Action and adventure
Action and adventure |
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Page 4 of 42  'Morgyn the Mighty', The Rover (1929). Art/script: Anon. The tradition of 'muscular Christianity' was a strong influence on stories of this kind. The breakthrough came in 1950 with the appearance of The Eagle, published by the Hulton Press. In many ways it was a revelation: the tabloid size, the unprecedented production values, the high price (3d), the exquisite artwork and, above all, the stunning photogravure colour all marked it out as different in quality both to the comics that had come before, and to the DC Thomson story papers. The other thing that made it unusual was the use of a science fiction drama as its cover story. This was the remarkable 'Dan Dare - Pilot of the Future', written and drawn by Frank Hampson, chronicling the galaxy-hopping adventures of a stiff upper-lipped English spaceman. It was Dare's mission to speed through space and do battle with any alien who might have half a mind to colonize earth; a job which, give or take a few punch-ups and necessary acts of extermination, he performed with courtesy and charm. Such was the attention to detail on this strip that models of spaceships and interiors were built specially in order for the artists to have an accurate representation of proportions and shadow to work from, while scientific credibility was provided by the input of space experts such as Arthur C Clarke.  'Dan Dare' (1952 and 1951). Art: Frank Hampson.  The Eagle (Hulton Press) |