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Eagle (1982 comic)
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Eagle (1982 comic)
Eagle, sometimes referred to as The New Eagle and known at various points in its life as Eagle and Scream!, Eagle and Tiger, Eagle and Battle, Eagle and M.A.S.K. and Eagle and Wildcat, was a British boys' adventure comic published by IPC Magazines from 27 March 1982 to January 1994. A revival of the famous Eagle, the title was initially a weekly publication until turning into a monthly in May 1991. The title was finally cancelled in January 1994, after 505 issues.
Like the original Eagle, the comic's lead feature was Dan Dare; other long-running stories included "Doomlord" and "Computer Warrior". While the comic was successful on its own terms as the British comic market contracted heavily in the 1980s and 1990s, it never matched the commercial or critical success of its illustrious predecessor.
Originally launched in 1950 by Reverend Marcus Morris as a reaction to the controversial importation of American horror comics (a genre which would be outright banned by British parliament in the Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955), the original Eagle had changed the face of British comics in the decade following its launch, with a peak circulation of a million copies and a readership which included the future Charles III. However, a mixture of competition from the likes of Amalgamated Press and DC Thomson, which eroded sales, and financial problems saw Morris and original publisher Hulton Press selling Eagle to Odhams Press. Sales continued to fall, leading to a series of cost-cutting measures – including the controversial replacement of Frank Hampson's art studio with less costly alternatives. Odhams' parent company, the Mirror Group, purchased Amalgamated Press and reorganised its magazine division into Fleetway Publications. While Eagle continued publication its circulation began to fall, while criticism of its increasingly generic content increased. In 1969, another takeover saw Odhams and Fleetway combined into IPC Magazines, which was left with a huge portfolio of titles, and decided to trim a number of underperformers. With sales of Eagle down to 40,000, the comic went through the indignity of being folded into Lion – one of several titles which had been created as a competitor.
Barrie Tomlinson had been a fan of Eagle and had been pushing for a revival of the title since becoming Sport and Adventure group editor at IPC Magazines in 1976. Tomlinson strove to find a balance between making a fresh comic for the 80s while remaining faithful to the spirit of the original. He particularly wanted the title to appeal to parents who remembered the original version and might buy it for their children while they might not buy an existing title. The same ethos was applied to the new Eagle's logo, which updated the stylised eagle of the original version. Dave Hunt, who had experience on Battle Picture Weekly, Tornado and Top Soccer, was chosen as editor, while Ian Rimmer was among the sub-editors on the title.
"Dan Dare" was, Tomlinson felt, the most important feature of the new Eagle. The character had been resurrected in 1977 for the launch of 2000 AD but despite some talented creators had quickly fallen behind the likes of "Judge Dredd" and "Strontium Dog" in readers' affections, and had been unceremoniously dropped after Tornado was merged into 2000 AD. Tomlinson chose to eschew the updated 2000 AD version in favour of hemming closer to Frank Hampson's work on the character, particularly wanting to reintroduce The Mekon, reasoning "he is one of the best villains ever created!" Hunt turned to Pat Mills and John Wagner, who had worked on a planned film adaptation (at the time Gareth Hunt was linked to the role), and they worked on a more faithful version that would still appeal to modern audiences, with Gerry Embleton on art duties. At the behest of the rights-holders the strip continued to follow the adventures of Dare's great-great-grandson, with a similar descendant of his side-kick Digby. Ian Kennedy had been Tomlinson's first choice for drawing the strip, but at the time of the launch was enduring a three-month period of rehabilitation following a car crash. Embleton was instead signed up to draw the strip.
