BEWARE the Mekon – Dan Dare, pilot of the future, is returning to his Merseyside roots.

It is 60 years since the comic book hero first took to the skies after being created by Merseyside illustrator Frank Hampson.

Now an exhibition of memorabilia is being displayed at Southport College Library Learning Centre, where Mr Hampson studied.

The character made his debut appearance in the first edition of comic book The Eagle, on April 14, 1950.

After paper rationing during World War II, youngsters flocked to buy the first edition, which sold almost a million copies.

An original copy of the third ever comic is among the artefacts in the new exhibition.

Sam Browne, library learning centre officer, has collated the items from the college’s archives.

It also includes a bust of Dan Dare – which was made from the same mould as the one at Botanic Gardens Museum – and a bust of his arch rival, an alien called the Mekon.

Frank’s student yearbook is among the items on show at the library, as well as his biography, articles and photographs.

Ms Browne said: “We decided to do the display because it was the 60th anniversary and as he came from the college. It’s part of Southport’s history. He has been internationally recognised as one of the key innovators in illustration from Britain and it’s fantastic that he studied at the college. There is an enormous legacy that he has left behind.”

One of the earliest examples of a British comic book hero, Dan Dare – full name Daniel McGregor Dare, who was a chief fighter pilot of the Interplanet Space Fleet – has since inspired many sci-fi characters.

Chisel-jawed Captain Jack from Doctor Who has been compared to the hero and Star Trek aliens are believed to have been inspired by his arch -nemesis, The Mekon. Frank, who was born in Manchester but moved to Southport with his family when he was three months old, modelled the fighter pilot hero on himself.