Steve Winders of the Eagle Society reports the death of comics archivist and fan Alan Vince last December, one of the first writers to interview artist Frank Hampson, the creator of Dan Dare, for Doug Gifford’s THING comic zine in the 1970s.
“Alan became a recognised and reliable authority and archivist on Hampson and the ‘Dan Dare’ strip,” Steve notes in a tribute on the Eagle Times blog, “contributing information and articles to several books, magazines and fanzines, including EAGLE Times – and giving talks about the character and his creator.”
Alan’s long interview with Frank, first published in Thing in 1975 (over Issue 19, 20 and 22, all available in read-only format via David Hathaway-Price’s FANSCENE project), was later republished by Titan Books as supporting material in their early Dan Dare collection, Dan Dare Pilot of the Future: Voyage to Venus Part 2.
He was also a contributor to the long-running Dan Dare-inspired zine, Spaceship Away.
“Alan provided information and occasional pieces for both 2000AD Sci FiSpecial and the 1980s EAGLE and its annuals and was for many years the first port of call for any journalist, writer or television producer working on a ‘Dan Dare’ project,” Steve notes. “Such was his reputation, that he was asked to work as an adviser on Paul De Savary’s abortive Dan Dare TV series in the 1980s.”
“…He told me how as a teenager he had visited the EAGLE offices shortly after Frank Hampson left the ‘Dan Dare’ strip and had been shown some of Frank Bellamy’s work on the ‘Terra Nova’ story before publication.”
Although better known as a writer, it appears Alan once held ambitions to be a comic artist, inspired by his love of 1950s British comics. In a letter to THING No. 14, published in 1973, he mentions contributing a number of science fiction illustrations to Vision of Tomorrow, “but a lot of my strip work has been either rejected or never used,” he explained. The zine published a sample strip both written and drawn by Alan – “Larry Read”, centred on a space doctor, clearly influenced by “Dan Dare”.
In the same letter, Alan, rather unimpressed by current British comics, outlined how he had read American comics as a young boy while living in Bermuda and New York, but it was British comics, particularly EAGLE, Express Weekly, Lion and Rocket he enjoyed on his return to the UK, regarding English artist such as Frank Hampson, Ron Embleton and Frank Bellamy as “unbeatable”.
Following the publication of this “Larry Read” sample, THING editor Douglas Gifford announced, in No. 15 the launch of a companion title, Graphic THING, which would include Alan’s strip, “Larry Read: The Sinister Satellites”. Alan had drawn this in colour, but it was to be published in black and white.
Graphic THING was announced as launching in May 1974, but finally appeared in August, delayed by Doug’s focus on THING. It was, it seems, the only issue; attempting to publish two zines proved too much. By Issue 18, Doug announced material planned for Graphic THING, including Alan’s Frank Hampson interview, were lined up to run in THING instead, as did other material on British comics.
In the 1980s, Alan commissioned a number of models of Dan Dare spacecraft from designer Martin Bower, which formed part of the Eagle Exhibitions display that toured UK in the early 2000s.
“Very sorry to hear this news,” commented Peter Hampson, Frank’s son. “Alan was indeed a superfan and a great source of knowledge on all things ‘Dan Dare’. He kept in touch with the family long after my father’s death. He’ll be very much missed.”
“I’m extremely sorry to hear this sad news,” commented David Hunt, who edited the 1980s EAGLE, paying tribute to Alan. “He writes: “When the New Eagle launched in the early 1980s Alan made contact with me offering his expertise on all things Eagle and especially the Dan Dare character. As Editor it thankfully proved to be a highly successful and professional association for me and I like to think that we also became good friends.
“Alan’s knowledge of Dan Dare’s exploits from the original publication was just breath-taking and I confess that I leant heavily on him as we attempted to convince new readers on just how important and exciting the character had been to readers of the 50 and 60s. Alan worked for me with good grace and much enthusiasm and I guess he was just delighted to be a part of the New Eagle editorial team… RIP, good friend.”
“Very sorry to hear this,” agreed comic archivist Steve Holland. “Alan was very helpful on a number of occasions when I wrote about various artists and on aspects of Eagle‘s history. He’ll be missed.”
Our sympathies to family and friends at this time.
Head downthetubes for…
• Read Steve Winders tribute to Alan Vince on the Eagle Times Blog
• THING digital archive on FANSCENE – Frank Hampson interview in #19, 20 and 22
- About the Author
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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, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Features, Obituaries
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Such sad news. Alan was a great chap and a top-notch Dan Dare/Hampson expert. Always helpful. His writing inevitably contained something new.