Dan Dare, Spider-man original art by Jon Haward offered on eBay

By John Freeman on November 8, 2022

A fabulous Dan Dare artwork by Jon Haward is currently on offer on eBay, featuring a later incarnation of the famous Eagle comic hero.

Painted in acrylics, dated 1998, it looks to be a private commission by the artist who was one of several to work on the “Dan Dare” strip for new Eagle, under the editorship of Barrie Tomlinson. other artists include David Pugh and Ian Kennedy.

While the later Dan Dare incarnation gets short shrift from some, The Mekon never looked more threatening than he does here!

Offered by Kettering-based Vintage Delights, the artwork has a starting price of £399.99, and the online auction runs until 15th November 2022.

Also on offer is a Spider-Man page pencilled by Jon, inked by David Roach, first published by Panini UK in their Spectacular Spider-man title, from one of the original Marvel superhero strips the company was then able to commission – until Disney took over Marvel and, sadly, put an end to the practice.

Spectacular Spider-man #105 (Panini UK, 2004) - "DOOMsday For Spidey!" - art by Jon Haward, inked by David Roach — *Spectacular Spider-man #105 (Panini UK, 2004) – “DOOMsday For Spidey!” – art by Jon Haward, inked by David Roach*

Although listed as appearing in #106, a quick check of Spider-Fan indicates it’s actually from “DOOMsday For Spidey!”, which ran in #105, published by Panini in September 2004. The story was written by Jim Alexander, drawn by Jon, inked by David and, for the published edition, coloured by Dylan Teague.

Vintage Delights has a range of other great collectables on offer, including Star Wars toy figures.

Jon Haward no longer works as a comic artist. We wish him well.

With thanks to Richard Sheaf

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. 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 “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.