- List of Dan Dare stories
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The list of Dan Dare stories details appearances of the character Dan Dare, created by Frank Hampson.
Contents
The original Eagle comic
These are the Dan Dare stories that appeared in the original Eagle Comic, which ran from 1950 to 1969 and featured the hero Dan Dare. The stories would often take place as parts of longer story arcs, and when this happened the stories are grouped together as such. These storylines were reprinted by Hawk Books in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and as of May, 2009, the first ten stories have been reprinted again by Titan Books. The series of twelve hardbacks, each about 100 pages, splits Voyage to Venus and Operation Saturn across two volumes each. After a brief hiatus, the following two stories, 'Man From Nowhere' and 'Rogue Planet' were released in 2008, with The Phantom Fleet and Safari in Space continuing publication into 2009..
Three stories (Man From Nowhere, Rogue Planet, Reign of the Robots) were reproduced in the early 1980s by Dragon's Dream. The first of these books was particularly notable because the front page panel with the Eagle logo was replaced with new artwork drawn by Dan Dare's creator Frank Hampson.
Story Title Source Date Notes Dan Dare: The First Story (Sometimes referred to as
Pilot of the Future,
The Venus Story
or Voyage to Venus)Volume 1, Number 1
Volume 2, Number 2514 April 1950 to
28 September 1951Drawn by Frank Hampson. The Red Moon Mystery Volume 2, Number 26
Volume 3, Number 115 October 1951 to
20 June 1952Marooned on Mercury Volume 3, Number 12
Volume 3, Number 4627 June 1952 to
20 February 1953Drawn by Frank Hampson and Harold Johns. Operation Saturn Volume 3, Number 47
Volume 5, Number 2127 February 1953 to
21 May 1954Prisoners of Space Volume 5, Number 22
Volume 6, Number 1828 May 1954 to
6 May 1955Drawn by Desmond Walduck. The Man From Nowhere Volume 6, Number 19
Volume 6, Number 4713 May 1955 to
25 November 1955Rogue Planet Volume 6, Number 48
Volume 8, Number 72 December 1955 to
15 February 1957Drawn by Frank Hampson and Don Harley. Reign of the Robots Volume 8, Number 8
Volume 9, Number 4Drawn by Frank Hampson and Don Harley.[1][2] The Ship that Lived Volume 9, Number 5
Volume 9, Number 16The Phantom Fleet Volume 9, Number 17
Volume 9, Number 52Safari in Space Volume 10, Number 1
Volume 10, Number 183 January 1959 to
2 May 1959Terra Nova Volume 10, Number 19
Volume 10, Number 409 May 1959 to
21 November 1959Printer's Strike between June and August 1959
Last Frank Hampson issue - Volume 10, Number 27Trip to Trouble Volume 10, Number 41
Volume 11, Number 1128 November 1959 to
12 March 1960Project Nimbus Volume 11, Number 12
Volume 11, Number 28Mission of the Earthmen Volume 11, Number 29
Volume 11, Number 52The Solid Space Mystery Volume 11, Number 53
Volume 12, Number 23The Platinum Planet Volume 12, Number 24
Volume 12, Number 47The Earth Stealers Volume 12, Number 48
Volume 13, Number 9Operation Earthsavers Volume 13, Number 10
Volume 13, Number 23The Evil One Volume 13, Number 24
Volume 13, Number 32Operation Fireball Volume 13, Number 33
Volume 13, Number 42The Web of Fear Volume 13, Number 43
Volume 13, Number 52Operation Dark Star Volume 14, Number 1
Volume 14, Number 9Operation Time Trap Volume 14, Number 10
Volume 14, Number 38The Wandering World Volume 14, Number 39
Volume 15, Number 13The Big City Caper Volume 15, Number 14
Volume 15, Number 22All Treens Must Die Volume 15, Number 23
Volume 15, Number 42The Mushroom Volume 15, Number 43
Volume 16, Number 6The Moonsleepers Volume 16, Number 7
Volume 16, Number 29The Singing Scourge Volume 16, Number 30
Volume 17, Number 6Give Me the Moon Volume 17, Number 7
Volume 17, Number 26The Menace from Jupiter Volume 17, Number 27
Volume 18, Number 1This story was followed by a reprint of Prisoners of Space (Volume 18, Number 2 to Volume 18, Number 51)
Story Title Source Date Notes Underwater Attack Volume 18, Number 52
Volume 19, Number 3This story was followed by a reprint of The Man From Nowhere (Volume 19, Number 4 to Volume 19, Number 32) and an abridged reprint of Rogue Planet (Volume 19, Number 33 to Volume 20, Number 17).
The original Eagle's run then came to an end when it was merged with the Lion Comic.
2000AD
Between 1977 and 1981 the Dan Dare character was revived to appear in the new 2000AD comic. For the first 45 progs (issues) of the comic, "Dan Dare" was considered to be the "lead" strip, and hence held the coveted centre-spread position, thus allowing the first two pages of the strip to be printed in colour. From prog 46 to prog 58, Dare was moved to the front cover, a move that not only allowed the fan favourite Judge Dredd to take the centre spread, but which also meant that by dispensing with the traditional single-image cover, the comic could effectively have an extra page of content.
