The return of the famous boys comic the Eagle did attract some publicity when re-launched in 1982 after a hiatus of twelve years. The original title had run from 1950 to 1969 when upon change of owners it was subsumed by Lion.
The main and widely anticipated main feature was Dan Dare as the cover announced the return of the Mekon. The trouble was Dan was long dead leaving the Mekon with no option but to eke out his revenge on the planet Earth itself.
Dan Dare had died in 1950 according to his gravestone. Even the Mekon couldn't figure out how that was possible since that was before he had fought Dare. A mystery to be resolved in forthcoming issues.
In fact it wasn't until #4 that we saw the return of Dan, but this couldn't be the same Dare could it?
Much like it's illustrious predecessor, this new Eagle had features among the stories. But there was a major difference.
Photo stories.
These were a phenomenon that had been hugely successful in girls comics and were thought to be a major innovation for the lads. But these were not popular and eventually did disappear, but for now readers were stuck with an unappealing format.
Doomlord was amongst those photo-strips and became a mainstay of the comic until a further revamp in the nineties.
Other than Dan Dare, only the Tower King was a traditional (and quite violent) picture story with good artwork. Because of pin-ups of stars on the back page, Dare was restricted to just two pages, albeit in full colour.
This second volume of the Eagle went on to survive 12 years, absorbing a number of other comics including the long running Tiger along the way.
For its last three years Eagle became a monthly. But that's a feature for another day.
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