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Eagle (comic)
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The Eagle was a British weekly comic, which ran in two main incarnations over the period of 1950 to 1994 (with accompanying annuals). It is strongly associated with its flagship character, Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future, (created and illustrated by Frank Hampson in the earlier photogravure format), doing battle against the Mekon and other interplanetary foes.
In the gender gap tradition of the Amalgamated Press's weekly story papers dating from the 1920s, Magnet for boys, Schoolgirls Own for girls, followed post-war by comics such as Lion, Tiger and School Friend , the Eagle and Girl (1951 – 1964), clearly aimed at different markets.
Eagle was the creation of the Reverend Marcus Morris, then vicar of St James' church, Southport, Lancashire, who intended it as a Christian antidote to what he saw as the bad influence of American comics during the post-war period.
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The Eagle was a British weekly comic, which ran in two main incarnations over the period of 1950 to 1994 (with accompanying annuals). It is strongly associated with its flagship character, Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future, (created and illustrated by Frank Hampson in the earlier photogravure format), doing battle against the Mekon and other interplanetary foes.
In the gender gap tradition of the Amalgamated Press's weekly story papers dating from the 1920s, Magnet for boys, Schoolgirls Own for girls, followed post-war by comics such as Lion, Tiger and School Friend , the Eagle and Girl (1951 – 1964), clearly aimed at different markets.
Original version
The Eagle was the creation of the Reverend Marcus Morris, then vicar of St James' church, Southport, Lancashire, who intended it as a Christian antidote to what he saw as the bad influence of American comics during the post-war period. He strove to produce high quality, inspirational literature unlike any existing at the time, involving the work of teams of graphic artists such as Frank Hampson and Frank Bellamy - even creating mockups of spaceships to use as reference for Dan Dare. The Eagle and its sister papers Girl, Swift and Robin were designed by renowned typographer Ruari McLean, and were read by millions throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Eagle was one of the most popular comics in British history, selling just under 1 million copies per week.
The studio first used by the Eagle team was in a former bakehouse in Botanic Road, Southport, Lancashire, and the town's Botanic Gardens Museum has a display about the town's part in the Eagle story.
This first version ran from 14 April 1950 to 26 April 1969, when it merged with Lion. Originally published by Hulton Press, it was taken over in 1960 by Odhams, which was renamed Longacre Press. The following year Odhams was taken over by the Daily Mirror Group (now IPC), who produced Eagle until 1969, during which time the editorial assistants included Max Clifford.
Strips during the original version included:
Blackbow the CheyenneBlunderbirdsChicko illustrated by Norman ThelwellCornelius DimworthyDan Dare, created by illustrator Frank HampsonThe Guinea PigFraser of Africa illustrated by Frank BellamyHeros the Spartan illustrated by Frank BellamyThe Iron ManJeff Arnold and Riders of the Range, written by Charles Chilton, illustrated by Frank HumphrisKnights of the RoadThe Life of.... illustrated by Frank Bellamy and othersLuck of the Legion illustrated by Martin AitchisonHarris Tweed illustrated by John RyanPC49 illustrated by John WorsleyStorm Nelson illustrated by Richard JenningsTommy WallsThe Adventures of Tintin (only ran King Ottokar's Sceptre)Captain Pugwash created by John RyanWaldorf & CecilJack o'Lantern illustrated by Robert Ayton
The back page of The Eagle was usually devoted to depicting the life story of a (usually) historic character, told in the normal strip format over many months. These included The Happy Warrior (the life of Winston Churchill), The Shepherd King (the life of the biblical King David), Gordon of Khartoum (the life of General Gordon), Montgomery of Alamein (the life of Lord Montgomery), all drawn by Frank Bellamy; and The Road of Courage (the life of Jesus Christ), drawn by Frank Hampson.
As well as strips there was heavy factual content, including regular reports from The Eagle's own "Special Correspondent", former war correspondent Macdonald Hastings (father of Max Hastings, the newspaper editor), cutaway drawings of vehicles and machinery (by artists such as L. Ashwell Wood, reader contributions, and items of interest such as how to perform magic tricks.
There was also a series of text stories entitled The Three J's, written by Peter Ling, about the adventures of three schoolboy friends whose first names all began with that letter.
