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113-460: The publication was inspired by Eagle , a boys' illustrated magazine, published in the UK and running from 1950 to 1966. The character of Dan Dare originally appeared here. Spaceship Away features original stories written and drawn in the style of series creator Frank Hampson . Spaceship Away was created by Rod Barzilay as an attempt to revive the original Dan Dare of the 1950s and early 1960s. It

226-610: A Roman road that led to a camp at Walton-le-Dale . The Angles established Preston; its name is derived from the Old English meaning "priest's settlement" and in the Domesday Book is recorded as "Prestune". In the Middle Ages , Preston was a parish and township in the hundred of Amounderness and was granted a Guild Merchant charter in 1179, giving it the status of a market town . Textiles have been produced since

339-407: A Southport parish magazine called The Anvil , but felt that the church was not communicating its message effectively. Simultaneously disillusioned with contemporary children's literature, he and Anvil artist Frank Hampson created a dummy comic based on Christian values. Morris proposed the idea to several Fleet Street publishers, with little success, until Hulton Press took it on. Following

452-600: A bypass around the town centre, as well as a new bus station . On 6 April 2012 the city's residents performed the Preston Passion , a dramatised version of the Passion of Christ , which was broadcast live by BBC One . The unparished urban settlement of Preston is represented by 19 of the 22 council wards within Preston City Council which is based at Preston Town Hall on Lancaster Road. From

565-532: A "Proms In The Park", featuring José Carreras , Katherine Jenkins and the Manchester Camerata . In the mid-12th century, Preston was in the hundred of Amounderness , in the deanery of Amounderness and the archdeaconry of Richmond . The name "Amounderness" is more ancient than the name of any other "Wapentake" or hundred in the County of Lancashire, and the fort at Tulketh, strengthened by William

678-513: A fall in profits, from £298,000 to £36,000, blaming reduced revenue from another of their magazines, Picture Post , and increased production costs. Several of Morris's friends later left the company, and following a short period of internal turmoil Morris gave up the editor's chair in 1959. The following year Eagle was taken over by Odhams Press . Hampson's studio (by then in Epsom) was disbanded, and following creative differences he retired from

791-478: A free copy of Eagle . Despite its relatively high price, the comic was an immediate success; released on 14 April 1950, and despite government paper quotas, the first issue sold about 900,000 copies. Eight of its twenty pages were presented in four-colour rotogravure. Eagle was designed to entertain and educate its readers; although a typical issue might contain such characters as Cavendish Brown, Harris Tweed , Jack O'Lantern, Storm Nelson and Luck of

904-455: A girl in the stomach, having the heroine twice bound and gagged, finally dumped in a bath of cold water to drown ... Horror has crept into the British nursery. Morals of little girls in plaits and boys with marbles bulging their pockets are being corrupted by a torrent of indecent coloured magazines that are flooding bookstalls and newsagents. Marcus Morris and Norman Price, writing in

1017-673: A graphics technician at Ewell Technical College, and in 1975 at the Lucca comics convention was declared as the best writer and illustrator of strip cartoons since the end of the Second World War. At the 1976 Comics 101 British comics convention he was given the Ally Sloper Award , as the best British strip cartoon artist. He died at Epsom in July 1985. His original Dan Dare drawings now command high prices, and have inspired

1130-515: A huge publicity campaign, the first issue of Eagle was released in April 1950. Revolutionary in its presentation and content, it was enormously successful; the first issue sold about 900,000 copies. Featured in colour on the front cover was its most recognisable story, Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future , created by Hampson with meticulous attention to detail. Other popular stories included Riders of

1243-494: A large profile. Preston has places of worship for people of a wide variety of religions, including churches of many Christian denominations. There are also places of worship for Buddhists , Hindus , Muslims , the Jehovah's Witnesses , Latter-day Saints , Sikhs and The Salvation Army , amongst others. Preston was also home to an Ashkenazi Orthodox Jewish synagogue on Avenham Place, formed in 1882, but this closed during

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1356-572: A modern-architecture Guild Hall opened in 1972, to replace the Public Hall. The town was by-passed by Britain's very first motorway , built and operated by engineer James Drake, which was opened by Harold Macmillan in December 1958. Within a decade, this formed part of the M6 – giving Preston a direct motorway link with Manchester and Birmingham . The late 1960s saw the completion of Ringway,

1469-512: A new record October high temperature of 26.9 °C was set. The absolute minimum is −13.3 °C (8.1 °F), recorded during February 1969. In a typical year the coldest night should fall to −6.8 °C (19.8 °F), and 40.2 nights should receive an air frost. The lowest temperature in recent years was −9.2 °C (15.4 °F) during December 2010. Annual rainfall totals just under 1000 mm per year, with over 1 mm of precipitation falling on 150 days. All averages refer to

1582-516: A new ten-unit rotogravure machine in about twelve weeks. The comic was heavily publicised before its release; copies were mailed direct to several hundred thousand people who worked with children, and a "Hunt the Eagle" scheme was launched, whereby large papier-mâché golden eagles were set on top of several Humber Hawk cars, and toured across the UK. Those who spotted an eagle were offered tokens worth 3d , which could be exchanged at newsagents for

1695-429: A new-look Dare. Many readers found Bellamy's changes to Dare (made at the behest of Eagle ' s publisher) objectionable. Bellamy was succeeded by Harley, who in 1962 was followed by Watson, who had returned from a short stint working on Eagle ' s rival, Lion . Watson stopped drawing Dan Dare in 1967, and was succeeded by Bruce Cornwell . Following Hampson's departure, the emphasis on Dan Dare's exploration of

