Titan Comics 2017
Written by Peter Milligan
Illustrated by Alberto Foche
Coloured by Jordi Escuin Liorach
Lettered by Simon Bowland
It is a golden time for Earth and the Sol Alliance. Peace reigns supreme. The MEKON, perhaps mankind’s greatest enemy, has finally been vanquished and is undergoing behavioral treatment in a maximum-security prison built on the Moon. Yet the one man responsible for the capture of the Mekon, the legendary space pilot DAN DARE, languishes in a prison of his own making. With no foe to fight, battle to win or day to be saved, Dan finds himself shackled by the chains of normality and boredom. In a silent prayer, Dan begs the universe to give him a reason to take flight again to the stars. And his prayers have seemingly been answered. From an uncharted sector of the galaxy an ancient spaceship of unknown origin and purpose has arrived, broadcasting a strange, un-decipherable signal – and stated its intent by destroying one of the moons of Saturn in a colossal show of strength and firepower…
Wow okay so this is my second book this week by Peter and the sheer range the man has is truly wondrous and astonishing. His take on Dan here as we see him begging the universe to give him a purpose again is fantastic. His arch-nemesis is in jail seeming rehabilitated, he’s stuck behind a desk and he’s bored. Pure and simple he’s bored and doesn’t know how to adapt to life outside of conflict. You’d almost think he suffered from Thaasophobia but in reality he craves the skies, the attention and being in constant motion, needed. I wouldn’t say he’s a glory seeker but he’s definitely not meant to be inactive.
I love the fact that Peter explores more aspects of the characters rather than just hey let’s create conflict and chaos and throw him in the middle of it. To be fair he’s kind of in the middle of it he just doesn’t know it yet. There’s so much going on in this story from manipulation to an invasion that’s all happening around Dan. That Dan has no real clue about what’s happening with Mekon and then the Treen Empress’ ship plus an exciting new character who is shaking things up he’s up to his eyeballs in things that are moving around him.
It’s rare that the star of a book that doesn’t know what’s happening all around him and Peter manages to really make Dan human in that aspect. To see him look around him, try to do what he does best and place trust in people are ways that Peter is showing the characterisation of the character and making him so beloved. The approach to the story, the pacing of it so the flow is spectacular and the subtle revelations that only the reader gets to see get the reader involved in a way they may have experienced before.
I adore the interior artwork here. Alberto demonstrates a stellar eye for storytelling as he take us on this journey through the page layouts with their angles and perspective. He judiciously uses backgrounds and in some panels I see why others not so much but the greatest thing in this issue for me is seeing Mekron sitting there talking on the phone. That will forever be engrained in my mind as one the premiere stand out moments in this series. I think that what is shown in that panel does more for his characterisation than anyone bargains for and that is masterfully done by Alberto and Jordi.
What the entire creative manages to do here is really something special. They have managed to bring the past back into the present without updating anything. There’s still a future in which Dan Dare is needed and technology is more advanced as we soar through the stars. It’s pure science fiction at it’s finest and the awe shucks feel good attitude the manage to emulate is spectacular. This is a love letter to Frank Hampson and it couldn’t be any better than it is.