Mark Gorton on the 60th anniversary of the launch of a sci-fi pioneer

IT WAS a time of contrasts. On the one hand, World War Two was fresh in people’s minds and austerity was the order of the day.

On the other, there was peace and Nazi rockets which once rained terror now promised the excitement and prosperity of the space age.

Into this world, in April, 1950, came a revolutionary comic called Eagle, which introduced us to the Pilot Of The Future.

He was the essence of the British fighter ace – courageous, quick thinking, honourable – and his name was Daniel McGregor Dare. See the video Future Perfect about Dan Dare by clicking here.

He would have been embarrassed by his celebrity because he became an overnight sensation, a national institution and the timeless star of what is, to some, the world’s greatest comic strip.

Eagle was the brainchild of a vicar and an unknown artist.

The Reverend Marcus Morris presided over the Church of St James, in Birkdale, while Frank Hampson was a recent graduate from Southport School of Art.

Morris, then a father of three young daughters, was appalled by the influx into Britain of American horror and crime comics.

Already the publisher of a parish magazine called The Anvil, he resolved to fight back.

Hampson, who contributed drawings to The Anvil, was an obvious collaborator and the seeds of a great creative partnership were sown.

Morris’s concept was to create an intelligent, literate, optimistic comic, imbued with a moral code.

At one point, the lead strip was to feature a flying padre, a solution to all manner of ethical dilemmas.

But finally a science fiction story was settled on, giving Hampson free imaginative rein and the opportunity to reveal his prodigious talent.