Product Description

It's chocks away and tally-ho, chaps - Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future, is back! First published in classic British comic The Eagle, these are the original adventures of one of the best known and loved of British comic characters, presented in a new series of gorgeous library editions from Titan. In the first part of this rip-snorting story, Dan and his crew travel to Venus, hoping to find new resources to feed a starving Earth. But the planet is already the lair of the pint-sized megalomaniac, The Mekon, who has his own plans to conquer Earth! Includes background material exclusive to this book, with rarely seen art pages, an in-depth introduction to Dan Dare, and a new foreword by Dave Gibbons (Watchmen).

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13703 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-23
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 96 pages

Review
Reading Evening Post, August 6th 2004: " Featuring Frank Hampson's gorgeous full colour artwork, these beautiful comic strips are as vibrant and thrilling today as they were on their original debut in April 1950."; Gatewaymonthly.com October 2004: " This is brilliant, original science fiction, paving the way for such projects as Star Trek and Star Wars, but it's more than that."; BBC Cult, review by Nev Fountain, 14 December 2004: " Dan Dare is the quintessence of future nostalgia. It's a wonderfully exciting collection of stories, escapism for boys in short trousers stuffed full of catapults and cigarette cards."; Comic World News, February 4th 2005: "Titan's albums are...reprinting classic stories beautifully drawn by a team of dedicated artists headed by Hampson."

Reading Evening Post, 6 August 2004
"Featuring Frank Hampson's gorgeous full-colour artwork ... as vibrant and thrilling today as they were... in April 1950."

Dreamwatch UK Issue 120, reviw by Mike Thomas
"Dan Dare's opening adventures retain their vibrant charm and Hanson's colourful vision of the future remains fun."

Customer Reviews

THE British comic that soared...
There was a time when the distant worlds of Mars and Venus were within touching distance, just a quick hop across space in a rocket. Hell there was little need for a rocket if you had enough gusto and spirit to see you through. The dream and optimism of a future that was not to be, is evoked in spectacular technicolour in these vivid accounts of Britain's favourite ace pilot: Dan Dare. His rocket-ships stream across space with the grace and agility of a Spitfire, whilst a calm head and Boy Scout ingenuity are enough to see him and his faithful northern companion, Digby, through any scrape.

Daring-do and adventure are the name of the game in this collected version of the Eagle comics of the 1950s, where excitement is never reined-in and made slave to scientific impossibilities. Yes there's a cursory appreciation for basic aeronautics, mechanics and playground science in order to lend a certain credibility (Arthur C. Clarke was a consultant on this first space adventure) but ultimately Dan Dare is left to face Silicon River Monsters, Green Martian Men, Magnetic Thought Chairs and of course, the Mekon! One of the most menacing sci-fi bad guys ever created, seriously.

Voyage to Venus is the first part of a two part adventure in which we are introduced to Dan and Digby and the International Space Fleet, (run from good ol' Blighty don't you know) and their bid to reach Venus in a search for alternative food sources for a starving Earth. In some truly darker moments we are taken through scenes of riots on the Earth, before Dan manages to land the first manned flight to Venus where his adventures begin. It's the introductory story, but one that sweeps across the planets with the scale of an Epic and finishes with a truly unexpected, coup de grace that leaves you in no doubt that the only boundaries to Frank Hammond's inspiring science fiction is his imagination and not some great vacuum that NASA have still been unable to bridge, almost seventy years after Dan Dare soared to the stars.

A Classic Artist Gets His Due
Frank Hampson's classic Dan Dare work from the Eagle comic gets the high-quality treatment that it deserves in this re-print; the first of (hopefully) a long series. These stories provided a vibrant shot of colour in the Britain of the 1950s. The beautiful draughtmanship of Hampson's art shines through in this volume. The hard work, care and attention to detail that he put into his Dan Dare stories is emphasised in the foreword, which recounts the creation of the Eagle and of Dan Dare. If the subsequent volumes are of this standard (and volume two would indicate that they will be) then Frank Hampson's creative genius has finally got the treatment it deserves.

Sheer Genius
If you are a fan of great comics or great art then these are mandatory to buy.