Dan Dare: Prisoners of Space

 

By Frank Hampson & Desmond Walduck (Titan Books)
ISBN: 1-84576-151-0

Great Britain’s greatest hero returns in this collection of strips that originally ran in the Eagle from 28th May 1954 until 6th May 1955. When two young cadets from the “Astral Training College” have another of their slight mishaps it leads to another confrontation with an old enemy and endangers the entire Solar System.

Steve Valiant and Flamer Spry will one day be great pilots, if they don’t kill themselves first, or their tutors don’t do it for them. When an exercise goes wrong, the two boys and the crusty old civilian mechanic “Groupie” are sent hurtling up to the deep orbiting space station XQY. As if that’s not bad enough, once they get there it’s only to find that the satellite has been taken over by the monstrous Mekon, and his rebel Treens, as the first step in a plan to reconquer Venus and crush Earth.

It takes all of Dan Dare’s heroism, ingenuity and resourcefulness to once more save the day, and how he does so makes for some absolutely splendid old-fashioned entertainment.

This nigh year-long epic shows Hampson and his cohorts at the peak of their game, combining action, adventure and fantastic thrills with the traditional British fare of waggish schoolboy heroes. Charming and captivating, these stories are true treasures of English heritage.

© 2007 Dan Dare Corporation Ltd. All Rights Reserved.