While realising Dare and science fiction were important, Tomlinson wanted the comic to have a mix of genres. He also tapped into some of the techniques which had worked for him on Tiger, such as celebrity columnists in the form of Radio One DJ Mike Read and athlete Daley Thompson. Tomlinson decided to make the new Eagle stand out from other IPC launches like Tornado by giving it a unique hook to stand out, settling on photo strips. The format had been tried with some success in girls' comics, most famously in DC Thomson's Jackie. Hunt agreed, feeling it would make Eagle "different, more modern". The move was controversial; the method was not popular with IPC's artists, who saw the approach as a potential threat to their livelihoods while writer Gerry Finley-Day, who scripted "Sgt. Streetwise" and "Saddle Tramp", thought the format was "slightly restricting". Writer Alan Grant, a regular contributor to 2000 AD, also saw the potential of the format, and worked on creating "Doomlord" with frequent writing partner John Wagner as a science fiction story that was achievable as a photo story. Despite some similarities, Grant would deny the character was consciously influenced by Judge Death. Hunt and Tomlinson hunted for props for the photo strips from theatrical and fancy dress shops. At the time Grant and Wagner contributed so many scripts to IPC titles that managing director John Sanders insisted they use pseudonyms to disguise how prolific they were.
In addition to "Dan Dare" and "Doomlord", the launch issue contained four other stories – two photo strips in the form of police drama "Sgt. Streetwise" and football strip "Thunderbolt & Smokey!" (written by Tom Tully) and two other conventional picture strips, "The Collector" (an anthology where the eponymous host would show readers the story behind an item from his collection, with a rotating group of creators – Alan Moore contributed two early episodes) and the dystopian story "The Tower King", written by Alan Hebden and drawn by José Ortiz. Pat Mills, who had experienced some success scripting photo-story "Nine to Four" for Girl, planned a rock band story called "Streetwise", but the band involved were unable to take part. Mills would later express irritation that the title would later be used for "Sgt. Streetwise".
Tomlinson arranged a lavish press launch for Eagle with Tony Kelleher (son of artist agent Pat Kelleher) playing Dan Dare and wrestler Big Daddy making an appearance. The first issue – dated 27 March 1982 – had a print run of 350,000 copies, and the launch drew coverage from the mainstream press, including The Daily Telegraph, The Times and the Daily Star.
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Eagle (1982 comic)
Eagle, sometimes referred to as The New Eagle and known at various points in its life as Eagle and Scream!, Eagle and Tiger, Eagle and Battle, Eagle and M.A.S.K. and Eagle and Wildcat, was a British boys' adventure comic published by IPC Magazines from 27 March 1982 to January 1994. A revival of the famous Eagle, the title was initially a weekly publication until turning into a monthly in May 1991. The title was finally cancelled in January 1994, after 505 issues.
Like the original Eagle, the comic's lead feature was Dan Dare; other long-running stories included "Doomlord" and "Computer Warrior". While the comic was successful on its own terms as the British comic market contracted heavily in the 1980s and 1990s, it never matched the commercial or critical success of its illustrious predecessor.
Originally launched in 1950 by Reverend Marcus Morris as a reaction to the controversial importation of American horror comics (a genre which would be outright banned by British parliament in the Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955), the original Eagle had changed the face of British comics in the decade following its launch, with a peak circulation of a million copies and a readership which included the future Charles III. However, a mixture of competition from the likes of Amalgamated Press and DC Thomson, which eroded sales, and financial problems saw Morris and original publisher Hulton Press selling Eagle to Odhams Press. Sales continued to fall, leading to a series of cost-cutting measures – including the controversial replacement of Frank Hampson's art studio with less costly alternatives. Odhams' parent company, the Mirror Group, purchased Amalgamated Press and reorganised its magazine division into Fleetway Publications. While Eagle continued publication its circulation began to fall, while criticism of its increasingly generic content increased. In 1969, another takeover saw Odhams and Fleetway combined into IPC Magazines, which was left with a huge portfolio of titles, and decided to trim a number of underperformers. With sales of Eagle down to 40,000, the comic went through the indignity of being folded into Lion – one of several titles which had been created as a competitor.
