British publisher Haynes is following up its successful fictional guides to the workings of Thunderbirds and Wallace & Gromit with a Dan Dare Spacefleet Operations Manual, written by Rod Barzilay with illustrations by Graham Bleathman.

Set for release next June, this innovative Haynes Manual will take a detailed look inside the spaceships, space stations and various other craft that played such a huge part in bringing the excitement of space travel to the Dan Dare stories featured in Eagle.
Beautifully illustrated with cutaway artwork by Graham Bleathman and supported by fabulous contemporary comic-strip art, Haynes tells us this will be “the ultimate technical guide to the spaceships of Dan Dare and a wonderful addition to every comic fan’s bookshelf”.
The book includes:
- An introduction by Dan Dare and brief history of world government
- New discoveries, including cutaways of impulse drive and gravity motors
- Spacefleet and civilian spacecraft, including cutaways of all major craft
- Bases, space stations and defence craft, including Spacefleet HQ
- Alien craft including the Mekon’s craft and feature on Dan Dare’s own ship, the Anastasia
- New drive systems and what the future holds
Rod Barzilay will of course be well known to many downthetubes readers as the founding editor of the Dan Dare-inspired comic magazine Spaceship Away, while Graham Bleathman’s art has graced a huge range of newspapers and magazines, from cutaways of Thunderbirds and other Gerry Anderson craft to the workings of Walford’s famous square from EastEnders.
• Order the Dan Dare Spacefleet Operations Manual from AmazonUK
- About the Author
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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.
Categories: British Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Other Worlds