Eagle Times Vol 24 No 4

Winter 2011 Contents

• From Under the 1950s Christmas Tree, Pepys Card Games - a seasonal look at the numerous Pepys games, which included some based around characters from Eagle ('Dan Dare' and 'Jeff Arnold') and Girl
• The Case of Christmas Presents - PC49 appears in a seasonal short-story
• A Look at 'Luck' - part 2 of a continuing series examining the French Foreign Legion strip by Geoffrey Bond and Martin Aitchison, that ran in Eagle from 1952 - 1961
• Working with David Hunt, part 2 - memories of working on 'Dan Dare' projects for the "New" Eagle editor in the 1980s
• Rivals of Eagle, takes a look at The Boy's Own Paper, the long-running boys' story paper, which lasted 88 years - from 1879 - 1967
• The first part of a series on Visual Memories of Eaglecon 80 - the only London comics convention ever held solely for Eagle enthusiasts
• PC49 and the Case of the Frightened Flower Girl - the conclusion of a new adaptation of one of Alan Stranks' radio plays
• Rivals of Jeff Arnold - the 9th in the series takes a look at 'Happy Daze', a comedy western strip drawn by Bill Holroyd for D.C. Thomson's Topper comic
• 'Dan Dare' Figures (from the 1950s to the present day) - begins by taking a look at those produced in the 1950s by the Crescent Toy Company and Eaglewall Plastics/Kentoys 
• Ron by Ron - a lighthearted look at some of Ron Embleton's appearances in some of his own artwork 
• L. Ashwell Wood, Cutaway Maestro - an addendum to the article in Eagle Times Vol 24 No 3, covering the Inside Information series, Odhams Books and the reprinting of Eagle cutaways in foreign publications 
• Eagle Annuals 1971-1975 looks at the annuals that continued to appear after the original Eagle's demise as a comic
• 'Sammy' in colour - a strip from Eagle's companion paper, Swift, which was translated and reprinted in colour in the Dutch paper Arend - shown for the first time in English and colour
• A short biographical piece on David Motton, the 'Dan Dare' writer of the 1960s, who  recently retired
• A report and photographs from the Eagle Society Annual Gathering at Midgham, Berkshire, 6th - 8th September, 2011

Spaceship Away - Part 25

It's been a while since we featured Spaceship Away on this blog, but the recent arrival of Part 25 on my doormat prompted me so to do. Spaceship Away is a three times a year, full colour, 40-page A4 glossy magazine that publishes new "old-style" 'Dan Dare' strip stories  and articles along with other science fiction strips. With three issues a year, Part 25 marks the beginning of Spaceship Away's 9th year of publication, albeit the Autumn issue and therefore the last of 2011. 

The issue sports a Christmas-themed cover by veteran 'Dan Dare' artist Don Harley, with Dan, Digby (laden with Christmas presents) and Stripey arriving back at a snowy Spacefleet HQ as a group of Spacefleet carollers sing in the background. The cover picture heralds, inside, a two-page 'Dan Dare' Christmas story, 'Missiles and Mistletoe', written by Sydney Jordan and drawn by Don Harley, and which opens with an almost identical scene to the cover. Further on the 'Dan Dare' strip content continues with the sixth episode of 'Parsecular Tales' (written and drawn by Tim Booth) and 'Dan and Digby's Happy Landing'; a two-pager by Don Harley.

Other content includes the articles 'Desmond Walduck: "A Worthy Earthman"' by Alan Vince and 'Spacefleet Headquarters' by Charles Evans-Gunther. There is a new piece of artwork by Don Harley, featuring Dan Dare and the four Spacefleet cadets from 'Prisoners of Space', and the centrespread, by Ian Kennedy, features the Mekon and three varieties of Dan Dare that Kennedy drew for the "new" Eagle in the 1980s. Oh, and there's a board game: 'Dan Dare's Race in Space' - provide your own dice and counters. The back cover features a new painting by Bruce Cornwell of the Anastasia space-plane flying over Spacefleet HQ.

Plenty, then, for the Dan Dare fan, and the non-'Dan Dare' strip content includes the second episode of 'Finality Factor', which is a 'Garth' story by Jim Edgar and Martin Asbury, originally drawn by Fank Bellamy, and (now) coloured by Tim Booth; and episode 4 of 'Shadow Over Britain', the 'Journey into Space' story written by Charles Chilton and drawn by Ferdinando Tacconi and Bruce Cornwell, that first appeared in Express Weekly in 1957.

Spaceship Away is available from some specialist outlets (comic shops) but for further details, including how to subscribe, please go to the Spaceship Away website.

John Ryan Retrospective

John Ryan in 1993

A retrospective exhibition showing about 50 works of the late John Ryan will open at the Stormont Studio, Rye Art Gallery, Rye, East Sussex at 2 pm on 19th November, 2011. The exhibition is planned to run until 12th February, 2012 and celebrates John's life and work through his art. If planning a visit, however, please check the Gallery Opening Hours (see below) as it is not open very day and closes for lunch.

