Written by Peter Milligan

Art by Alberto Foche

Colours by Jordan Escuin Liorach

Titan Comics, out now

Years after the Mekon’s final defeat, Earth is in the middle of a Golden Age. War hero Colonel Daniel Dare is now little more than a pencil pusher, helping move the Navy that defined him onto a non-hostile footing. His arch enemy the Mekon is in prison and seemingly rehabilitated, his best friend is married and Dan? Dan is a warrior without a war, and has very little idea how to feel about that. But the choice is going to be taken out of his hands…

This latest incarnation of Dan Dare is an interesting, not always successful, hybrid of every version that has gone before. There’s the knockabout action of the original and of the excellent audio dramas. There’s the same sense of near utopia that defines them and the same mournful note that made the Ennis/Erskine take on Dan so compelling. He’s a King Arthur who survived the war and that’s not something that sits well with him.

There’s also, inevitably, hints of the Morrison run. Not in the controversy-courting way that that series played out but rather in its willingness to be defined by contemporary issues. That’s true of every story ever made but I have to be honest with you, I’m not sure I wanted to read a ‘Mekon as Trump’ analogy. Even if this one is unusually nuanced and well handled. The idea is simple; that the Mekon briefly conquered Earth and many of those who helped him did so out of choice. It’s a neat idea but it gives the book a flattened, dark edge that doesn’t quite suit it.

That being said there’s a lot to recommend here. Milligan has a great angle on Dan and the sketches we get of the other characters bode well for future issues. Alberto Foche has a wonderful, clean style that manages to combine ’50s futurism with clean lined modernity and realism. Likewise Liroach’s colours are exactly what the book needs; the bright hopeful shades of an almost brave new world. Simon Bowland, one of the best letterers on the planet turns in typically great work too and the set up is well handled.

Verdict: This feels, in many ways, like more of a zero issue than a first issue. Introduces the world, showing us what the book is going to do and then turns our expectations on their head. A good start to what should be a great book. 8/10

Alasdair Stuart