Eagle Annual: The Best of the 1950s Comic

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I read them from cover to cover time and time again,” he reveals, “then when I thought I had had enough of them I passed them onwards again to another delighted recipient. Eric Meredith from Chester was employed as technical adviser by the Eagle Comic as the 'Man from Eagle' who undertook daring stunts and wrote about his experiences in the comic.

In a recent Facebook discussion (which started round a completely different piece of art) mention was made of the two pieces of art above. If you really want to read the conversation you need to ask David Roach to befriend you on Facebook, but allow me to summarise:For what it's worth my current opinion is that it doesn't quite reflect FB's style from circa 1964/65 era - it's not quite dramatic enough IMHO and the suit doesn't look as sleek and "Bellamy-style-futuristic" as it should - too clunky around the hips , knees and boots - and the pose is just not ...well not like the way I'd imagine FB would have done it. The popularity of comics which depicted war faded after the end of the Second World War, and Eagle's previously unheard-of circulation figures helped define the content of most comics produced during the 1950s, including war. In contrast to other, earlier publications, Eagle attempted to educate the reader with factual, text-based historical stories, such as the life of Winston Churchill, as presented in "The Happy Warrior". A detailed account of the Second World War was given, while one strip lambasted German paratroopers, who on seeing British infantry below them, shouted "Donner und Blitzen! Der Englander!" [67] During the mid-1950s however, comics began sensationalising their covers with war imagery, and Eagle followed suit in the 1960s. [68] Correcting comic myths (1) – How many issues of Eagle were there?" at Boys Adventure Comics, 31 May 2018 Lion was merged with Valiant in 1974, Valiant in turn was merged with Battle Picture Weekly in 1976, and finally Battle was merged into the revived Eagle in 1988. [5] In a sense, the new Eagle was descended from the old.

a b Crompton, Alastair (25 October 1985), Where Eagle Dared, The Times, hosted at infotrac.galegroup.com, p.12 Evans, Janet (1998), "What's in the picture?: responding to illustrations in picture books", Early Childhood Education Series, London: Sage, ISBN 978-1-85396-379-7 David Roach" Techno- OK, That all seems clear enough that they weren't Howarth. It would have been weird him moonlighting over at Odhams. Do we know for certain that the 65 isn't Bellamy? The painting style is very like his. That said, the Dare book is painted in a very similar style as well, though the drawing underneath is nothing like Bellamy . The 65 is a big favourite of mine- I think it's a stunning cover. Morris, Sally; Hallwood, Jan (1998), Living With Eagles: Marcus Morris, Priest and Publisher, Cambridge: The Lutterworth Press, ISBN 978-0-7188-2982-7

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Bazley, Lewis (10 August 2009), Dave Gibbons on Watchmen, The Incredibles and digital art, inthenews.co.uk, archived from the original on 30 March 2012 , retrieved 19 June 2010 Burton, Richard "'The Eagles' are launched!" in Burton (ed.) Comic Media News #30 (Mar-Apr 1977), p. 11

Ramsden, John (January 1998), "Refocusing 'The People's War': British War Films of the 1950s", Journal of Contemporary History, Sage Publications, Ltd, hosted at jstor.org, 33 (1): 35–63, doi: 10.1177/003200949803300103, JSTOR 260996, S2CID 220066711 The Anvil was last published in September 1950, by which time its production costs had forced its new owners to cease production. [21] Following a huge publicity campaign, the first issue of Eagle was released in April 1950. Revolutionary in its presentation and content, it was enormously successful; the first issue sold about 900,000copies. Featured in colour on the front cover was its most recognisable story, Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future, created by Hampson with meticulous attention to detail. Other popular stories included Riders of the Range and P.C. 49. Eagle also contained news and sport sections, and educational cutaway diagrams of sophisticated machinery. A members club was created, and a range of related merchandise was licensed for sale. The comic was heavily publicised before its release; copies were mailed direct to several hundred thousand people who worked with children, and a "Hunt the Eagle" scheme was launched, whereby large papier-mâché golden eagles were set on top of several Humber Hawk cars, and toured across the UK. Those who spotted an eagle were offered tokens worth 3d, which could be exchanged at newsagents for a free copy of Eagle. [28] [29]Tatarsky, Daniel (2009), Eagle Annual: The Best of the 1960s Comic, London: Orion, ISBN 978-0-7528-8895-8 These guys (and Paul Holder) inspired me to work a bit harder (and the previous embarrassment mentioned above!) and I trawled through my Eagle comics to see where this unusual spaceship was used...and guess what? Eagle continued to be published through the 1960s, under a succession of editors (Morris was succeeded by his deputy, Clifford Makins). Regular changes in emphasis, including an increasing number of features on contemporary music and sport, were not enough to ensure the comic's continued survival. Although in 1961 its circulation was still about 500,000, under IPC, then Eagle 's owners, [nb 11] the comic suffered a drastic fall in quality. The centre spreads were replaced with the historically inaccurate "Last of The Saxon Kings", and letters of complaint poured in to the comic. Within months the comic's circulation fell to 150,000, and continued to drop. [58] By 1966 it was in decline. [51] IPC continued production until the comic's last issue, on 26April 1969, [55] by which time circulation had dwindled to an unprofitable 40,000. [59] Just short of its 1,000th edition, the comic was merged with its rival, IPC's Lion. [24] You'll notice Howarth has extended the drawing somewhat which in itself is interesting. I also wrote to Steve Penny to ask if he knew anything more but have not to date received a reply and am awaiting a reply from Barrie Linklater. Bowler, Tim (29 December 2005), Dan Dare conquers the art market, news.bbc.co.uk , retrieved 19 June 2010

Gill, Alan (8 August 1989), How Eagle brought Christianity to the newsstands, The Sydney Morning Herald, p.14 , retrieved 25 June 2010 The above illustration shows the spaceship, the fins on the trousers and the connecting line to the ship that are all featured on the 1965 Annual cover. I'm not suggesting the Annual art is by Watson but his art is obviously the inspiration for the cover whoever drew it! And it's gorgeous too! Sources disagree on the precise date on which Hampson left the comic, and therefore this article remains ambiguous on the subject. great deal of convincing that it’s Frank himself – you’re one of the few people who will understand? – thea b c Vince, Alan (1978), "Frank Bellamy and the Dan Dare Strip", 2000AD' Sci-fi Special, IPC Magazines, pp.48–49 Steven Austin" And Walt Howarth did paint some earlier Dan Dare Annual covers in the 60's, not sure about the 74 edition though.