IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE 4

WITH JIM DUCKETT

Eagle turns up in some unexpected places. In Simon Bartram’s children’s picture story book Man on The Moon, first published in 2002, set partly on the Moon and partly on an Earth highly reminiscent of the 1950s, the hero ‘Bob’, who travels daily to the Moon to show visitors round is shown with a copy of Eagle on his bed as he sleeps at the end of a busy day. The book proved a great success, winning the Blue Peter Book of the Year Award in 2004 and inspiring two picture book sequels and a series of story books about the character for older children.

  

IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE 3

WITH JIM DUCKETT

The first character created for EAGLE to feature in a television series was Anthony Buckeridge's Rex Milligan, who appeared in a series of six plays on BBC television in 1956, repeated in 1957. Buckeridge's more famous creation Jennings also appeared on television, but the character was not created for EAGLE. In 1957, John Ryan's Captain Pugwash, who ironically had not proved popular in the weekly, first appeared on BBC television, with the most recent new series being produced in 1998 and a live action film now being planned!


Another television series that emerged from EAGLE was Peter Ling's popular school text serials about The Three 'J' s, which were made by the ITV company Associated Rediffusion in 1958, when Peter was Head of Children's Serials. Two serials were broadcast in fortnightly episodes. They were Trouble at Northbrook, which lasted five episodes and Northbrook Holiday, which ran for six. Unfortunately neither of these serials survive.

Many readers will recall seeing Dan Dare in a CGI series on Channel Five in 2002. Originally produced by Netter Digital, who went bankrupt during production, the series was completed by Foundation Imaging. There were several unsuccessful attempts to produce a live action Dan Dare series, but Dan and Digby, played by Niven Boyd and Jimmy Yule were featured in several TV advertisements for Mobil Oil in 1987.

IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE 2

WITH JIM DUCKETT

   

       
The first three adventures from B7 Media's Dan Dare audio productions are to be broadcast on B.B.C. Radio Four Extra next month. The series stars Ed Stoppard as Dan, Geoff McGivern as Digby and Heida Reed as Professor Peabody. This will be the third version of Dan's adventures to feature on radio. Between 1951 and 1955, Radio Luxembourg broadcast Dan Dare serials in fifteen minute episodes, five nights every week. Noel Johnson, who had played Dick Barton in the B.B.C.'s popular adventure serials, played Dan and John Sharp played Digby. In 1990, to celebrate the fortieth anniversary of Dan and EAGLE, the B.B.C. produced a four part serial which dramatised Dan's first adventure from EAGLE. This serial starred Mick Brown as Dan and Donald Gee as Digby.    

IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE (1)

WITH JIM DUCKETT 
  

Eagle Times features a regular column called In and Out of the EAGLE and we are going to feature some of these to give a flavour of the magazine's content. 

Basil Dawson’s original EAGLE novel Dan Dare on Mars is well remembered by fans, but in 1977 the New English Library published a paperback adaptation of part of Frank Hampson’s first Venus story. The book was written by Angus P. Allan, a prolific comic strip writer, who contributed to TV Century 21 and became the principal writer for Look In, another comic based on television characters. He never contributed to EAGLE, but his father was Carney Allan, who wrote the wartime adventure strip Mann of Battle, which ran in EAGLE from 1962 - 64. The novel ends with Dan’s rescue of his friends from Mekonta and the Dapon’s sacrifice in destroying the Mekon’s Telezero ships, leaving out the Treens’ visit to Earth and the eventual defeat of the Mekon. Several frames from the original strip were used to illustrate the book, but reprinted in black and white.

1977 was a good year for Dan and EAGLE, for there was also Marcus Morris’ The Best of EAGLE, which reprinted extracts from many strips and features from the first decade of the weekly. Dan himself was revived for 2000A.D. comic, although in a much altered form, which did not please many of his old fans. The reason for this renewed interest was Frank Hampson’s Yellow Kid Award presented to him at an international convention of strip cartoon and animated film artists in Lucca, Italy, just two years earlier, when he was voted the best writer and artist of strip cartoons since the war by a jury of his peers. This awakened interest in him and in Dan Dare by the British press.

