Eagle (British comics) Riders of the Range and P.C. 49 helped ensure a weekly circulation of almost a million copies, but it 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. 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
Eagle (British comics) in Korea, to refugee camps, and 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 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