Eagle Times Vol 30 No 4

Winter 2017 Contents

• 'Wenceslas the Good' - an examination of the strip from Eagle Annual Number 3 (1953) about the Duke of Bohemia, who was made famous by a Christmas carol 
• 'More Thoughts on Grenfell of Labrador' - an adjunct to an article in Eagle Times (Vol 29 No 3), speculating on Wilfred Grenfell's formulative years in Parkgate, Cheshire 
• '1961 - Another Year of Change' - a look at the changes in Eagle in 1961 - and some of the things happening contemporaneously in the wider world
• 'In and Out of the Eagle'' further instalments in the series that presents Eagle-related snippets
• 'The Boys and Girls Exhibition 1961' - the fourth part of a series looking at programmes published for the (formerly Hultons’) Boys and Girls Exhibition that was held annually at the National Hall, Olympia in London
• 'Dan Dare got there first . . . ' - Richard Branson's "hyperloop" train, and the Venusian 'electrosender' first seen in 1950s 'Dan Dare'
• 'Space Fiction Movies in Eagle's Times' part 4 - continuing a look at films about space exploration and alien visitations to the earth, the bread-and-butter of the Eagle's Dan Dare adventures between 1950 and 1969. This part covers 1958-1959 including Space Master X-7, It! The Terror From Beyond Space, First Man into Space, Angry Red Planet, and Plan 9 From Outer Space
• "LIP" - On Gerald Lipman, an Eagle staff artist from 1953 - 1957, who latterly would sign his work "Gerald Lip"
• 'Atkinson Library Exhibit, Southport' - photographs of the exhibit in Eagle's and Dan Dare's birthplace
• 'Radio Times at Christmas' - a look at how the covers of Radio Times changed through Eagle's times - the 1950s and 1960s
• 'Louis the Fearless' - an examination of the back page "real life" adventure of King Louis IX of France, from Eagle in 1952 
• 'Titan's New Dan Dare' - a review of the first issue of the latest re-incarnation of Dan Dare
• 'Reg Parlett and Fidosaurus' - on artist Reg Parlett's work for Eagle, which included 'Fidosaurus' and 'XYZ Cars', and his vast work in other publications from 1923 - 1990
• 'They Helped to Bring You Eagle', 5 - Ron Morley, layout artist'  - continuing a series of recollections of a former Eagle employee
• 'Comics Unstripped at Kettering' - on a 2016 exhibition on comics held in Kettering, the former hometown of Eagle artist Frank Bellamy
• 'The Real "Tough" Luck of the Legion' - on a newspaper report of a soldier (named Luck!) who mistakenly signed on for five years in the French Foreign Legion
• 'Richard Jennings at Eaglecon' - on Eagle artist Richard Jennings, recalled from notes taken during his interview at the Eagle Convention in London in 1980. 
• 'A Christmas Wordsearch' - a puzzle, based on Eagle's last Christmas issue, dated 28th December, 1968

This issue's front cover illustration is from the Dan Dare adventure 'Operation Plum Pudding', which appeared in Eagle Annual Number 5, in 1955

