The Story and Games of Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future | Kim Justice

Dan Dare, one of the UK's great comic heroes, also has some of the best tie-in video games under his belt! here's a look back at the Pilot and his titles on the Spectrum, C64, Amstrad and even the Mega Drive.
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0:00 Intro
1:45 The Origins of Dan Dare
5:58 Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future
14:38 The Dan Dare Adventure
19:25 Dan Dare II: Mekon's Revenge
25:06 Dan Dare III and Gaiares
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#retrogaming #dandare #ukcomics #zxspectrum #ukretro

[@Kim_Justice]

What are your memories of the almighty Dan Dare? Toodle-pip!

[@mgtproductions9524]

He was no Spitfire McGuire (From Viz)

[@2000DC]

I grew up reading the Eagle, and he was in his modern, Han Solo-ish incarnation during the 80s when I first came across him. I wasn't as sold on his return to the WWII style a couple of years later

[@juststatedtheobvious9633]

@Kim Justice His third title was one of my very first memories of the Spectrum, along with 3d Death Case and Chase HQ. For a Yank who missed out on all the excitement, you couldn't ask for a better introduction. This was far beyond the pre-crash systems we could afford, back in the day. And to this day, it remains my favorite computer of all time. It was the great equalizer. Anyone who could wrap their minds around good art direction (realism wasn't an option) and solid gameplay (despite Sir Clive not providing a single luxury) could compete with the top studios, or even surpass them. And that was as punk as gaming ever got.

[@reddeadrelaxation5021]

I had the Dan Dare 1 & 2 and, although I thought they were super tricky they were super fun! Mainly played the sequel because you could fly around as the Mekon.

[@andrewtennant1889]

My greatest memory of Dan Dare is watching this video! (I'm American)

[@KaitainCPS]

Stripey is from the planet Cryptos. Dan picks him up as a pet/companion during the story "Rogue Planet", which was essentially Part 2 for "The Man From Nowhere". Possibly the best of the Frank Hampson Dare epics: no Mekon or treens in sight, but a compelling adventure that takes Dare and co to a far-off star system where his task is to protect the peaceful Crypts from the warlike Phants, only to discover that there's more to the conflict than meets the eye. Some terrific artwork of alien worlds, with some similarities to the look and feel of "Avatar".

[@TigerBoyRS]

The original Dan Dare on the Speccy was a game that made me crack the loader to input some pokes... I was so happy an amazed at the final screen when the planet explodes. Top animation and sound fx. Recommended to this day, really, check it out! Loved the game even if totally oblivious of the Dan Dare comics character as I'm not from the UK. As a reader of Sinclair User, I did liked the little fun demo on Mega Tape 3, SU#72 March '88. Top notch video, as usual. Cheers from 🇵🇹

[@custardo]

A weird side note is that Eagle had a Dutch edition called "Arend" (from 1955-1966). Apparently (bad) literal translations were a thing, because it featured such titles as Harrie Twiet, Joop Lantaarn and Lettie Droeflot. But of course, the most famous one was Daan Durf.

[@thomasharte500]

In my household it was standard to shout “Hello up there!” “Hello Dan Dare!” at each other while playing the Spectrum original, as per the playground joke.

[@davedogge2280]

I flew Dan Air airways in the UK in the 80s and you could feel cold air blowing up the toilet.

[@BottIsNotABot]

I've only ever played DD3, and obviously on the Speccy. Brilliant game, and I remember being blown away by the graphics at the time. Do you know what, it still looks fab!

[@TheFreakinTony]

I love retro computing stuff, and your videos are always a highlight of my day, Kim.

[@shaolinpunkFTW]

The Speccy Dan Dare was awesome. I never completed it but your video brought back great memories. Thanks :)

[@liambyrne3488]

So glad I watched this for a couple of reasons. Firstly because I had Dan dare on the C64 as a kid and it was cool to see the game was as good as I remember it. Secondly because for at least 5 years now I have been trying to find a tank game I had on KZbin where you had to deflect a lazer and had no luck at all and now I know it was rebel! Thank you Kim!

