I have a real soft spot for Dan Dare (along with the old black and white Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon TV programmes). When I was a boy I remember my Dad finding some old Eagle annuals from somewhere and introducing us to the Dan Dare he grew up with in the UK. And then later I followed, for a while, the rebooted Dan Dare in the early 2000AD.
Now the quintessential British hero is getting year another reboot in a seven issue series. Looks good, though I’ll wait for the trade paperback before buying it. It’ll be interesting to see how the values of the 21st century get worked into the 1950s landscape Dare exists within.
More details on the release here at DAN DARE #1 – NEWSARAMA (with some sample pages).
Official release information at Virgin Comics brings back DAN DARE: PILOT OF THE FUTURE with GARTH ENNIS « Virgin Comics Blog
Reviews of the first issue here at Sunday Slugfest – Dan Dare #1 (of 7) Review – Silver Bullet Comics.
One of the reviewers asks some good questions about these sorts of reboots:
- Why don’t the revivals meet with greater commercial success? After all, they were huge successes when they first appeared.
- Since they keep failing to become contemporary commercial successes, why do people keep bringing these characters out of mothballs?
Most of the revivals (thinking of Flash Gordon, Tarzan and Buck Rogers here) fall flat, even with reshaping to new cultural conditions, though some, like the rebooted Doctor Who and Battlestar Galactica series seem to get it right. Something to think about.
