Issue 66


Part 66 (40 pp) Summer 2025	Page	Contents - PART 66
	Front	Banging the drum for the Phants
	2	Editorial, plus a vintage Shredded Wheat advert for "super-flying space models"
	3-6	Dan Dare in The Rotorcruiser Affair (Pt. 5). Dan, Dig, Prof Peabody, Hank and Pierre set out in Rotor-1 to catch up with Rodrigueez. En route they overhear his ultimatum to the World Government: accept him as leader or he will destroy the Moon.
	7-11	Adam Eterno: Man of Thunder, by Andrew Darlington. There have been many "comics" that is, illustrated magazines, aimed at children since the early 20th century. Many of which ran for a relatively short time and then sank into obscurity. The publishing industry competed for children's attention (and pocket money). One short-lived magazine was "Jag", published by Fleetway Publications, from May 1968 for forty-eight issues. Its principal character was "Adam Eterno". He wasn't quite "eterno", but his life in monochrome strip-illustration was longer than some of the other paper heroes, such was his appeal. He lasted through successive magazines until meeting his own vanishing point in "Valiant" in 1976. Besides the weekly magazine(s), there were also three "Thunder" annuals.
	12-17	Jeff Hawke in "Pass the Parcel" (Pt 4), by Sydney Jordan. . A stalk forces itself out of the hole bored beside the alien artifact, Within seconds it has grown a bud, which then bursts, releasing a blizzard of seeds, which attach themselves to the suits worn by Jeff, Mac and the biologist, Not long after seeds are accidentally carried to the water borehole, all of the expedition find themselves fighting for their lives against the explosion of alien plant and animal life around them.
	18-19	Dan Dare Story Character Profile: "Triangle", "Circle" and "Square", the three administrator below Gogol the leader of the world of Phantos, are described.
	20-21	Centre-spread: Cutaway illustration of the "Rotor-Cruiser", by Graham Bleathman
	22-25	Space Review, by Raymond Wright. New astronomical telescopes continue to probe the mystery of "dark energy" which seems to be causing the acceleration of the expansion of the universe. A troublesome observation of water vapour associated with a star-like object prompts reflection on the crazy, but relevant, "World Ice Theory", which, incredibly, gained some "traction" in the earl 20th century. The planet Neptune has its own aurora, confirmed, now. NASA nearly had a new administrator. The Extremely Large Telescope under construction in the Atacama desert is coming under threat from an American company intending to set up an industrial site nearby. There are lone stars on the move, but a super-rapid one has been found. It will escape the galaxy!
	26-29	Kalgan The Golden. (Pt. 3) by E C Tubb, with artwork by Ron Turner, script adaptation by Philip Harbottle, and editing and layout by John Lawrence. Kalgan, Tharg and Leedora are revealed as a love triangle and details of the earlier lives of all three are revealed, but Kalgan's motives are still not clear.
	30-33	British Science Fiction Hardcover Editions of the 1950s, (Pt,. 3) by Philip Harbottle.. Philip continues the discussion of the good and also the less-than-good novels of the 1950s,
	34	A sketch of Dan and Digby, by Don Harley. Don is one of the original artists of Dan Dare from its beginning in 1950. This pencil sketch was drawn in 2004
	35-38	Dan Dare in The Alien Predators (Pt. 2, final) While the remaining security guard is being eaten by the elephant-like predator, Dan and Digby slip away (how do they do that, every time?). Following Dan's hunch, they evade the two predators. The Mekon, as always, departs.
	39	Space Humour - Earthward Bound, More fun in the Caseusphere. Sir Stilton nearly jumps across a chasm. That is, he jumps, but not far enough..
	Back	Three old-style Spacefleet rocket craft flying in formation, by Don Harley