The latest issues of the Dan Dare-inspired magazine Spaceship Away – Issue 40 – has just been released, the glossy A4 magazine featuring not one but two all-new “classic” Dan Dare comic strips from Tim Booth.

The opening page of “Dan Dare: Mercury Revenant” by Tim Booth in Spaceship Away Issue 40

Along with the final episode of “Mercury Revenant” (which has a Christmas themed ending true to the original Eagle) and “Parsecular Tales“, this issue sees finales to “Nick Hazard: Planet of Doom” by Ron Turner, coloured by Martin Baines, and “Jet Morgan and the Space Pirates”, drawn by Ferdinando Taconi, ending Charles Chilton‘s Journey into Space saga.

There’s a treat in store for those curious about the new B7 Media Dan Dare Audio Adventures, which launch next month from Big Finish: not only has our very own Jeremy Briggs delivered a full-length behind-the-scenes feature, complete with photographs from the recording back in April, there’s also a gallery of Brian Williamson‘s promotional art for the first three episodes, with Voyage to Venus as a centrespread.

Jeremy also interviews Dave Gibbons about his work on 2000AD’s “Dan Dare” strip, and David Ashford provides a revealing feature on Syd Jordan’s strip “Hal Starr”.

The whole issue, available to order soon to non-subscribers from the magazine’s web site, is rounded off nicely with a cartoon strip by Steve English and art by Eagle veteran Don Harley.

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, John works as a comics editor, writer, as Creative Consultant on the Dan Dare audio adventures for B7 Media, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. Working in British comics publishing for over 30 years, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Star Trek Magazine and Babylon 5 Magazine. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War and “Dan Dare”. He’s the writer of “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz, published on Tapastic; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood for digital comic 100% Biodegradable.

Categories: downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, SF Comics

Tags: Dan Dare, Dan Dare Audio Adventures, Dave Gibbons, David Ashford, Don Harley, Hal Starr, Jeremy Briggs, Martin Baines, Nick Hazard, Ron Turner, Spaceship Away, Steve English, Syd Jordan, Tim Booth