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80's Dan Dare

Started by Jade Falcon, 21 March, 2018, 09:29:44 PM

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Jade Falcon

I'm not 100% sure if this is the right place, but was any of the Dan Dare from the 'new' Eagle ever reprinted in trade form?  I know there were mixed opinions about it, and I do have some Dan Dare collections, both the Hawk and Titan ones of the original Dan Dare and the Garth Ennis one, but I did remember enjoying the 80's one.
When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there, but it is still there. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid. That is how an RBMK reactor core explodes. Lies. - Valery Legasov

Michael Knight

Hi Jade. Like you i long for the 'New Eagle' Dan Dare to be reprinted. Its one of the strips that got me into comics and 2000AD

The Enigmatic Dr X

Not that I know. But I do love the line about a laser "cutting through you like a knife through your Earth butter"
Lock up your spoons!

TordelBack

Thirded. Easily my favourite comic strip prior to discovering the sordid delights of the Maison de Tharg.

Richard

I don't know about that. You might have fond memories of it, but it was 30 years ago and memories get rose-tinted. I just bought a few '80s Eagles a few weeks ago, and Dan Dare was shit.

If Rebellion owns the rights to Eagle now, they do far better to reprint Doomlord and House of Daemon.

JOE SOAP

Quote from: Richard on 21 March, 2018, 11:13:16 PM
If Rebellion owns the rights to Eagle now, they do far better to reprint Doomlord and House of Daemon.

They don't. Dan Dare Corp. owns Eagle originated characters.

http://www.dandare.com/strips.htm

http://www.dandare.com/media.htm

Professor Bear

Quote from: Richard on 21 March, 2018, 11:13:16 PM
I don't know about that. You might have fond memories of it, but it was 30 years ago and memories get rose-tinted. I just bought a few '80s Eagles a few weeks ago, and Dan Dare was shit.

It got off to a good start with Pat Mills and John Wagner scripting for Ian Kennedy, but it had its ups and downs over the years, feeling like filler in the post-Mills period but often being well-served with artists like Kennedy, Oliver Frey and Cruz.  Currently reading my way through the Eagle, I thought a lot of DD was mince reading it as an adult, but can distinctly recall being freaked out as a kid by the flesh-eating jellyfish story, and being totally bummed when Chinese Digby was murdered by an alien body snatcher type who gets away scot free at the end of the story while Dan just sits there like a wanker making bad jokes to a hot boffin.  I suspect - whisper it - we might be too old to be the ideal audience for this stuff, but (Catch 22) we're probably the only ones a collection would ever be marketed towards.

I did like how the strip went for broke circa 1987, with Dan dying and being reborn as the leader of a crack team of space badasses fighting the Mekon in modern day London: the Cruz artwork, that brilliantly chunky Eagle logo, the shameless pulpishness of the story - but I wouldn't call it art so much as charmingly thick-headed.

TordelBack

#7
Heh! Yuo, it went downhill fast,  but after an odd start the early stuff,  from Return of the Melon through Fireflight and the flashback training/space-exploration stuff,  and even the next couple of stories (after the move to big paper) were pretty great. The end of that run,  where Dan goes a bit nuts and tries to beat the Mekon to death as they float about in orbit,  that was progworthy.

IndigoPrime

DDC owns other bits, too, like Computer Warrior.

matty_ae

I scanned them all in and had these books made

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXTpmtL9Dqw

There's a few issues commercially. There's a lot of 3 page episodes where the double page can't be moved. And also quite a few speech bubbles in the 'crease'

All 7 books are on my YouTube channel if you just want a nosatalgia hit

Bad City Blue

Garth Ennis did a great Dan Dare revival a few years back, well worth picking up IMO with great art from Gary Erskine
Writer of SENTINEL, the best little indie out there

Jade Falcon

I've got the Garth Ennis one, I agree it was great.  I see there's yet another 'remake', but the artwork on the cover doesn't exactly inspire confidence.
When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there, but it is still there. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid. That is how an RBMK reactor core explodes. Lies. - Valery Legasov

maryanddavid

The Return of the Mekon and Fireflight with Ian Kennedy's glorious with Mills and Wagner's cracking script its up there with the very best.
Interestingly while Dare is owned by DDC, Mills and Wagner own 'The return of the Mekon',  it was originally a film pitch that they dusted off and worked in the Great Grandson element and the WW2 bits at the then film rights holders request.

abelardsnazz

My first Tooth was the Sci-fi special 1984 because Ian Kennedy drew the cover. I have fond memories of reading Dan Dare at the time, so would be interested for nostalgic reasons even if the stories don't stand up.

Colin YNWA

Quote from: Bad City Blue on 22 March, 2018, 07:17:24 PM
Garth Ennis did a great Dan Dare revival a few years back, well worth picking up IMO with great art from Gary Erskine

I'll say, love that comic. I also really enjoyed the recent Pete Milligan take and hope we get more of that.