The latest issue of Spaceship Away, the Dan-Dare-inspired anthology featuring “Jeff Hawke” and more, is available now.
Part 67 (Autumn 2025) offers “The Rotorcruiser Affair” a continuing Dan Dare story, that originally appeared in the rare 1953 Dan Dare’s Space Book, as “Dan and Donanza”, with uncredited colour from John Ridgway. Would-be World Dictator Rodrigues delivers his ultimatum to blow up the Moon – but has forgotten that Rotor-2 is not far away, with Dan Dare and his crew…
Also this issue, the Jeff Hawke story “Pass the Parcel” by Syndney Jordan continues, which originally ran in the Daily Express in 1963, here reformatted in colour by Martin Baines. This story, which includes a ghost-like appearance by Laura, Hawke’s scientist girlfriend, who had previously faded from the strip, features artinspired by the work of space artist Chesley Bonestell – and includes designs for winged Mars landers and return rockets.
Plus, in “Kalgan The Golden” a story by E C Tubb, featuring art by Ron Turner, adapted by Philip Harbottle, Kalgan, Tharg and Leedora travel to the world where Kalgan gained his immortality.
Highlights of this issue are, for me, Andrew Darlington’s fascinating profile of artist Eric Kincaid, whose many credits included the final Dan Dare story to appear in the weekly issues of Eagle, “Underwater Attack”, before it merged with Lion. There’s a double page spread mini poster by Eric included, too.
The usual “Space Review” continues, by Raymond Wright, reporting, among other things, on the latest SpaceX tests, their their “Starship” recently completing a sub-orbital test flight, though not without some damage. Plus, Raymond reports on new hopes for a European fully-re-usable space plane and the first test flight of a new compact, more efficient rocket engine.
A feature on Space Elevators is also of interest, not least because I featured one in a “Thunderbirds” strip for the next Fanderson annual, drawn by Bill Storie, that publication unfortunately delayed in release until early 2026. This well-established concept has been studied for many decades, consisting of nothing more than a ground anchor, a cable stretching upwards to a geostationary “top floor” station, a counter-weight some distance beyond, and an elevator-like vehicle that can climb and descend the cable between the ground anchor and the top floor. The essential super-strong material needed for the cables has, so far, not been found.
A Dan Dare Story Character Profile of Gogol, the Phant Ruler and some rather throwaway humour pages and a Christmas greeting back page artwork by Keith Watson flesh out what, it has to be said, is a rather an otherwise thin issue of this long-running title in terms of appealing content. With no new “Dan Dare”, this is one for completists.
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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, British Comics - Current British Publishers, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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