Eagle Times latest issue is now out

The latest issue of Eagle Times, the quarterly journal of the Eagle Society - dedicated to the memory of Britain's national picture strip weekly - Eagle - is now out

The lead article is the unpublished 'King Solomon's mines' strip by British comics legend Frank Bellamy.
Other features / articles cover
Eagle centrespreads
Flint of the flying squad
  Artist George Davies
  Mekonta and other concept cities
  Gerald Palmer, an appreciation
  Space fiction movies in Eagle's time

For more details...
Annual subscription is £29 (UK), £40 (overseas)
Subscriptions to Bob Corn, Wellcroft Cottage, Ivinghoe, Leighton Buzzard, Befordshire, LU7 
Eagle Times is A4, full colour, 44 pages

Eagle Times - Summer 2017

The latest issue of Eagle Times, the journal of the Eagle Society (dedicated to the memory of Britain's national strip cartoon weekly), has just been published.


The Summer 2017 issue (volume 30, part 2) has much of interest - as well as a very striking cover...

Highlights look set to include...

'Life after Eagle' - a recollection of the merged Lion and Eagle from 1969 - 1970 - where 'Dan Dare' lived on for a while, albeit as repeats and in black-and-white 

'Hulton's Boys and Girls Exhibition: 1959' - a look at the programme of the fourth Hulton's Boys and Girls Exhibition, held at London's Olympia in August 1959

'Leo Baxendale (1930 - 2017)' - an obituary of the comic genius who created The Beano's 'Bash Street Kids' and so many other wonderful characters for D.C. Thompson and I.P.C. including 'Danny Dare' for Wham! 

'The Shepherd King', part 2 of a three-part examination of Clifford Makins' and Frank Bellamy's strip about the biblical King David, comparing Eagle's strip with biblical accounts of David's life

'The Road of Courage' - an appreciation and an ethnic criticism of Eagle's back-page story of Jesus as told by Marcus Morris and drawn by Frank Hampson 

'Space Fiction Movies in Eagle’s Times', part 2: a look at films about space exploration and alien visitations to the earth, the bread-and-butter of the Eagle's Dan Dare's adventures between 1950 and 1969. This part covers 1954-1956, including Conquest of Space, and Forbidden Planet

'PC 49’s Last Case', part 1 - beginning a new story, based on the characters originally created for the radio series by Alan Stranks 

Two Tributes: Martin Aitchison and Howard Corn 

'Eagle Times - What’s Next?' As we near the completion of 30 years of Eagle Times, the editors seeks the views of members on the future of the Eagle Society's journal

Full details can be found here - including how to subscribe - currently the price for UK subscribers is £27 per year, for which you receive 4 (A4) magazines a year.

Eagle Times - new issue out now

A quick (albeit belated) shout out for the current issue of Eagle Times, the quarterly journal of the Eagle Society. The latest issue is now available.
More details are available here

Franke Bellamy front cover...

'The Shepherd King': part 1 of a three-part examination of Clifford Makins' and Frank Bellamy's strip about the biblical King David, comparing the strip with biblical accounts of his life. The strip began on Eagle's back page in September 1958.

'Alan Stranks under closer investigation': some other facets of the rare life of the writer who created PC49 for radio, then brought him to Eagle, and wrote the 'Dan Dare' adventure 'Prisoners of Space' for Eagle in 1954

'Blunderbirds are Go!': continuing a look at Eagle strips of the 1960s with this send-up, drawn by Brian Lewis, of the TV series Thunderbirds

The Original ‘Rider of the Range’: an examination of the life of Cal McCord, who starred in the first three Riders of the Range radio serials

Dan Dare: The 2000AD Years, Volume 2: a review of the second volume of reprints of 'Dan Dare' from 2000AD comic 

'He Tried to Stop You Reading Eagle', part 2: an adjunct to the series, 'They Helped to Bring You Eagle', this continues the story of Leonard Matthews, General Managing Editor of Fleetway 

'Martin Aitchison (1919-2016)': a personal recollection the artist Martin Aitchison, particularly the Eagle years, written by Nick, his only son; illustrated with some of Martin's non-Eagle work 

'In and Out of the Eagle': a further instalment in the series presenting collections of Eagle-related snippets

'Harris Tweed, Eagle and 1950s Coffee Culture': an exploit of Extra Special Agent Harris Tweed in  an espresso bar inspires a look at this lost social scene of the1950s  

'Space Fiction Movies in Eagle's Times', part 1:  a look at films about space exploration and alien visitations to the earth, the bread-and-butter of the Eagle's Dan Dare's adventures between 1950 and 1969. This part covers 1950-1953, from Rocketship X-M to War of the Worlds

'Hulton's Boys & Girls Exhibition, 1958': a look at the programme of the third Hulton's Boys and Girls Exhibition, held at London's Olympia in 1958.  

