The Winter Eagle Times (Volume 32 No. 4) is out now and contains a range of articles about the classic British weekly comic, which celebrates its 70th anniversary next year.
There are two stand out items for me: David Britton‘s tantalising feature on a lost “Luck of the Legion” story for Eagle, which offers some snapshots of the plot from writer Geoffrey Bond; and Steve Winders insightful look at the Eagle tale by Chad Varah about Saint Patrick, drawn by Norman Williams.
Reading between the lines, I get the impression Steve may have conducted as much research into the source material behind this story, published back in 1951, as Chad Varah did writing the script.
It’s an excellent overview, although it does rather sadden me, as it reminds me of how, in my view, Titan Books dropped the ball in terms of marketing their Eagle collections of these non Dan Dare strips, rejecting my editorial proposals for the series, which included soliciting input from religious figures. I felt that would up the collections appeal to specialist distributors, but the editorial management of the day seemed concerned by taking this route and over ruled the suggestions. Sadly, sales of their edition of The Road of Courage were not as hoped and the series was curtailed.
But I digress. Here’s the full Eagle Times Volume 32 Issue Four line-up…
- Luck of the Legion and the Phantom Story by David Britton. A planned story about the Foreign Legionnaire that was never published
- Pop Goes The EAGLE by Will Grenham. A look at pop music in Eagle
- “Patrick – Fighter for Truth” by Steve Winders. An examination of Eagle‘s back page strip from 1951
- Eagle‘s Annuals by Joe Hoole. The first of a three part series
- Sergeant Luck’s Christmas Quiz
- Charles Chilton and the Indian Wars Part Seven by David Britton. A look at the “Riders of the Range” story, “The Cochise Affair”
- The Case of the Counterfeit Constable by Steve Winders. The final part of Steve’s Archie Berkeley-Willoughby story about art forgery
- In and Out of the Eagle (40) by Jim Duckett. This edition focuses on Harris Tweed
- Tailpieces by David Britton
- Postbag: Readers’ Letters
• Membership of The Eagle Society is via Annual Subscription to EAGLE TIMES magazine, which is published four times annually. Please make cheques payable to the ‘Eagle Society’. The current subscription rate for 2019 is: UK £29/ Overseas £40 (in £s Sterling, please) | Web: https://eagle-times.blogspot.com
Postal applications to: Eagle Society Membership Secretary Bob Corn, Wellcroft Cottage, Wellcroft, Ivinghoe, Bucks LU7 9EF | If you wish to pay by Paypal (from your Paypal account to the e-mail address given below) the Society request that you make your payment as a GIFT) | Enquiries: membership@eagle-society.org.uk
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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.
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