Review: SPACESHIP AWAY No.41

The 41st issue of thrice-yearly independent comic Spaceship Away has just been published and it's another good issue. Plenty of comic strips this issue plus a few interesting features. Here's what the 40 page comic delivers...

• A brand new cover by Graham Bleathman which is also used in the centre pages as an A3 poster minus the logos and banner. 

• The conclusion to the Dan Dare story Parsecular Tales by Tim Booth. This story has been running for so long, and with no resumés, that I'm afraid I've long forgotten the plot. It's very well illustrated though. 


• The beginning of a new Dan Dare story by Tim Booth; Shakedown Cruise. We get the first six pages here so plenty to get things moving. Good stuff, but I hope future chapters feature a "story so far" caption to bring us up to speed every four months. 

• A reprint of a self-contained seven pager, The Killing Zone, by Ron Turner, with new colours by Martin Baines. Looks great!

• The highlight of the issue for me is Martian Menace, a well written and illustrated all-new Dan Dare six pager scripted by John Freeman and drawn by Joe Piemental, with colours by John Ridgway. This was originally intended to be used in the ill-fated Strip Magazine but as that comic is no more it's finally seen print in Spaceship Away. John Freeman also provides an article giving background information on the strip.

Other items in this issue include a well illustrated article on artists Jack Daniel and Norman Williams, photographs of a classic piece of Dan Dare merchandise, an uncredited humour strip Davy Rocket, a new Dan Dare painting by Bill Naylor, and a one page article on the history of early rockets. I must admit, that last feature did feel a bit out of place but I'm sure it'll be of interest to the more academically-minded readers. 

Spaceship Away 41 will be available to order soon from the comic's website:
http://spaceshipaway.org.uk