Eagle Times Vol 28 No 4

Winter 2015 Contents

• 'John Worsley.. Man of many talents': a brief review of the career of Eagle's best-known 'PC49' artist, and concluding the article begun in the previous issue of Eagle Times on paintings by John Worsley shown in 2015 at the War Artists at Sea Exhibition in Greenwich
• 'PC49 and the Case of the Gypsy's Warning': part 2 of the latest Eagle Times adaptation of a PC49 radio story, originally written by Alan Stranks 
• 'The Eagle Society Annual Dinner 2015': a review of the Eagle Society Gathering and Annual Dinner, which was held at Bletchley, Buckinghamshire in September 2015, and included a visit to Bletchley Park, the wartime site of the UK's Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS)
• 'Cruising Speed': featuring a game devised and drawn for Supercar Annual by Eagle writer and artist Eric Eden 
• 'Dan Dare Rocket and Space Ship Builder Sets - The Meccano Connection': on the construction sets produced in the 1950s by A & M Bartram of Birmingham
• 'PC49 and the Case of the Stolen Christmas Presents': a seasonal short story from Alan Stranks, in which PC Archibald Berkeley-Willoughby plays detective
• 'Mark, The Youngest Disciple': the third, and final, final part of an examination of the background to Chad Varah's version of the events surrounding the Passion of Jesus, which appeared in Eagle between November 1954 and June 1955, drawn by Giorgio Bellavitis
• 'Christmas Annuals of the 1960s': following last year's 'From Under the 1950s Christmas Tree: Christmas Annuals', this article takes a look at the range of children's annuals and similar publications produced through the 1960s
• 'The Gay Corinthian': a comparison of the Eagle's (1961-62) reprint/adaptation of the 1924 novel by Ben Bolt with its earlier (June 1953) comic-strip adaptation in Thriller Comics 
• 'In and Out of the Eagle': some more episodes in the series presenting collections of Eagle-related snippets
• 'Thanks to... Arthur Roberts (and other art editors)': David Slinn recollects his career in illustration and lettering, including his contributions to Eagle and its companion papers, and his involvement in Eaglecon80, when he interviewed Chad Varah 
• Marvel Comes to Eagle: on the reprint of Marvel Comics' 'Tales of Asgard', which appeared in Eagle in 1968
• 'Where did you get those crazy ideas about space? From Hollywood probably, or sci-fi books and maybe just a few from Dan Dare': on some of fiction's less-plausible ideas about space travel and exploration 
• 'Who said Lego could put men in space?': on the inclusion of a number of Lego astronauts on a recent visit by Danish astronaut Andreas E Morgensen to the International Space Station

This issue's cover depicts Christmas scenes by the artist John Worsley

Eagle Times Vol 28 No 3

Autumn 2015 Contents

• 'The Story of Lightning': David Slinn, himself a contributor to Eagle and Swift in 1960, tells the background story of a new children's magazine that (never saw the light of day, but) was proposed for publication by the National Magazine Company Limited in 1973
• 'PC49 and the Case of The Case of the Gypsy's Warning': one more in the series of adaptations from the PC49 BBC radio stories originally written by Alan Stranks  
• 'Mark the Youngest Disciple': Part 2 of an examination of the background to Chad Varah's version of the events surrounding the Passion of Jesus, which appeared in Eagle between November 1954 and June 1955, drawn by Giorgio Bellavitis
• 'Dan Dare's Back in Southport': a report on the new Atkinson Gallery in Southport, the birthplace of Eagle, which features a collection of 'Dan Dare' memorabilia on permanent display
• 'How the Future Took a Turn for the Worse': regretting the change in predicted futures from Frank Hampson's vision in 'Dan Dare' to the dystopian visions predicted in the comics of today 
• 'The Mystery of the Bovril Brigade Advertisement': on the two advertising strips which appeared in Eagle in 1962/63, drawn by Frank Hampson
• 'In and Out of the Eagle' - some more of the series presenting collections of Eagle-related snippets
• 'Eric Dadswell': on the artist, who drew for a number of Hulton's titles, including Girl, Swift and Eagle in the 1950s 
• 'Biggles Flies With Eagle': recollection of the Biggles serials and short stories, written by Capt. W.E. Johns and which appeared in Eagle and its annuals
• 'Pop Chalmers was created to say Thank You': How the National Coal Board commissioned 'Dan Dare' creator Frank Hampson to draw the advertising newspaper strip series 'The Chalmers' in 1962
• 'The Eagle Riders of the Range Annual No 1': a review of the first of the scarlet-covered Hulton annuals, which followed five previous Juvenile Productions editions  
• 'John Worsley - War Artist': a short article inspired by the inclusion of three paintings by John Worsley in the War Artists at Sea exhibition, which was held at Queen's House, Greenwich between February and August 2015. Worsley is better known to Eagle readers as the artist of 'PC49'
• 'More on the Spaceship Builder Mystery': with thanks to Tony Knowles of the Midland Meccano Guild, some further information on the Dan Dare Spaceship and other manufacturers' spaceship kits 
• 'Rex Milligan on Television': the details of Eagle's "first television star". Rex Milligan was created for Eagle by Jennings author Anthony Buckeridge, and was adapted for BBC television by Buckeridge himself in 1956. It beat John Ryan's 'Captain Pugwash' to television by a year, and 'Dan Dare' by forty six. 
• 'Frontiers of Science': the roots of the informative strip from the last years of the Eagle (1967 - 1969)
• 'When Dan and Digby sneaked into 2000AD': on the depiction of Dan Dare, with a striking resemblance to the Eagle original (rather than his 2000AD "reincarnation"), alongside a Digby lookalike (called "Wilmo") in the second 2000AD Annual  

