"by two sequels, """" and """". Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future is a 1986 video game by Virgin Games for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 home computer systems. It is based on the classic British comic strip ""Dan Dare"". The Commodore 64 version was considerably different in gameplay to the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC versions. The Mekon reveals his typically dastardly plan: Earth must submit to his terms or he will propel a hollowed-out asteroid the size of a small planet into Earth. Dan and his sidekick Digby fly"
"Dan Dare Dan Dare is a British science fiction comic hero, created by illustrator Frank Hampson who also wrote the first stories. Dare appeared in the ""Eagle"" comic story ""Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future"" from 1950 to 1967 (and subsequently in reprints), and dramatised seven times a week on Radio Luxembourg (1951–1956). The stories were set in the late 1990s, but the dialogue and manner of the characters is reminiscent of British war films of the 1950s. Dan Dare has been described as ""Biggles in Space"" and as the British equivalent of Buck Rogers. Dan Dare was distinguished by"
"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, eventually returning to the front page in colour, until it ended in 1967 with Dan retiring to become Space Fleet controller. Strips from the 1950s were reprinted until 1969, when ""Eagle"" merged with ""Lion"". For a while the reprints continued in black and white in ""Lion"". In 1977, Dan Dare appeared again in the first issue of ""2000 AD"" (26 February 1977). The first instalment, scripted by Ken Armstrong and Pat Mills, had the character"
"Dare"" (). The 2007 series had the first three issues collected into one hardback volume, released in April 2008 (), but the whole series was collected into a single volume by Virgin Comics later in the year, with Dynamite Entertainment also making hardcovers and softcovers available early in 2009: A collection of stories from 2000 AD was published in November 2015. Dan Dare Dan Dare is a British science fiction comic hero, created by illustrator Frank Hampson who also wrote the first stories. Dare appeared in the ""Eagle"" comic story ""Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future"" from 1950 to 1967"
"The Mekon The Mekon (of Mekonta) is the arch-enemy of the British comic book hero Dan Dare, first appearing in 1950 in the ""Eagle"" comic strip ""Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future"" and created by Frank Hampson. Apart from Dan Dare himself, he is the only character to appear in every one of the numerous versions of the comic strip that appeared in the ""Eagle"", ""2000 AD"" and Virgin Comics. In the 1950s, roughly every other story featured the Mekon. The Mekon was the ruler of the Treens of northern Venus, although he was ousted from this position at the"
"of a planned television series, persuaded IPC's comic arm Fleetway to relaunch ""Eagle"" in 1982, as a weekly comic edited by Dave Hunt. The original Dan Dare was no longer a feature of the comic, his eponymous great-great grandson taking on the mantle of space explorer instead. Drawn by Gerry Embleton, and later Ian Kennedy, and set 200 years after the original story, the first story-arc featured the return of Dan Dare's earliest nemesis, The Mekon. IPC were unable to recreate the popularity of the original strip, and in 1989 the original Dan Dare returned to the comic, in a"
"also continued in ""Spaceship Away"", a mail-order magazine created by Rod Barzilay. Its mission statement is to continue the original Dare's adventures where the original ""Eagle"" left off, in a style as close to that of the classic strip as possible. To that end, Barzilay originally hired former Eagle artist Keith Watson, and following Watson's death Don Harley, both of whom had drawn Dare in the 1960s, to work on the strips which are written very much in the style of the Fifties stories. Dan Dare appeared on the cover of the first issue of the weekly comic strip magazine,"
"with the song ""Dan Dare"" The relaunch of the Eagle Magazine in 1982 saw a free single giveaway of a track called ""Dan Dare"" by the group Loose Talk. Characters inspired by or based on Dan Dare have appeared throughout British popular culture. One example is Wing Commander Leyton in ""British Summertime"" by Paul Cornell, which juxtaposes the utopian future portrayed in the original comics with the Britain of today. In the 1980s, ""Private Eye"" published ""Dan Dire, Pilot of Future?"". Dire was based on politician Neil Kinnock, the question being whether he'd ever become Prime Minister. Dire's enemy was"
