GRAPHIC NOVEL
Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future
Operation Saturn - Part 1

Authors: Various
Artists: Various
Titan Books
RRP £14.99, US S19.95
ISBN 1 84023 809 7
Available 22 April 2005


A mysterious flotilla of unmanned probes have been causing chaos on and around the Earth. When one of these 'Black Cats' is tracked back to Saturn, it results in the boldest space mission Dan Dare has ever made. But what dark secrets does Saturn hold - and what nefarious plan does scientist and fellow passenger Blasco have in store for the crew?...

Operation Saturn - Part 1 brings yet another classic collection of Dan Dare adventures into your living room. As well as the much loved strips this collection also includes, as we've come to expect, an interesting group of additional material that helps flesh out this release a little more.

This time around we have part four of Alan Vince's interview with Frank Hampson (worth reading just to see the Adventures of the Bovril Brigade strip) and The Secret History of Dan Dare - extended biographies of the characters.

While these stories have aged, they are still a lot more readable than some of the early Batman or Superman stories - which made me wonder how Dan would have evolved if his exploits had continued to be committed to paper over the years.

While this is probably not going to appeal to anyone other than older readers who will pick this up for nostalgic reasons, it's certainly worth flicking through before you decide it's not a purchase for you. You may surprise yourself.

Ray Thompson

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