1808-511: A perceived lowering of editorial standards preceded plummeting sales, and it was eventually subsumed by its rival, Lion , in 1969. Eagle was relaunched in 1982 and ran for over 500 issues before being dropped by its publisher in 1994. Eagle was founded by John Marcus Harston Morris (1915–1989). Morris was born in the Lancashire town of Preston , and in 1918 moved to Southport. He graduated from Brasenose College, Oxford with

1921-525: A private letter from Preston on 27 November 1745: "People here are beginning to join [us] very fast; we have got about sixty recruits today". From 10 to 12 December the Prince gave his retreating Army a rest in Preston on their long, last and fatal retreat from Derby through Lancaster and Carlisle to their dreadful day of destiny the following 16 April on Culloden Moor near Inverness . The 19th century saw

2034-585: A range of modern artists. Gerald Scarfe and David Hockney were first published in Eagle . X-Men comic scriptwriter Chris Claremont read and enjoyed Eagle , and cites Hampson's work as influential on his career. Watchmen co-creator Dave Gibbons has also praised Hampson's work, and the lyricist Tim Rice , in his foreword to Living with Eagles (1998), cites the stories printed in Eagle as helping "me in my story-telling efforts through musicals many years on". Professor Stephen Hawking , when asked about

2147-743: A second-class degree in Literae Humaniores , and at Wycliffe Hall gained a second in theology in 1939. He became a priest the following year, and served as a chaplain in the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve from 1941 to 1943. In 1945 he became vicar of St. James' Church in Birkdale . Morris had long felt that the Anglican church was not publicising its message effectively enough; four years earlier he had written an unpublished article, intended for

2260-456: A transformation in Preston from a small market town to a much larger industrial one, as the innovations of the latter half of the previous century such as Richard Arkwright 's water frame (invented in Preston) brought cotton mills to many northern English towns. With industrialisation came examples of both oppression and enlightenment. The town's forward-looking spirit is typified by it being

2373-543: Is a city on the north bank of the River Ribble in Lancashire , England. The city is the administrative centre of the county of Lancashire and the wider City of Preston local government district. Preston and its surrounding district obtained city status in 2002, becoming England's 50th city in the 50th year of Queen Elizabeth II 's reign. Preston has a population of 114,300, the City of Preston district 132,000 and

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2486-538: Is approximately 27 miles (43 km) north west of Manchester , 26 miles (42 km) north east of Liverpool , and 15 miles (24 km) east of the coastal town Blackpool . The current borders came into effect on 1 April 1974, when the Local Government Act 1972 merged the existing County Borough of Preston with Fulwood Urban District as an unparished area within the Borough of Preston . Preston

2599-517: Is derived from the Old English words Presta and tun . The tun (enclosure, farmstead, village, manor, estate) of the Presta . During the Roman period, Roman roads passed close to what is now the centre of Preston. For example, the road from Luguvalium to Mamucium (now Carlisle to Manchester) crossed the River Ribble at Walton-le-Dale , 3 ⁄ 4 mile (1 km) southeast of

2712-579: Is supported by the similarity of the Paschal lamb on Preston's crest with that on St Wilfrid's. When first mentioned in the 1086 Domesday Book , Preston was already the most important town in Amounderness (the area of Central Lancashire between the rivers Ribble and Cocker , including The Fylde and the Forest of Bowland ). When assessed for tax purposes in 1218 – 19 it was the wealthiest town in

2825-567: Is the seat of Lancashire County Council , houses the main campus of the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) and is home to Preston North End , a founder member of the Football League and the first English football champions in 1889 . In that season, the team also won the league and cup double and went unbeaten in the league. It took 115 years until another team went a full season unbeaten. After winning another league title

2938-528: The Battle of Preston (1648) , and then the first Jacobite rebellion, whose invasion of England was brought to a conclusion by the defeat of the pro-Catholic and pro-monarchial Jacobite army at the Battle of Preston (1715) . Letitia Elizabeth Landon alludes to this latter defeat in her poetical illustration, Preston , to an engraving of a painting by Thomas Allom , in Fisher's Drawing Room Scrap Book 1834. In

3051-434: The Eagle until 1987, and its lead character, Max, purported to be the comic's editor for several years after the story finished (starting in #159). I didn't want to produce a strip without a female. In a way I struck a blow for Women's Lib! She [Peabody] was shown as a very clever, attractive young lady. It also paved the way for a few arguments between her and Sir Hubert in the first story—a nice human touch ... she

3164-528: The Freckleton district claimed the lives of 61 people in 1944. For some 20 years after 1948, Preston became home to a significant number of Asian and Caribbean Commonwealth immigrants, who mostly worked in the manufacturing industry. However, an economic decline hit the town once again in the 1970s, capped by the closure of the Courtaulds factory in 1979 (nearly 3,000 job losses) and the decline of

3277-583: The Preston Power Loom Weavers' Association was founded, and by 1920 it had more than 13,000 members in the town. The Preston Temperance Society, led by Joseph Livesey pioneered the Temperance Movement in the 19th century. Indeed, the term teetotalism is believed to have been coined at one of its meetings. The website of the University of Central Lancashire library has a great deal of information on Joseph Livesey and