A number of 'Eagle Novels' were published by Hulton Press in the late 1950s. These included:
Dan Dare on Mars (1956) Luck of the Legion's Secret mission (1956) Storm Nelson and the Sea Leopard (1957) The Three J's and the Pride of Northbrook (1957). Luck of the Legion's Desert Adventure (1958) Jack O’ Lantern and the Fighting Cock (1958)
Revived version
The Eagle was re-launched by IPC (later Fleetway) on March 27, 1982, aiming for the same quality end of the comic-reading market. The marketplace had matured considerably over the intervening years since the first Eagle, with readers seen as disenchanted by a largely stagnant boy's comic industry. John Purdie had recently revitalised photo stories (photographic-based strips) in Fleetway's girls comics, and this tactic was extended to create the relaunched Eagles Unique selling point; most of the early strips were produced in photographic form, extending the medium to include science fiction, football and westerns.
This second volume ran from March 1982 until January 1994, with several relaunches/incarnations, however the comic had become a monthly anthology by this point with little new material.
Initial photo-strip incarnation
As stated above, originally many strips were produced in photographic format, and printed on heavy-duty magazine paper. This had the double-edged effect of increasing a strip's visual impact, but not only was it more expensive than producing drawn strips, the medium limited the range of stories, and led to unconvincing action sequences.
Dez Skinn characterised this period as "Photo strips and action stories are an ill-met pairing. No extremes, no tension. Just embarrassed amateur actors (ie office staff) wearing silly expressions and even sillier masks."
The strips were accompanied by factual articles, cartoons, and reader contributions similarly to the first volume.
Strips during this period included:
- The Collector - one-off morality tales based around items owned by The Collector
- Crowe St. Comp - the adventures of a group of comprehensive schoolchildren
- Dan Dare, often illustrated by Ian Kennedy and Oli Frey - notable for being a drawn strip, in lavish colour
- Doomlord- Eagle's most popular strip, a saga about a shape-changing alien sentencing humanity to death, but being replaced by another alien who served as Earth's protector
- Ernie - the Eagle's mascot
- The Fifth Horseman - a drawn strip, initially about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, becoming a story about an alien computer attempting world domination
- Fred- another half-page cartoon featuring a Charlie Chaplin-type character
- Gil Hazzard (Scorpio) - a drawn strip about a 'hard man', with the gimmick of its initial run in Stereoscopic 3D
- The Hand - about a freelance photographer who losses his hand in an accident. When his hand is replaced by dead gangster's it starts to control him
- The House of Correction - set in a Nazi concentration camp
- The House of Daemon - a strip involving characters trying to escape a haunted house
- The Invisible Boy - about a schoolboy who could turn invisible
- Jake's Platoon - set in World War II
- Joe Soap - a comedy strip about an incompetent private detective
- Manix - an action strip about a robot secret agent
- Saddle Tramp - a western strip featuring a bounty hunter
- Sergeant Streetwise - an undercover sergeant who used disguise to catch criminals
- Thunderbolt and Smokey! - about two schoolboys creating their own football team
- The Tower King - set in a modern-day London reduced to medieval anarchy
- Walk or Die - a survival story about children in a plane crash in the Canadian wilderness
Revert to drawn format
With issue 79 (dated September 24, 1983), Eagle reverted to a more traditional drawn-strip format, which allowed the use of cheaper paper stock, and also gave the strips more creative freedom. Some existing photo-strips continued in the drawn format, and the non-strip elements were largely removed. This was Eagles most stable and successful period; although in 1987 a mini-relaunch occurred, as the comic's size and paper stock was again changed (resembling the original incarnation) and several strips were replaced.
During this period, Eagle absorbed several other titles:
Scream! on July 7, 1984Tiger on April 6, 1985Battle Picture Weekly on January 30, 1988M.A.S.K. on October 29, 1988Wildcat on April 8, 1989
The original Eagle merged into Lion, which then was absorbed by Valiant, which in turn merged into Battle. So the January 1988 merger brought things full circle.