[@sebastienberruyer4110]

Never heard of Dan Dare before, as a f***ing froggy, but i love his eyebrow

[@alexstokoe2542]

Excellent story-telling Kim. And a bonus mention of my favourite Mega Drive Shmup - Gaiares. The theme from the first stage is the GREATEST in-game tune of all time.

[@Trenchbroom]

U.S. C64 gamer here. The first Dan Dare game was released in North America as a budget title (from Mindscape's "Thunder Mountain" budget label IIRC). So we were familiar with the character, somewhat. As Brit superheroes go, I'll stick with Danger Mouse, which was shown on Nickelodeon in the early 80s. Loved that show!

[@tolindaniel]

Oh wow, this one was a pleasant surprise! I played the C64 version of the original a couple of times when I was a kid at my cousin's house and have fond memories of it. Great vid, kim!

[@pinkelephantz286]

A stalwart British classic chaps . One of the first games I ever played on the C64 nice to see the team who made it.

[@radiantxpdd]

I played the first Dan Dare on the C64 as a kid, and I remember there was something appealing with it, though I never really understood how to play it back then. Growing up in Sweden it was certainly my only exposure to the character; it was very interesting to learn more about the game's background!

[@ZombiWorkshop]

Nice. A proper trip down nostalgia street with this one. Had a few of the Dan Dare games on the c64 back in the day, and whilst I didn't complete ANY of them - really enjoyed the first. :)

[@paulnash9851]

Video gets a like for bringing up Dan Dare... Video gets a super like for featuring a quick frame of DOOMLORD, quite possibly one of the greatest British comic strip/series ever !!! God I miss DOOMLORD, almost impossible to find anything to do with it these days.

[@leighbennett1961]

Dan Dare 2 was the first full price game I bought for my brand new speccy +2 in early 1988. I couldn't get anywhere in it so took it back and swapped it for Trantor.

[@welshie6313]

Amazing to see this. I have all the eagle comics from the early 80’s and loved Dan Dare! The speccy version was clearly the best. Such an amazing game.

[@marceltiel7919]

Some nice background info on the Dan Dare character, When I played Dan Dare 3 more than 30 years ago on the C64 in the Netherlands, I thought it was nothing more than a curious name for a game.... Only later I listened to the Pink Floyd's, Astronomy domine.... "Stairway scare, Dan Dare, who's there?" That I realised he is actually a figure in the collective (British) mind

[@martinwilliams9866]

British comics were great, especially in the 1960's before Dandy & Beano got rid of adventure stories, there was the Purple Cloud, Danger Man, Spacekids, Jet Ace Logan, Captain Condor, Mytek the Mighty, Jason Hyde, Robby the Robot, Kelly's Eye, The Jellymen, Fireball XL5, The Daleks, & many more, then there was Dan Dare perhaps the greatest of all (pre 2000AD)

[@SimianScience]

so basically a british take on buck rogers or flash gordon? i love it. also man that ZX game looks GREAT. looks like alot of talent and money went into it.

[@johnabbitt690]

Thanks Kim that was great! I loved the trilogy on my Speccy. I remember getting the first two on budget releases and loved the great use of colour and fine details in the graphics. I don't know if I played a demo of part 3 or just drooled over the multi colours and large sprites in a Crash review but I remember buying it full price! Never completed any of them though, very close on the original a few times.

[@tonyp3824]

Thanks Kim, remember being blown away on how good DD3 looked on my ZX Spectrum! Great video and keep up the good work.

[@devilprooftiger]

Thanks Kim, Speccy till I die. Your videos are the no.1 nostalgia trip. x

[@Chris-du3jc]

Dan Dare III was my favourite Speccy game back in the day. Massive nostalgia for me as an Eagle comic reader.

[@cloudskipa]

A truly fantastic video. I remember the SU demo of DD2 and the difficulty was indeed enough to put me off. Love the look of the third game on Speccy though, gonna have to try that one out.

[@Oculas2003]

Id love to see another vid of this type about the Dredd games.

[@karlanitasplaylist]

Kevin O,neill. A pioneer and is a 2000 AD legend. A video with all your skills on "Nemesis the warlock" would be gorgeous......... thought to ask.. respect!

