Dan Dare by Frank Hampson (Part Three)



Classic Dan Dare (Titan Reprints, Hardback)

Vol 08: Man From Nowhere – ISBN: 9781845764128

Vol 09: Rogue Planet – ISBN: 9781845764135

Vol 10: Reign of the Robots – ISBN: 9781845764142

Classic Dan Dare Volume 8: The Man From Nowhere provides example after example of the genius of Hampson and his staff. Aside from the mystery of the Man From Nowhere, above all it is the incredible design applied to this strip which is just astounding. It doesn’t do justice to the creators to describe the designs as “ahead of their time”. In just the first two images reproduced below (which are two consecutive pages) there are several examples of beautiful, believable and genuinely futuristic design.

The “Police Escort” vehicle and the cityscape behind it (panel 1 of the image above) bring Blade Runner to mind, and the design of the space craft at the foot of the page is a fantastic combination of classic shape and original embellishments.

The first image of the page above, with Dan and co. on the viewing platform of the Stellarium, reminds me of a WW2 submarine commander standing on the Conning Tower. I have no idea if that was the artistic intent, but it’s an impressive image either way. Panel 6 is also very cleverly executed, it’s an unusual dutch angle, but with the exhaust blast used to split the panel across the diagonal, it gives an awe inspiring feeling of “us” down here and “them” up there. Which is quite an achievement when you consider how many Blast-Off’s we must have seen in Dan Dare up to now (and no. I haven’t kept count.)

This story gives us our first meeting of Lex O’Malley, the Dan Dare of the Navy, a return of Flamer and the first time Dan goes “Cosmic” but I’ll say no more about that because, as ever,  I don’t intend to provide too many details of the story as I’m loathe to give away any spoilers, but what I will say is, that if you want to complete the story be sure to read the next volume at least, if not the next two.

Rogue Planet is simply the next part in a continuing story after Man from Nowhere. Although it’s not obvious on the Titan reprints, it’s in no way a separate story.  In Rogue Planet we learn the complex history of the Man From Nowhere and we see a very alien world and culture explored by Dan and crew as the first humans to experience it. I confess to being mildly disappointed by the not so alien appearance of the evil aliens, but that is excused because of the lush jungle scenery that is illustrated beautifully on many pages.

Early in this volume, I had a real treat (bear with me on this, because it’s an odd point) basically, Dan strips his shirt and goes for a swim. I realise that this doesn’t sound particularly inspiring, but bear in mind that I didn’t start reading American comics until the 1990’s and realistically rendered human anatomy was not something that was very popular back then. I’m reasonably sure that this is the first instance of bear chestedness in Dan Dare, and it’s perfect anatomy all round. (For anyone interested in some of the best life drawings of the human form in comics, look at Kubert’s Tarzan, which I’ve raved about before, Jim Aparo for his minimalist, clean and simple approach and any Super-Hero work by the master of anatomy, Lou Fine, who, ironically was crippled by polio but drew the most dynamic and classically perfect heroes.)

All in all, Rouge Planet is an interesting adventure and certainly worth reading, but I think there were several missed opportunities in the story. Without wishing to give plot points away, the creative team had the chance to create an entirely original and alien planet and culture with this story, they had every excuse to run wild, but they never quite do. There is also a moral element at the finale that could have been played to greater effect, but, then, once you’ve read it, I’m not sure that Dan could, or should, act any other way.

The first two volumes mentioned in this post keep Dan away from earth longer than you might think. The third and final volume for this post is Reign of the Robots. Whilst it’s not a direct sequel to the earlier story, there are repercussions from earlier events that pan out in this sequence. Dan and the crew return to Space Fleet HQ only to find it ominously deserted, their subsequent search of London yields similar results. The opportunity for rendering cityscapes is not overlooked by the artists, and we are shown some stunning vistas of a futuristic but decaying London, familiar landmarks and all.

But this volume really begins to shine when we see the subjugated populace of Earth down trodden by the Evil Dictator of the piece. Bearing in mind that the Nazi Holocaust would have been very fresh in the minds of the young readers of the 50’s, this is a very emotive story, we see our villain indulging in human experimentation on every level with no regard for anything other than the supposed scientific enlightenment that this suffering will bring. Reign of the Robots is another high point in an already excellent strip, particularly in regard to the unflinching portrayal of Evil. My only complaint is the eventual return of the status-quo, which I’m sure will come as no surprise to any regular comic reader, because, eventually, all ongoing strips return to their starting point, but still, one hopes that some strips will expand and evolve in a complimentary fashion. Uh Oh, be careful what you wish for because you might get it…….

See the next (and final) instalment for the heart-wrenching details.

Mad Thinker,

Hail to the Groovy Boom-Stick Sugar Baby.