SPACESHIP AWAY for Spring

The classic version of Dan Dare is kept alive again in brand new installments in the latest edition of Spaceship Away that has just arrived. Issue 38 (or Part 38 as it's called) is another 40 page package with superb reproduction on quality paper. 

The contents include the latest episodes of Tim Booth's ongoing Dan Dare serials, Mercury Revenant and Parsecular Tales across eight pages. Booth puts a lot of work into his pages and they look fantastic. My only gripe, again, is that there's no resumé captions to remind us of the story so far. With four months between each issue it's a long time to expect readers to remember what's gone on. I appreciate that Tim might not want such captions cluttering up the pages but a small paragraph or two on page 2, next to the editorial, would be very useful. 

All-new art and story by Tim Booth.

Other strips this issue feature the conclusion of the Jet Morgan reprint The World Next Door (which does include a Story So Far caption) and Part Four of the Nick Hazard story Planet of Doom by Phil Harbottle and Ron Turner, nicely coloured by Martin Baines. 

Vintage Ron Turner artwork.

There are some great articles in this issue too, with the conclusion of Andrew Darlington's retrospective of Dan Dare in the New Eagle covering 1989 to 1994. There's also a good lengthy eight page feature on Keith Watson's distinguished career, and a well illustrated article on Authentic Science Fiction magazine showing some excellent 1950s covers. 

One of the superb 1950s covers shown in the issue.

To top it off there's a new cutaway illustration by Graham Bleathman of Gogol's Personal Phant Transport printed across the centrespread. It's always good to see new work by Graham and this is another intricate job. 

Spaceship Away No.38, 40 pages in full colour, £8.50. Copies will be available soon from the official website:
http://spaceshipaway.org.uk/