Dan Dare, pilot of the future. 8 Phantom fleet / compiled by Mike Higgs Hardcover – 1 Jan. 1993

Lovely full-size reproduction on quality paper. By 1958 Frank Hampson and his studio team were working at peak perofrmance and "The Phantom Fleet" is most probably the last complete story they finished while in their heyday. Change in Fleet Street brought about changes of owners of the Eagle, and a change of attitudes to the flagship of the comic and the way it was produced. Hampson withdrew from the team and the (undated) 22nd August 1959 issue is the last to bear his signature. "The Phantom Fleet" is a brilliant tour de force and what's more, it lacks that awful gremlin, the Mekon! A shame that the growing clouds in Fleet Street mandated an early and perhaps somewhat unsatisfactory ending to the story, but by then I think we'd all had more than enough of those pesky Pescods. Dr Peabody is at her fragrant best, a lovely foil to the craggy latern-jawed Daniel McGregor Dare, the WW2 Mosquito pilot with a heart of gold redivivus.

I have been a Dan Dare fan since growing up reading Eagle in the 1950s and 60s. When Hawk Publications started reprinting the classic stories in deluxe editions I started collecting them and reliving my youth. These stories were so well written and drawn that they still hold up today and were remarkable glimpses of the future considering that They started years before the first Sputnik was launched into orbit. Of course we now know that there is no life on the planets in our solar system, but otherwise this is good stuff. Somehow I missed this volume and caught up with a used copy on Amazon which is almost mint condition and well worth buying. The sory itself was a little disappointing, and certainly not he best of Dan Dare, but still very good. Also I now have the complete set!

Having managed to buy each one of the series in turn, this is not one of the better volumes. The stories are naff and the artwork is a world away from the original intentions of the original cartoonist. (Frank Hampton)My advice is to forget it, but obviously if you are a devoted fan of DD then you will need it under your belt.

Very good

Dan Dare was my perfect hero when I was ten / twelve years old. My granfather bought the newspaper "IL GIORNO" where every Wednsday there were 2 pages of Dan Dare's Adventures !!! Science fiction story at the pure essence !! GREAT GREAT Dan. You were the bers one and you ARE the best also NOW .

( Same review as previous) I lived in the UK 1957-1960 and used to read this when I was there, so reading it again after all these years was a real treat!