IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE 47

 

The image alongside of a never published Eagle was the mysterious issue that appeared at the end of an episode of Midsomer Murders called 'Electric Vendetta', which begs the question “Why didn’t they use a real Eagle?” I believe the answer lies in the picture of a ‘flying saucer’ from the same ‘issue’. The saucer closely resembles one featured in the episode, (shown below), so the page was specially drawn to link with the story. I don’t think the artwork would pass muster in the real Eagle, although to be fair, the pictures were photographed from a television screen. In the programme, several real back pages of Eagle are shown and these feature The Travels of Marco Polo, drawn by Peter Jackson. In this episode, Inspector Tom Barnaby reveals that he was a keen EAGLE reader as a boy and he still has his collection, so it is no wonder he is such a good detective.  

EAGLE has been mentioned and sometimes featured in several films and television programmes over the years. In the 1958 film Violent Playground which stars Stanley Baker and David Mc Callum, a young boy is shown buying a copy of EAGLE in a newsagent's and in the 1965 film Doctor Who and the Daleks, Peter Cushing as the Doctor is shown reading a copy. Not to be outdone, the Doctor Who TV series also features a character reading EAGLE in the 1987 adventure 'Delta and the Bannermen', which is set in a 1950s Holiday Camp in south Wales. (See the picture below). In the BBCs 1987 version of Agatha Christie's Miss Marple story, '4.50 From Paddington', copies of EAGLE are prominently displayed on the newsagent's stand on Paddington Station at the start of the film and later in the story, two boys are shown reading EAGLE. The most recent mentions of EAGLE on TV were in two episodes of the 2024 series of Grantchester, which is also set in the 1950s. In the first episode, the Rev. Will Davenport, played by Tom Brittney, punishes his stepson for a minor misdemeanour by banning him from reading EAGLE for a month, which seems a gross overreaction to me! Later in the episode, the boy's mother mentions Dan Dare and Digby. In the final episode of this series, the young boy is shown reading EAGLE dated 23rd July 1960. 

In Michael Palin's 1989 travel series, Around the  World in Eighty Days, Michael is shown wearing a 'Dan Dare' tee shirt and Nicholas Lyndhurst, playing Rodney Trotter, wears a similar shirt in an episode of the comedy series Only Fools and Horses in 1981. The 1980s EAGLE appears in a 1983 episode of Coronation Street, being read by Eddie Yeats, played by Geoffrey Hughes. Geoffrey was a keen 'Dan Dare' fan and he played Digby in a short pilot film made in the hope of being commissioned for a TV series in 1994. EAGLE and Dan Dare are often featured on Quiz shows, but if you know of any other mentions of EAGLE and EAGLE characters in drama or comedy productions, then please let us know.  

  

IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE 46

In 1956, EAGLE's publisher Hulton Press began to publish a series of novels featuring popular characters from the weekly. These included Dan Dare on Mars, Storm Nelson and the Sea Leopard, Jack O'Lantern and the Fighting Cock and Luck of the Legion's Secret Mission. However, there were also two novels by the well known historical novelist, Henry Treece. These were The Return of Robinson Crusoe, published in 1958 and Wickham and the Armada, published in 1959. They were printed on better paper than the other EAGLE novels and did not follow the layout of their dustjackets. The earlier'character' novels all had yellow jackets with a large red eagle emblazoned on them and a small colour picture depicting a scene from the story set near the top of the page, whereas these pictures show that the Treece book covers were quite different. The Return of Robinson Crusoe contained several colour and black and white illustrations inside the book and Wickham and the Armada contained several black and white illustrations, whereas the character novels each contained only one black and white illustration inside. The Treece novels were also higher priced than the others, retailing at 12s 6d as opposed to 7s 6d. It is impossible to say whether the publication of other new novels was abandoned because of disappointing sales of the Treece books, because Hulton Press sold EAGLE to Odhams Press in 1959 and while they continued to publish larger annual style books, such as EAGLE Sports Annuals, the EAGLE Book of Trains and the EAGLE Book of How it Works, the only new novel they published was the Swift novel, The White Hart Lane Mystery (in 1960), about 'Dixon of Dock Green', who featured in a comic strip in the weekly, which had probably been commissioned by Hulton. Odhams (under their 'Longacre' label) made many changes to the way that EAGLE had operated, scaling back several initiatives, so it is quite possible that the Treece novels sold well. 

