Dan Dare to celebrate their 20th anniversary, "2000 AD" published two issues with additional free comics, the first a reprint of the first issue of "2000 AD", which starred Dan Dare. The second free comic was a speculative issue called "3000 AD" which contained strips partially based on the first issue of "2000 AD". One strip was entitled "The Return of Dan Dare", which also featured the return of the Mekon. In 1982 "Eagle" was re-launched, with "Dan Dare" again its flagship strip. The new character was the great-great-great-grandson of the original hero—the only surviving character from the original strip being the
Dan Dare with the song "Dan Dare" The relaunch of the Eagle Magazine in 1982 saw a free single giveaway of a track called "Dan Dare" by the group Loose Talk. Characters inspired by or based on Dan Dare have appeared throughout British popular culture. One example is Wing Commander Leyton in "British Summertime" by Paul Cornell, which juxtaposes the utopian future portrayed in the original comics with the Britain of today. In the 1980s, "Private Eye" published "Dan Dire, Pilot of Future?". Dire was based on politician Neil Kinnock, the question being whether he'd ever become Prime Minister. Dire's enemy was