With the 60th anniversary of Eagle fast approaching (14th April 2010) now seemed like a good time to have a look at what that iconic front page of Eagle magazine might have ended up looking like.
Shown here are two of the dummies that Eagle’s founders, Frank Hampson and Marcus Morris, put together to sell the idea of Eagle to a sceptical publishing world (Click the covers for larger images).
Both images shown space hero Dan Dare prominently (albeit in purple, so the strip doesn’t quite yet have that ‘RAF in Space’ vibe) and have strips that would make it into the first issue of Eagle (The Great Adventurer and Rob Conway – as Secret City was renamed).
Who can say what became of Ernie and Joe of Strawberry Farm, apart from the fact that they were never seen again.
As the launch date got closer, so further issues had to be mocked up to show what the magazine would look like. The image here shows what a transformation has taken place since the initial dummy magazines were put together.
This is much closer to what the eventual second issue would look like but there were still a number of alterations to be made. Space Fleet are all still decked out in gorgeous purple rather than RAF green, the Eagle bird has yet to make it onto the front cover, the famous Eagle font has yet to be designed by Ruari McLean and the Dan Dare logo is not quite ready.
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics
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I know April 14th 1950 is usually considered the launch date for Eagle but did it have a cover date of a week ahead like other comics? If so, when was the actual launch date? Anyone know?