Spaceship Away has a new issue out. Typing the subject line, it struck me that I should mention that, although dated Autumn, it's not late as the schedule is four-monthly, with issues released in March, July and November. This issue has a Christmassy feel to it, with a delightful Don Harley cover featuring Dan and company building a Mekon snowman.

The trio of comic strips continues from last issue: Tim Booth provides another eight pages of his latest Dan Dare yarn, 'Shakedown Cruise', which I'm pleased to see. Back in the day, the magazine ran two Dare stories, which could stretch even the most devout readers' patience as Booth's earlier stories ran for six and seven years.

This issue, the storyline's pace picks up a little from last issue's debut, with Professor Peabody's sister, Snooks, revealing that she has been working undercover to infiltrate a rebel Treen group, the Mekonista, who are responsible for a satellite moving out of orbit in the Kuiper Belt. Dan and his crew of trainee cadets head off into deep space to investigate... only to encounter a Treen ship.

The other two strips are part two of 'Operation Pintos', from, I believe, an old Express Weekly Annual, and the continuation of 'The Golden Amazon', a strip drawn by Ron Turner back in 1990 and newly coloured by Martin Baines. Based on Conquest of the Amazon by John Russell Fearn, this episode reveals the origins of the Golden Amazon.

An article by Andrew Darlington on the old Modern Wonder boys' paper from the 1930s could easily have been expanded to allow for more, or just larger, illustrations, as the paper was chock full of delightful artwork and cutaways. The "selected best" listing is a little redundant as the contents of the  magazine have been listed and indexed at the FictionMags website for the past 15 years (I know, because I checklisted the complete run of the paper back in 2002 as part of the old Story Paper Index!)

I can't help but feel that 'Space News' is also a little redundant, as the end of the Cassini space probe, for instance, occurred in September and was widely covered at the time, both online and in print. The BBC Horizon programme Goodbye Cassini–Hello Saturn was broadcast in September. Similarly, both the Virgin and SpaceX programmes were recently the subject matter for Brian Cox's The 21st Century Race for Space, broadcast in November, and some of the same ground was covered in an earlier doc. about travelling to Mars in September.

I'm also not sure if Spaceship Away is the best place for video reviews of modern computer games, but it is the place for an interview with David Leach, who is editor of the current Dan Dare comic from Titan and the Titan reprints of the original Eagle strips.

With an episode of Davy Rocket plus some DD artwork by hobbyist painter Andy Price wrapping up the latest issue, its a bit of a mixed bag this time round, but always worth the price of entry.

You can find out more about the magazine, buy back issues and subscribe to the latest issues at the Spaceship Away website.

It's always a pleasure to have Spaceship Away drop through the letterbox. Des Shaw has maintained the high standards set by original editor Rod Barzilay and has kept the title rolling along with a decent momentum since 2003.

The strip content is split three ways this issue. The main event, as always, is the latest Dan Dare yarn, written and drawn by Tim Booth, who does a bang-up job of recreating the characters and look of the old Frank Hampson era Dan Dare. A new story was launched with four 2-page episodes last issue (which I'm sure is still available if you're coming late to Spaceship Away). This issue sees a further four episodes... and I hope this is a sign of things to come, as eight pages per issue means enough plot for the reader to get their teeth into—vital when you have to wait four months between issues.

The latest tale, 'Shakedown Cruise', is shaping up into a fun storyline. Four students have been chosen to accompany Dan and Digby on a mission aboard the Discovery, an old crate upgraded to serve as a training ship. Over the course of these episodes we get to see Far Side City and meet Professor Peabody's sister, Snooks. The storyline is slowly building... and that's why running more than a couple of episodes at a time makes for a far better reading experience.

The rest of the strip contents consists of a Fifties reprint by Gordon Coombs and Harry Winslade (from an Express Weekly Annual probably) and a Ron Turner reprint from 1990, newly coloured by Martin Baines. This features John Russell Fearn's 'Golden Amazon' and was originally published in its own one-off comic based on the novel Conquest of the Amazon. A 1948 introduction by Fearn himself sets the scene as the present story builds on events of the previous novel. The sun is growing unstable and Earth could be frozen within two years. Only the Golden Amazon can save the day... or maybe not... we'll just have to wait for the next episode.

There are some interesting articles for fans of old science fiction comics as Andrew Darlington takes a very thorough look at the history of Jet-Ace Logan, as does Philip Harbottle with the Tit-Bits Science Fiction Comics series. Jeremy Briggs reveals a forgotten bit of Dan Dare history in his article about a 1972 Dan Dare play that was staged at the Half Moon Theatre.

Add a nice cut-out drawing by Graham Bleathman, an episode of Davy Rocket, artwork by Don Harley and a brief history of rocketry, and you have another excellent issue.

