It ran until the last issue of ''Eagle'' in January 1994. In 1990, a strip titled ''Dare'', written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Rian Hughes was serialized in the comic magazine '' Revolver ''. It presented a very bleak and cynical re-imagining of the characters, and was a not-too-subtle satire of 1980s British politics. In 1996, a prospective new newspaper entitled ''The Planet'' published its first and only issue. Inside was the first part of a new (and unfinished) Dan Dare story, entitled "Remembrance", drawn by Sydney Jordan featuring a slightly older Dan Dare, and apparently set some years after the original Eagle strips. In 1997, to celebrate their 20th anniversary, the comic 2000 AD published two issues with additional free comics, the first one being a reprint of the very first issue of 2000 AD, which starred Dan Dare. The second free comic was a speculative issue called 3000 AD which contained strips partially based on the very first issue of 2000 AD. One of the strips was entitled "The Return of Dan Dare", which also featured the return of the Mekon (unlike the first issue of 2000 AD from 20 years earlier). THE 2000S In 2002, Dan Dare became a Computer-generated TV series produced by Foundation Imaging, running to 26 22-minute episodes. The series drew on several of the different comic book incarnations. (Two abortive attempts had been made to make a live-action series, in 1981 and 1991.) In 2003, Dan Dare reappeared in a brand new adventure called ''The Phoenix Mission'', in a new magazine called ''Spaceship Away''. Initial work on the strip was done by Keith Watson , but after his death it was taken over by Don Harley . The strip is a deliberate imitation of the 1950s strips, even to the point of drawing each page is if it was the front page of the 1950s ''Eagle''. Although the Spacefleet uniform is the old one, its cap badge was changed for this presentation. The old rocket was replaced by the sideways-flying eagle logo of the defunct magazine. It is not of a design used in the US armed services or any other country. CHARACTERS INSPIRED BY DAN DARE Characters inspired by or based on Dan Dare have appeared throughout British popular culture. One example is the character of Wing Commander Leyton in the novel ''British Summertime'' by Paul Cornell , which juxtaposes the utopian future portrayed in the original Dan Dare comics with the mundane Britain of today. The '' Doctor Who '' New Adventures novel ''The Dying Days'' by Lance Parkin features a British astronaut named Alexander Christian, named after an earlier, unpublished version of the character. In the 1980s, the satirical magazine '' Private Eye '' published a strip called ''Dan Dire, Pilot of Future?''. Dire was based on politician Neil Kinnock , the question being whether or not he'd ever become Prime Minister . Dire's enemy was the Maggon, a combination of The Mekon and Margaret Thatcher . REPRINTS Most of the 50s and 60s strips were reprinted by Hawk Books between 1987 and 1997, and a new set of reprints was begun by Titan Books in 2004. SEE ALSO EXTERNAL LINKS
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