List of Dan Dare stories

The list of Dan Dare stories details appearances of the character Dan Dare, created by Frank Hampson.

The original Eagle stories

These are the Dan Dare stories that appeared in the original Eagle magazine, which ran from 1950 to 1969 and featured the hero Dan Dare. The stories would often take place as parts of longer story arcs, and when this happened, the stories were grouped together as such. These storylines were reprinted by Hawk Books in the late 1980s and early 1990s, and as of May, 2009 the first ten stories have been reprinted again by Titan Books. The series of twelve hardbacks, each about 100 pages, splits Voyage to Venus and Operation Saturn across two volumes each. After a brief hiatus, the following two stories, 'Man From Nowhere' and 'Rogue Planet' were released in 2008, with The Phantom Fleet and Safari in Space continuing publication into 2009.

Three stories (Man From Nowhere, Rogue Planet, Reign of the Robots) were reproduced in the early 1980s by Dragon's Dream. The first of these books was particularly notable because the front page panel with the Eagle logo was replaced with new artwork drawn by Dan Dare's creator Frank Hampson.

Hampson used a studio system with several artists working together on each episode. These included Bruce Cornwell, Don Harley and Keith Watson.

Story Title Source Date Notes
Dan Dare: The First Story (variously referred to as
Pilot of the Future,
The Venus Story
or Voyage to Venus) 		Volume 1, Number 1
Volume 2, Number 25 		14 April 1950 to
28 September 1951 		Drawn and written by Frank Hampson.
The Red Moon Mystery Volume 2, Number 26
Volume 3, Number 11 		5 October 1951 to
20 June 1952
Marooned on Mercury Volume 3, Number 12
Volume 3, Number 46 		27 June 1952 to
20 February 1953 		Drawn by Frank Hampson and Harold Johns.
Operation Saturn Volume 3, Number 47
Volume 5, Number 21 		27 February 1953 to
21 May 1954
Prisoners of Space Volume 5, Number 22
Volume 6, Number 18 		28 May 1954 to
6 May 1955 		Drawn by Desmond Walduck.
The Man from Nowhere Volume 6, Number 19
Volume 6, Number 47 		13 May 1955 to
25 November 1955
Rogue Planet Volume 6, Number 48
Volume 8, Number 7 		2 December 1955 to
15 February 1957 		Drawn by Frank Hampson and Don Harley.
Reign of the Robots Volume 8, Number 8
Volume 9, Number 4 		22 February 1957 to
24 January 1958 		Drawn by Frank Hampson and Don Harley.[1][2]
The Ship that Lived Volume 9, Number 5
Volume 9, Number 16 		31 January 1958 to
18 April 1958
The Phantom Fleet Volume 9, Number 17
Volume 9, Number 52 		25 April 1958 to
27 December 1958
Safari in Space Volume 10, Number 1
Volume 10, Number 18 		3 January 1959 to
2 May 1959
Terra Nova Volume 10, Number 19
Volume 10, Number 40 		9 May 1959 to
21 November 1959 		Printer's Strike between June and August 1959; last Frank Hampson issue - Volume 10, Number 27; subsequently drawn by Frank Bellamy and others.
Trip to Trouble Volume 10, Number 41
Volume 11, Number 11 		28 November 1959 to
12 March 1960
Project Nimbus Volume 11, Number 12
Volume 11, Number 28 		19 March 1960 to
9 July 1960 		Drawn by Frank Bellamy, Don Harley and Gerry Palmer.
Mission of the Earthmen Volume 11, Number 29
Volume 11, Number 52 		16 July 1960 to
24 December 1960
The Solid Space Mystery Volume 11, Number 53
Volume 12, Number 23 		31 December 1960 to
10 June 1961
The Platinum Planet Volume 12, Number 24
Volume 12, Number 47 		17 June 1961
25 November 1961
The Earth Stealers Volume 12, Number 48
Volume 13, Number 9 		3 December 1961
3 March 1962
Operation Earthsavers Volume 13, Number 10
Volume 13, Number 23 		First story written by David Motton.
The Evil One Volume 13, Number 24
Volume 13, Number 32
Operation Fireball Volume 13, Number 33
Volume 13, Number 42
The Web of Fear Volume 13, Number 43
Volume 13, Number 52
Operation Dark Star Volume 14, Number 1
Volume 14, Number 9
Operation Time Trap Volume 14, Number 10
Volume 14, Number 38
The Wandering World Volume 14, Number 39
Volume 15, Number 13
The Big City Caper Volume 15, Number 14
Volume 15, Number 22
All Treens Must Die Volume 15, Number 23
Volume 15, Number 42 		6 June 1964
17 October 1964
The Mushroom Volume 15, Number 43
Volume 16, Number 6 		24 October 1964
6 February 1965
The Moonsleepers Volume 16, Number 7
Volume 16, Number 29 		13 February 1965
17 July 1965
The Singing Scourge Volume 16, Number 30
Volume 17, Number 6
Give Me the Moon Volume 17, Number 7
Volume 17, Number 26 		Last story witten by David Motton
The Menace from Jupiter Volume 17, Number 27
Volume 18, Number 1

This story was followed by a reprint of Prisoners of Space (Volume 18, Number 2 to Volume 18, Number 51)

Story Title Source Date Notes
Underwater Attack                        Volume 18, Number 52
Volume 19, Number 3 		                                Drawn by Eric Kincaid

This story was followed by a reprint of The Man From Nowhere (Volume 19, Number 4 to Volume 19, Number 32) and an abridged reprint of Rogue Planet (Volume 19, Number 33 to Volume 20, Number 17).

