With this sixth article in the SPECIAL PROJECT DAN DARE, we’d like to show you a curious series of photographs featuring a Dan Dare action figure, one of the many merchandise items featuring our space hero.
The photographer is known as Brecht Bug, who gave us an interview and allowed us to publish his work. He also took some shots expressly for this special: Dan Dare in action with Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon!!! Thanks a lot, Brechtbug!!!
We hope you enjoy reading, and we’ll see you here in seven days for the seventh article, which presents an interview with Alberto Foche – Spanish artist, author of the drawings for “Dan Dare – He Who Dares” (2017) – his bibliography and a wonderful gallery of preparatory drawings for that assignment.
Mario Benenati and Daniele Tomasi, editors of the DAN DARE SPECIAL PROJECT
Note: this Special Project, like all others on this digital magazine, is no-profit and just for informative purposes, as the images used which are © of the rights holders.
A SPECIAL DAN DARE PHOTO-GALLERY, BY BRECHT BUG – by Daniele Tomasi
Dan Dare has been the subject of merchandise since his debut, given the immediate great success of his stories published in Eagle. Among the countless items, two are produced by Termight Replicas (https://www.termight.co.uk/) both based on drawings by Chris Weston (a comic book author or a film special effects artist?) based on Frank Hampton‘s original design. Both were discontinued in 2013.
One, from 2008, is the DanDare uniform cap badge, which can be used as a lapel pin or backpack pin; the other, from 2010, is an action figure, a rigid, articulated plastic figure, approximately 25 cm tall, with a fairly detailed appearance and accessories such as a helmet, gloves, and a pistol. You can see them in the photos below, taken from the manufacturer’s website.
The second product was appreciated by an American amateur photographer, Brecht Bug, who loves comics, science fiction, and collectibles. After purchasing it, he created a series of charming and amusing photos, which are featured in an album on his Flickr page and which he kindly allowed us to publish here.
The artist not only owns the Dan Dare action figure, but also has a large collection of statues about numerous fictional characters from films, TV shows, comics and pulp novels, which have become the subjects of many photographs he made.
His photos are genuinely fascinating when he apply a dramatic lighting, and amusing when he shoots their encounters or mixes their elements, such as the head of one character on the body of another. To enjoy the shots, just take a look here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/93779577@N00/albums/72157622754245558/with/8214040793
His Flickr space features many other interesting albums, with subjects ranging from comic book heroes – like Batman and others – to science fiction movies, from New York buildings to sculpted architectural elements, from Newspaper Sunday sections to wax figures of famous people, from comic book conventions to the Addams Family… and many more, all to be discovered using this link: https://www.flickr.com/photos/93779577@N00/albums
First, discover the artist and his works through this interview and the Dan Dare-themed photo gallery.
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Daniele Tomasi: Some general information about yourself: date and place of birth, city where you grew up, favorite hobbies and readings as a child and teenager.
Brecht Bug: Birth date is 1965 in Lancaster Pennsylvania. My favorite things were always Movies, Newspaper Comics and collecting action figures. Loved the 1980 film “Flash Gordon” and 1982’s “Blade Runner”.
First found out about early Comics History through the 1977 book “The Smithsonian Collection of Newspaper Comics” by Bill Blackbeard as well as one of my dad’s 1940s comic book issue #4 collecting the Buck Rogers Newspaper Sunday pages.
I also was big into picking up Star Wars 3 inch figures.
DT: Photography is just a hobby or it’s related to your job, in some way?
BB: As a kid the family had a Polaroid 210 Land Camera. Film was expensive so we only took 20 photos a year. No one was allowed to touch it because it was “fragile” so little experience with that one.
I got my first camera in 1988. I think it was a Pentax.
I was living in Washington DC for 5 years during college so I ran around town photographing monuments.
In 1990 I moved to New York City and lived there for 33 years working in Photo Archives dealing with stock photography – The Bettmann Archive, Corbis Images, Globe Photos and Shutterstock. Never worked at Getty Images but I know a few people there.
I like digital photography best and started taking pictures daily in 2003 with my Canon ELPH with a 12x zoom lens.
DT: Were you a comic-books reader when you were young? Which did you prefer? Do you still read comics?
BB: As I said I primarily love vintage Newspaper comics. I ran into a collection of Little Nemo in Slumberland Comics by Winsor McCay in my High School library and was hooked.
Books of collected “full runs” of comic strips were hard to find in the 1970s so it took until the 1990s, 2000s and 2010s to be able to catch up.