3390-530: The Solar System had changed instead to include interstellar travel. Continuity became strained, and production on Dan Dare ceased in 1967, when it was replaced by reprints from earlier editions. Eagle continued to be published through the 1960s, under a succession of editors (Morris was succeeded by his deputy, Clifford Makins). Regular changes in emphasis, including an increasing number of features on contemporary music and sport, were not enough to ensure

3503-545: The Sunday Dispatch , 13 February 1949 By then deeply in debt from the publication of The Anvil and the production costs of the dummy, Morris formed Anvil Productions Ltd. Its prospectus declared: "The Company proposes to publish a new children's coloured 'comic' paper, which will be of a much higher and more mature quality than anything published in England and in appearance and format will be modelled more on

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3616-538: The Yarmouth Mercury and entitled Christian Hypocrisy , in which he questioned the difference that the Christian church had made to society in general. Morris also felt that the church was completely out of touch with the people whom it was supposed to represent. He gradually expanded the parish magazine—printed on four pages of cheap paper— into The Anvil , a widely circulated Christian magazine based on

3729-423: The docks on the River Ribble , which finally closed in 1981. Mass unemployment was firmly back in Preston by the early 1980s, although it was now very much a national crisis due to the recession of that time . The rehousing of families from town centre slums to new council houses continued after World War II, though it slowed down to a virtual standstill after 1975. The face of the town centre began to change in

3842-402: The "Kingfisher" expedition. Tim Booth both writes and draws "The Gates of Eden" which is placed in 1998 at the commencement of the first Treen/Theron food shipments to Earth. Spaceship Away also runs one-page Dan Dare spoofs such as "Mekki" and "Our Bertie" by Ray Aspden, Eric MacKenzie's "Dan Dire" and "Dan Bear" by Andy Boyce. It also features new Dan Dare text stories by Denis Steeper set in

3955-592: The 1960s, with old developments being bulldozed and replaced by modern developments such as the St George's Shopping Centre , which opened in 1966, and the Fishergate Shopping Centre which was built nearly 20 years later. The remains of the Victorian town hall, designed by George Gilbert Scott and mostly destroyed by fire in 1947, were replaced by an office block (Crystal House) in 1962, and

4068-550: The 1960s. Morris went on to become editorial director of the National Magazine Company , and later its managing director and editor-in-chief. He launched Cosmopolitan in the UK, and with Condé Nast he formed COMAG, one of the UK's largest media distribution companies. He was appointed OBE in 1983, retired the following year, and died in March 1989. Despite his later work however, he is best remembered as

4181-551: The 2024 General Election, Preston is divided between two Westminster constituencies, namely Preston and Ribble Valley . The County Hall is located on Fishergate and is the main office for Lancashire County Council . The River Ribble provides a southern border for the city. The Forest of Bowland forms a backdrop to Preston to the northeast while the Fylde lies to the west. At 53°45′N 2°42′W  /  53.750°N 2.700°W  / 53.750; -2.700 , Preston

4294-556: The American comic papers which are so far in advance of our own". Initially he sought to keep the project under his control, but his escalating debts forced him to try to sell the idea. To that end, he made several trips to London, where—armed with the dummy—he pitched his idea to several Fleet Street publishers. He met John Myers at Hulton Press , who referred him to Montague Haydon at Amalgamated Press . He then met Neville Pearson at George Newnes, Ltd. , whose executives claimed that

4407-675: The Christian and Catholic faith is long and deep here in Preston." Preston lies in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Lancaster and the Anglican Diocese of Blackburn . There are at least 73 churches, chapels, missions and meeting houses, as well as 15 cemeteries and burial sites, for which records exist. Carey Baptist Church , on Pole Street, was built in 1826 for the Calvinistic Methodists of Lady Huntington . Formerly known as St Paul's Chapel, it

4520-771: The Church of St John the Evangelist and prior to the reformation; St Wilfrid's Parish Church, is located on Church Street, in the centre of the city. From its origin, it has been the parish church of Preston. The church of St George the Martyr , located on Georges Road, was founded in 1723. One of the many large active Roman Catholic parish churches is St Thomas of Canterbury and the English Martyrs , located on Garstang Road. St Walburge's Church , designed by Joseph Hansom of Hansom Cab fame, has, at 309 feet (94 m),

4633-585: The Conqueror , shows that the strategic importance of the area was appreciated even then. The location of the city, almost exactly midway between Glasgow and London, led to many confrontations with Scotland . Preston was burned by the Scots during The Great Raid of 1322 but two years later had quickly recovered. Decisive battles were also fought here, most notably during the English Civil War at

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4746-594: The Guild Court, which since the 16th century has traditionally been on the first Monday after the feast of the Beheading of John the Baptist celebrated on 29 August. As well as concerts and other exhibitions, the main events are a series of processions through the city. Numerous street parties are held in the locality. In 1952 the emphasis was on the bright new world emerging after the war. The major event, held in

4859-566: The Legion , it also included a special news section, a sports page, and school stories. Each issue also featured a centre-spread full-colour cutaway illustration of a piece of machinery—the first detailed the inner workings of the British Rail 18000 locomotive. Such high quality strips as Riders of the Range and P.C. 49 helped ensure a weekly circulation of almost a million copies, but it

4972-593: The Preston Built-up Area 313,322. The Preston Travel To Work Area, in 2011, had a population of 420,661, compared with 354,000 in the previous census. The south bank of the Ribble is part of the Preston urban area, although it forms the South Ribble borough that is administratively separate. Preston and its surrounding area have provided evidence of ancient Roman activity, largely in the form of

