Sunday, 26 July 2020

DAN DARE 1950 - 2020 EXHIBITION IN SOUTHPORT

The seventieth anniversary of Dan Dare is to be celebrated with a special exhibition to be held in the Atkinson Arts Centre in Southport, where both Dan and Eagle were created. The exhibition was originally intended to open in April, but the coronavirus delayed it and it will now run from July 27th until September 5th. Slots have to be booked and a one way system will operate, but there should be sufficient time for all who wish to attend to do so. Details can be found at:
https://www.theatkinson.co.uk/exhibition/eagle-1950-2020/

Thursday, 16 July 2020

EAGLE TIMES - SUMMER 2020

The latest edition of EAGLE Times is out now. A bumper issue to mark EAGLE's seventieth anniversary year, it runs to 56 pages and includes free gifts of two full colour prints of Dan Dare  pictures by Bryan Talbot.
IN THIS ISSUE:
EAGLE's annuals by Joe Hoole. The final part features the 1980's annuals.
Kenneth McDonough: The career of one of EAGLE's original artists, by Jeremy Briggs.
Dan Dare and the B29: Adrian Perkins notes the similarities between the interior of some of Dan's ships and the B29 bomber.
The Story of a Train That Went Nowhere: David Britton examines an in depth article prepared for EAGLE that was never published.
The Case of the Unwelcome Guest House. Part Two of the latest Archie Willoughby adventure by Steve Winders.
Childhood Memories by Kevin O'Donnell.
The White Funnel Fleet: The story of the steamer fleet which operated in the Bristol Channel for eighty years.
The Dan Dare Studios Ideas Book: Featuring the Phant  Interceptor Spacecraft.
Charles Chilton and the Indian Wars: Part One of David Britton's examination of the Riders of the Range adventure The War With Geronimo.
My own review of Steve Holland's new book about Rocket - The First Space Age Weekly.
Donovan: David Gould's account of the career of the popular performer and his visit to EAGLE's offices.

IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE 20


Published between 1961 and ’63 was Signal comic, a free publication to promote the toothpaste of the same name. As far as I have been able to discover, the comic ran to just five issues and was supplied to dentists and chemists to give to their young customers. Clearly inspired by the layout of the original EAGLE, its cover strip was illustrated by Don Harley and it also included strips drawn by Pat Williams and John Ryan.         
Printed in photogravure, it contained a mix of strips and educational features. It was printed on smaller paper than EAGLE and contained just eight pages, but it was a real comic with quality contents. In 1963 it was replaced by Gibbs Ivory Castle Arrow, a similar publication, which ran for eleven issues until 1966 and was produced by EAGLE’s publisher Odhams. Edited by George Beal, John M. Burns drew the cover strip, which was written by Keith Chapman and John Ryan also contributed a regular strip.