There’s been huge debate about the new Virgin Comics Dan Dare on various online comics groups, especially comment based on the six or seven pages pre-released as a Virgin teaser.

I for one was more than happy to wait to see what the actual comic looked like and now it’s available in comic shops worldwide, I’m delighted to say I wasn’t disappointed. Those previews actually had an interesting twist, and the re-introduction of all the characters was, I felt, well handled, speaking as someone not completely steeped in the minutiae of the Eagle original or later versions of the character that appeared in 2000AD, for example

The writing from Garth Ennis and art from Gary Erskine on this first issue is top notch: there are a couple of “wow’ factor moments including the cliffhanger and, aside from perhaps too many ‘close ups’ when it comes to battle fleets (I felt Gary could perhaps have pulled out more on establishing shots here, but this is a very minor niggle), there’s little to fault this latest interpretation of Dare at this point, in my eyes.

It’s great to see the book finally out and getting wide press exposure, including a BBC One Show feature piece fronted by cricketer Phil Tufnell from the bowels of Forbidden Planet London that was followed by Fast Show co-creator Charlie Higson waxing lyrical about The Trigan Empire from Look and Learn.

With this and the 70th birthday of The Dandy this week, it’s been a great few days for British comic fans!

• Read an interview with Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine on the main downthetubes web site

• WIN DAN DARE GOODIES!
Courtesy of those fab folk at Virgin Comics, downthetubes has some nifty Dan Dare competition prizes to give away to some of our loyal readers and DD fans!

We have a signed promotional poster by Garth Ennis, a Dare t-shirt and some special Dan Dare MMs on offer to the reader whose name is pulled from the hat after correctly answering the following question:

What was the name of Digby’s pet alien in the original Dan Dare series in the original Eagle?

Send your answers by email to downthetubes no later than 12 noon GMT on Friday 7 December 2007 to be in with a chance of winning. Good luck!

John Freeman

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: Comics Competitions