The original Eagle's run then came to an end when it was merged with Lion comic. Abridged reprints continued in black and white in Lion.

2000AD

Between 1977 and 1981 the Dan Dare character was revived to appear in the new 2000AD comic. For the first 45 progs (issues) of the comic, "Dan Dare" was considered to be the "lead" strip, and hence held the coveted centre-spread position, thus allowing the first two pages of the strip to be printed in colour. From prog 46 to prog 58, Dare was moved to the front cover, a move that not only allowed the fan favourite Judge Dredd to take the centre spread, but which also meant that by dispensing with the traditional single-image cover, the comic could effectively have an extra page of content.

Story Title Source Date Notes
Dan Dare Progs 1-11 26 February 1977 - 7 May 1977 Art: Massimo Bellardinelli / Script: Ken Armstrong, Pat Mills & Kelvin Gosnell

Story also known as 'The Biogs'.

Hollow World Progs 12-23 14 May 1977 - 30 July 1977 Art: Massimo Bellardinelli / Script: Steve Moore
Legion Progs 28-33 3 September 1977 - 8 October 1977 Art: Dave Gibbons & Brian Bolland / Script: Gerry Finley-Day

Start of 'The Lost Worlds' story arc.

Greenworld Progs 34-35 15 October 1977 - 22 October 1977 Art: Dave Gibbons & Brian Bolland / Script: Gerry Finley-Day
Star Slayer Progs 36-51 29 October 1977 - 11 February 1978 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Gerry Finley-Day
Doppelganger Progs 52-55 18 February 1978 - 11 March 1978 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Jack Adrian (Chris Lowder)
Waterworld Progs 56-60 18 March 1978 - 15 April 1978 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Jack Adrian (Chris Lowder)
Nightmare Planet Progs 61-63 22 April 1978 - 6 May 1978 Art: Brian Lewis / Script: Jack Adrian (Chris Lowder)
Ice World Progs 64-66 13 May 1978 - 27 May 1978 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Gerry Finley-Day
Garden of Eden Progs 67-72 3 June 1978 - 8 July 1978 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Jack Adrian (Chris Lowder)
Mutiny! Progs 73-78 15 July 1978 - 19 August 1978 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Jack Adrian (Chris Lowder)
The Doomsday Machine Progs 79-85 26 August 1978 - 7 October 1978 Art: Trevor Goring, Garry Leach & Dave Gibbons / Script: Henry Miller, Nick Landau & Roy Preston

Conclusion of 'The Lost Worlds' story arc.

Servant of Evil! Progs 100-107 17 February 1979 - 7 April 1979 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Tom Tully

Start of 'Servant of Evil' story arc.

Attack on Eternium! Progs 109-118 21 April 1979 to 23 June 1979 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Tom Tully
Traitor Progs 119-126 30 June 1979 - 18 August 1979 Art: Dave Gibbons / Script: Tom Tully

Conclusion of 'Servant of Evil' story arc.

The relaunched Eagle comic

In 1982 Eagle was re-launched, with Dan Dare once again its flagship strip. The new character was the great-great-grandson of the original, with the only other surviving original character being the Mekon, although a descendant of Digby was later introduced:

  • Return of the Mekon issues #1-33

Revolver

In 1990, a strip entitled Dare, written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Rian Hughes, was serialized in Revolver. It presented bleak and cynical characters and was a not-too-subtle satire of 1980s British politics. Spacefleet had been privatised, the Treens were subjected to racist abuse in urban ghettos, Digby was unemployed, Professor Peabody committed suicide, and Dare's mentor Sir Hubert Guest betrayed Dare to the Mekon and his quisling British Prime Minister, Gloria Munday (whose appearance and demeanour appear modelled on Margaret Thatcher). Ultimately, Dare destroys London, the Mekon and himself through a smuggled nuclear weapon.

The Planet

In 1996, The Planet published its first and only issue. Inside was a new and unfinished Dan Dare story, "Remembrance", drawn by Sydney Jordan featuring a slightly older Dare and apparently set some years after the original Eagle strips.

Virgin Comics

In 2008, Virgin Comics published a 7-issue Dan Dare mini-series written by Garth Ennis, with art by Gary Erskine. The series is set several years after the original strips. Space Fleet has collapsed along with the UN due to nuclear war between China and America; Britain survived due to defensive shields made by Professor Peabody, and has become a world power again as a result with the Royal Navy taking Space Fleet's role. Peabody is the home secretary to a prime minister modelled on Tony Blair, who has sold Earth's defence out to The Mekon out of fear of overwhelming odds. Dare, assisted by Digby (who sacrifices himself in battle) leads a spirited defence of both Earth and his honourable principles.

Notes and references

  1. ^ Dan Dare story index
  2. ^ Wright, Norman; Higgs, Mike (1990). The Dan Dare Dossier. London: Hawk Books. p. 96. ISBN 0-948248-12-2.