5085-411: The Range and P.C. 49 . Eagle also contained news and sport sections, and educational cutaway diagrams of sophisticated machinery. A members club was created, and a range of related merchandise was licensed for sale. Amidst a takeover of the periodical's publisher and a series of acrimonious disputes, Morris left in 1959; Hampson followed shortly thereafter. Although Eagle continued in various forms,

5198-697: The River Ribble. Preston is home to the world's oldest continuous branch (a small congregation) of the church. An official memorial to the church pioneers may be found in the Japanese Garden in Avenham Park. In 1998 the church erected a large temple at Chorley , near Preston, described by The Telegraph newspaper as "spectacular". The temple is officially known as the Preston England Temple . St. John's Minster , formerly

5311-687: The Temperance Movement in Preston. Preston was one of only a few industrial towns in Lancashire to have a functioning corporation (local council) in 1835 (its charter dating to 1685), and was reformed as a municipal borough by the Municipal Corporations Act 1835 . It became the County Borough of Preston under the Local Government Act 1888 . In 1974, county boroughs were abolished, and it became part of

5424-511: The centre of Preston, and a Roman camp or station may also have been here. At Withy Trees, 1 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (2 km) north of Preston, the road crossed another Roman road from Bremetennacum (the Roman fort at Ribchester ) to the coast. An explanation of the origin of the name is that the Priest's Town refers to a priory set up by St Wilfrid near the Ribble's lowest ford. This idea

5537-746: The city centre including the Miller Arcade , the Town Hall, the Harris Museum , the Minster Church of St. John the Evangelist (formerly Preston Parish Church, elevated to Minster church status in June 2003), the former Corn Exchange and Public Hall , St. Wilfrid's Catholic Church , Fishergate Baptist Church, and many beautiful Georgian buildings on Winckley Square . Many Catholic and Anglican parish churches are also to be found throughout

5650-437: The city centre, and surrounded by built-up areas, suggesting a degree of urban warming is likely, particularly during clear and calm nights. The absolute high recorded at the weather station was 38.2 °C (100.8 °F) during July 2022. In a typical year the warmest day should reach 27.6 °C (81.7 °F) and 5.9 days in total should attain a maximum temperature of 25.1 °C (77.2 °F) or more. In October 2011,

5763-639: The city including: Latin Church Catholics, Baptist , Christadelphian , Congregational , Countess of Huntingdon's Connexion , Evangelical , Methodist , Pentecostal , Presbyterian , Swedenborgian and Wesleyan Methodist . The Society of Friends meet at the Preston Friends Meeting House at 189 St George's Road. Preston has a strong Roman Catholic Christian history and tradition, recently noted by Archbishop Vincent Nichols in his Guild 2012 Mass Homily: "The history of

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5876-480: The city's Avenham Park , had every school participating, and hundreds of children, from toddlers to teenagers, demonstrated different aspects of physical education in the natural amphitheatre of the park. The 2012 guild formally opened on 2 September with a mayoral proclamation and the return of "friendship scrolls" that had travelled the world. Highlights in the programme for the 2012 celebration included two concerts in Avenham Park – one by Human League and another,

5989-436: The city's patron saint who is historically linked to the city's establishment. The "PP" on the city shield stands for "Princeps Pacis" (Prince of Peace), another title for Christ invoking Him as protector of the city, though it is also often taken to stand for the city's nickname "Proud Preston". In fact, there were originally three letters "P" on the coat of arms , with one being lost over time. The 2001 Census recorded 72% of

6102-408: The comic's continued survival. Although in 1961 its circulation was still about 500,000, under IPC, then Eagle ' s owners, the comic suffered a drastic fall in quality. The centre spreads were replaced with the historically inaccurate "Last of The Saxon Kings", and letters of complaint poured in to the comic. Within months the comic's circulation fell to 150,000, and continued to drop. By 1966 it

6215-483: The comic's creators. Peter Ling and Macdonald Hastings were contributors, as was Harris Tweed's creator John Ryan , who was also responsible for Captain Pugwash , printed in the first 19 issues. Children were encouraged to submit their good deeds to the comic; those that had their stories printed were called MUGs, a not-so-subtle dig at the "spivs" who made fun of them. The best of these stories were awarded

6328-482: The comic. His duties on Dan Dare were taken up by Frank Bellamy , described by Morris as "a most fastidious artist and scrupulous draftsman, and like Hampson at his best, often consumed with anxiety". With Keith Watson and Don Harley , the three worked from a studio in Fleet Street. The front cover was redesigned, the Eagle name appearing across the top of the page rather than in one corner, coinciding with

6441-481: The comic. A modified Dan Dare was briefly featured in IPC Media 's 2000 AD (1977–1979). The public reaction to this, along with news of a planned television series, persuaded IPC's comic arm Fleetway to relaunch Eagle in 1982, as a weekly comic edited by Dave Hunt. The first issue was dated 27 March 1982. The original Dan Dare was no longer a feature of the comic, his eponymous great-great grandson taking on

6554-477: The comic. Eagle ' s production costs were funded partly by advertising revenue, although advertisers were required to integrate their designs so as to match the comic's high standards. Another of Hampson's strips, Tommy Walls , was the first commercial cartoon in any comic, and an obvious advertisement for Wall's ice cream . Eagle also spawned a large range of merchandise, which included toothpaste, pyjamas, and toy ray guns . Several annuals were printed;