[@djsquibby]

I loved the Eagle from the 80's, does anyone remember Doomlord? I recently bought a 2000AD comic, another blast from my past ;)

[@richardhockey8442]

Doomlord - Servitor of Nox, Manix (terminator/bionic man ripoff), Joe Soap (bumbling private detective who usually ends solving crimes by pure luck)

[@StRoRo]

Excellent as always

[@rog2224]

I remember there being a series in development hell with Rodney Bewes as Digby.

[@auritone]

Remember playing the C-64 version of the first Dan Dare to death never knowing it was a comic until quite a few years later. Never really liked the follow-ups because the uniqueness of the first one was abandoned. Still played them, though.

[@thomasjohnston9795]

In terms of Dan Dare parodies that come to mind, private eye in the 80s had a parody comic called Dan Dire about Labour leader Niel Kinnock fighting the evil Mag-Con (involving other Tories like Etonian Douglas Hurd as a Lardy-Dalek) and recent times lot of depictions of Dominic Cummings are very Mechon like

[@RetroUnlim]

I used to religiously buy eagle comics each week for The Computer Warrior character. Incredible

[@JohnnyWednesday]

I didn't remember until now that I played the first C64 game an awful lot :) thanks for restoring a memory

[@plisskensghost2951]

Doomlord was always my favourite videos in The Eagle, there was a certain sense of pathos in those comics that wasn't in others. I was just a kid and didn't understand what pathos was but i remember feeling sad for him quite a lot.

[@verficationaccount]

Never heard of him, thanks for the great background information bits. I love these stories from "old britain".

[@Monkeh99]

I had dan dare and dan dare 3 on my amstrad 464 loved both of them, some of my earliest gaming memories

[@superspecky4eyes]

I have a Dan Dare 2000AD comic framed on my wall, great vid.

[@classiccustoms2010]

Didn't even know Dan Dare was a thing. Sounds cool though. Reminds me a lot of Buck Rogers.

[@meatclaw7292]

There used to be a brilliant Dan Dare exhibition at the botanical Gardens in Southport....

[@Innesb]

The founder of the Eagle (in which Dan Dare appeared) was the Rev John Marcus Harston Morris, who was vicar of the Southport church of St James (in Birkdale). As a teenager, I was in the Boy Scouts based at that church (somewhat later than Morris’s era)!

[@goldensyrupgamingshow2978]

Peak Kim Justice content!

[@ZXSpectrumvideos]

I had no clue who Dan Dare was, but I played a lot this game when I was young, specially Dan Dare 3, that was my favourite. The difficulty of the first two made the games almost impossible to complete, speacially if you didn't have a map, Dan Dare 3 was more fair when it cames to difficulty, I completed that one several times.

[@kayfimt7769]

Oh don’t tell me you’re a comic book buff too! It would be amazing to see you do a comprehensive doco on something like 2000AD.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

Kim is well versed nerd, so there's a very high chance she's into comics too.

[@CorporalDanLives]

Okay, I am loving this. I remember HEARING the name Dan Dare as a kid but had no idea of his epic Britishness.

[@christianjdenning]

I absolutely pleaded with my parents to get Dan Dare 3 for my birthday in 89. I think may have been the first game I ever got hyped for now I think about it. It didn't disappoint 9yr old me. Think it was the first game I completed too

[@MephProduction]

loved playing dan on the speccy and c64 although i could never get to grips with the fighting

[@mariocosti4698]

I have fond memories of playing Dan Dare on Amstrad CPC although I don't recall getting very far!

[@TheCultOfNick]

:Squeals with delight: Great a new Kim title and it's about UK Comics legend Dan Dare.

[@Edgel-in6bs]

Great vid. Dan Dare my favorite c64 game.

[@paulohrodriguesbr]

IMHO Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future (Dan Dare 1) is the best game for the little Speccy - it´s a real masterpiece from the Virgin Games

[@ArrowXskyReborn]

Oh yes, time to be educated about British things I had no idea about.

[@sonataonmymind]

I loved the video. Kim, you could make more videos about European comic-based games :)

[@bsebire]

I have never heard of Dan Dave, but this was interesting

[@john_amend_all]

I found the Sinclair User demo of Dan Dare 2 impossibly hard. When I got the actual game I was able to complete it as Dan, but not as the Mekon (because when you're playing as the Mekon, the clock starts running straight away, not when you release the first Supertreen).

