Classic Dan Dare: Marooned on Mercury

BBC Cult Online

... a wonderfully exciting collection of stories, escapism for boys in short trousers stuffed full of catapults and cigarette cards.
—Nev Fountain

Publishers Weekly

While not well known in the U.S., Dan Dare was the most important comic for a generation of British kids, having run through the 1950s and '60s in England. Dan Dare is a good-natured space pilot and hero; this volume contains the entire "Marooned on Mercury" adventure, as Dan and his gang, believed dead, are trapped on Mercury and captured by rock creatures. The story is old-fashioned wordy fun, not unlike science fiction movies of the time. It was serialized weekly in two-page installments, so the action can seem a bit stilted at times, and it is certainly too much to absorb in a single sitting. The series is best known for its artwork: lusciously painted visuals rendered by artist Hampson and a variety of assistants. Hampson designed a believable future-not too sleek, not too dingy, but rather a subtly different version of the present. Hampson's paintings are meticulous and colorful, but elegant and restrained. No bodice-ripping scenes or out of control monsters appear in the strips; everything has a certain modesty about it, including Hampson's precise brushwork. Dan Dare is a fun, lively artifact from mid-century England, and its artwork and attitude are worth a second (and third) look. (Apr. 30) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.