Eagle Times Vol 30 No 3

Autumn 2017 Contents

• ‘Swift’ - an examination of Eagle’s companion paper for younger  children (aged 7 - 9 years), which was launched by Hulton Press on 20th March 1954 and would eventually, after nine years, merge with the more successful Eagle
• ‘In and Out of the Eagle’ - more  instalments in the series presenting collections of Eagle-related snippets
• ‘PC49’s Last Case’, part 2 - concluding this new story based on the characters first created for radio (and then for Eagle) by Alan Stranks
• ‘Memories of Eagle - by Those in the Know’ - A look back to 1977, when The Best of Eagle was published, and an article in the Sunday Telegraph Magazine for which some of Eagle’s creators were interviewed 
• ‘Is the Prone Position Really Safer?’ - on the efficacy of the flying position adopted by Space Fleet pilots in Eagle's  ‘Dan Dare’ 
• ‘Space Fiction Movies in Eagle’s Times’, part 3 - continuing a look at films about space exploration and alien visitations to the earth, the bread-and-butter of the Eagle's Dan Dare's adventures between 1950 and 1969. This part covers 1956-1958 including QuatermasssII, Not of This Earth and the Soviet Doroga K Zvezdam (Road to the Stars)
• ‘A Trio of Dan Dare Artists at Epsom’ - recollections of the Eagle Society’s Annual Gathering held at Epsom in 1992, attended by three former Dan Dare artists: Keith Watson, Greta Edwards (née Tomlinson) and Don Harley  
• ‘The Gordon and Gotch Story’ - an examination of the remarkable story of Eagle’s principal international distributor
• ‘Dan Goes Dutch’ - How ‘Dan Dare’ (or ‘Daan Durf’) appeared in the first edition of Arend (the “Dutch Eagle”) which was published for ten years (1955-66) in The Netherlands
• ‘Why We Won’t Travel Like Dan For at Least Fifty Years’ - and ‘Why, in 100 years our spaceships will be better than Dan’s’.  
• ‘The Shepherd King’, part 3 - concluding an examination of Clifford Makins' and Frank Bellamy's strip about the biblical King David, comparing Eagle's strip with biblical accounts of David's life
• ‘The Boys and Girls Exhibition, 1960’ - the third part of a series looking at programmes published for the (formerly Hultons’) Boys and Girls Exhibition that was held annually at the National Hall, Olympia in London
• ‘They Helped to Bring You Eagle, No 4 - Dan Lloyd, Chief, Sub Editor’  - continuing a series of recollections of a former Eagle employee
• ‘Wes Cardy and the Eagle Jumper’ - how a knitting pattern for an Eagle cardigan became a commemorative jumper 
• ‘The Front Page’ - a look at the changing look and contents of Eagle’s front page through the 1960s
• ‘Eagle Times - Results of the Readers’ Survey’ - analysis and commentary on results from a Survey of Eagle Society members that was included with the previous issue of Eagle Times 

Eagle Times Vol 30 No 2

Summer 2017 Contents

• 'Life after Eagle' - a recollection of the merged Lion and Eagle from 1969 - 1970 - where 'Dan Dare' lived on for a while, albeit as repeats and in black-and-white 
• 'Hulton's Boys and Girls Exhibition: 1959' - a look at the programme of the fourth Hulton's Boys and Girls Exhibition, held at London's Olympia in August 1959
• 'Remembering Dan Dare: The Mushroom' - a re-look at a 'Dan Dare' story from Eagle in the mid-1960s, which was drawn by Keith Watson
• 'Playful Stories were Frank’s preferred way' of writing - a look at the humour that Frank Hampson worked into the early stories of 'Dan Dare'  
• 'Leo Baxendale (1930 - 2017)' - an obituary of the comic genius who created The Beano's 'Bash Street Kids' and so many other wonderful characters for D.C. Thompson and I.P.C. including 'Danny Dare' for Wham! 
• 'The Shepherd King', part 2 of a three-part examination of Clifford Makins' and Frank Bellamy's strip about the biblical King David, comparing Eagle's strip with biblical accounts of David's life
• 'Eagle Society Gathering, 2017': A photo-illustrated report on this year's Eagle Society Annual Gathering and Dinner, which were held in April at The Queen Hotel, Chester
• 'In and Out of the Eagle': Two further instalments in the series presenting collections of Eagle-related snippets
• He Tried to Stop You Reading Eagle - Leonard Matthews', part 3: concluding the three-part adjunct to the series, 'They Helped to Bring You Eagle'
• 'The Road of Courage' - an appreciation and an ethnic criticism of Eagle's back-page story of Jesus as told by Marcus Morris and drawn by Frank Hampson 
• 'Space Fiction Movies in Eagle’s Times', part 2: a look at films about space exploration and alien visitations to the earth, the bread-and-butter of the Eagle's Dan Dare's adventures between 1950 and 1969. This part covers 1954-1956, including Conquest of Space, and Forbidden Planet
• 'Nelson’s Ladies' - a follow-up to the article on Eagle's story of Nelson, The Great Sailor, in the Spring 2016 issue, this takes look at Nelson's women as depicted in Comet in 1955 and later in Thriller Picture Library 
• 'PC 49’s Last Case', part 1 - beginning a new story, based on the characters originally created for the radio series by Alan Stranks 
• 'Dan Dare - Requiem, Revival or Reboot'? Is it time to say goodbye to Frank Hampson's creation, or time to try something new? 
• Two Tributes: Martin Aitchison and Howard Corn 
• 'Eagle Times - What’s Next?' As we near the completion of 30 years of Eagle Times, the editors seeks the views of members on the future of the Eagle Society's journal

This issue's cover shows the first issue of the combined Lion and Eagle, 3rd May, 1969

Eagle Times - Back Issues

We have received a number of requests from Members* about the availability of back issues (back numbers) of Eagle Times. Those listed below were available on 20 April, 2017 but, as some were in extremely short supply, Members are advised to contact the Eagle Society to check availability of specific issues before placing an order! 