[@Kousaburo]

The best Dan Dare movie is Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow. Change my mind.

[@SomeOrangeCat]

I think the Spectrum version of the first game really represents what gaming on that kind of computer was all about. Doing the very best you can, with meager hardware and it turning out really good.

[@codylamp6814]

Sweet, always was curious about this cause of the weird green alien lol. Good work, heading towards your tenth year on KZbin right?

[@richp6716]

Shout out to Andy Wilson who taught me about client-server systems in the late 90s. He mentioned working on Dan Dare but it was never a game on my radar, sorry

[@grantd165]

What a great little niche to do a video on.

[@pda1799]

I loved DD1 on my C64 - my first sensible adventure game. Even DD2 was good (but nowhere as good). Thank you for this video!!!!

[@Ezyasnos]

Dan Dare obviously is represented as Lord Flashheart in Blackadder

[@gwishart]

Lord Flasheart is basically a randy version of Biggles, on which Dan Dare was based.

[@willrobinson7599]

Played Dan dare 3 on amstrad the other month for the first time.thought the graphics were lovely and colourful.easy to tell it was by the guys that did savage . Probe did a good job I thought

[@alanrockunited]

brilliant - can you do a vid on 2000a games please

[@nosferadu]

The first Dan Dare was one of the first games I played on the Speccy and one of my favorites still. (though at the time I was way too incompetent at the game to get anywhere, I still enjoyed messing about) The second and third games I only ever played in an emulator and felt like they had nothing to do with the first one except the name.

[@error4159]

How I know where Shiny got the idea for the orbital landing in MDK

[@krissymarklewis1793]

I think it was Dan Dare 2 I had on the speccy, it was brutal.

[@Garthdon]

I can see why Dan Dare didn't take off back in the 80s. As a kid back then, other comic heros were better looking and stylish. The only 50's futuristic retro we had was Marvin the Martian, I equated the two together, and I bet many others did too. Mekon looks like a baby, and up against other comic enemies like Judge Death, Rogue Trooper's Nords, etc, he looks naff.

Why did you start cutting your logo jingle ? It wasn’t that long, and I like it very much

[@MrDuffnote]

We need Dan Dare to sort out the current health secretary :-} Rumour has it that Universamaount Studios are going to make a movie about our current health secretary. It will be called 'Revenge of the Mekon'.

[@jmalmsten]

As I have more experience in reading japanese manga than british comics I always need to force myself to use the proper english pronounciation. Otherwise I just assume it's Dan Dareh. Sung with the fervor of Jet Jaguar's theme song.

[@plisskensghost2951]

I love Kims videos but her speccy tinted spectacles are glowing in this video... In remarks of Probe and how they fared better on the speccy are at odds with how amazing both Trantor and Savage look and play on the CPC. I'm not a speccy fan, never will be but i can say that Dan Dare was better on the speccy than CPC by a country mile but equally it goes the other way with Trantor and Savage.

[@ivarfiske1913]

Kim didn't even show Sorcery and Dan Dare 3 on the Amstrad. Why not show the best version of games? It is due to his extreme Spectrum bias. Amstrad Trantor and Savage is clearly the best versions too

[@brianolson6366]

I enjoyed his video

[@rossblood5015]

Another excellent video.. I had the c64 verson of the first game.was to young or to stupid to get far.

[@lokiskywalker]

I used to live in a city with a library that had a few collections of Dan Dare comics and I enjoyed reading them a hell of a lot. They're very corny but very exciting nonetheless.

[@firekind1980]

When was the penny dreadful a comic book?

[@yvesnyfelerph.d.8297]

Can you give a source for the gang of five members you name? Because not all of the ones you mention seem to be canon...

[@kokobwild2413]

Never knew Dan dare had such obscene rubberlips.

[@Giantwaspface]

Chuffed to say I actually beat the C64 original as a kid, but I'd rather Dan Dare remain a fond relic than be dragged into the 21st century be, ahem, "modernised".

