Battle for Britain (Private Eye) 1986, at about the time when Parliament was about to go into recess. When the series ended in 1987, it was replaced by "Dan Dire, Pilot of the Future?", which took a similar comic-book view of politics. This time, the model was Frank Hampson's artwork for Dan Dare, as seen in the popular 1950–1969 comic for boys "Eagle". In keeping with the science fiction theme, Kinnock became "Dan Dire" (the questioning title was over whether or not he would ever be Prime Minister); Mrs Thatcher became "The Maggon" in reference to Dan Dare's arch-enemy The Mekon; and Owen became "Doctor
Dan Dare inside of the comic, in black and white, and was drawn by Keith Watson. Over the remaining years the strip varied in format and quality, eventually returning to the front page in colour, until it ended in 1967 with Dan retiring to become Space Fleet controller. Strips from the 1950s were reprinted until 1969, when "Eagle" merged with "Lion". For a while the reprints continued in black and white in "Lion". In 1977, Dan Dare appeared again in the first issue of "2000 AD" (26 February 1977). The first instalment, scripted by Ken Armstrong and Pat Mills, had the character