Classic Dan Dare: Rogue Planet [Hardcover]

I got into Dan Dare through my grandad who was a big fan. Even despite it's age I'm always struck by how fresh these comics are. The characters are well fleshed out and ever amusing. The landscapes seem exotic and spellbinding even in an age where we are used to multi million dollar special effects. However, it's the fantastic plot lines that really keep Dan Dare alive. As I was reading through 'Rogue planet' I couldn't help but feel relieved that I had the next issue reprouced on the next page. Having to wait a whole week for the next issue, for the resolution of the cliffhanger must have been murder!

And it's so British as well. Not that I have a problem with comics from overseas but there's something so funny about having a character proclaim: 'It's not the Phants I'm worried about - it's food! Oh, for a Bob's worth of Fish an' chips!' as Digby does. Would you get the stiff upper-lipped-ness of Dare in a marvel comic? Would an alien ever be referred to as 'one of those chaps'? I think not!

Dan Dare is a weird mixture of the future that never will be and a past that never was (if that makes sense!). It's so funny, so vibrant I think it's a classic that has - and will continue - to stand the test of time. Go and buy it!

Eagle comic was founded by Marcus Morris and the first issue came out in 1950. Its heyday was from 1950 to the early 60s and its most famous character was Pilot of the Future: Dan Dare.

Rogue Planet ran from late 1955 to early 1957 and it was immediately my favourite of the Dan Dare stories. Waiting a week between issues was difficult but added to the expectation when the next issue was due. It is the second part of a trilogy: Man from Nowhere, Rogue Planet and Reign of the Robots and the trilogy is generally rated as the best of Dan Dare.

The quality of the artwork is amazing, such detail and vibrant use of colour by Frank Hampson who wrote and illustrated many of the Dan Dare stories as well as some other Eagle strips.

It is best to read the whole trilogy starting with the Man from Nowhere if you can but Rogue Planet can also be read by itself without missing anything of the central story where the planet Cryptos is invaded by the Phants from Phantos. I suspect there are some allusions to WW2 in terms of the invading forces, and their worst force the Kruels is reminiscent of the Gestapo or SS though no explicit violence above a fist fight is included in the strip. Dan and company manage to solve the situation; if only real conflicts could be solved so easily. The length of the story really rates this volume as a graphic novel, more than just a comic strip.

The quality is way beyond what I have seen of more modern comics and Dan and Co are all honest and ethical heroes.

It is great how these have endured. Dragon's Dream did a version of the trilogy in the early 80s where they commissioned Frank Hampson to draw an additional panel to replace the Eagle comic logo and make the stories less episodic. These are long since out of print but used copies are regularly available on eBay at modest prices though hard to get in really good condition. Hawk books then issued a more extensive (and generally better quality) range of all the Dan Dare stories copied from Eagle including the logo with date, price etc. The Hawk issues were very high quality and used copies are still sought after.

Sadly Hawk closed but Titan have stepped into the breech to offer the Dan Dare range. Highly recommended.

A very nice book respecting the original publication. Although the science fiction concepts of the time now looks quite naif, it is still quite a pleasent reading.