Dan Dare Mekon. The initial artist was Gerry Embleton, who drew Dan to resemble the original exactly, but he was quickly replaced by Ian Kennedy, who gave the hero a younger look and blond hair. The opening "Dan Dare" story was an epic, lasting 18 months, written by Pat Mills and John Wagner. It opened with a flashback to the unseen final defeat of the Mekon by the original Dan, after which he was sealed inside an artificial asteroid and exiled into space. Centuries later he was accidentally freed and returned to conquer Earth. A few years later the descendant of his
Eagle (British comics) until 1987, and its lead character, Max, purported to be the comic's editor for several years after the story finished. "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 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,