Dan Dare

Dan Dare is the fictional British sci-fi hero in the comic strip, written Frank Hampson for the Eagle comic story Dan Dare. The stories have a feel of the British war films of the 1950’s although it is set in 1990.

The story revolves around the protagonist colonel Daniel McGregor Dare, chief pilot of the ‘Interplanet Space Fleet’, who leads his crew on missions to different planets in the solar system in search of ‘extra-terrestrial life forms’ or ‘aliens’. His crew consists of Digby, Sir Hubert Guest, Professor Peabody, Hank Hogan Pierre Lafayette, Sondar, Flamer Spry and Lex O’Malley the Mekon ruler of the Treens. 14th April 1950 saw Dan Dare making its debut feature on the cover of Eagle, a weekly comic strip magazine. Unlike other comic strips the storylines were long and complex lasting over a year for some plots. Arthur C, a science fiction luminary helped keep the story true to science, as he played the role of a ‘science and plot adviser’. The winged Anastasia was the spaceship used most often by Dan Dare and his crew. Zyl-bat and Tempus Frangit were also used for space travel. The Pink Floyd song "Astronomy Domine” was sung with reference to Dan Dare. Produced by Netter Digital, Dan Dare was later made into a computer-generated TV series. Radio Luxemburg aired ‘Dan Dare Pilot of the Future’ from 2nd July 1951 for five years five times a week.

The Dan Dare story that started in 1950 has a huge fan following till today. Numerous issues and strip’s of Dan Dare have been published.