The latest issue of the Dan Dare-inspired zine Spaceship Away, Part 61, is available to order now.
Featuring a mix of strips and features, this issue sees the conclusion of the Dan Dare story, “The Corium Experiment”, and the continuation of the Jeff Hawke adventure, “The Comet’s Tale”, by Sydney Jordan.
Ron Embleton fans will be delighted to hear this issue sees the start of a new classic strip, “The Web”, featuring Bill Merrill of the Scientific Investigation Bureau. The strip first featured in Spaceman: Comic of the Future, a comic that launched in 1953, but only ran for 15 issues, published by Gould-Light Company.
PS Artbooks have previously collected some issues of Spaceman as part of their Silver Age Classics line, and Bill Merrill is also in the lineup for Great British Fantasy Comic Book Heroes, reviewed here by Jeremy Briggs for downthetubes, back in 2009.
Bill Merrill may sound familiar to some Doctor Who comic fans, thanks to research by Paul Scoones, who’s previously highlighted how one of his stories was plagiarised by a different artist into a strip that ran in The Doctor Who Annual 1970, “The Vampire Plants”.
This wasn’t the first time Bill Merrill was given a strange new lease of life, either. As Steve Holland notes here on Bear Alley, Mick Anglo, the creator of Marvelman, redrew a number of the stories while packaging titles for little known publisher John Spencer & Co.
There’s humour, too, as Dan Dare stars in “The World’s Greatest Menace”, written by Brian Berke with art by Dave Windett.
The issue rounds off with some art by Don Harley on the back cover from the story “Trip to Trouble”.
The issue also includes its usual “Space Review” feature by Ray Wright, plus other articles by Andrew Darlington (“The Collector’s Collector” and others.
• Order Spaceship Away on subscription – and back issues, too – from the magazine’s web site here
WEB LINKS
• Jeff Hawke – www.jeffhawke.com
- 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, Classic British Comics, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Magazines, Other Worlds
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