You can find out more about the magazine, buy back issues and subscribe to the latest issues at the Spaceship Away website.

The latest issue of Spaceship Away is out now and launches a whole new Dan Dare yarn, so it's a great jumping on issue if you haven't tried the title before now.

Tim Booth has been central to the success of Spaceship Away, having painted a series of new old-style Dan Dare yarns for many years. His long-running 'Parsecular Tales' storyline has finally come to a conclusion after 28 episodes – and as there are only three issues per year, that particular strip has been running since 2010 – and a new story begins, with eight pages of the new 'Shakedown Cruise' getting his latest yarn off to a good start.

Four graduates from Astral College are selected to join Dan, Digby and the crew of the Discovery on a training mission that will begin with a trip to Far City on the dark side of the Moon.

This issue has a second, complete Dan Dare tale from the pen of John Freeman, still probably best known for his editorial stint at Doctor Who Magazine and as publisher of the online Down the Tubes comics' news site. 'Martian Menace' was written back in 2013 when it was hoped that the Freeman-edited Strip comic would be allowed to run new Dan Dare material. After creating a bible for the new strip, work began in 2014 only to grind to a halt when payments due did not arrive.

Thankfully, John's hard work was picked up by B7 Media when they came to producing audio adventures of Dan Dare recently – the second tranch of stories is due shortly – and the strip, drawn by Joe Pimentel and gorgeously coloured by John Ridgway, had finally made its way into print.

Another Ron Turner strip completes the comic compliment this issue, a bit of pulpy fun that fits the Spaceship Away formula beautifully.

Articles this issue include a look at Bruce Cornwell's artwork for Express Annual and a piece by David Ashford on two artists you might not expect to have contributed to the Dan Dare saga in the original Eagle: Jack Daniels and Norman Williams.

You can find out more about the magazine, buy back issues and subscribe to the latest issues at the Spaceship Away website.

Spaceship Away completes its 13th year of publication with issue 40. Also coming to a close is Tim Booth's 'Mercury Revenant' after 8 issues and 18 episodes. One of the earliest episodes was set around Christmas, and the tale ends on a similar festive note. Sandwiched in-between has been one of Dan's hottest adventures on the surface of Mercury and a very satisfying old-school Dan Dare yarn it has been, too.

Tim Booth is also responsible for the longer-running 'Parsecular Tales', with episodes 26 and 27 appearing here. In all Booth has produced over 80 episodes of various stories and he's definitely Starship Away's star discovery. One hopes that he can keep up the pace in 2017 and beyond.

Concluding this issue are Jet Morgan's latest reprint from Express Weekly – or, in this instance, one of the annuals – and Nick Hazard's previously unpublished adventure 'Planet of Doom', based on an old 1950s Vargo Statten paperback yarn.

David Ashford leads off a trio of articles this issue with a look at a long-forgotten space hero drawn by Syd Jordan. Hal Starr first appeared (drawn by other hands) in a obscure series of comics published in the 1950s to promote body-building. Syd drew some schoolboy adventures featuring one Dick Hercules before jetting off into space with Starr. He drew only seven stories, although he revived the name for a series reprinted in Spaceship Away issues 8-15, originally published as John Stark in the Dutch weekly Eppo Wordt Vervolgd in 1987-88.

Next up, Jeremy Briggs introduces the people behind the scenes at the new B7 Media's Dan Dare recordings that are soon to be released on CD. As well as meeting the actors and production staff, we get a look at the various stories that are being adapted – the first set of three stories (released in December) are the first three that appeared in Eagle, but the second set (released February 2017) are stories eight, four and five.

Busy Jeremy is also behind an interview with Dave Gibbons who discusses his time drawing Dan Dare in 2000AD, strips recently reprinted by Rebellion. It's a good, insightful interview and I never knew that Dave met Frank Hampson... but you'll have to buy the issue to find out how that went.

You can find out more about the magazine, buy back issues and subscribe to the latest issues at the Spaceship Away website.

Summer's here... and so is the latest issue of Spaceship Away, as colourful and enthusiastic as ever and adding some very welcome delight to what has been a bit of a damp squib of a month.

Artwise, the magazine relies heavily on Tim Booth, who continues to relate two Dan Dare yarns. 'Parsecular Tales' has now been running for six years and has reached episode 25. That's 50 full-colour pages—a record for fan activity that's likely to stand for a long, long time. Of course, Tim is also responsible for 'Mercury Revenant', itself clocking in at 16 episodes so far.

Spaceship Away carries two other strips, old-timer Jet Morgan and relative newcomer Nick Hazard. Having exhausted the pages from Express Weekly, the latest episode, part one of 'Jet Morgan and the Space Pirates' comes from the first Express Annual (1956), which means a welcome return for artist Ferdinando Tacconi. Meanwhile, Nick Hazard continues his adventures on 'The Planet of Doom', drawn by Ron Turner with colour by Martin Baines.