Eagle Times Vol 28 No 2

Summer 2015 Contents

• 'Mark, The Youngest Disciple' - an examination of the background to Chad Varah's version of the events surrounding the Passion of Jesus, which appeared in Eagle between November 1954 and June 1955, drawn by Giorgio Bellavitis
• 'Over to You, Joan' - some memories and insights into the Frank Hampson Studio, and the part played by Joan Porter as Hampson's assistant
• 'Chicko' - an examination of three-panel comic strip by Norman Thelwell, featuring the longest-running character in Eagle after Dan Dare 
• 'Saturday Morning at the Pictures, No 3: King of the Rocket Men' - another in the series looking at Saturday children's cinema matinees of the 1950s 
• 'In and Out of the Eagle' - more in the series presenting collections of Eagle-related snippets
• 'PC49 and the Cases of Stolen Liquour' - another in the series of PC49 stories adapted from Alan Stranks' BBC radio stories
• 'Centrespreads: The Journey into Space Connection' - on the artist Gordon Davies, who drew cutaway drawings for Eagle's centre pages, and book covers, including those for Pan Books' Journey into Space paperbacks
• 'Rivals of Jeff Arnold No 16: Lash LaRue ' - the appearance of the western film star in movies and comics
• 'Looking for L. Ashwell Wood' - Joan Porter recalls an episode from the early 1950s when, on press day, she went in search of the cutaway artist and his urgently needed artwork
• 'The Solid Space Mystery' -  a re-look at the 'Dan Dare' story from Eagle, which was drawn by Don Harley and Bruce Cornwell, and kicked off in the last issue of 1960
• 'They Helped to Bring You Eagle: No. 1 Bert Fielder' - the first in a new series, which begins with one of the less well-known people who worked on Eagle in the 1960s
• 'The Dan Dare Dandies' - on the civilian modes of dress and fashion in Eagle's 'Dan Dare'
• 'Yesterday's Tomorrow: A celebration of the launch of Eagle and the birth of Dan Dare' - a report on the one-day symposium held at the British Interplanetary Society on 14th April, 2015, the 65th anniversary of Eagle's launch  
• 'WPC56' - a review of the television series featuring a female police officer, set in the 1950s
• 'Anyone for Table Tennis?' - recollections of the Eagle and Girl Table Tennis Championships which were held between 1954 and 1964

The Eagle Society Gathering and Annual Dinner, 2015

BLETCHLEY

Buckinghamshire

Tuesday 22nd - Thursday 24th September 2015

The Eagle Society's 2015 Gathering and Annual Dinner

will be held at the 

Campanile Hotel

40 Penn Street, Fenny Stratford, Bletchley, 

Milton Keynes MK2 2UA

The Programme will include talks, time for socialising and 

a tour of Bletchley Park followed by 

The Eagle Society's Annual Dinner

Bletchley Park is the once secret but now famous site of the UK's Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS), who penetrated the secret communications of the Axis Powers, including the German Enigma cipher, and ensured the outcome of the Second World War.

More information about the Hotel can be found on the Campanile Hotel website

More information on Bletchley Park can be found on the Bletchley Park website

Price  (including meals and two nights' accommodation):  £160 pp (members and their partners); £175 pp (non-members)

       

For further information please contact Howard Corn at: howard.corn@virginmedia.com

Eagle Times Vol 28 No 1

Spring 2015 Contents

• 'I Designed Dan Dare's Space Cup' - how a 12-year-old's design for a Space Cup came to be taken up by Horlicks and was offered to members of the Horlicks Dan Dare Spacemen's Club on Radio Luxembourg
• 'Telling the Story Without Words' - on Frank Hampson's ambition to create a comic strip without words, and the two one-page examples from Dan Dare episodes in Eagle
• 'Great News Pals!' - an examination of the mergers that brought some well-known comics to their final resting places
• 'PC49 and the Case of the Stolen Easter Eggs' - the latest in a series of PC49 stories adapted from Alan Stranks' radio stories
• 'In and Out of the Eagle' - more in the series presenting collections of Eagle-related snippets
• 'Saturday Morning at the Pictures, No 2: The Phantom Empire' - the second of a new series looking at Saturday children's cinema matinees of the 1950s
• 'Eagle and the Air Speed Record in Cutaway' - the appearance of air-speed record aircraft in Eagle's cutaway centre-spreads
• 'The Phantom Fleet as Advertised on TV' - on the appearance on TV in 1958 of an advertisement for The Phantom Fleet, "the new Dan Dare story in Eagle'
• 'The Rivals of Jeff Arnold: John Wayne' - the appearance of the western film star John Wayne in comics and annuals
• 'A Spacecraft Mystery' - requesting knowledge of 1950s aerospace building kits, 'A-Jet' and 'Supersonic'
• 'PC49 and the Case Against the Three Howards' - how the Alan Stranks' PC49 radio stories are adapted for Eagle Times 
• 'Rob Conway' - an examination of the short-lived strip created by Frank Hampson for the first issue of Eagle'
• 'Would You Believe It?' - an article to test readers' credibility
• 'The Sartorians' - on the natty dress of the characters and races invented by Frank Hampson and his team 
• 'The Dairy Cutaways of L Ashwell Wood' - how some specific cutaway drawings ('The Romance of Ice Cream' and 'The Background to Pure Milk') came to feature in Eagle
• 'Dan Dare Pilot of the Future in a New Jigsaw Puzzle' - a detailed review of the new Dan Dare Limited Edition Jigsaw Puzzle, made by Wentworth Wooden Puzzles and published by Dragon Collectables
• 'Still the Happy Warrior' - a review of the latest reprint of Clifford Makins' and Frank Bellamy's Happy Warrior, the Life Story of Winston Churchill