Barrie Tomlinson had been a fan of Eagle and had been pushing for a revival of the title since becoming Sport and Adventure group editor at IPC Magazines in 1976. Tomlinson strove to find a balance between making a fresh comic for the 80s while remaining faithful to the spirit of the original. He particularly wanted the title to appeal to parents who remembered the original version and might buy it for their children while they might not buy an existing title. The same ethos was applied to the new Eagle's logo, which updated the stylised eagle of the original version. Dave Hunt, who had experience on Battle Picture Weekly, Tornado and Top Soccer, was chosen as editor, while Ian Rimmer was among the sub-editors on the title.
"Dan Dare" was, Tomlinson felt, the most important feature of the new Eagle. The character had been resurrected in 1977 for the launch of 2000 AD but despite some talented creators had quickly fallen behind the likes of "Judge Dredd" and "Strontium Dog" in readers' affections, and had been unceremoniously dropped after Tornado was merged into 2000 AD. Tomlinson chose to eschew the updated 2000 AD version in favour of hemming closer to Frank Hampson's work on the character, particularly wanting to reintroduce The Mekon, reasoning "he is one of the best villains ever created!" Hunt turned to Pat Mills and John Wagner, who had worked on a planned film adaptation (at the time Gareth Hunt was linked to the role), and they worked on a more faithful version that would still appeal to modern audiences, with Gerry Embleton on art duties. At the behest of the rights-holders the strip continued to follow the adventures of Dare's great-great-grandson, with a similar descendant of his side-kick Digby. Ian Kennedy had been Tomlinson's first choice for drawing the strip, but at the time of the launch was enduring a three-month period of rehabilitation following a car crash. Embleton was instead signed up to draw the strip.
While realising Dare and science fiction were important, Tomlinson wanted the comic to have a mix of genres. He also tapped into some of the techniques which had worked for him on Tiger, such as celebrity columnists in the form of Radio One DJ Mike Read and athlete Daley Thompson. Tomlinson decided to make the new Eagle stand out from other IPC launches like Tornado by giving it a unique hook to stand out, settling on photo strips. The format had been tried with some success in girls' comics, most famously in DC Thomson's Jackie. Hunt agreed, feeling it would make Eagle "different, more modern". The move was controversial; the method was not popular with IPC's artists, who saw the approach as a potential threat to their livelihoods while writer Gerry Finley-Day, who scripted "Sgt. Streetwise" and "Saddle Tramp", thought the format was "slightly restricting". Writer Alan Grant, a regular contributor to 2000 AD, also saw the potential of the format, and worked on creating "Doomlord" with frequent writing partner John Wagner as a science fiction story that was achievable as a photo story. Despite some similarities, Grant would deny the character was consciously influenced by Judge Death. Hunt and Tomlinson hunted for props for the photo strips from theatrical and fancy dress shops. At the time Grant and Wagner contributed so many scripts to IPC titles that managing director John Sanders insisted they use pseudonyms to disguise how prolific they were.
In addition to "Dan Dare" and "Doomlord", the launch issue contained four other stories – two photo strips in the form of police drama "Sgt. Streetwise" and football strip "Thunderbolt & Smokey!" (written by Tom Tully) and two other conventional picture strips, "The Collector" (an anthology where the eponymous host would show readers the story behind an item from his collection, with a rotating group of creators – Alan Moore contributed two early episodes) and the dystopian story "The Tower King", written by Alan Hebden and drawn by José Ortiz. Pat Mills, who had experienced some success scripting photo-story "Nine to Four" for Girl, planned a rock band story called "Streetwise", but the band involved were unable to take part. Mills would later express irritation that the title would later be used for "Sgt. Streetwise".
Tomlinson arranged a lavish press launch for Eagle with Tony Kelleher (son of artist agent Pat Kelleher) playing Dan Dare and wrestler Big Daddy making an appearance. The first issue – dated 27 March 1982 – had a print run of 350,000 copies, and the launch drew coverage from the mainstream press, including The Daily Telegraph, The Times and the Daily Star.