Dan Dare - Issue 1

[espanolbot]

As the entire issue is avaliable for free on Newsarama, I think the rules say that I can post this.

Anyways, I thought that this series was an interesting, albeit it underrated, little gem and I thought that more people should be exposed to it. If only because it's written by Garth Ennis, and people need to be exposed to more than just his "I dislike superheroes" stuff.

A bit of context, first. This was originally printed as part of the shortlived Virgin Comics line, as a commissioned series by the wealthy fan and eager space tourist, Richard Branson. But since the imprint was shelved, the entire thing was collected and put into trade by Dynamite, which currently also publishes Ennis' Shadow series.

The series itself seems to be a parody of Blair Era Britain, and a study of what being British meant back when Dan Dare was originally made in comparison to what it means today, particularly when compared to, say, American patriotism. It's interesting, and worth picking up if you can find it.






















Minor note: Some of the spacecraft designs in Dare's house seem to be from Gary Erskine's previous series, written by Warren Ellis, called Ministry of Space.
http://www.newsarama.com/php/multimedia/album.php?gid=767

If people are interested, I can post some more from the mini series. :)

Comments

[drmcninja]

Well then, consider me both impressed and intrigued. Well played, Garth, well played.

It;s the political stuff that does it. Without that, it would be another sci fi comic with a famous hero, but the politics set it apart. Dan and Digby are men after my own heart, to be sure.

[sharky_chan]

Dammit, Ennis...why can't I just dislike you and be done with it? _o_.

[atom_punk]

Huh. No gore-tastic decapitations.

Ennis is on the other half of the sine curve.....for now...

[owesome]

This whole series was easily the best thing to come out of Virgin Comics, and is an excellent example of Ennis at his best.

I think Ennis does his best stuff when he's forced to work within limitations- Hitman's mother-loving soft limits on cussing out mother-lovers - and is writing about something he sincerely cares about - War Stories, for example.