WRITER: GARTH ENNIS
ARTIST: GARY ERSKINE
There have been many attempts to bring Dan Dare up to date since the original strip in Eagle retired with its' protagonist in 1967. 2000AD tried a spikier revival when they launched in 1977 by bringing him out of suspended animation but it didn't go down well and the non-traditional elements were cranked back until it disappeared; a revival of Eagle in the eighties saw a more conventional story with the contrivance that this Dare was a descendant; more influenced by war comics this never quite took on either and reverted to a straight sequel featuring the original to no great effect. The next outing was Grant Morrison's heavy-handed but still striking Thatcherism satire Dare in Revolver, after which most of the rights' owners energies were in exploring TV and film in light of the weakness of the British comic industry, resulting in the single-season CGI cartoon Pilot of the Future. In print there was no significant new material until the licence was picked up by the recently-founded comic wing of Virgin Enterprises.
Dan Dare was the company's flagship title almost by default, the rest consisting of pretentious takes on Asian mythology and highly dubious celebrity-endorsed/imagined titles such as Dave Stewart's Zombie Broadway and Jenna Jameson's Shadow Hunter. Yes, that Dave Stewart and that Jenna Jameson; unsurprisingly the venture was not a great success and Richard Branson probably shed few tears after a management buy-out saw it break away as Liquid Comics. Dan Dare at least employed professionals in the form of Garth Ennis and Gary Erskine; their work on the title has since been reissued by Dynamite. Ennis opted to go somewhere between the various revivals; effectively everything after the initial strip was junked with Dan out to pasture but a mild dystopia had affected much of the rest of the world. A nuclear war had wiped out the USA and China, leading to the collapse of the UN; the UK (protected by Jocelyn Peabody's shielding) survived and the Royal Navy has taken over the role of Spacefleet. All is apparently well in the empire until the Mekon and a Treen fleet arrive in the Solar System, towing a black hole; the powers that be decide to recall Dan and Digby from retirement to help a fleet low on combat experience. Peabody meanwhile is Home Secretary to a Prime Minister loosely based on Tony Blair but more a blend of spineless 21st century politicians.
Ennis pitches this premise well and gets the mood just right,knowing when to go for dystopian satire and when to deliver straight-up space battles. Always one able to write military well without lapsing into rhetoric, he does a good job of making Dan the hero but filling the Navy with brave, capable men and women, best personified by Lieutenant Christian, an officer on the ship that takes him into battle who takes over the role of his executive officer later in the story. A political plot unfurls on Earth while out in space Dan breaks out of his clearly symbolic position in the fleet and gets to work, saving a colony from seeded Mekon beasts, helping prevent the fleet from a trap and going into battle. Ship-to-ship actions and boarding parties abound, all well-rendered by Erskine, who seems well past his teeth and lips stage and instead excels with his detail and action.
The frequent use of Dan as a metaphor for British national pride is well done; Ennis has always sat towards the relative right of mainstream comic writers (which is quite central overall) and it's one of his better qualities as it's always nice to have a break from characters beating themselves up for doing what needs doing. Writer and character realise that Britain is nothing to be ashamed of even if some elements are nothing to be proud of and a difficult tightrope is walked well.
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