Some of my favorites are Nemo, Happy Hooligan by Frederick Opper, Krazy Kat by George Herriman, Old Doc Yak by Sidney Smith, The Kin-der-kids by Lyonel Feininger, The Katzenjammer Kids by Rudolph Dirks, Bringing Up Father by George McManus, Barney Google by Billy DeBeck, Li’l Abner by Al Capp, Dick Tracy by Chester Gould, Pogo by Walt Kelly, Barney Baxter in the Air by Frank Miller, Captain Easy by Roy Crane, Tarzan by Hal Foster, Buck Rogers by Philip Nowlan and Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond.
I collected comic books starting in 1978 and ending in 2010. More of a DC fan than of Marvel comics and I like the Golden and Bronze Age Batman and Plastic Man amongst others.
Also a fan of Pulp Magazines like The Shadow and The Black Bat.
DT: Dan Dare is a British comic hero, not an American one, how come that you know him? Have you ever read his adventures?
BB: International comics were almost impossible to find in the US for decades.
I did get the chance to check out Tintin from reprints in issues of “Cricket” magazine – a kids journal for ages 9 to 14. Later Tintin would be available in full print editions.
I was able to check out a bit of “Danger Diabolik“ and Dylan Dog published by Dark Horse Comics.
Judge Dredd was much easier to find in print form.
I most likely first found out about Dan Dare from “The World Encyclopedia of Comics” by Maurice Horn in 1976. Only a paragraph describing who he was and his surroundings.
Collected reprint Dan Dare books finally started showing up on shelves of comics shops but they were often expensive.
I have only recently started reading “Voyage to Venus” free online. It’s going great so far.
DT: Do you know who produced that Dan Dare toy that is in your photos?
BB: In 2011 I was looking around the Forbidden Planet comic book store on Broadway between 12th and 13th street Manhattan when I saw the Dan Dare figure on a shelf. I have always liked Sci-Fi space suit costumes and helmets and knew this figure would be a limited run so I bought it.
The original manufacturer was Termight Replicas with concept artwork by Chris Weston based on Frank Hampson’s original design. There were also plans for a second figure wearing his green military uniform but a 2013 notation on the company website says the line was canceled.
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PHOTO-GALLERY “DAN DARE” by BRECHT BUG
All images © Brechtbug – https://www.flickr.com/photos/93779577@N00/albums
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Dan Dare © Dan Dare Corporation – https://www.dandare.com/media
“The Dan Dare Corporation owns the global rights including Film, Television, Radio, Social Media, Publishing and Merchandising to the Eagle Comic and associated strips including Dan Dare – Pilot of the Future.”
All images are used for informational purposes only and are © their respective owners.
The opinions expressed in the article by the author do not necessarily reflect those of the Fumettomania Association, which aims to offer a platform that always guarantees the right to free expression through its website.
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Here’s the new index page of our magazine dedicated to the Special Project DAN DARE, PILOT OF THE FUTURE, created to spread awareness of this extraordinary figure 75 years after its creation and 40 years since the passing of its creator.
On this page you’ll find the list of all articles in the Project, which will be updated each time a new one is published.
Enjoy!
Italian version: https://www.fumettomaniafactory.net/progetti-di-fumettomania/contenuti-web-extra-dal-2012-in-poi/dan-dare-il-pilota-del-futuro/
English version: https://www.fumettomaniafactory.net/fumettomania-presents-dan-dare-pilot-of-the-future/
EXTRA
BIOGRAPHY
DANIELE TOMASI is a multifaceted creative in the field of ComicArt, acting as artist, letterer, colorist, editor.
With the DTE brand, “the smallest publishing house in the world”, he edited and published three volumes of the “DebbieDillinger” series (where he is even the artist), the first number of “TetroTeatro” magazine (author of texts and drawings), the digital magazine “Continua…” (a free-distribution magazine with comics of various genres and authors, seven issues so far) and three issues of the magazine “Gli Archivi del Fumetto” (new issues and large-format volumes are planned).
He has created comics and illustrations for various Italian publishers (Tunuè, ProGlo, ComixCommunity, UndergroundPress, BotteroEdizioni, Pegasus/Comicus, Antani, Apache, AltaFedeltà).
He has worked as graphic designer for Italian publishers ProGloEdizioni, GreencomService, Shockdom, Palabanda Edizioni and Chimbe.
He has made lettering for Black Velvet and RW Edizioni.
He organizes courses about the Language of Comics.
In Internet you can see some of his artworks on the website danieletomasi.altervista.org , see other works and read some of his thoughts and opinions on the blog danieletomasi.blogspot.com , read for free some of the DTE publications in issuu.com/dteditore, read for free a fake storyboard of the “Spider-man” movie by James Cameron downloading the pdf (screen or print resolution) from the site spidercameron.altervista.org , write to him at the e-mails danieletomasi@gmail.com and dteditore@gmail.com