Original strips during this period included:
- The Amstor Computer - a 'story of the week' strip where readers sent in codes that loaded that week's story
- Avenger - a vigilante with a day job as a teacher
- Bloodfang - initially a naturalistic tale relating the life of a Tyrannosaur, who was later captured by time-travelling bounty hunters and shipped to a zoo in the 22nd century
- The Brothers - the tale of twins, one regressed to a 'caveman' state due to an industrial accident, trying to locate their family
- Computer Warrior, initially known as
Ultimate Warrior - a popular and long-lived strip featuring a boy who could play computer games for real using a 'real life code'Comrade Bronski - yet another incarnation of the 'hard man' formula, this time with the central character as a member of the KGB rooting out internal corruptionD.A.D.D. - Dial A Dawn Destructor, a group of rock stars, Dawn Destruction, who solved crimes during the nightDetective Zed - a humorous strip about a robot detective in 22nd century LondonDolebusters - a strip about three young would-be entrepreneurs who will do anything for ready cashThe Fists of Danny Pike - about an amateur boxer overcoming adversity to become world championGhost Squad - a spin off of Death Wish, about a squad of ghost detectivesGhostworldThe Hard Men (comic strip), also known as Clovis and Chowdhary - generic 'hard men' strip about two MI5 agents blackmailed into performing secret missionsKid Cops - a science fiction strip where, as all future wars are fought on the Moon, Earth is largely deserted and children must become the policeLegend of the Linkits - a toy merchandising tie-in, about a war of robots built from building blocks similar to Meccano or LegoManta Force - a toy merchandising tie-in, about a group of space colonists who end up in a civil war on their new home. The strip was notable for the colony ship/toy appearing roughly the size of a supermarket yet supposedly containing thousands of troops, tanks and equipment stowed away for the duration of its voyageNews Team - a group of investigative reporters undertaking adventures in war-torn countries and similarly dangerous locationsRoadblasters - a toy merchandising tie-in, about organised racing across an entire planetRobo Machines - a toy merchandising tie-in, about the battle of good and evil by sentient shapeshifting robots, similar to Transformers, but based on Bandai's British version of Gobots.Shadow (comic strip) - a strip about a wandering police dog, similar to Lassie but with more violenceSoup Squad - a secret division of Scotland Yard dedicated to investigating supernatural crimesS.O.S. - a strip from the back catalogue of Battle about a group of crack undercover soldiers, continued with new materialSurvival - a science fiction strip about a group of children struggling to survive in a world where every adult has died of plague. The strip is remarkably similar to Kids Rule O.K., which got its parent comic Action banned due to its continual and senseless violenceTimespellToys of Doom - a sequel of a frequently-reprinted multi-part horror strip originally seen in Buster in 1966, involving toys that could be controlled similarly to General Jumbo
Strips reprinted from the back catalogue of Eagles sister title, 2000 AD included:
- Ant Wars - an action strip involving battle with enormously mutated South American ants
- Gaunt - set in World War II, about an unbalanced 'hard man' given a superhumanly strong artificial hand to replace one lost during, originally from Battle Nazi torture
- M.A.C.H. 1 - an action strip about a British super-agent
- M.A.C.H. Zero - a prequel to M.A.C.H.1
Strips absorbed from Scream! included:
Strips absorbed from Tiger included:
- Billy's Boots - about a boy footballer who owned the boots of the legendary Dead-Shot Keen, which made him an unbeatable player
- Death Wish - about disfigured race driver Blake Edmonds, who undertook extremely dangerous adventures and stunts as he felt he had nothing to lose
- Golden Boy - an extremely gifted athlete who grew up in a feral state on isolated moorland
- Star Rider - an alien who stayed on Earth to compete in BMX championships
- One-Eyed Jack - yet another 'hard man' cop, set in New YorkOriginally from Valiant, and wearing an eyepatch
Strips absorbed from Battle included:
Strips absorbed from M.A.S.K. included:
Strips absorbed from Wildcat included:
- Joe Alien
- Kitten Magee
- Loner
- Turbo Jones
- Wildcat Complete
Glossy relaunch
With the issue dated May 5, 1990, Eagle relaunched yet again due to falling sales caused by the changing market. The relaunched comic contained fewer strips, all in colour, with large amounts of celebrity and pop music-related content.
Strips during this period included:
- A rebooted Dan Dare, attempting to return to the thematic roots of the character
- Beast! - a short-lived horror strip about a demonic creature terrorising a fairground
- The Eagle One-off - another 'story of the week' strip
- Dark Angels - a mature strip about teenaged skateboarding vigilantes
- Mask of Evil- another short-lived strip about a mask that forced its wearer to commit immoral acts
- Mowser
- My Pet Alien
- Rat Trap - a strip about a serial burglar, Dr. Ratty Rat (though exactly what he was a doctor of was never revealed), who looked like a rat, with a powerful sonic rasp. Readers would send in extravagant plans to trap him (e.g. 'feed him enough chocolate so he can't move so you can arrest him'), which would be executed by B.I.F.F.F. (British Institute For Foiling Felonies) but always failed (e.g. he would use his rasp to blow open the doors of the police van and escape).
Monthly anthology
In May 1991, Eagle moved to a monthly anthology format after being unable to shore up sales. There was very little new content, consisting mostly of reprinted Eagle strips. Publication was quietly dropped in January 1994.
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