Articles this time include Andrew Darlington's look at how Eagle followed the space race, an interview with Ian Kennedy and a biographical essay by Greta Tomlinson about her career.

All this and more is wrapped up in a cover by Frank Bellamy and an all-new back cover painting by Don Harley, plus there's a terrific centre-spread painting of the various Dan Dares that have appeared (Eagle, 2000AD, New Eagle) by Ian Kennedy.

You can find out more about the magazine, buy back issues and subscribe to the latest issues at the Spaceship Away website.

The latest issue of Spaceship Away (#38, Spring 2016) continues Des Shaw's ongoing celebration of the original Dan Dare, along with a bit of celebrating of other SF icons of the Fifties. Sometimes I think the magazine is designed just for me.

The first feature is about the old SF magazine Authentic... I co-wrote a book charting that magazine's history many years ago. It's illustrated with cover by John Richards, an artist whose work I love. Then there's Andrew Darlington's look at the Dan Dare yarns produced in the 1980s... which I read and enjoyed when they originally came out. Andrew weaves in a little history of the 'New Eagle' too, touching base with my obsession for British comics' history. And lastly, an article by Alan Vince about Keith Watson, which covers yet another of my obsessions for researching the biographies of old British comic strip artists.

When you add in Tim Booth's ever-impressive Dan Dare comic strips, the Jet Morgan and Nick Hazard reprints and Graham Bleathman's delightful cut-away centrespread, you have an issue that is pretty much guaranteed to get a good review from me.

So let's step back for a second and cast a critical eye over everything. Are the articles good as well as being about subjects of interest? Yes... yes they are. And the comic strips? Well, Terry Patrick was never my favourite, but there's nothing wrong with his Jet Morgan; and while it's late Ron Turner, Martin Baines does a remarkable job with the colours, lifting the strip out of the ordinary.

In other words, you don't have to be me to enjoy the magazine.

You can find out more about the magazine, buy back issues and subscribe to the latest issues at the Spaceship Away website.

The latest issue of Spaceship Away has landed on my doormat and is, as usual, a winner from first—a Don Harley cover featuring Dan, Dig and Sir Hubert under attack in a scene from Terra Nova—to last.

Tim Booth provides two ongoing tales of Dan Dare & Co., with 'Mercury Revenant' and 'Parsicular Tales' reaching episodes 12 and 21 respectively. Booth's two tales continue to be thoroughly entertaining and, even though 'Parsicular Tales' is celebrating its fifth birthday, having started in the Autumn 2010 issue, it can still surprise readers, in this issue revealing the secret identity of Scobal, the man behind the latest telesender technology.

Jet Morgan reaches episode 3 of his latest adventure drawn by Terry Patrick and Ron Turner provides the artwork for episode 3 of "Planet of Doom", a Nick Hazard story based on the 1954 Vargo Statten novel A Time Appointed.

The connection between Turner and Statten (John Russell Fearn) is explored by Phil Harbottle in an article that begins in 1950 with the publication of Turner's first SF book covers for Scion, where Fearn was about to begin a five year association that would see him produce over 50 SF novels. Although Fearn died in 1960, Harbottle has been indefatigable in keeping the author's books in print. As he was also a fan of Turner's art, he commissioned many new covers and recreations of old covers over a period of fourteen years until Turner's death in 1998. These were used on both reprints of old titles and on new works based on the Fearn legacy and continue to appear to this day.

Andrew Darlington explores the Dan Dare of the Eighties, revived in the pages of the New Eagle in 1982 and drawn by Gerry Embleton, Ian Kennedy, Oliver Frey and Carlos Cruz – fine artists all but hampered by the decline of the British comics industry which saw sales of the new Eagle fall by a third after its launch, causing the publisher to drop gravure printing... and Eagle became just another letterpress comic. Darlington will continue the story next issue.

The third and final article comes from the pen of Alan Vince and tells the story of Eric Eden, the quiet and unassuming artist once fired by Frank Hampson for being a "disturbing influence". He returned, Hampson having apologised, a couple of years later and later found himself scripting the strip for Don Harley and Bruce Cornwell. Eden's other great work was on "Lady Penelope" for TV Century 21, which he drew for a year, but after struggling to find work in the early 1970s, he took on a full-time job with the British Museum.

Rounding out the issue is the cartoon 'Davy Rocket' and a centrespread featuring another Don Harley illustration, this one imagining a meeting between Frank Hampson and Frank Bellamy.

You can find out more about the magazine, buy back issues and subscribe to the latest issues at the Spaceship Away website.

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