• Vol 3  (1990) No 4 
• Vol 4  (1991) No 4 
• Vol 5  (1992) No 2 
• Vol 10 (1997) Nos 3, 4 
• Vol 11 (1998) Nos 1, 2, 3
• Vol 12 (1999) No 2
• Vol 14 (2001) No 3, 4 
• Vol 15 (2002) Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 
• Vol 16 (2003) Nos 2, 3, 4 
• Vol 17 (2004) Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 
• Vol 18 (2005) Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 
• Vol 19 (2006) Nos 1, 2 
• Vol 20 (2007) Nos 3, 4 
• Vol 21 (2008) Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 
• Vol 22 (2009) Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 
• Vol 23 (2010) Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 
• Vol 24 (2011) Nos 1, 2, 3, 4 
• Vol 25 (2012) Nos 1, 2, 3, 4
• Vol 25 (2013) Nos 1, 2, 3, 4
• Vol 27 (2014) Nos 1, 2, 3, 4
• Vol 28 (2015) Nos 1, 2, 3, 4
• Vol 29 (2016) Nos 1, 2, 3, 4
• Vol 30 (2018) No 1

For Members of the Eagle Society, back issues are generally priced at a quarter of the current Annual Subscription (ie £6.75 each for UK subscribers or £9.50 each for non-UK). If paying by Paypal, please add £1.50 to your total order. All payments in £ stirling, please.

* Although Eagle Times (the Journal of the Eagle Society) is supplied to Members on an Annual Subscription basis, prospective or non-members wishing to see a Sample Issue may now do so. Please see our post Eagle Times - Sample Issue.

This post replaces an original made on 19/12/2010 and any subsequent updates

Eagle Times Vol 30 No 1

Spring 2017 Contents

• 'The Shepherd King': part 1 of a three-part examination of Clifford Makins' and Frank Bellamy's strip about the biblical King David, comparing the strip with biblical accounts of his life. The strip began on Eagle's back page in September 1958. 
• 'Alan Stranks under closer investigation': some other facets of the rare life of the writer who created PC49 for radio, then brought him to Eagle, and wrote the 'Dan Dare' adventure 'Prisoners of Space' for Eagle in 1954
• 'Blunderbirds are Go!': continuing a look at Eagle strips of the 1960s with this send-up, drawn by Brian Lewis, of the TV series Thunderbirds
• The Original ‘Rider of the Range’: an examination of the life of Cal McCord, who starred in the first three Riders of the Range radio serials
• Dan Dare: The 2000AD Years, Volume 2: a review of the second volume of reprints of 'Dan Dare' from 2000AD comic 
• 'He Tried to Stop You Reading Eagle', part 2: an adjunct to the series, 'They Helped to Bring You Eagle', this continues the story of Leonard Matthews, General Managing Editor of Fleetway 
• 'Martin Aitchison (1919-2016)': a personal recollection the artist Martin Aitchison, particularly the Eagle years, written by Nick, his only son; illustrated with some of Martin's non-Eagle work 
• 'In and Out of the Eagle': a further instalment in the series presenting collections of Eagle-related snippets
• 'Harris Tweed, Eagle and 1950s Coffee Culture': an exploit of Extra Special Agent Harris Tweed in  an espresso bar inspires a look at this lost social scene of the1950s  
• 'Space Fiction Movies in Eagle's Times', part 1:  a look at films about space exploration and alien visitations to the earth, the bread-and-butter of the Eagle's Dan Dare's adventures between 1950 and 1969. This part covers 1950-1953, from Rocketship X-M to War of the Worlds
• 'Hulton's Boys & Girls Exhibition, 1958': a look at the programme of the third Hulton's Boys and Girls Exhibition, held at London's Olympia in 1958.    
• 'Yet More Eagle Miscellany' - a further collection of notes on Eagle history
• 'In Defence of Comics 1953' - reviewing an article that appeared in the Daily Express in 1953 defending comics as a route to the love of reading. The original article was authored by Lady Pakenham who did much to promote literacy in the young
• 'They Helped to Bring You Eagle: No 3 Brian Blake' - the resident artist and art restoration specialist who worked on Eagle in the 1960s