Dan Dare

[broodblik]

For anyone interested in Dan Dare here is a very nice lengthy article:

http://www.tcj.com/man-out-of-time/

[Richard]

Thanks for sharing that, it's a good read.

He's wrong about the new Eagle version though, that was the worst thing its writers ever did, and it deserves its obscurity.

[WhizzBang]

I like the New Eagle Dan Dare - it was probably my second favourite thing after Doomlord and I can remember being genuinely excited to read the next instalment week after week. Ian Kennedy's art was lovely too.

[Tjm86]

It's also worth noting that on the subject of the New Eagle version he only covered the more generally remembered Mekon storyline of the first couple of years as opposed to some of the subsequent stories, the reinvention by Tully that harked back to the aborted Tully / Gibbons post-Fortress tale or the reversion to the 'original' Dare of the last few years (Pugh on art was it?)

I guess I'd agree with some of the comments about the more recent revival attempts and the rather gauche cynicism that tends to pervade them.  Ennis / Weston's attempt also suffers from comparison with Ellis' "Ministry of Space" which covers similar ground and potentially far more effectively.

The core point does seem valid though.  Dare is very much a creation of a specific historical moment that has potentially been lost.  There are many sensibilities of the original work that don't sit well with us now, perhaps explaining why there is so much difficulty for modern writers in dealing with the core aspects of the character.

When you consider the anti-establishment sensibilities that run through much British comic writing since the 60's / 70's, the old Glorious Empire and Patriotic Officer are tropes that cannot really be handled sympathetically.  Perhaps this is why the early Tooth version of Dare stands out so starkly in the history of the character.  It discarded those aspects and remoulded Dare into something almost unrecognisable.  Not to mention Bellardinelli's absolutely bonkers (and gorgeous) artwork.

[broodblik]

I like the New Eagle Dan Dare - it was probably my second favourite thing after Doomlord and I can remember being genuinely excited to read the next instalment week after week. Ian Kennedy's art was lovely too.

My first introduction into British comics were the New Eagle. I immediately took Ian Kennedy's art to hart, he will always in my mind be the Dan Dare artist.  Afterwards when both he and Carlos Cruz (he was great as well) left the strip it never felt the same and the quality differently dropped.

[Colin YNWA]

I guess I'd agree with some of the comments about the more recent revival attempts and the rather gauche cynicism that tends to pervade them.  Ennis / Weston's attempt also suffers from comparison with Ellis' "Ministry of Space" which covers similar ground and potentially far more effectively.

I've not read 'Ministry of Space' so can't comment on comparison - since however I adore the Ennis run I'm tempted to look it up... mind Ellis... anyway. I'm also a big fan of the recent Pete Milligan mini from Titan and was disappointed nothing more came of that.

Both of these are effective in my mind as Dare is so specifically English that he's just a really good tool for disecting England. In Ennis's work in a surprisingly and refreshing positive way. With Milligan's a more rounded and real way.

For me using Dan Dare as such a means to an end is where is potential now lies and given my country (well I like to think of myself as more UL than England but I can't escape my utter Englishness) and what its doing to itself at the moment we need him more than ever!

[broodblik]

The longer absence Dan Dare has in comics the quicker he will disappear in obscurity. For anything to be relevant people still need to know about it. I am not sure that DDC is the right group to still give Dan the necessary exposure so that the world of Dare does not disappear.

I was also quite disappointed when Milligan's Dare story did not continue.

I do not mind the Britishism of the character, the Americans does it too all their characters. I felt that is something that makes the character a little bit different and unique. 

[The Legendary Shark]

I do miss the "white hats" - maybe they should do a Captain America on him, bring Dare from his original Eagle world to a shitty-gritty modern Twothy world where the Mekon's gone all Shakara...

[TordelBack]

I think that'd describe most of the reboot versions thus far, Sharky!

[The Legendary Shark]

I suppose

Be nice to see it done properly, though. Colin MacNeil on art. Script by, well, this is my fantasy, so, me. Lettering by Bolt, obvs. E.Q.Q. Law, Crosby, on legal defence.

.....drifts away....

                ...

.

[TordelBack]

I always feel bad saying it, because it's the definition of revisionist miserabilism, but my favourite Dan Dare reboot is Morrison & Hughes, the execution of which the linked article isn't keen on.  For me it somehow manages to place the original strip in a grim post-colonial Thatcherite reality that taints the adventure and undermines all its values, while at the same time allowing Dan & Digby to (ultimately) remain heroes and the Mekon a villain.

[sheridan]

I was also quite disappointed when Milligan's Dare story did not continue.

Not sure where the story could have gone after the final episode...

[broodblik]

I was also quite disappointed when Milligan's Dare story did not continue.

Not sure where the story could have gone after the final episode...

I meant it as a continuous series with Milligan running with it

[Professor Bear]

I liked the New Eagle Dan Dare up to a point (as a kid, I remember the Flesh Eaters storyline really put the shits up me), but by the time he teams up with not-Vampirella and goes slug-hunting on the planet of the werewolves, it turns to absolute poo.
John Gilliat's mix of 1980s glam and 1950s tech and interior design was a blast, though.  I have no idea who the retro-futurist 1950s Dan Dare reboot that came in 1989 was aimed at, but despite some great Keith Watson, John Ridgeway and David Pugh art, it just wasn't very good, and seemed an ill fit alongside more cynical fare like Doomlord, Toys Of Doom, Rat Trap - a comic strip whose purpose was to insult every last Eagle reader by name - and Computer Warrior - a strip which by then was about the main character condemning Eagle readers to Hell.

When you consider the anti-establishment sensibilities that run through much British comic writing since the 60's / 70's, the old Glorious Empire and Patriotic Officer are tropes that cannot really be handled sympathetically.

We regularly see a hero made of Judge Dredd, a character described as an outright fascist by at least one of the current stable of writers.  The inability to reimagine Dare is more a failure of the imagination than something within the concept itself that makes him impossible to relate to or perpetually out of step with contemporary politics.  At its core, the strip is a period piece and there should be no problems with making new stories in the same way there aren't insurmountable problems in making stories about someone like Hornblower or Perseus.

[judgeurko]

Thanks for sharing that, it's a good read.

He's wrong about the new Eagle version though, that was the worst thing its writers ever did, and it deserves its obscurity.

He's not wrong Richard. In fact you are wrong Richard.