The Return of Robinson Crusoe brought back Daniel Defoe's shipwrecked hero, now free from his desert island and living in England in the late seventeenth century. Treece's novel takes him on a perilous search for Henry Morgan's treasure. Defoe himself actually wrote an almost forgotten sequel to his famous book, but Treece ignores the events of the second book and his own story takes place at the same time. As the title suggests, Wickham and the Armada is set in the reign of Elizabeth I and the hero, Giles Wickham undergoes a series of perilous adventures after he becomes a fugitive, following a poaching incident. He then becomes an actor, a soldier a highwayman, a reluctant pirate and a prisoner of the Spanish Inquisition, before capturing a Spanish Galleon in the Queen's name. 

   

Both books keep the reader's attention, with exciting narratives and both bring the periods they are set in to life. Henry Treece was a successful author of historical novels and particularly those for young readers and his skills in storytelling and conveying authentic period settings are evident in both of his EAGLE novels. 

    

JOHN M. BURNS (1938 - 2023)

John Burns, who died on December 29th, aged eighty five, was one of Britain's greatest and most prolific comic strip artists. He was one of a very small group of artists who contributed to both versions of  EAGLE. For the original version he illustrated the famous Wrath of the Gods strip, which joined EAGLE from Boys' World in 1964. He also illustrated episodes of the non fiction series 'Bids for Freedom' and 'Roving Reporter'. For the 1980s EAGLE he illustrated 'The Fists of Danny Pike', 'Dolebusters' and a 'Dan Dare' adventure. But EAGLE forms just a small part of his contribution to comics. His work in comics began with illustrations for Girl's Crystal and School Friend in the 1950s. After completing his National Service, he illustrated strip versions of several classic novels for D.C. Thomson. He illustrated 'Wulf the Briton' for Express Weekly in 1961 and then several strips and story illustrations for EAGLE's companion paper Robin, 'Kelpie the Boy Wizard' for Wham! and in the late sixties and early seventies, many strips for the TV based comics TV 21, Lady Penelope, Countdown and TV Action. He subsequently contributed many strips for the long running TV based magazine  Look-In. He is well known on the continent for the Dutch sword and sorcery strip Zetari.

Excelling in both black and white and colour work, he also drew many newspaper strips, including 'The Seekers' for The Daily Sketch, 'The Tuckwells' for The Sunday Citizen, 'Jane' and 'Girl Chat' for The Daily Mirror, 'George and Lynne' for The Sun, 'Danielle' and 'Smythie' for The Evening News, 'Julia' for the German newspaper Bild and briefly, 'Modesty Blaise' for the Evening Standard. In recent years he became a major contributor to 2000 A.D. weekly, illustrating 'Nicolai Dante', 'Sinister Dexter', 'The Order' and 'Judge Dredd'. He also illustrated 'The Bendatti Vendetta' for the Judge Dredd Megazine.   

John had been in poor health for some time, finally retiring from illustration earlier this year. I was fortunate enough to meet him and his wife, Julia in 2005 at the Bristol Comic Expo and he kindly drew this pencil sketch of Arion, the hero of 'Wrath of the Gods' for me. Our condolences to Julia and his family. He will be greatly missed. 

Steve Winders

EAGLE TIMES VOL. 36 NO. 4 WINTER 2023

The final EAGLE Times of 2023 is out now and as the cover shows, there is an article about the Classics Illustrated series in this issue. Written by Kevin O'Donnell, it examines this popular publication which told many classic stories in strip form. Also in this issue is the final part of Steve Winders' reviews of the Luck of the Legion novels; a detailed look at the first 'Dan Dare' who was an American detective, by David Britton; a new series about the great illustrators of the 1950s by Adam Goodman, with Milton Caniff being the first subject; an article by Harry Royle about the actress Shirley Cain, whose early career was featured in Girl Annual; a piece by Peter Barr about the cricketer Patsy Hendren, who was a significant contributor to the early EAGLE; a one off Christmas story of Archie Willoughby by Steve Winders and an article about the 1960 - 62 strip 'Knights of the Road' by myself.       
 

THE SECOND CHRISTMAS EAGLE by John Culshaw

By Christmas 1951, EAGLE's huge popularity was well established and a wide range of EAGLE and 'Dan Dare' related products had appeared on the market, creating Britain's first character based merchandising success. In the weeks leading up to Christmas, EAGLE advertised many of these products in its pages. They included EAGLE card games, jigsaws, projectors, stationery, balloons, transfer sheets, 'Dan Dare' ray guns, telescopes and ties, 'Riders of the Range' cowboy outfits, ties and braces and the first EAGLE Annual. In addition to the royalties they received for 'Dan Dare' and EAGLE related products, the copyright holders, Hulton Press also gained from the advertising potential that EAGLE provided. At a time when the market for toys, sweets and other merchandise for children and young people was large and growing and commercial television had not begun, EAGLE's popularity made it the ideal place to advertise and advertise they did. In the last November and the first December issues of 1951, EAGLE produced four page supplements filled with adverts for Christmas gifts and for many years to come, these supplements would continue.    

