(image from here.)
The first time I ever heard of Dan Dare was in the David Bowie song "DJ," in which he sings, "Feels like Dan Dare lies down." A comment on the song on genius.com helpfully informs us, "Dan Dare was the title character in a series of British sci-fi comic books. He was a space pilot, & his stories, while set in the distant future of the 1990s (the strip began in 1950), were clearly inspired by World War II. The original series ran until 1967, but was briefly revived from 1977 to 1979."
It continues, "Dan Dare’s status as a patriotic culture icon was satirized around the same time by the British punk group The Mekons (themselves named after Dan Dare’s arch-nemesis) in their song of the same name: 'Outer space, it's so fast/Flying off the backs of the working class/Outer space, it's a really nice place/Dan Dare.' Dare is also mentioned in the 1967 Pink Floyd song 'Astronomy Donime' & a 1975 Elton John song."
Despite loving the Bowie song, & the Mekons song, I have actually never felt the need to pursue the character of Dan Dare nor read any comics he's been in. It might be that it somewhat resembles Buck Rogers or Flash Gordon, & I have no real interest in those kinds of space opera strips, with their dated looks & references. (I also never much liked the Captain Proton episodes of Voyager.) But I suspect British people of a certain age have the same fondness for it that a certain generation of Americans have for Flash or Buck. (I have very happy memories of the television program Buck Rogers In The 25th Century & some of those memories are about the show & other characters besides Col. Wilma Deering, although not many.)
Will I talk about Dan Dare on this week's Self Help Radio? Probably not. Will I play the Mekons song? Oh yeah! Will I talk about why this week's show's theme is just "dare"? Maybe tomorrow.
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