[@AvroHawker]

Loved Dan Dare from the 1980s Eagle (had the annual). I would love to see a Dan Dare movie, but I just know Hollywood would ruin it, so probably best left as a timeless classic...

[@Edgel-in6bs]

Viz the best comic ever!

[@nickthelick]

God I hated the Spectrum game! I remember getting it on a Sinclair User or Your Sinclair cassette. (Which you've just mentioned!)

[@davidknight247]

Liked before watching. What’s not to like?

[@ivarfiske1913]

Maybe the Spectrum bias?

[@davidknight247]

@@ivarfiske1913 maybe, difficult for me to argue with that as I share this bias, only having played the ZX Spectrum versions of these games myself I am not in a position to evaluate the other versions. Personally, I enjoyed the video but I respect and understand your point of view.

[@midwestmonster9886]

6:09 That New York Warriors description did not age well at all.

[@BrainDamageComedy]

LOL. good catch

[@evlofenn]

Only ever bought 1 copy of the Eagle, after playing the c64 game. Im afraid for me Dan's stiff upper lip couldn't compete with Joe Dredd's granite chin! Would love to hear your take on the Judge's Kim. Tally ho etc....

[@richardhockey8442]

The 2000AD version of Dan Dare who takes a space battleship to the furthest ends of the galaxy to deal with some nebulous threat but eventually returns to earth as the only survivor of the mission, with an powerful alien gauntlet grafted onto one hand. He's forced to escape from Earth with his Treen friend after he's held responsible for the failure of the mission and was never seen again (in the pages of 2000AD)

[@lokiskywalker]

4:24 Quite honestly Dan Dare's a way better Captain Britain than the ACTUAL Captain Britain.

[@AcornElectron]

I feel like I had the game on electron and it was mediocre. I didn’t read that comic though. Buster, Beano, Whizzer and Chips, Transformers and later Oink.

[@lokiskywalker]

6:25 I remember one of those reboot attempts was written by Garth Ennis where we got to see how well Garth Ennis writes when he's not allowed to do any gory sexist edgelord stuff and it turns out he's frankly fucking boring and unremarkable.

[@lokiskywalker]

and don't get me wrong, gory sexist edgelord stuff is what Garth Ennis EXCELS at so I dunno what the fuck the people behind this were thinking really

[@admiralbees1690]

Benedict Cumberbatch as Dan Dare anyone?

[@lazy-a-ile8608]

UK doesn't beat America in comics? *Looks at Marvel and DC burning* Well now is your change xD Also Finland had that Dan Dare CG animation up on week day morning before school, I know him from that |D

[@pinkelephantz286]

Have you even read Viz ? Case closed.

[@ivarfiske1913]

@@pinkelephantz286 shite?

[@lokiskywalker]

2:44 Simply put, your batman is inferior to our Batman

[@ACougarSwagnum]

I don't like Britain, but I do like Patriotism

[@deuscida88]

I only know Dan Dare of finnish weekly morning cartoon series : that 2001 ran in the public channels for few years. I hated that animation somehow and Mekon was so terrible character/ annoying

[@lokiskywalker]

3:28 Biggles. BIGGLES. That's a name for a mischievous cartoon cat, not imperialist propaganda.

[@akalyx]

rule 34 dan dare

[@razerow3391]

Would it be that hard to adapt? This feels yeah... considering that Doctor Who has referenced it not so long back and Ace Rimmer from Dwarf is clearly an homage... I think it would work and that kim is being dumb... It's no different to Guardians of the Galaxy or Iron Man. Dan Dare is a good "everyman" hero like Batman. I think it would work really well and be so much better than the shit MCU produce. "no no Hawkeye and Widow are good! They weren't only in the Avengers movie because we didn't own the rights to xmen and fantastic four... honest" The only reason it kinda doesn't work in modern era is ... Well why? Isn't this like I said a cross between Captain America and Guardians? I mean why did it work for them? What a world we live in... Where exerting the smallest possible amount of effort and change an established characters colour or sex is seen as progressive and a soldier that asks questions first before shooting is seen as not able to work in current climate.

[@dannyd464]

Amstrad will always be better and than spectrum.

[@ACougarSwagnum]

and how the hell do you look so young??? you look like you are in your mid 20s???