Writer: Garth Ennis
Illustrator: Garry Leach
Publisher: Other Publisher
Publication Date: 2008
Format: Comic Book
“Dan Dare” dares to be- dull.
Virgin comics has attempted to revive the character Dan Dare. In issue five of the comic, Dare confronts the evil Mekon. Mostly, this issue is a bridger for the story arc. Dan Dare has been captured and brought before the Mekon and the Prime Minister attempting to bargin with the alien.
Revivals usually involve a reinterpretation of a nostalgia character. Dan Dare, however, is left in all his perfect, stilted 1950′s glory, which could be played for comic effect. Instead, the comic has stayed in the 1950s, right along with Dare. It feels as stale and dated as a bag of Lays potato chips that’s been open and forgotten in the back of a cabinet for at least a year. His dialog is, of course, every bit as perfect as his manners. He is polite and unyieldingly drawn towards always doing the right thing. Readers know that, in the end, Dan Dare is good personified and that he will always triumph, no matter how sticky any situation gets.
The world, though, has (to quote Steven King’s “Dark Tower”) moved on, and comics have matured, as have the readers. “Dan Dare” reads more as adventure fluff with a very black and white view of the world. The bad guys are bad, the good guys are good, and cheaters never win. Many readers require more complex characters and far more complex worldviews.
So, was “Dan Dare” unreadable? Hardly. While personally, I did not find the issue to be a good read, that may have been largely due to the fact that I have not read the previous issues (and the Free Comic Book Day preview was hardly adequate to offer enough storyline to help decipher issue #5). I can see the appeal to fans of campy adventure-based sci-fi serials like Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon. This comic also serves as a very comforting nostalgia piece, as it is a dependable, predictable storyline.
“Dan Dare” does benefit from a great art team. The coloring and inking for the book are superb and the artwork itself is far beyond typical artwork from the 50s. Virgin has spared no expense for good paper and quality printing, which I’m sure hard-core fans will definitely appreciate.
While I, personally, did not enjoy “Dan Dare” the quality of the comic has encouraged me to look into other books Virgin Comics offers which seem as though they will be a far better fit for my sensibilities. I would recommend “Dan Dare” for anyone who might be searching for a kinder, gentler, much more likeable Indiana Jones.