6667-428: The copyright of his signature to Hulton for £7,250 (a portion of which was a loan). 45% of his £5,000 per annum salary was paid to the taxman. With only one other profit-making magazine ( Farmers Weekly ), Hulton sought to curb Eagle ' s costs, complaining about the use of taxis, expensive stationery, electricity and telephone bills, restaurant bills, and staff expenses. At their 1957 AGM Hulton's Chairman reported

6780-417: The corner. It was freezing cold in the winter and boiling hot in the summer". Working to a tight schedule, Hampson created each Dan Dare episode first in pencil, and then in ink and colour. He and his team of artists posed for photographs, in the positions drawn in his pencil sketches (Hampson usually posed for Dan Dare). These photographs were combined with the rough sketches, and his colleagues then worked on

6893-475: The cotton industry. Electrical goods manufacturing and engineering arrived in the town, and the building sector enjoyed a boom with nearly 3,000 council houses being built between 1920 and 1939. Some 1,500 houses were built for private sale. Despite its heavy industry, Preston endured only a handful of Luftwaffe air raids in World War II and there were no fatalities in the town, although an air crash in

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7006-475: The cover. On the inside, two pages of Secret City featured a character named Jimmy Swift, and on the back page was a religious story about Saint Paul . Short strips included Joe from Strawberry Farm and Ernie, Always Unlucky. Other features included Morris's Editor's Letter and a range of news articles. Three photocopies of the dummy were made, each hand-coloured by Hampson. It is a magazine with 175 flawlessly vivid drawings that start with gangsters shooting

7119-447: The first English town outside London to be lit by gas. The Preston Gas Company was established in 1815 by, amongst others, a Catholic priest: Rev. Joseph "Daddy" Dunn of the Society of Jesus . The Preston and Wigan Railway arrived in 1838, shortly afterwards renamed the North Union Railway . The Sheffield firm of Thos. W. Ward Ltd opened a ship breaking yard at Preston Dock in 1894. The more oppressive side of industrialisation

7232-440: The first was announced in a September 1951 issue, in Morris's regular letter to his readers. Eagle became immensely popular with people of all ages and walks of life. Copies brought into school regularly found their way into the hands of staff, who enjoyed them almost as much as the children they taught. The Lancet reported on one doctor who read Eagle on his rounds. It was sent to soldiers in Korea , to refugee camps, and

7345-517: The following month he met Morris, and helped him express his desire to see such a magazine by co-writing with him "comics that bring horror to the nursery", published in the Sunday Dispatch . Morris's article provoked a strong reaction from its readers; letters of support flooded into his home. Morris envisioned a character called Lex Christian, "a tough, fighting parson in the slums of the East End of London", whose adventures would be told in strip cartoon form, illustrated by Hampson. The idea gained

7458-447: The founder of Eagle . His memorial service at St Bride's Church in Fleet Street was filled to overflowing. ... if a character's popularity can be assessed by the amount of merchandising they attract then there can be no doubt that during the 1950s Dan Dare was far and away the most popular character going. Hampson was embittered by his departure from Eagle . Although he created Dan Dare, he and Morris had signed contracts which made

7571-427: The humour and arts magazine Lilliput . Morris managed to employ several notable contributors on Anvil , such as C. S. Lewis and Harold Macmillan . In 1948 he employed young artist Frank Hampson , a war veteran who had enrolled at the Southport School of Arts and Crafts, where he was described by his tutor as an "outstanding draughtsman 'prepared to go to endless trouble to get a thing right ' ". He worked as

7684-529: The illustrator on Anvil , and later became the full-time artist for Interim, a Christian publicity society formed during a conference of diocesan editors, with ambitions to produce a strip cartoon magazine aimed at children. Children's comics such as The Rover , The Hotspur , Schoolgirls' Own , The Magnet and Adventure usually contained a mixture of adventure stories, presented as text rather than strip cartoons, and some British boys were buying American horror comics produced for G.I.s . Morris

7797-459: The industrialisation and expansion of textile manufacturing . Preston was a boomtown of the Industrial Revolution , becoming a densely populated engineering centre, with large industrial plants. The town's textile sector fell into terminal decline from the mid-20th century and Preston has subsequently faced similar challenges to other post-industrial northern towns, including deindustrialisation, economic deprivation and housing issues. Preston

7910-477: The influence Dan Dare had on him, replied: "Why am I in cosmology?", and the entertainer Kenny Everett chose an Eagle Annual as his book on Desert Island Discs . The comic industry's Eagle Awards , first presented in 1977, are named after Eagle , and a fan club, the Eagle Society, regularly publishes the quarterly Eagle Times . Footnotes Notes Bibliography Preston, Lancashire Preston ( / ˈ p r ɛ s t ən / )

8023-578: The instruction "definitely interested do not approach any other publisher". In October that year Morris sold The Anvil —by then selling about 3,560 copies monthly—for £1,250, plus a £200 annual contract to continue as editor. Morris wanted to produce a comic the pages of which would be filled with role models whose behaviour and moral outlook he felt was socially desirable. Foreigners would not be depicted as either enemies or villains, and at least one child in any group of children would be from an ethnic minority. Religious values would not be imposed upon

