IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE 50

There were two 'Dan Dare' Annuals during the run of the original EAGLE, another in 1973 (for 1974), two more for the 2000 A.D. version of Dan and another two during the run of the 1980s EAGLE. However the EAGLE strip which had most annuals was 'Riders of the Range', which had an annual every year from 1951 until 1961, making eleven in total. The first five were published by Juvenile Productions, under licence from EAGLE and the last six were published by Hulton and later Longacre Press, who also published EAGLE. Confusingly, these last six annuals were numbered from one to six. All the annuals were credited to Charles Chilton, who created 'Riders of the Range' originally for B.B.C. radio, but also wrote all the 'Riders' strips in EAGLE. The annuals included adventure strips and text stories featuring the main characters as well as illustrated articles about aspects of the American West, including weapons, Native American traditions and practices and articles about the real people and events that made the West. They also included practical activities, such as how to make a Native American war bonnet and bow and there were Western related puzzles and games. 

The books were predominantly black and white, but each of the Juvenile Productions annuals included several colour plates, while the later Hulton and Longacre ones each contained a single colour plate. The strip's longest running artist, Frank Humphris produced a few illustrations for text articles, but he  was usually too busy working on the weekly strip to contribute to the annuals and a host of artists were used over the years. These included Harry Bishop, Roland Davies, Frank R. Grey, Michael Godfrey, James Holdaway, Richard Jennings, C.G. Kingshott, James E. Mc Connell, Bill Mevin, Pat Nevin, Angus Scott, Desmond Walduck, Pat Williams and Roy Williams. The annuals proved extremely popular, despite the radio series ending in 1953 and the final annual in 1961 (dated 1962) was published just a few months before the EAGLE strip ended in March 1962. 

THE 'RETURN' OF STORM NELSON

Three years ago I gave a speech at the EAGLE Gathering in Southport where I commented on the number of storms that were battering the country. I said that giving them names was only encouraging them and that I was looking forward to 'Storm Nelson'. Well now we have 'Storm Nelson'. Named by the Spanish Weather Service, it has brought strong winds, heavy rain and low temperatures to Britain, with snow in places. EAGLE's Storm Nelson was a 'sea adventurer', who owned a Fleet of marine vehicles, including a ship, a motor launch, a submarine and a small helicopter, which he and his team used to right wrongs all over the world. The strip, by Guy Morgan, who wrote as Edward Trice, began in October 1953 and ran until March 1962. Morgan was a film and television writer who also wrote a 'Storm Nelson' novel, Storm Nelson and the Sea Leopard. Most of the stories were drawn by Richard Jennings, who also took over the writing of the strip for the final year. Giorgio Bellavitis also illustrated two stories. 

Steve Winders