Dan Dare, The Croatian Version - in memory of Frank Hampson - (1918

This short biography of Dan Dare comic strip, appeared in the Croatian youth magazine Plavi Vjesnik (Blue Messenger) in 1965.
(Inset: Don Harley)

COMIC STRIP CHAMPIONS (59)
DAN DARE

I AM ONE OF THE BEST KNOWN space flyers in the history of the comic strip, and the best known comic strip hero in Plavi Vjesnik, where you can see me in a series of episodes from September 1959. I am a child of English comic strip. In my creation, there have been many layout designers and artists but in my personal profile the following information is most important: I was born in 1950 under the artistic brush of Frank Hampson, the content was created by two graphic artists - Bruce Cornwall and Eric Ind. Frank Hampson was later replaced by Don Harley (inset) and then by the famous Frank Bellamy and other creators who work very meticulously.

Click here for the original Croatian text above

My intro to Croatian version of Dan Dare|Plavi Vjesnik material I own: [1] [2] [3]
For one of post Dan Dare Plavi Vjesnik last issues I own, click here.

Plavi Vjesnik no. 437 front page with Dan Dare

Plavi Vjesnik Cover Page
No. 437, Feb. 2, 1963

Caption:

DEN DERI
PILOT BUDUCNOSTI
TAJANSTVENA FLOTA

DAN DARE
PILOT OF THE FUTURE
THE PHANTOM FLEET

The same cover appeared in The Eagle, Dec. 27, 1958, Vol. 9 No. 52. It was also reprinted in the Hawk Books Eight Deluxe Collector's Edition published in 1993.

For larger front and back scans, click here.

Plavi Vjesnik (aka Plavac) first published on October 1, 1954 in the city of Zagreb, Croatia by the publishing house "Vjesnik". It carried Dan Dare comic strip for many years and it was the magazine's main feature. Plavac went out of business in 1973 with issue 979. For my scan of issue #965, click here.

And then 19 years later, a vain attempt was made at resurrecting Dan Dare in Croatia. Plavi Zabavnik appeared in 1992 with six issues, then Plavi Vjesnik with two issues in 1999 (nos. 980, 981) and again with only five issues in 2001 and one in 2002. The magazines carried Dan Dare's: The Red Moon Mystery and The Man from Nowhere. For front page scans of all of the above issues, click here.

Check out the excellent Croatian Web Comic Station (CWCSt) by Zvonimir Tosic - Zagreb, Croatia. Zvonimir has a fascinating short history of Plavi Vjesnik magazine.

For another historical background on Croatian comics and Plavi Vjesnik, please see - CROmics - A HORROR STORY TOLD WITH FONDNESS

Eagle Comic, jointly created by Marcus Morris and Frank Hampson (the creator of Dan Dare) was published in the UK from 1950 to 1969 and from 1982 to 1993. It featured Dan Dare, Doomlord, Computer Warrior and other strips.

Dan Dare was launched in issue no. 1 of Eagle, dated April 14, 1950 (see the first front cover on the right). The meticulous development in terms of concept and illustration has ensured that his character - or at least the name - will live on into this millennium.

Internationally, aside from being published as Den Deri in Croatian Youth Magazine Plavi Vjesnik, the comic strip made it to at least eight other countries. For details, please click here.

Dan Dare radio show was broadcast in Spain from 1954-58 under the name of Diego Valor. Between 1951-56, Radio Luxembourg transmitted the English language version of Dan Dare, which could be heard all over the World.

There were plans over the past 40 years or so to make a Dan Dare movie, but these never materialized. The closest Dare got to the big screen is Dan Dare CGI-animated TV show, produced by Foundation Imaging, and which premiered on the Fox Kids Network for Latin America on December 23, 2001. The show is owned by Dan Dare Corporation (Colin Frewin) and Channel 5 in the U.K. which bought it for £15m. Dan Dare became a Saturday morning TV fixture in the U.K. since July 6, 2002. The show has been purchased by 50 other countries.

This is what Marcus Morris had to say in his The Best of Eagle (1977) editorial: "Eagle had a fairly short life, from 1950 to 1970, by which time it had been merged with Lion. But its most successful life was even shorter, from 1950 to 1962".

Some of the Eagle artists are still around: Geoffrey Bond and Martin Aitchison of "Luck of the Legion", Don Harley and Greta Tomlinson of the Dan Dare artists, but that's about all. It did start up 52 years ago!

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Last Revised: November 29, 2002

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since Sept. 5, 1997

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Eagle, Dan Dare and all images by kind permission of the Dan Dare Corporation Ltd.