Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION Dr. Gym'll's Cultural Rarities Dan Dare by Garth Ennis & Virgin Comics

So I know Dan Dare is a British thing, but I've never really ever heard of the character or series before until very recently. So I picked up my first Vigin Comics comic because Garth Ennis was writing it, and well, it was pretty damn groovy!

I'm a big Garth Ennis fan though everything he writes isn't always my cup of tea. I love his Preacher and Hitman, although his Punisher never really did it for me (possibly more to do with the Punisher than Ellis) and the Boyz wasn't my cup of tea (I feel like I already saw all those jokes in Hitman and it just wasn't that good). But there's no doubt he's the best war comic book writer currently doing comics. Hell, I'd say he's this generations Robert Kanigher with an added sick sense of humor.

In Dan Dare, Ennis provides some really great writing and sets up what looks like a cool series. A few characters are introduced and all of them seem complex, which I like.

Dan Dare himself is already a great character that I like. A strong, solid lead with enough hints of regret, loneliness and 'a man no longer a part of the world'. With all the pressure in the world on him to return and take the reigns. I was reminded part of Chuck Yeager in 'the Right Stuff', part Bogey in the noir films and hell, even Aragorn of LoTR. I love that sort of character.

The art is gorgeous by Gary Erksine (I'm unfamiliar with him or at least never noticed him before).

I only bought #1, so I plan on catching up with the rest and check this series out. So far a great sci-fi/war comic off the beaten path, which is exactly what I've been looking for.

PS - anyone whose ever heard of Dan Dare before, give me your thoughts!

I refuse to read it because of Garth Ennis. I think he's a scared little straight caucasian boy who hates and fears anything and anyone who's not the same as him, and this taints all of his writing. I'd like to see him get a real-life dose of the cruelty he inflicts on characters he doesn't like. That would be poetic justice.

And I feel exactly the same about Mark Millar.

Congrats on your first Virgin Comic, Cobie. I'm kind of rooting them. Guy Ritchie's Gamekeeper was a nice effort from Virgin. The follow up isn't quite as good as the first story due to a switch in the creative team, but still interesting enough to pick up.

I've read the first 3 issues (?) Right now it seems a total screed against venal, spineless, slimy elites selling out and a celebration of the everyman in Dare and the enlisted men. I don't know enough about Ennis or Dare to know if this is consistent. Is it an indictment of Tony Blair? I don't know. The story has been entertaining enough, I guess. I love the explanation of how Britain inherits the Earth. Very good stuff. Otherwise, it seems fairly derivative of, say, The Fifth Element. The Mekon and his influence on the Prime Minister reminds me of the "Evil" thingie from that movie more than anything else. Riffing on that material is not the worst choice, I suppose, although I think I hoped for something a bit more original.

My only other exposure to Dan Dare was a newspaper comic strip that ran in the U.S. around 1980. At least, I THINK it was Dan Dare. It was outer spacey and vaguely British, so what else can it be? In fact, I remember reading it in the Dallas newspaper the day after John Lennon was killed. I sorta recall a story about Dare being trapped in the future and Britain is ruled by a computer tyrant housed in Windsor Castle. I have no clue who did the strip. The art was kinda cool. Was this Dave Gibbons's version? Does anyone else remember that U.S. syndicated strip?

I'll always remember my first time I'm going to consider some of their other comics based on creators I like or reccomendations.

DC, I know the character has been around but I don't really know anything about him (which is refreshing).

Having met Garth Ennis and talked to him fairly extensively, I completely disagree. He approaches everything with a very dark sense of humor, but it is a sense of humor. Hate and fear are not adjectives that I would use.

I would suggest that he and his intended audience understand the difference between reality and fiction, just as anyone who has ever told an off-color joke usually does. And his over-the-top sensibilities in that area are usually extremely well balanced with actual characterization.

And frankly I fail to see how wishing actual harm on a real person is any better than fictional harms on fictional people.

I agree with Kent about Ennis' writing. I think most of what he writes should be taken as tongue in cheek, and I think he has a particularly fun sense of humor, especially about the mediums he especially loves (war & western genres).

His dark humor and crazy situations usually are subtext to the more prevailant themes in his writing: friendship, being honorable vs. standing by someone you love and above all finding your place in the world when you feel most isolated.

I have extreme reactions to writers who use a tongue-in-cheek approach.

I either love their work, like Peter David and Alan Grant, or hate their work, like Ennis and Millar.

What can I say? When I'm on the internet, my mind often goes into very dark places.

I think we all do that from time to time. No harm done.

I think if Garth Ennis were to read this thread, he'd be more amused than offended.

Thanks, Kent.

He sounds like a good guy. Maybe as he gets older, he'll tone down the laddish humor in his writing.