8136-415: The larger part of the new non-metropolitan district, the Borough of Preston , which also included Fulwood Urban District and much of Preston Rural District . The borough acquired city status in 2002. By 1901, nearly 120,000 people were living in Preston, now a booming industrial town. New industries arrived in Preston during the interwar years which helped ease the pain felt through the sharp decline of

8249-740: The last great Jacobite Rising, on 27 November 1745 the Jacobite Prince of Wales and Regent, Bonnie Prince Charlie passed through Preston with his Highland Army on the way south through Chorley and Manchester to Derby intending to take London and the Crown. Preston was the first of quite a few places in England where the Prince was cheered as he rode by and where he was joined by some English volunteers for his Army. One Jacobite eyewitness noted that from Preston onwards, "at every town we were received with ringing of bells, and at night we have bonfires, and illuminations". Another Jacobite eyewitness noted in

8362-630: The lead "The Green Nemesis" (the sequel to "The Phoenix Mission" strip), also written by Rod Barzilay; and Keith Page, who drew several revived Dan Dare strips in New Eagle. "The Green Nemesis" takes place in 2012 in the Sargasso Sea of Space introduced in Hampson's "Reign of the Robots". Keith Page writes and draws "Rocket Pilot" which is set just before Dan's first trip to Venus in 1994, prior to

8475-446: The mantle of space explorer instead. Drawn by Gerry Embleton , and later Ian Kennedy , and set 200 years after the original story, the first story-arc featured the return of Dan Dare's earliest nemesis, The Mekon. IPC were unable to recreate the popularity of the original strip, and in 1989 the original Dan Dare returned to the comic, in a six-part story illustrated by original Eagle artist Keith Watson. In an attempt to emulate

8588-480: The men, and as a result a trend developed toward producing comics aimed specifically at either boys or girls. Girl , a sister title to Eagle , appeared in November 1951, and featured youthful capers in boarding schools, and tales of equestrian adventure. Later comics such as Jackie , descended from contemporary women's magazines, were more cosmopolitan in flavour. Girl was followed in 1953 by Robin , which

8701-459: The mid-13th century when locally produced wool was woven in people's houses. Flemish weavers who settled in the area in the 14th century helped develop the industry. In the early-18th century, Edmund Calamy described Preston as "a pretty town with an abundance of gentry in it, commonly called Proud Preston". Sir Richard Arkwright , inventor of the spinning frame , was born in the town. The most rapid period of growth and development coincided with

8814-752: The mid-1980s. Preston has a significant Muslim ( Sunni Branch, particularly Hanafi school) population, the majority of which is of Gujarati Indian descent. The Muslim population is centred in the Deepdale, Riversway, Fishwick, Fulwood and Frenchwood areas. Preston has 12 mosques: five in Deepdale & St George's, one in Frenchwood, one in Riversway, two in Adelphi and three in Fishwick. A wide range of denominations are, or have been, represented in

8927-503: The neighbouring city of Lancaster . On 10 August 1893, approximately 32 millimetres (1.3 in) of rain fell in Preston in 5 minutes, being a record for the most rainfall to fall in that time in the United Kingdom . One of the proposed derivations of the city's name coming from 'Priests' town'. The lamb on the city shield is a biblical image of Jesus Christ, and the same image that represented 7th-century bishop St Wilfrid ,

9040-572: The original Eagle , Swift in 1963 and Boys' World in 1964, before the Eagle itself came to an end when it was merged with Lion in 1969. Lion was merged with Valiant in 1974, Valiant in turn was merged with Battle Picture Weekly in 1976, and finally Battle was merged into the revived Eagle in 1988. In a sense, the new Eagle was descended from the old. The new Eagle also consumed Scream! in 1984, Tiger in 1985, M.A.S.K. in 1988 and Wildcat in 1989. The story " The Thirteenth Floor " from Scream! continued in

9153-400: The pattern for various reasons, but an unbroken series were held from 1542 to 1922. A full 400-year sequence was frustrated by the cancellation of the 1942 guild due to World War II , but the cycle resumed in 1952. The expression '(Once) every Preston Guild', meaning 'very infrequently', has passed into fairly common use, especially in Lancashire. Guild week is always started by the opening of

9266-482: The period 1971–2000. In October 2014 Preston was officially ranked "the wettest city in England", and third wettest in the UK behind Cardiff and Glasgow . It was also ranked "the gloomiest city in England", as it gets fewer hours of sunshine in a year than any other English city or town. However, in March 2018 the Lancashire Evening Post reported that Preston has lost its "soggy city status" to

9379-415: The period immediately after the Eagle's original strips. Here Dan, now called Sir Daniel, has been elevated to Controller-in-Chief of Space Fleet. Eagle (British comics) Eagle was a British children's comics periodical, first published from 1950 to 1969, and then in a relaunched format from 1982 to 1994. It was founded by Marcus Morris , an Anglican vicar from Lancashire . Morris edited

9492-536: The population of the City of Preston as Christians, 10% as having no religion, and 8% as Muslims. The Hindu and Sikh populations are smaller at 3% and 0.6% respectively, but in both cases this represents the highest percentage of any local authority area in the North West. 2% of the city's population were born in other EU countries. Though still small in number in Preston, the Latter-day Saints maintain

9605-488: The publication was "not an economic proposition". The US comics reprinter Boardmans was next, followed by Mike Wardell of the Sporting Record . Neither The Times nor The Daily Telegraph were interested, and at The Sunday Times the personal assistant to Gomer Berry, 1st Viscount Kemsley , presumed that Morris was asking for a charitable donation. In autumn 1949 however, Hulton Press contacted Morris with