'Yet More Eagle Miscellany' - a further collection of notes on Eagle history

'In Defence of Comics 1953' - reviewing an article that appeared in the Daily Express in 1953 defending comics as a route to the love of reading. The original article was authored by Lady Pakenham who did much to promote literacy in the young

'They Helped to Bring You Eagle: No 3 Brian Blake' - the resident artist and art restoration specialist who worked on Eagle in the 1960s

Membership of THE EAGLE SOCIETY is via Annual Subscription to EAGLE TIMES magazine, which is published four times annually.

The Subscription rate for 2017 is:

UK £27
Overseas £38
(in £s Sterling, please)

Postal applications to:

Keith Howard
25A Station Road
Harrow Middlesex
HA1 2UA
United Kingdom

If you wish to pay by Paypal (from your Paypal account to the eagle-times hotmail address given below) we request an additional payment of £1.50

Enquiries: eagle-times@hotmail.com

Recent publications (1) - Eagle Times - new issue now out

The new issue of Eagle Times, the quarterly journal of the Eagle Society (the society is dedicated to the memory of Britain's national picture strip weekly) is now out.

Their blog (http://eagle-times.blogspot.co.uk/) highlights the contents of this issue...

'Christmas with Dan Dare' - a look at how the Christmas festival was recognised, represented and (sometimes) ignored in 'Dan Dare - Pilot of the Future' strips in Eagle and Eagle Annual 

'Martin Aitchison (1919-2016)' - An illustrated short obituary of the artist of 'Luck of the Legion' in Eagle, who became one of Ladybird Books most respected and prolific artists

'PC 49 and the Case of the Tramp's Secret' - a festive PC49 story, based on a story created for radio by Alan Stranks

'A Christmas Wordsearch' - a puzzle, based on Eagle's Christmas issue, 25th December, 1965

'Chicko and Christmas' - Christmas appearances of Norman Thelwell's strip cartoon character, who would appear for twelve years in Eagle and Eagle Annuals 

'He Tried to Stop You Reading Eagle' - an adjunct to the series, 'They Helped to Bring You Eagle', this first part of the story of Leonard Matthews, General Managing Editor of Fleetway, covers his early career editing Sun, Comet and Knockout for Amalgamated Press, and originating Top Spot

'The Jetex Dan Dare Space Ship' - on the "Tailored" spaceship model, first marketed as the  Dan Dare Space Ship, which was designed for Wilmot, Mansour & Co. Ltd by Peter Cock in 1953/4, powered by a Jetex 5 oz thrust rocket motor  

'Under the 1950s Christmas Tree' - some of the Eagle and Girl inspired items that might have been received by children as Christmas gifts in the 1950s

'Howard Corn (1943-2016)' - an obituary of the originator and Editor in Chief of Eagle Times, who was also one of its major contributors

'Eulogy for Howard' - the words spoken by Bob Corn at his brother Howard's funeral on 18th November 2016

'In and Out of the Eagle' - some more in the series presenting collections of Eagle-related snippets

'Alien Flora and Fauna in Dan Dare' - on the various plants and creatures that inhabited the worlds of Dan Dare in Eagle

'Dan Dare: The Audio Adventures' - a review of the first set of Dan Dare Audio Adventures from Big Finish and B7 Media

'Enlightening' - a review of the exhibition on comics which is at the Lightbox Gallery in Woking, Surrey, from October to the end of December, 2016, and the talk given by Frank Hampson's son, Peter, on 8th October

'Eric MacKenzie (c.1949-2015) - on the man who started the Dan Dare Club, through a letter to Eagle published in 1964 and would later produce the 'Dan Dire' parody in Comic Media News International in the 1970s and from 2004, in Spaceship Away.

'Remembering All Treens Must Die!' - a relook at 'Dan Dare' strip drawn by Keith Watson that ran in Eagle from June - October, 1964

'Children's Annuals of the 1970s' - a look at some of the children's annuals published in the 1970s, after Eagle's demise, but still in Eagle Annual's times (the original series of Eagle Annual appeared up to 1975)  

'The "New" Bakehouse' - a look  at the former bakehouse that was Eagle's and Dan Dare's first studio and which has recently been renovated 

'Space Quiz' - An illustrated quiz with artwork by former Dan Dare artist and writer Eric L. Eden, which originally appeared in Supercar Annual