The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Several news sites are confirming rumours that had been circling concerning a return for one of the most respected and beloved of all British comics characters, Dan Dare. It has now been confirmed that a new monthly series of Dan Dare comics will launch this November from Virgin, penned by Garth Ennis, with artwork from Gary Erskine and will be set in a post-nuclear war future where much of America and Asia has been destroyed, leaving Britain as one of the few remaining major powers. Classic characters such as Dan’s trusty sidekick Digby will be included in the new version, as will Dan’s eternal nemesis, the Mekon.

“Dan Dare is the quintessential British hero. He’s our Captain America, our Superman, our Batman, he’s all of them rolled into one. He’s the original and the best.” Garth Ennis on Dan Dare.

(cover art for the new Garth Ennis incarnation of Dan Dare – this pic was uncredited on several sites but that looks to me like Bryan Talbot’s name on the bottom left. Certainly the cover promises a nice retro-future kind of look with big, space-going warships and even Dan’s helmet looks similar to the classic version)

I have a mixture of excitement and worry over this announcement – Dare has been one of my favourites for so many years that I’m obviously happy to hear of a major revival (apparently talks are also taking place about a possible DD movie) and hope this also creates more interest in the original tales (being collected in very handsome editions by Titan). But by the same token I’m also worried about what direction the character will be taken – for instance, I really enjoy Garth Ennis’ writing but I’m not entirely sure how he will mesh with the world of Dan Dare. Obviously a writer reviving a famous character like this can’t just do the same old thing and has to put their own spin on it – I accept that. But the question then becomes how much of a different spin is imparted and do we really have Dan Dare at the end of it or just a new space adventure strip using an old label? I remember as a young boy really enjoying the revamped Dan Dare in the early 2000AD, although the revived character rather petered out later on and it was so different from the original Dan Dare from the Eagle that you did wonder if it might have been better to create a new character from scratch.

Then again both Ennis and Virgin boss Richard Branson seem very enthusiastic about the original Dare, so perhaps it will be good. And Garth has already shown he can do justice to classic British characters with Battler Britton. As with anything, time will tell and its only fair to suspend judgement until I actually get to read the first couple of issues. Still, it is interesting that even half a century after the character’s debut he still has an appeal to readers, with even the Times reporting on the upcoming revival; there is just something about our square-jawed hero which keeps drawing back readers, even those of us born long after his heyday. Oh, okay, I admit it: cautious optimism is winning over my innate bookseller’s cynicism here and I’m actually getting a little excited to see what Garth does with it. Blame Dan for that – his stories have always carried a note of optimism in them.