Sondar was a Treen, a reptilian inhabitant of northern Venus. Originally a servant of the Mekon, he reformed after Dan spared his life during a traumatic episode that also caused his first experience of strong emotion, which the Treens suppressed. He became governor of northern Venus when the planet was placed under UN rule at the end of the first story, but nevertheless joined Dan on later adventures. He was also a talented spacecraft designer, and designed Dan's personal spaceship. Here are some more interesting blogs to read: Life in Thailand, Life, Stuff and Things, Flash Online Games News and Peter Inns's Blog Distinguished Gentleman's Pipe: Dare was sometimes seen smoking a pipe, perhaps as a Shout-Out to the pipe-smoking RAF officers of the Second World War on whom the character was based. Dan Dare was created by Frank Hampson and first appeared in Eagle #1(01) (1950). Hero of the Spaceways A photograph of Dan Dare creator Frank Hampson with his son Peter in the Star Sound Recording Studios, from Eagle cover dated, 10th April, 1952 (Volume 3, No. 1).

The first story –“ Pilot of the Future”– adapted the Eagle’s Dan Dare· ‘Venus Story’, staying fairly close to the original, which sees Dan travelling to Venus in search of food for a starving Earth and encountering the evil Mekon for the first time. True Companions: The regular cast changed with each story, but the members would always be unfailingly loyal to one another.Bishop, David (14 February 2017). Thrill-Power Overload: 2000 AD - the First Forty Years: Revised and Expanded. ISBN 9781781085226.

Added links to Philip Harbottle’s videocasts detailing his adaptations of Radio Luxembourg Dan Dare adventures It’s believed the cast changed as the series progressed, with some voice artists unknown. We have only listed confirmed cast here – they were, apparently, never identified on air. Bob Danvers-Walker Xel, first encountered in Operation Time Trap in 1963. Xel is another enemy in the mould of the Mekon. Having stowed away with Dare at the end of his first appearance, in the next story Xel allies with the Mekon but the two fall out. Xel would make regular appearances through the 60s before being finally captured. Spacecraft of various designs were presented as the product of inhabitants of various planets. The vehicle most identified with Dan was the winged Anastasia. Designed by Sondar, it employed both Venusian and Earth space drives. Later, an alien ship was adopted and renamed the Zyl-bat. There was also an experimental time-travelling ship called Tempus Frangit ( Latin: it breaks time or time breaks).To show how science fiction mirrored life, the first issue of the Eagle featuring Dan Dare found Earth in the middle of a food crisis, with the launch of a desperate mission to reach Venus. This was a storyline which spoke to readers still living on post-war rations. Morris suggested they give up seeking a publication to run a single strip, concentrating their energies instead on creating an entirely original children's comic. He believed a market existed for a comic able to communicate the standards and Christian morals he was advocating in the form of action strips. It’s up to Dare and his bat-man Digby to help the enslaved people of Venus to rise up and defeat the massive green headed evil genius. Curiously, while the BBC Light Programme audience knew Johnson was Barton, his obituary in The Guardian notesa clause in his Radio Luxembourg contract compelled his role as Dare be kept secret. He came to feel the Barton image had ultimately spoiled his acting career and preferred to use his real name in the theatre, films and on television.

a b c d Jewell, Stephen (15 November 2017). "Dare to be Different". Judge Dredd Megazine. No.390. Rebellion Developments. Pink Floyd founder Syd Barrett wrote Dan Dare into his song " Astronomy Domine", from the band's debut album The Piper at the Gates of Dawn, with the line "Stairway scare, Dan Dare, who's there?". In Turkey, The Roket comic was first released on 9th Fe Grant Morrison and Rian Hughes. Dare (London: Fleetway Publications/Xpresso Books, 1991) [graph: first appeared July 1990-March 1991 Revolver and Crisis: illus/pb/Rian Hughes] The original strip, featuring the original characters of the 1950s Eagle, was revived in 1989, with artist Keith Watson providing the artwork for the initial run of stories. Watson had been part of the Dan Dare team from 1958 to 1960 and was sole artist on Dan Dare from 1962 to 1967. The artwork for the final stories was provided by David Pugh. The new Eagle ended in 1994.

Eagle featured a mix of features and both text and comic strip stories, but Dan Dare was to prove to be by far the most durable character to emerge from the publication. The gravity on Venus is approximately 90% of that on Earth, giving every human a small degree of superstrength while on the planet. They're not Kryptonians, but it does give them a bit of an edge. In 1990, a strip entitled Dare, written by Grant Morrison and drawn by Rian Hughes, was serialized in Revolver. It presented bleak and cynical characters and was a not-too-subtle satire of 1980s British politics. Spacefleet had been privatised, the Treens were subjected to racist abuse in urban ghettos, Digby was unemployed, Professor Peabody committed suicide, and Dare's mentor Sir Hubert Guest betrayed Dare to the Mekon and his quisling British Prime Minister, Gloria Munday (whose appearance and demeanour appear modelled on Margaret Thatcher). Ultimately, Dare destroys London, the Mekon and himself through a smuggled nuclear weapon. A porcine pastiche, Ham Dare: Pig of the Future, written by Lew Stringer and with art by Malcolm Douglas, appeared in Oink! comic. [23] Beware the Nice Ones: Dan Dare is as generous, kind and loyal a man as you could ever want to meet. Give him a reason to show you how good he is with his fists, though, and he will very happily oblige.

Cycle of Revenge: Discussed in "Voyage To Venus", after the Treen are defeated, the people of Earth state their conditions, such as total disarmament (an agreement shared among all parties), and an end to the enslavement of Atlantines. Things such as Food are only done at request, and only if the Treen are willing to provide. When the Treen question why Earth, as the conquerors, not just take the resources, Dan explains that Earth has learnt from its own history that to do so, and become an occupying force, would only breed resentment and lead to future conflicts. Drawn by Gerry Embleton, brother of Ron Embleton, also a comics legend, the new Dare was slated by traditionalists but loved by the audience it was intended for – the school children of 1982. The story went from strength to strength when Scottish artist Ian Kennedy took over the reins, but sadly went into decline in the late 1980s as a succession of replacement artists somehow failed to nail the essence of the character.Hampson used a studio system with several artists working together on each episode. These included Bruce Cornwell, Don Harley and Keith Watson. Heel–Face Turn: Dan fairly often persuaded a member of a villain race to change sides, the prime example being Sondar. The Venus of the Dan Dare strips was a lush planet, with three main races living on it: the emotionless, technically-advanced Treens in the north and the peaceful Therons and Atlanteans in the south. Separating the two was the Flamebelt, a band of volcanoes and molten lava inhabited by the dangerous Silicon Monster. Downer Ending: Dare, Grant Morrison's miniseries from the early 1990s, warps the original, idealistic Dan Dare vision of the 1990s into a satire of the real 1990s bequeathed to Britain by the Thatcher government. An injured Dan Dare comes out of retirement to investigate a conspiracy that's already claimed Peabody's life and goes on to claim Digby's. In the final chapter it's revealed that the British government has sold out to the Mekon. The story ends with Dare setting off a nuclear explosion that wipes out the Mekon, the corrupt government, and himself, along with an unspecified but no doubt large number of innocent bystanders — with the possibility left open that it may already be too late to prevent the horrors of the Mekon's plot running its course.