The Christmas issue celebrated the occasion in style, with the letters of the title logo being covered with snow for the first of many times. The EAGLE symbol itself was backed by a Christmas night sky with the star of Bethlehem displayed prominently. At the top of the page, readers were greeted with 'A MERRY CHRISTMAS TO EAGLE READERS' and a decorative trim ran down the left side of the title box. Frank Hampson's 'Dan Dare' strip made a brief acknowledgement of Christmas, despite being in the middle of Dan's second adventure 'The Red Moon Mystery', which was not set at Christmas, when Digby compares himself to Rudolf the red nosed reindeer while struggling through a snowy Martian landscape. 

On page three, the 'PC 49' adventure was also an ongoing serial and made no mention of the season. This strip by Alan Stranks was now drawn by John Worsley, who had replaced Strom Gould earlier in the year.  Christmas was recognised in an article on pages four and five, by EAGLE's Special Investigator Macdonald Hastings, who wrote about driving an old Royal Mail Coach pulled by four horses, which is an image often depicted on Christmas cards and strongly associated with Christmas, thanks to Charles Dickens. This page also carried an 'EAGLE Window' box. These small boxes appeared weekly and advertised EAGLE merchandise. The 'EAGLE Window' in the Christmas issue was number 34, which gives an indication of the number of licensed products available and there would be many more. This particular window listed several products which cost less than four shillings and gave their prices. The bottom half of page five was devoted to adverts for Caley's Chocolates and Philidyne Cycle Dynamo Lighting Sets.

Page six was the Sports page and it acknowledged the season with a Christmas Soccer Quiz, with questions set by Arsenal's players. At the bottom of the page, the comedy strip 'Grandpa' by Peter Probyn shows the title character buying and wrapping a large present and then opening it himself on Christmas morning - a joke used many years later by Rowan Atkinson as Mr. Bean. Page seven was the 'Riders of the Range' serial 'The Secret of Ghost Mountain', which made no mention of Christmas. This strip, written by Charles Chilton, was now drawn by Angus Scott, who drew three serials before being replaced by Frank Humphris in 1952. The top half of the colour centrespread was a series of pictures by Leslie  Ashwell Wood, showing how the King's Christmas Message was transmitted from Sandringham via Broadcasting House to homes in Britain and throughout the Commonwealth. Readers would be unaware that his 1951 Christmas Message would be the King's last, as he died less than two months later, to be succeeded by his daughter, Queen Elizabeth II. The Christmas Messages were only broadcast on radio until 1957.   

The lower part of the centrespread was the latest episode in the 'Tintin' adventure 'King Ottokar's Sceptre'. This story marked Tintin's first ever appearance in English and came seven years before Methuen began publishing his adventures in albums. Created by the Belgian artist, Georges Remi (who wrote and drew as Herge), the boy reporter Tintin was a huge success with young readers on the continent and would later enjoy great success in Britain, with translations by Leslie Lonsdale Cooper and Michael Turner. However, his first appearance was not a great success in EAGLE and this was the only story to be adapted. This first translation, by an unknown translator retained all the original French names of the characters, with the exception of the inept detectives Dupond and Dupont, who were renamed Thompson and Thomson. Lonsdale Cooper and Turner kept these English names in their own translation and anglicised the names of the other characters, such as Tintin's dog Milou, who was renamed Snowy. As an ongoing serial and part of an already completed story, the 'Tintin' strip made no mention of Christmas.  

