Dan Dare Times Two, Exhibition in Southport

By John Freeman on December 22, 2007

(with thanks to Stuart Roberts): Local Southport paper Champion reports the town, once home to his creator, Frank Hampson, can now boast two Dan Dare statues.

Two busts are currently being stored at Atkinson Art Gallery in Lord Street. A second statue was made for an exhibition, which is due to go on display at the Botanic Gardens Museum while the “real” Dan – a bust created some time ago which had been located at Cambridge Walks Arcade but had been vandalised – will be put in Wayfarers Arcade.

“Dan Dare is a massive part of the town’s history,” Eagle Club member and local councillor David Tattersall says. “Everyone who knows about the Pilot of The Future should be able to see the bust in Wayfarers and share their memories.”

Meanwhile, the Southport Visiter, which regularly reports on Dan Dare because of the town’s connection with his creator, has a feature on the new Dan Dare comic, reporting on the first issue’s strong sales.

Colin Gould, of the town’s Planet Eater comic book store in Union Street, told the paper he can’t sell his supply of the new comic quick enough.

He told the Visiter: “A lot of the regular customers have been coming in and asking for it, many are people who read the original Eagle in the 1950s.

“It is selling really, really well and the suppliers have had to order another shipment from America.”

The paper also reports a collection of Dan Dare memorabilia, loaned by Frank Hampson’s son, Peter, is currently on display at Churchtown Botanic Gardens Museum.

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John Freeman

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.