"was to be an emotional support"". He was also closely associated with the founding of the comic ""The Eagle"" by fellow clergyman Marcus Morris in 1950. He supplemented his income by working as a scriptwriter for ""The Eagle"" and its sister publications ""Girl"", ""Robin"" and ""Swift"" until 1961. He used his scientific education to be ""Scientific and Astronautical Consultant"" (as Varah put it) to ""Dan Dare"". More controversially, but in line with a long-standing commitment to sex education, he was for the better part of three decades a member of the board of reference of the British edition of the"
"until 1987, and its lead character, Max, purported to be the comic's editor for several years after the story finished. ""Eagle"" inspired several imitators, such as ""Valiant"", ""Tiger"", and ""Lion"" (which featured a Dan Dare clone, ""Captain Condor"") but such adventure tales were less palatable for girls. Female characters like Dan Dare's Professor Peabody (one of only two female main characters in the strip), were generally given less important roles than the men, and as a result a trend developed toward producing comics aimed specifically at either boys or girls. ""Girl"", a sister title to ""Eagle"", appeared in November 1951,"
"the strip's masthead would depict Doomlord's latest victim transforming into the alien. Like many of the early ""Eagle"" strips, the original strip appeared in photographic fumetti format, requiring an actor in a custom-made rubber mask and hands and low-budget special effects. Despite this, the strip succeeded in producing atmosphere and dealt with adult issues such as environmentalism. The ""Doomlord"" strip was a ""breakout"" strip that was extremely popular, even more so than Dan Dare who was Eagle's main attraction. The strip returned in Eagle issue 21, titled ""Doomlord II"", and was considerably more science fiction in approach. It revealed that"
"""War Is Hell: The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle"". The limited series, with artist Howard Chaykin, features the little-used character Phantom Eagle, a World War I pilot who originally appeared in Marvel Comics during the 1960s. In 2008, Ennis also wrote a new ""Dan Dare"" miniseries published by Virgin Comics. In June 2008, at Wizard World Philadelphia, Ennis announced several new projects, including a metaseries of war comics called ""Battlefields"" from Dynamite made up of mini-series including ""Night Witches"", ""Dear Billy"" and ""Tankies"", another ""Chronicles of Wormwood"" mini-series and ""Crossed"" both at Avatar, a six-issue miniseries about Butcher (from"
"from the second episode by Don Harley with later help from Tim Booth. The strip is a deliberate imitation of the 1950s version, to the point of drawing each page as the front of the 1950s ""Eagle"". It is in full colour and contains art well up to the best of commercial standards. Other regular contributors include Tim Booth, who now co-draws the lead ""The Green Nemesis"" (the sequel to ""The Phoenix Mission"" strip), also written by Rod Barzilay; and Keith Page, who drew several revived Dan Dare strips in New Eagle. ""The Green Nemesis"" story takes place in 2012"
"Computer Warrior Computer Warrior (initially titled Ultimate Warrior) was a comic strip series that debuted in Eagle on 13 April 1985 (shortly after the comic merged with Tiger) and ran for another nine years. The plot involves people playing real-life versions of computer games. In 1985, following the success of the film ""Tron"" and the incorporation of the ""Tiger"", the Eagle launched a new strip called ""The Ultimate Warrior"". This was quickly renamed ""The Computer Warrior"" and was one of only two strips (the other being Dan Dare) to last for the rest of the comics lifetime. When the strip"
"His personal favourite character was ""Loner"", the black space gunslinger, especially created for him to showcase his talent in the Sci-Fi weekly, ""Wildcat"". When ""Wildcat"" merged with the ""Eagle"" comic and became the New Eagle, Pugh handed ""Loner"" over to Eric Bradbury and took on the challenge of reinventing his own childhood hero, Dan Dare. David was fortunate to alternate with Keith Watson from the original Frank Hampson studio. Together they recreated Dare into an eighties action hero, retaining the look of the original character but heavily influenced by movies such as ""Alien"" and ""Predator"". Work followed for AC Comics"
"to celebrate their 20th anniversary, ""2000 AD"" published two issues with additional free comics, the first a reprint of the 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 first issue of ""2000 AD"". One strip was entitled ""The Return of Dan Dare"", which also featured the return of the Mekon. In 1982 ""Eagle"" was re-launched, with ""Dan Dare"" again its flagship strip. The new character was the great-great-great-grandson of the original hero—the only surviving character from the original strip being the"
