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

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

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

Eagle Times Vol 24 No 1

Spring 2011 Contents

• PC49 in The Case of the Crying Clown - beginning a new text story adaptation from one of Alan Stranks' famous BBC radio play police adventures
• Spaceship Awaaaaaaaaay! - Eagle Times presents a transcript of one episode from a Dan Dare radio adventure serial, first broadcast in 1954 on Radio Luxembourg sponsored by Horlicks
• In search of "Redmill" - a look at what is known of the life and work of Hubert Redmill, Eagle's sixth-most prolific Cutaway artist who, between 1952 to 1960 drew around 40 cutaway drawings for Eagle's centre pages.
• The David Pugh 'Dan Dare' - the first part of 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
• Rivals of Jeff Arnold - the sixth of the series takes a look at 'Gun Law', which started as an American radio series called 'Gunsmoke', became a long-running TV series shown initially in the UK as 'Gun Law', and then appeared as comic strips in Express Weekly and the Daily Express, drawn by Harry Bishop
• Tomorrow Revisited - a review of Alastair Crompton's recently published celebration of the life and works of 'Dan Dare' creator, Frank Hampson
• The Life of Another Brian - part 2, recalling memories about illustrator Brian Lewis, who  drew 'Home of the Wanderers' and 'Mann of Battle' for Eagle in the 1960s
• Yesterday rewritten - some personal recollections on the background to Alastair Crompton's Tomorrow Revisited
• Phonetic Phant - phantastically lighthearted wordplay, relating to Dan Dare's enemies on Cryptos
• PC49 on the stage - reproductions of advertisements for the visit of the stage production of PC49 to Manchester's Hippodrome theatre, Ardwick Green, in April, 1950
• Ron Embleton's Lovely Ladies - an illustrated article covering the many glamorous female characters Ron Embleton created during his prolific career.
• Sammy, Swift's Space Fleet Cadet: Stripography - part 1, summarising the Space Fleet stories that appeared in Eagle's companion paper, drawn by 'Dan Dare' artists Desmond Walduck and Bruce Cornwell  
• Obituary of the renowned Spanish artist, Victor de la Fuente who contributed 'Blackbow the Cheyenne' and 'Can You Catch a Crook?' strips to Eagle in the early1960s.
• Spotted in the Press - the story of a "real life Tintin" who may have inspired Hergé's famous character (who was created in 1929 in Belgium, but appeared translated for the first time in English in Eagle in 1951-952).

Eagle Diary 2011 (review)

Here's a fun, but practical item from Orion Books. I've had mine for a little while now, but just got around to reviewing it.

The Eagle Diary 2011 is hard-backed, red-bound and features a red ribbon bookmark and a black elastic closure strap.

This follow-on from the publisher's Eagle Annual: Best of the 1950s Comic, Eagle Annual of the Cutaways and Eagle Annual: Best of the 1960s Comic draws on the same wealth of material - The Dan Dare Corporation's archive copies of the original Eagle. 

Measuring a respectable 8½ x 6 inches and ¾ inches thick and with 7 days per page the diary provides plenty of space for the diarist's own entries and features reproduced selections of artwork, advertisements, comic strips, etc. from the original Eagle. Other useful items of included information are: interplanetary dialing codes (though including one for the Sun might seem a little odd - perhaps it's a hot-line!), bank holiday dates, interplanetary flight schedules and a vintage wine chart covering wines from all the major planets, including (from Venus) Mekonta Special Brew.

An additional bonus: the edge of the pages serves for a flick book - whereby a rocket ship takes off (or descends if flipping in the reverse direction!)

As with the former Orion Books' offerings the diary has a "retro look" and there is a one-page introduction from Daniel Tatarsky. Somehow that "retro look" (which before gained criticism from some reviewers, including this one) seems more acceptable this time around.

This is a very attractive nostalgia (but usable) item, and would be an ideal Christmas (or other) present for any 'Dan Dare' fan or former Eagle reader - there should be plenty: a survey by Hulton Press in the 1950s indicated that at that time 60% of British boys read Eagle! 

Priced at £12.99, Eagle Diary 2011 (ISBN 978-1-4091-1269-3) is at the time of posting available at reduced price from a number of outlets, including: Waterstones (at £9.09) Amazon.co.uk (at £8.57), Play.com (at £9.99) W H Smith (£8.05)