Eagle Times Vol 31 No 2

Summer 2018 Contents

• 'Charles Chilton & the Indian Wars' - The 1^st part of an in-depth series dealing with Native Americans and how they were interpreted in Riders of the Range.
• ‘Thoughts on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’ – Thoughts on the life of the famous author and his only story to appear in the Eagle, The Lost World.
• ‘Newly Discovered Dan Dare Reference Material’ – A couple of examples of newly discovered Dan Dare concept sketches.
• ‘The Eagle Society Annual Gathering 2018’ – A fun and in-depth report of the dinner.  All the talks and activities are covered with plenty of photographs.  This year it was held at the Hilton in Leicester.
• ‘Dundee: Venue for the Eagle Society Dinner 2019’ – This article gives us a flavour of what the city will be able to offer the Eagle Society during their visit next year.  It mentions a number of the major attractions that will be available.
• ‘Connaught Racing Cars: 1948 to 1957’ – An article on the Connaught company and how the Connaught B-Type centre spread fuelled a passion in the author for their cars.
• 'In and Out of the Eagle' - more instalments in the series that presents Eagle-related snippets
• 'Space Fiction Movies in Eagle's Times' part 5 - 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 1963-65 and includes (among others) Ikarie XB-1, The Day Mars Invaded Earth, First Men in the Moon, Unearthly Stranger and Ghidorah the Three Headed Monster.
• ‘The Case of the Educated Archie – Part 2’ - an Adventure of Archie Berkeley-Willoughby of Scotland Yard. A new story inspired by the character created by Alan Stranks for his radio show P.C.49
• ‘Whatever Happened to My Ten Percent’ – The text from one of the most anticipated fun talks of this years Eagle Society dinner.  It wonderfully covers various topics including King Richard III being found in Leicester, is humankind actually regressing and many more.

Eagle Times Vol 31 No 1

Spring 2018 Contents

• 'H. Rider Haggard's King Solomon's Mines from the Novel to the Strip That Never Was' - The story of the book and its various adaptations as motion pictures and comics, including the three pages of artwork produced for Eagle by Frank Bellamy, for a strip destined not to be published'
• Eagle Centre Spreads' - featuring vehicles that were also produced as Dinky Toys. In this issue: The Hillman Minx, drawn by Leslie Ashwell Wood (Eagle 8th Dec, 1950) and the Austin Healey 100, drawn by Hubert Redmill (Eagle, 8th Jan, 1954).
• 'The Lost Opportunities of Those Early Dan Dare Stories' - on the incidental "hooks" and loose-ends in Frank Hampson's 'Dare Dare' strip, and where they might have led
• 'The Bidding War for the 1963 Dan Dare Annual' - recollections of a school for-charity auction which tested the friendship of two schoolboys as, in 1964, they bid as rivals for the previous year's Dan Dare Annual
• 'U.S.A. Post Marks - Eagle Connection' - a couple of naming coincidences collected as postal covers: Kingfisher OK and Peabody MA
• 'In and Out of the Eagle' - more instalments in the series that presents Eagle-related snippets
• 'Flint of the Flying Squad' - on another series of police stories by P.C.49 author Alan Stranks, which also began as a BBC radio series and then went to comic strip, in this case in the Daily Express
• 'George Davies and His Eagle Connections' - on the 'Flint of the Flying Squad' artist and his connections with Eagle contributors Alan Stranks, Jack Daniel and Guy Morgan
• 'Invasion: Earth' - a review of a six-part mini-series co-produced in 1998 by the BBC and the SciFi Channel, which "captured the feel of classic British SF". 
• 'How Does it Compare to other Concept Cities?' -  On the Venusian city of Mekonta, which was first drawn by Frank Hampson for Eagle 21st July 1950, and other concept cities, both real and imaginary.
• The Case of the Educated Archie - an Adventure of Archie Berkeley-Willoughby of Scotland Yard. A new story inspired by the character created by Alan Stranks for his radio show P.C.49
• 'Gerald Palmer, 1935-2017' - On the former Eagle artist Gerald Palmer, who died in August 2017, and is remembered by former Eagle readers for his work on 'Dan Dare' as well as his cutaway drawings.    
• 'Space Fiction Movies in Eagle's Times' part 5 - 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 1960-62 and includes (among others) Assignment Outer Space, Battle of the Worlds, The Day of the Triffids and Planeta Bur (Planet of Storms)
• 'He Who Dares. Titan's new min-series - a pilot for the future?' - a review of the four part Dan Dare comic series from Titan comics, published monthly from Oct 2017 - Jan 2018, and which is to be published in "graphic novel" form in April, 2018 

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