"Blue Eagle (comics) Blue Eagle is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is not from the main reality where stories are set in the Marvel Universe, but from an alternate universe. The character was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, and debuted as a member of the team of superheroes called the Squadron Supreme in ""The Avengers"" #85 (Feb 1971) as American Eagle, then as Cap'n Hawk in ""The Avengers"" #148 (June 1976), and finally as Blue Eagle in ""Squadron Supreme"" #1 (Sept 1985). James Dore Sr. operated during World War"
"in Korea, to refugee camps, and was praised by Geoffrey Grigson on the BBC Home Service. Wolf Mankowitz proclaimed Dan Dare a ""Hero of Our Time"", and the Earl of Jellicoe was reported to have read the comic in the library of Westminster Palace. Lord Mountbatten supposedly placed a subscription order for his nephew, Prince Charles, and on one occasion rang Hulton to complain that the comic had not arrived; a replacement was quickly despatched. Years later Morris sent the prince a copy of ""The Best of Eagle"" (1977); Charles replied and thanked him for the ""fond memories"". The comic"
"1986, at about the time when Parliament was about to go into recess. When the series ended in 1987, it was replaced by ""Dan Dire, Pilot of the Future?"", which took a similar comic-book view of politics. This time, the model was Frank Hampson's artwork for Dan Dare, as seen in the popular 1950–1969 comic for boys ""Eagle"". In keeping with the science fiction theme, Kinnock became ""Dan Dire"" (the questioning title was over whether or not he would ever be Prime Minister); Mrs Thatcher became ""The Maggon"" in reference to Dan Dare's arch-enemy The Mekon; and Owen became ""Doctor"
"its long, complex storylines, snappy dialogue and meticulously illustrated comic-strip artwork by Hampson and other artists, including Harold Johns, Don Harley, Bruce Cornwell, Greta Tomlinson, Frank Bellamy and Keith Watson. ""Dan Dare"" returned in new strips in ""2000 AD"" in 1977 until 1979 and in the relaunched ""Eagle"" in 1982 until 1994. The most recent mainstream story was a Dan Dare mini-series published by Virgin Comics in 2007 and 2008. It was written by Garth Ennis and illustrated by Gary Erskine and is a completely new and somewhat darker interpretation of Dan Dare. Since October 2003, however, Dare's adventures have"
"the first issue of ""Eagle"" was released in April 1950. Revolutionary in its presentation and content, it was enormously successful; the first issue sold about 900,000 copies. Featured in colour on the front cover was its most recognisable story, ""Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future"", created by Hampson with meticulous attention to detail. Other popular stories included ""Riders of the Range"" and ""P.C. 49"". ""Eagle"" also contained news and sport sections, and educational cutaway diagrams of sophisticated machinery. A members club was created, and a range of related merchandise was licensed for sale. Amidst a takeover of the periodical's publisher"
"scrupulous draftsman, and like Hampson at his best, often consumed with anxiety."" With Keith Watson and Don Harley, the three worked from a studio in Fleet Street. The front cover was redesigned, the Eagle name appearing across the top of the page rather than in one corner, coinciding with a new-look Dare. Many readers found Bellamy's changes to Dare (made at the behest of ""Eagle""s publisher) objectionable. Bellamy was succeeded by Harley, who in 1962 was followed by Watson, who had returned from a short stint working on ""Eagle""s rival, ""Lion"". Watson stopped drawing Dan Dare in 1967, and was"
"Dare text stories by Denis Steeper set in the period immediately after the Eagle's original strips, when Dan is no longer Dan, but Sir Daniel, and has been elevated to Controller-in-Chief of Space Fleet. As an aside for those interested in DD trivia, although the Spacefleet uniform used in the strips is the old one, its cap badge is changed. (Not in the Phoenix Mission / Green Nemesis / Gates of Eden stories - these strips have the original cap badge - Rod Barzilay) The rocket was replaced by the sideways-flying eagle logo of the defunct magazine. Spaceship Away Spaceship"
"life. After this initial storyline other writers were used and different supporting characters came and went, including Professor Pinkerton, a female scientist similar to 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 became more like a space opera, with increasing violence. Now drawn by John Gillatt, Dan took on a tough-guy look. He led space commandos and packed a hi-tech gun reminiscent of that carried by Judge Dredd. The original strip, featuring the characters of the 1950s Eagle, was revived in 1989, with"
"succeeded by Bruce Cornwell. Following Hampson's departure, the emphasis on Dan Dare's exploration of the Solar System had changed instead to include interstellar travel. Continuity became strained, and production on Dan Dare ceased in 1967, when it was replaced by reprints from earlier editions. ""Eagle"" continued to be published through the 1960s, under a succession of editors (Morris was succeeded by his deputy, Clifford Makins). Regular changes in emphasis, including an increasing number of features on contemporary music and sport, were not enough to ensure the comic's continued survival. Although in 1961 its circulation was still about 500,000, under IPC,"