John Ryan is unforgettable to Eagle readers as the creator of 'Captain Pugwash' (which first appeared as a comic strip in Eagle in 1950) and the longer running strip cartoon series 'Harris Tweed', which ran for twelve years.

During his long career, he created many characters and produced a large body of work including numerous books and artworks. 'Captain Pugwash' he turned into a very successful series of illustrated books and an animated series on BBC television. A cartoon strip of 'Captain Pugwash' ran in Radio Times for eight years. He created 'Lettice Leefe' for Eagle's companion paper Girl, and 'Sir Boldasbrass' for Swift. He also devised 'The Adventures of Sir Prancelot' and 'Mary, Mungo and Midge'.

More information on the exhibition is available on the Rye Art Gallery website.

More biographical information on John Ryan can be read in his Eagle Times obituary.

Gallery Opening Hours:

Monday to Wed inclusive - Closed.
Thurs 10:30-13:30 and 14:00-17:00
Fri 10:30-13:00 and 14:00-17:00
Sat 10:30-13:00 and 14:00-17:00
Sun 12:00-16:00

Thanks to the curator, John's daughter, Isabel, for letting us know about the exhibition.

The picture of John Ryan was taken during the Eagle Society's visit to Rye in 1993. 

Eagle Times Vol 24 No 3

Autumn 2011 Contents

• A Look at Luck - the first in a series examining 'Luck of the Legion', the French Foreign Legion strip written by Geoffrey Bond and drawn by Martin Aitchison, that ran in Eagle from 1952 - 1961 
• The XCH-4 Hydrofoil - the real-life flying machine that inspired Frank Hampson's futuristic designs for the Turmoil and the Poseidon, which appeared in the 'Dan Dare' strip, 'The Man From Nowhere' 
• Wulf the Briton conquers them all - a close look at the Palace Books' reproduction of the 1950s strip from Express Weekly, drawn (or, rather, painted) by Ron Embleton 
• PC49 and the Case of the Frightened Flower Girl - the beginning of a new adaptation from one of Alan Stranks' radio plays 
• Eagle Times Window, taking a look at The Dan Dare Space Journal, Orion Books' latest Eagle-inspired publication
• L. Ashwell Wood - Cutaway Maestro, taking a look at the life and career of Eagle's most prolific Cutaway artist
• Journey into Space with Auntie's Charlie - a report on the combined Book Launch for Charles Chilton's autobiography and the first of his Journey into Space novels.
• Working with David Hunt, memories of working on 'Dan Dare' projects for the "new" Eagle editor in the early 1980s 
• Rivals of Jeff Arnold - Kit Carson part 8 of an ongoing series looking at the real and fictional Wild Western characters that appeared in British comics in the 1950s
• The David Pugh 'Dan Dare', part three: continuing an examination of the 'Dan Dare' stories drawn by one of the artists who took on the resurrected "original" Dan Dare in "new" Eagle 1989-1994
• Spotted in the Press - "Now I'll Never be Dan Dare": on the the demise of the Space Shuttle
• Remembering 'Reign of the Robots' - a re-look at Dan Dare's adventure on a Mekon-subjugated Earth, after the return from Cryptos
• Eagle's Wanderers: an examination of two fictional football strips that appeared in Eagle. Part 2 The Circus Wanderers

Charles Chilton's Autobiography

Charles Chilton, MBE:
Journey into Space
Riders of the Range
Oh, What a Lovely War!

The eagerly anticipated autobiography of Charles Chilton, MBE, is to be published soon by the media company Fantom Films. 

Titled Auntie's Charlie (which is an appropriate title considering its author's 46-year career with "Auntie", as the BBC is affectionately known in some quarters),  the book will be published coincidentally (though not by chance!) with a new reprint edition of Journey into Space: Operation Luna. The latter is Charles Chilton's own novelisation of the first of his famous British 1950s science fiction radio serials, which has been out of print for 40 years.

Although most famous as the creator/writer/producer of Journey into Space (which he also wrote as a comic strip for Eagle's rival publication, Express Weekly, Charles is also remembered by Eagle's readers as the author of the western strip 'Jeff Arnold and the Riders of the Range', which he wrote weekly for Eagle for more than twelve years - see our earlier post on Eagle writer Charles Chilton. Another of Charles' accomplishments was his research and writing contribution to the musical Oh, What a Lovely War!, a critique of the First World War, which was famously first staged and produced by Joan Littlewood's Theatre Workshop in 1963. 

Auntie's Charlie (ISBN: 978-1-906263-72-0) is to be published in August 2011 in a hard-back Limited Collectors' Edition of 200 copies, priced at £24.99 (UK) or £27.99 (abroad). Details are available at the Fantom Films website. Those pre-ordering before 15th August will receive an invitation to the Charles Chilton Book Launch where their copy can be personally signed by the author.