Story Title Source Date Notes Dan Dare Progs 1-11 26 February 1977 - 7 May 1977 Art: Massimo Bellardinelli / Script: Ken Armstrong, Pat Mills & Kelvin Gosnell Story also known as 'The Biogs'
Hollow World Progs 12-23 14 May 1977 - 30 July 1977 Art: Massimo Bellardinelli / Script: Steve Moore Legion Progs 28-33 3 September 1977 - 8 October 1977 Art: Dave Gibbons & Brian Bolland / Script: Gerry Finley-Day Start of 'The Lost Worlds' story arc
Greenworld Progs 34-35 15 October 1977 - 22 October 1977 Art: Dave Gibbons & Brian Bolland / Script: Gerry Finley-Day Star Slayer Progs 36-51 29 October 1977 - 11 February 1978 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Gerry Finley-Day Doppelganger Progs 52-55 18 February 1978 - 11 March 1978 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Jack Adrian (Chris Lowder) Waterworld Progs 56-60 18 March 1978 - 15 April 1978 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Jack Adrian (Chris Lowder) Nightmare Planet Progs 61-63 22 April 1978 - 6 May 1978 Art: Brian Lewis / Script: Jack Adrian (Chris Lowder) Ice World Progs 64-66 13 May 1978 - 27 May 1978 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Gerry Finley-Day Garden of Eden Progs 67-72 3 June 1978 - 8 July 1978 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Jack Adrian (Chris Lowder) Mutiny! Progs 73-78 15 July 1978 - 19 August 1978 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Jack Adrian (Chris Lowder) The Doomsday Machine Progs 79-85 26 August 1978 - 7 October 1978 Art: Trevor Goring, Garry Leach & Dave Gibbons / Script: Henry Miller, Nick Laundau & Roy Preston Conclusion of 'The Lost Worlds' story arc
Servant of Evil! Progs 100-107 17 February 1979 - 7 April 1979 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Tom Tully Start of 'Servant of Evil' story arc
Attack on Eternium! Progs 109-118 21 April 1979 to 23 June 1979 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Tom Tully Traitor Progs 119-126 30 June 1979 - 18 August 1979 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Tom Tully Conclusion of 'Servant of Evil' story arc
The relaunched Eagle comic
In 1982 Eagle was re-launched, with Dan Dare once again its flagship strip. The new character was the great-great-grandson of the original, with the only other surviving original character being the Mekon, although a descendent of Digby was later introduced.
- Return of the Mekon issues 1-33
Revolver
In 1990, a strip entitled Dare, written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Rian Hughes, was serialized in Revolver. It presented bleak and cynical characters and was a not-too-subtle satire of 1980s British politics. Spacefleet had been privatised, the Treens were subjected to racist abuse in urban ghettos, Digby was unemployed, Professor Peabody committed suicide, and Dare's mentor Sir Hubert Guest betrayed Dare to the Mekon and his quisling British Prime Minister, Gloria Munday (whose appearance and demeanour appear modelled on Margaret Thatcher.) Ultimately, Dare destroys London, the Mekon and himself through a smuggled nuclear weapon.
The Planet
In 1996, The Planet published its first and only issue. Inside was a new and unfinished Dan Dare story, "Remembrance", drawn by Sydney Jordan featuring a slightly older Dare and apparently set some years after the original Eagle strips.
Virgin Comics
In 2008 Virgin Comics published a 7 issue Dan Dare mini-series written by Garth Ennis, with art by Gary Erskine. The series is set several years after the original strips. Space Fleet has collapsed along with the UN due to nuclear war between China and America; Britain survived due to defensive shields made by Professor Peabody, and has become a world power again as a result with the Royal Navy taking Space Fleet's role. Peabody is the Home Secretary to a Prime Minister modelled on Tony Blair, who has sold Earth's defence out to The Mekon out of fear of overwhelming odds. Dare, assisted by Digby (who sacrifices himself in battle) leads a spirited defence of both Earth and his honourable principles.
Notes and references
- ^ Dan Dare story index
- ^ Wright, Norman; Higgs, Mike (1990). The Dan Dare Dossier. London: Hawk Books. p. 96. ISBN 0-948248-12-2.
- Tatarsky, Daniel. Dan Dare: the biography. Orion Books. pp. 208–237. ISBN 978-0-7528-8896-5.
External links
- An Introduction to Dan Dare
- The Eagle and Dan Dare
- Dan Dare Around the World
- Dan Dare at the Open Directory Project
- Dan Dare at the London Science Museum
- The official Science Museum print website containing a number of Dan Dare posters
Dan Dare by Frank Hampson Characters Media TV series • Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future • List of Dan Dare storiesCategories:- 2000 AD comic strips
- Comics-related lists
- Dan Dare
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