9718-443: The reader with factual, text-based historical stories, such as the life of Winston Churchill , as presented in "The Happy Warrior". A detailed account of the Second World War was given, while one strip lambasted German paratroopers, who on seeing British infantry below them, shouted "Donner und Blitzen! Der Englander!" During the mid-1950s however, comics began sensationalising their covers with war imagery, and Eagle followed suit in

9831-575: The reader, although their underlying moral tones would be made obvious on each page. These were innovative but somewhat risky ideas, as nothing similar existed in the market, and Hulton therefore commissioned extensive research into the new comic, which by then, inspired by the design of her church lectern , had been christened Eagle by Hampson's wife. Layout and typography were designed by Morris's friend, Ruari McLean , assisted by Charles Green, and faced with an initial print run of 1 million copies, Aintree printer Eric Bemrose designed and built

9944-476: The soldiers and demonstrators represented are facing the wrong way). In the 1850s, Karl Marx visited Preston and later described the town as "the next St Petersburg ". Charles Dickens visited Preston in January 1854 during a strike by cotton workers that had by that stage lasted for 23 weeks. It is believed that the town of "Coketown" in the novel Hard Times was inspired by this visit to Preston. In 1858,

10057-431: The space adventurer the copyright of its publisher. This made it difficult for him to get hold of his original artwork, and excluded him from any profits Hulton made from the huge range of Dan Dare and Eagle merchandise it licensed. He called Odhams, the comic's owner after 1960, " Treens ". Hampson later worked on various advertising commissions, and illustrated seven Ladybird books . He recovered from cancer to become

10170-530: The standards and morals he advocated. Morris was instrumental in launching the short-lived Society for Christian Publicity, formed to take control of The Anvil and to perhaps produce further Christian publications, and in January 1949 the Daily Mirror published an optimistic piece about the rumoured publication by the Society of a "new children's comic". This intrigued local journalist Norman Price, and

10283-687: The strip while he tackled the opening frame of each week's story. His drawings of the technology Dan Dare employed were meticulous, and were based on a large body of research and reference material, as well as space ship models, plaster heads, mocked-up space suits, and a complete model of a space station. He also wrote the dialogue for several of the comic's pages. Hampson was assisted in his work by expert consultants, among them Arthur C. Clarke (then an aspiring young science fiction writer). Scriptwriters included Anglican priest Chad Varah (founder of Samaritans ). Varah also accompanied Morris on tours of Cathedrals often filled with Eagle readers keen to meet

10396-431: The success that Fleetway had had with girls' magazines, the relaunched Eagle initially contained a large number of photo stories such as Doomlord , Sgt. Streetwise , Manix and Walk or Die , but this style was soon replaced by the more traditional comic-strip format. Other stories included Bloodfang , The House of Daemon , Computer Warrior and Detective ZED. Along with IPC's entire comics line, Eagle

10509-655: The support of Terence Horsley , editor of the Sunday Empire News , but Horsley was killed in a gliding accident shortly thereafter. Morris suggested to Hampson that they instead create an entirely new children's publication. Hampson was enthusiastic about the idea, and in May that year the two began work on a dummy of it. Lex Christian became Chaplain Dan Dare of the Inter-Planet Patrol, and featured on

10622-670: The tallest spire in England on a church that is not a cathedral and the third tallest in the UK. In July 2016, St Ignatius Church in Preston, which had been gifted by the Catholic Diocese of Lancaster to the Syro-Malabar Catholic community, was raised to the status of a cathedral by Pope Francis . It now serves as the seat of the Syro-Malabar Catholic Eparchy of Great Britain . There are many notable buildings dotted in and around

10735-563: The title of "MUG of the Month", or "MUG of the Year". Readers were also invited to join an Eagle club. Upon payment of a subscription, members would be given a gilt Eagle badge, a rulebook, and a list of privileges. The club proved extremely popular, attracting within months a membership of about 100,000, but it also served as a research tool for Hulton; questionnaires were sent to a random selection of members, asking each to rate certain aspects of

10848-485: The whole county. The right to hold a Guild Merchant was conferred by King Henry II upon the burgesses of Preston in a charter of 1179; the associated Preston Guild is a civic celebration held every 20 years, the last being in 2012. It is the only guild still celebrated in the UK. Before 1328, celebrations were held at irregular intervals, but at the guild of that year it was decreed that subsequent guilds should be held every 20 years. After this, there were breaks in

10961-541: The year afterwards, the team has not won a championship since and their latest major trophy was the 1938 FA Cup . The demonym for residents of the city is "Prestonian". Preston was recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086 as Prestune . Various other spellings occur in early documents: Prestonam (1094), Prestone (1160), Prestona (1160), Presteton (1180), and Prestun (1226). The modern spelling occurs in 1094, 1176, 1196, 1212, and 1332. The town's name

11074-501: Was aimed at younger children, and in March 1954 by Swift , for older readers than Robin but younger than Eagle or Girl . The popularity of comics which depicted war faded after the end of the Second World War , and Eagle' s previously unheard-of circulation figures helped define the content of most comics produced during the 1950s, including war. In contrast to other, earlier publications, Eagle attempted to educate