 Two half page informative strips occupied page ten and both related to Christmas. The first was in the series 'Great Headlines of the Past' and covered the unofficial 1914 Christmas Truce in the First World War, which oddly did not mention the football matches which took place between British and German troops. The second strip was in the series 'Eagle Eye Nature Detective', a series sponsored by Rowntree's Chocolate, which told the story of mistletoe. Page eleven was the Editor's Page and EAGLE's editor, the Rev. Marcus Morris used his letter to remind readers of the religious basis of Christmas. His reason for launching EAGLE was to promote Christian values and ironically, its success had led to it becoming rather focussed on promoting merchandising! He was clearly anxious that its primary purpose should not be lost. To this end, he also encouraged readers to attend EAGLE's first Carol Service, which was to be held at St. Paul's Cathedral on December 22nd. There was clearly a minor panic behind the scenes about the Carol Service as Morris informed readers in two places on the page and in bold letters that the service would begin at 2.30 p.m. and not 3.30 as stated in previous issues! In future years, EAGLE would organise several carol services each Christmas, which would be held all over the country, usually presided over by either Morris himself or the Rev. Chad Varah, who wrote many back page biographical strips and other features for EAGLE. Varah also took over the scripting of the next 'Dan Dare' adventure 'Marooned on Mercury' when Frank Hampson fell ill. The Editor's Page also included Christmas Greetings accompanied by small pictures of their characters, by EAGLE's artists and the three picture 'Chicko' strip by Norman Thelwell also took a Christmas theme as Chicko slept in his Christmas stocking, leaving a note asking Santa to put his presents in his bed. 

Also on the Editor's Page was a 'Competition Corner' with Christmas based puzzles and a 'Bertram Mills Circus Competition' offering prizes to EAGLE Club members of tickets for the Circus, which in those days spent the Winter season at Olympia in London. The bottom corner of the page advertised the latest EAGLE Club Diary. Readers were regularly invited to join the EAGLE Club, which offered tickets to sports events and shows as well as special offers on some merchandise and access to certain competitions. Initially readers could join for a shilling, which quickly rose to one shilling and sixpence, for which they received a membership card and a metal badge. The Club was a way of securing reader loyalty, but it also emphasised that EAGLE wanted to be more than just a weekly magazine. It wanted to guide its readers to become responsible people. Such innovations as 'Mug of the Month', which rewarded readers for service to others, show this aim quite clearly. EAGLE also organised activity holidays for Club members, including the EAGLE/YHA Adventure Holiday Scheme. Another innovation was the EAGLE and Girl Table Tennis Tournaments, which began in 1954. Although many readers joined the Club, obviously many others did not and consequently EAGLE offered many activities that were not available to everyone. The first clear sign of this problem came with the second year of the Table Tennis Tournament. In the first year, only Club members could take part, but in the second it was open to all and this was strongly emphasised in the publicity. The Club was nevertheless a success for it ran for ten years before being disbanded during Clifford Makins' editorship, but opportunities for readers were maintained.  

Page twelve was entirely devoted to 'Christmas Party Games'. Most of the games described were traditional games, but intriguingly the last game was 'The Dan Dare Game'. However, this was actually a simple tag game, with space pilots trying to get from one base (Earth) through 'space' occupied by Treens, who would try to tag the pilots before they reached their other base (Venus). The top half of page thirteen was 'Can You Beat It?' a regular informative strip and in this issue the information was all about Christmas. Readers were informed that there had only been nine white Christmases in the twentieth century (up until then) and that the first Christmas card had been designed by J.C. Horsley in 1843. The bottom half of the page was devoted to adverts for Subbuteo Table Soccer, Stamp Collecting and ballpoint pens and a plea for readers to save money for the N.S.P.C.C. Both Subbuteo and Philidyne Cycle Dynamo Lighting Sets were also advertised in the 1950 Christmas issue. On page fourteen was John Ryan's comedy strip 'Harris Tweed, Extra Special Agent' and as Tweed's adventures were single episode stories, this one was devoted to Christmas, with Tweed being tied up by thieves at a Christmas party and wrapped up in a giant Christmas Cracker. Fortunately his young assistant manages to catch the thieves and Tweed manages to claim the credit as usual.

On page fifteen in the 'Tommy Walls' strip, sponsored by Walls Ice Cream, Tommy and his friends catch a villainous department store Santa who is hiding stolen watches in one of his Christmas present boxes, ready to sneak them out of the store later. This strip was drawn and probably also written by Richard Jennings, who had a long run illustrating 'Tommy Walls' before moving on to 'Storm Nelson' in October 1953. Jennings also wrote many of the 'Tommy Walls' stories. He would later take over the writing of 'Storm Nelson' when the original writer left the strip and he adapted Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World for EAGLE in 1962, for a strip drawn by Martin Aitchison. 

The final page of this issue was the first part of a retelling of the story of the birth of Christ, from the viewpoint of a shepherd boy. Called 'The Shepherd Lad of Bethlehem' it was drawn by the regular back page artist Norman Williams and ran to just two instalments. The first episode ends with the shepherds visiting the baby Jesus and the second features the wise men, one of whom arrives on an elephant! Camels -yes, but an elephant!?  The strip also features a winged angel choir and snow on the hills, which contrasts strongly with Morris and Frank Hampson's 1960 retelling of the story of Jesus' life, which took a more grounded approach.      