"Sir Hubert Guest betrayed Dare to the Mekon and his quisling British Prime Minister, Gloria Monday (whose appearance and demeanour appear modelled on Margaret Thatcher). Ultimately, Dare destroys London, the Mekon and himself through a smuggled nuclear weapon. The last episode appeared in ""Crisis"", following ""Revolver""'s cancellation. 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. In 2007–2008 Virgin Comics published a 7 issue Dan Dare mini-series written by Garth"
"and he needed a champion to defeat them. By this stage, the quality of the writing had dropped significantly and the strip was reduced to Bobby being set test after test after test to 'prove he was a champion' which lasted for the rest of the strip's duration. No effort was made to introduce any other plot except the eternal completion of video games. The Eagle became a monthly comic in the early nineties and the Computer Warrior and Dan Dare became the only strips that weren't reprints. The Eagle eventually ceased production in January 1994 and the Computer Warrior"
"in the possible future timeline of the ""Supreme Power: Hyperion"" mini-series. Dore was highly skilled in hand-to-hand combat, specializing in aerial combat. He demonstrated a wide range of skill with ancient melee weapons. Blue Eagle (comics) Blue Eagle is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character is not from the main reality where stories are set in the Marvel Universe, but from an alternate universe. The character was created by Roy Thomas and John Buscema, and debuted as a member of the team of superheroes called the Squadron Supreme in ""The Avengers"" #85"
"Carlos Cruz González Carlos Cruz González, usually known simply as Carlos Cruz (1 June 1930 – 27 April 2018), was a Spanish comics artist. In the 1950s, he worked in Buenos Aires as a cover illustrator and cartoonist, before moving to Málaga in the 1960s, where he began working for British firm Fleetway Publications on their British comics. His work appeared in ""Eagle"", ""Tiger"", ""Buster"", ""Smash!"" and others. His most significant work in British comics was his three-year stint on the series ""Dan Dare"" in the relaunched ""Eagle"" from 1985 to 1988. Between 1988 and 2003, he worked on ""The"
"he doesn't know it, but I like the Mekon."" British rock band The Mekons named themselves after the character in 1977. In May 2013, the BBC radio soap opera ""The Archers"" featured a storyline in which regular character Brian Aldridge was aggrieved by a local newspaper article that compared him to the Mekon. The Mekon The Mekon (of Mekonta) is the arch-enemy of the British comic book hero Dan Dare, first appearing in 1950 in the ""Eagle"" comic strip ""Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future"" and created by Frank Hampson. Apart from Dan Dare himself, he is the only character"
"throat cancer in July 1985, in Epsom, Surrey, England. Frank Hampson Frank Hampson (21 December 1918 – 8 July 1985) was a British illustrator, best known as the creator and artist of Dan Dare and other characters in the boys' comic, the ""Eagle"", to which he contributed from 1950 to 1961. He wrote and drew Dan Dare's Venus and Red Moon stories, plus a complete storyline for Operation Saturn. However, Hampson drew only part of the Saturn story and his script was altered when he passed the strip to assistants. He also illustrated the ""Second Ladybird Book Of Nursery Rhymes"""
"cabin boy Tom, pirates Willy and Barnabas, and Master Mate. His mortal enemy is Cut-Throat Jake, captain of the ""Flying Dustman"". Captain Horatio Pugwash made his debut in a comic-strip format in the first issue of ""The Eagle"" in 1950, then appeared regularly as a strip in ""Radio Times"". In 1957 the BBC commissioned a series of short cartoon films produced by Gordon Murray. Ryan produced a total of 86 five-minute-long episodes for the BBC, shot in black-and-white film, but later transferring to colour. Ryan used a real-time technique of animation in which cardboard cutouts of the characters were laid"
"led by Tom Kaye, working in cooperation with Seattle-based FBI agent Larry Carr, speculated that the hijacker may have chosen an alias based on the fictional character, suggesting that he may have been exposed to the comics while on a tour of duty in Europe, or that he may have been of French-Canadian origin. Some of the comics storylines seemingly match aspects of the D. B. Cooper case, including jumping out of a plane with a parachute, as well as a ransom being delivered in a knapsack. Dan Cooper (comics) Dan Cooper (also known as Les Aventures de Dan Cooper)"