Peter Hampson, the son of Dan Dare creator Frank Hampson, recently launched a new web site dedicated to the art and life of his late father. It’s a marvellous cornucopia of delights that’s now fully operational, offering several galleries of rarely seen work at all stages of Frank’s career.
These include commissioned work such as his wonderful re-telling of the life of Jesus in the Eagle strip “Road of Courage“, as well as unpublished projects such as the intriguing “Peter Rock“, with its futuristic technology echoing “Dan Dare'”, originally commissioned by the Mirror group.
When Frank Hampson stopped drawing “Dan Dare” and “Road of Courage” for Eagle, he embarked on a number of alternative projects which were never taken up. “Peter Rock” was one of those proposed strips for the Mirror Group. Its relatively ‘finished’ state may indicate that Frank believed that this one would be published. The character was originally going to be called ‘Mael Strom’.
There are also other delights too, such as scans of Peter’s 1955 autograph book, which includes a gorgeous illustration by “Dan Dare” Eric Eden.
Finally, there are also items of art for sale, including some “Dan Dare” boards and a number of artworks such as the one below for Ladybird Books, published in Kings and Queens of England Book One.
• Check out the site in full at www.frankhampsonartwork.co.uk
The Spanish Armada by Frank Hampson, art for the Ladybird title Kings and Queens of England Book One.
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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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The proofreader strikes: “It’s a marvellous cornucopia of delights that’s now fully operational, offering NOT galleries of rarely seen work at all stages of Frank’s career.” Is there a missing ONLY and/or extra clause in this sentence?
PS Interesting piece!