11187-433: Was born after Rod's efforts to arrange publication of "The Phoenix Mission", a story he had written, and persuaded an original Dan Dare artist Keith Watson to illustrate in pastiche style. This ran up against commercial lack of interest. Barzilay commenced publication of it in 2003 as a vehicle for his story. Other artists and writers with an interest in Dan Dare came on board. Following Watson's death, "The Phoenix Mission"

11300-569: Was concerned, the quality of the paper, printing, artwork and writing set a new standard. There were bright colours, well-drawn pictures and exciting stories. Technically, the Eagle strips marked an advance on the standards of that time (standards that had stood still for years) when most strips were not true strips but merely pictures with captions underneath. Marcus Morris (1977) Despite settling some of his debts, Morris once again found himself in financial trouble, with unexpected tax bills and arguments with Hulton over payments. In 1955 he sold

11413-603: Was designated as part of the Central Lancashire new town in 1970. The climate of Preston is of a temperate maritime type, with a narrow range of temperatures, similar to the rest of the British Isles. Being relatively close to the Irish sea, this is more pronounced than areas to the south and east of Preston. The official Met Office weather station is located at Moor Park, less than 1 mile (1.6 km) north of

11526-452: Was dropped in 1994. In the twentieth century it was standard practice in the British comics industry to merge a comic into another one when it declined in sales. Typically, a few stories from the cancelled comic would continue for a while in the surviving comic, and both titles would appear on the cover (one in a smaller font than the other) until the title of the cancelled comic was eventually dropped. In this way, two comics were merged with

11639-460: Was impressed by the high standard of artwork in the US magazines, but disgusted by their content, which he described as "deplorable, nastily over-violent and obscene, often with undue emphasis on the supernatural and magical as a way of solving problems". He realised that a market existed for a children's comics periodical which featured action stories in cartoon form, but which also would convey to children

11752-480: Was in decline. IPC continued production until the comic's last issue, on 26 April 1969, by which time circulation had dwindled to an unprofitable 40,000. Just short of its 1,000th edition, the comic was merged with its rival, IPC's Lion . Eric Meredith from Chester was employed as technical adviser by the Eagle Comic as the 'Man from Eagle' who undertook daring stunts and wrote about his experiences in

11865-479: Was just a very normal, efficient, competent girl. Frank Hampson (1974) Eagle inspired several imitators, such as Valiant , Tiger , and Lion (which featured a Dan Dare clone, "Captain Condor") but such adventure tales were less palatable for girls. Female characters like Dan Dare's Professor Peabody (one of only two female main characters in the strip), were generally given less important roles than

11978-520: Was praised by Geoffrey Grigson on the BBC Home Service . Wolf Mankowitz proclaimed Dan Dare a "Hero of Our Time", and the Earl of Jellicoe was reported to have read the comic in the library of Westminster Palace . Lord Mountbatten supposedly placed a subscription order for his nephew, Prince Charles , and on one occasion rang Hulton to complain that the comic had not arrived; a replacement

12091-597: Was purchased by the Baptists in 1855. It is a Grade II listed building. The church survives remains active in the community. Preston was the location of the world's first foreign mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (commonly known as the Mormons). As early as 1837 the first Latter-day Saint missionaries to Great Britain began preaching in Preston and, in particular, other small towns situated along

12204-458: Was quickly despatched. Years later Morris sent the prince a copy of The Best of Eagle (1977); Charles replied and thanked him for the "fond memories". The comic was not universally popular, however, as it was quickly banned in South Africa . I am sure that the success of Eagle (a sell-out of 900,000 copies of its first issue) was due to the insistance [sic] on quality. Where Eagle

12317-526: Was seen during the Preston Strike of 1842 on Saturday 13 August 1842, when a group of cotton workers demonstrated against the poor conditions in the town's mills. The Riot Act was read and armed troops corralled the demonstrators in front of the Corn Exchange on Lune Street. Shots were fired and four of the demonstrators were killed. A commemorative sculpture now stands on the spot (although

12430-531: Was sold to Robert Maxwell in 1987. Although not as successful as its predecessor, over 500 issues were published. A change to a monthly anthology caused by falling sales was a portent of the comic's future. Toward the end of its life issues contained reprints of earlier work, including reprints of stories from other comics, such as M.A.C.H. 1 from 2000 AD and Charley's War from Battle . There were also new Dan Dare stories written by Tom Tully and illustrated by David Pugh . The relaunched Eagle

12543-533: Was sure that space travel would be a reality. Frank Hampson While Morris (who by now had resigned from St James) edited the magazine from Hulton's premises at Shoe Lane in London, the comic was created in a converted bakery in the Churchtown district of Southport. The building was described by Eagle artist Greta Tomlinson as "very basic, a flagstone floor and a tin roof; there was cold running water in

12656-449: Was taken over from the second issue onwards by the legendary original Dan Dare artist Don Harley (who had often shared credit with Hampson himself in the 1950s). There was later help from Tim Booth. Currently, Spaceship Away now includes "other sci-fi like Charles Chilton's Journey into Space , and Sydney Jordan's 'Hal Starr'", and (as of July 2024) is still a going concern. Other regular contributors include Tim Booth, who now co-draws

12769-478: Was the adventures of Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future , which most captivated readers. Created by Hampson—now a full-time staff artist with his own team—Dan Dare was the UK's first science-fiction comic strip of any significance. Readers were thrilled by the square-jawed British spaceman's weekly exploits, and his struggles with The Mekon . I wanted to give hope for the future, to show that rockets, and science in general, could reveal new worlds, new opportunities. I

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