Eagle (British comics) 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 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
Dan Dare the story and its successor, "Prisoners of Space" (the only series to feature extensive work by an artist outside the studio, finishes being provided by Desmond Walduck. Hampson returned full-time in 1955, starting "The Man from Nowhere" trilogy, which took Dan and his companions outside the Solar System for the first time. The quality of the strip and its popularity remained high throughout the 1950s. In the late fifties "Eagle"'s new owners objected to the cost of the studio and the complexity of the stories. The conflict caused Hampson to leave the strip in 1959, in the middle of a