Journey into Space: Operation Luna (ISBN: 978-1-906263-73-7) is also to be published August. The second and third Journey into Space novels, The Red Planet (ISBN: 978-1-906263-74-4) and The World in Peril (ISBN: 978-1-906263-75-1), are due to follow in November 2011 and February 2012, respectively. All three books will be published in hard-back Limited Collectors' Editions of 200 copies each, and priced at £12.99 each (UK) or £14.99 (abroad). Again, details are available at the Fantom Films website. Those pre-ordering Journey into Space: Operation Luna before 15th August will receive an invitation to the Charles Chilton Book Launch where their copy can be personally signed by the author. 

Alternatively, a subscription can be taken out for all three Journey into Space books at £34.99 (UK) or £39.99 (abroad). Subscribers to the Journey into Space books will receive a limited edition postcard signed by Charles and a pin-badge, as well as an invitation to the Book Launch.

The Charles Chilton Book Launch will be held from 4pm - 6pm on 20th August 2011 at the George IV Public House & Comedy Club, Chiswick (London).

Eagle Times Vol 24 No 2

Summer 2011 Contents

• Frank and the Newspaper Cuttings: a look at the use by Frank Hampson, throughout his career, of images of newspapers and newspaper cuttings, as a powerful visual aid to storytelling
• 'Daan Durf - Piloot van de Toekomst': on the 1980s Dutch reprint editions of the 'Dan Dare' adventures: De Mans Van Nergens (The Man From Nowhere) and De Woeste Planeet (Rogue Planet)
• Keith Watson - Drawing from Life: the use of live and photographed figures to achieve realism of the clothed human form
• Frank Bellamy's Pictorial Journalism: a look at some of Bellamy's illustrative work for newspapers, magazines and posters
• Dan Goes Back to College: a report on the unveiling of the bronze bust of Dan Dare at the Southport College of Art, following its recent restoration
• Rivals of Jeff Arnold - Buffalo Bill: part 7 of an ongoing series looking at the real and fictional Wild Western characters that appeared in British comics in the 1950s
• Eagle's Wanderers: an examination of two fictional football strips that appeared in Eagle. Part 1: 'Home of the Wanderers'
• Kemlo - the 'Spaceworld' books of E.C. Eliott: the life and work of Robert Martin, a prolific children's writer of the 1950s-1960s (who wrote the 'Joey' series under his own name, the 'Kemlo' and 'Tas' series as E.C. Elliott and the 'Pocomoto' western series as Rex Dixon), taking a close look at three of the 'Kemlo' series
• PC49 in the Case of the Crying Clown - part 2: concluding another adaptation of one of Alan Strank's famous BBC radio police adventures
• The David Pugh 'Dan Dare', part two: continuing an examination of the 'Dan Dare' stories drawn by one of the artists who took on the resurrected "original" Dan Dare in "new" Eagle 1989-1994
• Sammy, Swift's Space Fleet Cadet: Stripography - part 2, concluding the summary of the Space Fleet stories that appeared in Eagle's companion Paper
• 'The Final Frontier': an extract from Arnie Wilson's Big Name Hunting, in which he relates an interview with Apollo 11 astronaut Buzz Aldrin

Andrew Skilleter

This post comes as a result of a request from its subject! The illustrator Andrew Skilleter has asked if we would be willing to post something relating to his new website, www.andrewskilleter.com, on the basis of his involvement in Dan Dare over the years. Consider this a "Yes", Andrew!

Although better known for his work illustrating (among other things!) 'Doctor Who', Andrew was, in the lifetime of Eagle (that is, in the mid-1960s) one of the founders of the original Dan Dare Club, which through several metamorphoses led to today's Eagle Society. In 1985 he published the first edition of Alastair Crompton's story of the then recently deceased 'Dan Dare'-creator, Frank Hampson: The Man Who Drew Tomorrow. He also published a book of ex-Eagle artist Frank Bellamy's Radio Times 'Doctor Who' illustrations, called Timeview. Appropriately Andrew called his publishing venture Who-Dares Publishing!  More recently, his Homage painting depicting Frank Hampson and some of the 'Dan Dare' characters was included as a frontispiece to Alastair Crompton's Tomorrow Revisited (published by PS Publishing). Since late March this year, Andrew has a Facebook Fan Page.

Andrew says the site has "multi-genre galleries and the SciFi one includes a couple of Dan Dare related pieces". One is the homage painting that I have linked to above. Another, a commission for Spaceship Away magazine  can be seen via This Link. I'll leave another, a private commission, for you to find on Andrew's site.

There is also a blog within Andrew's site, which, he says "aims to cover a variety of subjects and certainly comic strip related subjects". He adds: "I’ll be blogging re the new Wulf the Briton (Embleton) reprint for example, and I will be doing Dan Dare, Keith Watson etc". There is already a piece about Tomorrow Revisited.

Andrew also mentions (in passing!) the original 'Dan Dare' art he has for sale via his ComicArtFans site. There six art boards from 'The Ship That Lived' and also a spread by Keith Watson for 'Give Me the Moon'.