This second Christmas EAGLE certainly acknowledged the season and despite the fact that its popularity had made it a merchandising gold mine, it also managed to promote the Christian significance and message in its pages. The confusion about the starting time for the Carol Service did not affect its success and the Annual Carol Services became a highlight of the Christmas season for many readers as services were held all over the country for the next decade.   
  

IN AND OUT OF THE EAGLE 45

A notable feature of the 'Dan Dare' strip, particularly in the early days, was that Dan and Digby had relatives, several of whom appeared in the strip. In the original Venus story, Digby actually has a wife and family, who are again featured in a text story in the 1953 Dan Dare Annual, called 'Aunt Anastasia Comes to Stay'. However, with the notable exception of Aunt Anastasia, Digby's family are forgotten in later stories. Aunt Anastasia actually helps to defeat the Mekon's plans to conquer Earth in the first Venus story, when she realises that Digby's apparently reassuring message from Venus about the Treens (made under duress) is actually a clever coded warning. Her contribution leads to Dan Dare calling his new Spaceship 'Anastasia' in her honour. Digby's Aunt appears again at the end of 'Marooned on Mercury' and in two EAGLE Annual stories 'The Double Headed Eagle' and ''Operation Triceratops'. She features alongside many other characters from the saga in Keith Watson's final frame for 'The Menace From Jupiter' in 1967, when Dan was promoted to Spacefleet Controller and even appears in a 'Dan Dare' strip in the new version of EAGLE in 1990 in a story also drawn by Keith Watson.  

Not to be outdone, Dan Dare's Uncle Ivor, an archaeologist, plays a major part in the second 'Dan Dare' adventure 'The Red Moon Mystery', informing Dan of the last visit of the deadly 'Red Moon', many thousands of years earlier, when it destroyed civilisation on Mars. He also appears briefly alongside Aunt Anastasia at the end of 'Marooned on Mercury', but plays a bigger role in 'The Phantom Fleet', where he is one of a group of V.I.P.s on a new spacecraft which is captured by an aquatic race who wish to settle in one of Earth's oceans and he becomes involved in successful peace talks with them. He makes his last appearance in EAGLE in the final frame of 'The Menace From Jupiter'. He also appears in Basil Dawson's 1956  novel Dan Dare on Mars. Three other relatives of Dan also feature in the saga. His nephew, Alastair features in 'The Double Headed Eagle' in EAGLE Annual Number Three, when he competes in the Interplanetary Olympic Games on Venus. Another nephew, Nigel, appears in the weekly EAGLE in the 1964 adventure 'The Big City Caper'. He is a member of a group of disaffected youths who the villain Xel tries to recruit to his cause, but is too sensible to be influenced by the evil megalomaniac. We never learn whether Nigel and Alastair are brothers. The eccentric Uncle Ivor comes across as a confirmed bachelor, which suggests that Dan must have at least one more Uncle. 

The last member of Dan's clan to play a part in the saga is his father, William Dare, who does not actually appear in the story, but is strongly referenced in 'Safari in Space', 'Terra Nova' and 'Trip to Trouble' in 1959. In this series of adventures, Dan travels to another star to search for his father who went missing on an expedition many years earlier. Sadly, the story ends with the discovery that his father has died.  

SIR BOBBY CHARLTON (1937 - 2023)

Eaglers were sorry to hear of the death of Sir Bobby Charlton last week. Bobby had a strong connection with EAGLE many years before he became a World Cup winner with England and a European Cup winner with Manchester United, for he was voted EAGLE Sportsman of the Year for three years in succession, from 1958 to 1960, being the final recipient of the award and the only person to win it three times. He also contributed to a series called 'Soccer- The Bobby Charlton Way' for EAGLE in 1960, where he demonstrated skills in a series of photographs. Bobby experienced tragedy as well as success in his life, surviving the Munich air crash in February 1958, when many of his team mates were killed. The picture below was published in EAGLE when Bobby won his first Sportsman of the Year award. Bobby told readers that he enjoyed reading the Cutaway drawings as he had considered a career in engineering. 

After leaving Manchester United in 1973, Bobby became manager of Preston North End and later also played for Preston, where I watched him many times. After leaving Preston, he became a Director of Wigan Athletic and subsequently joined the Board of Manchester United. He was a true sportsman and a great example to the young - a worthy EAGLE  Sportsman of the Year.     

(Tribute by Steve Winders)