The Eagle

[Pinwig]

Sept 12, 2022 21:21:44 GMT The Doctor said:

You can heat shrink them to make badges.

-Ralph

If I'd paid forty quid for a crisp packet I ain't turning it into no shrinky-dink!

[blueshift]

Sept 12, 2022 21:28:10 GMT Pinwig said:

Has it got crisps in it?

No it is fifty years old

[Pinwig]

I would not pay any money for a fifty year old empty crisp packet.

I think I'm safe in saying that.

But then I said I wasn't going to spend any money on MotU Origins figures and look how that turned out.

[The Doctor]

You'll have twenty crisp packets by Friday then.

-Ralph

[Philip Ayres]

Sept 13, 2022 19:13:44 GMT Pinwig said:

But then I said I wasn't going to spend any money on MotU Origins figures and look how that turned out.

Exactly as we predicted

[Pinwig]

I would have been fine if you'd left me alone!

[Pinwig]

Hibernia have done a limited reprint of their Eagle special:

www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia/store/products/the-eagle-adventure-special-great-britain-and-europe-postage/

[Andy Turnbull]

It's worth your money.

[The Doctor]

Sold oot!

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

I ordered one as soon as I saw it was up. I can't remember if it was part of the digital bundle they did a while back or not, but a print version was necessary. All of the Hibernia stuff seems to sell out very quickly. I wonder why they do such conservative print runs. Not wanting stock hanging around I suppose.

[The Doctor]

It's a very small operation so the owner needs to be careful how many he prints. Reprints now happen though, if enough people ask for them.

-Ralph

[Andy Turnbull]

I imagine the rights situation might be quite involved, as I am assuming he is getting mates rates and help from rebellion.

[The Doctor]

Probably. He has mentioned joint work with Rebellion.

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

Oh absolutely. The recent Hibernia collections use the Rebellion trade dress. They have the Treasury of British Comics logo on them.

[The Doctor]

I would buy a lot more Treasury books if they had a unified trade dress and size!

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

40 Years ago this week Eagle/Battle gave away the first of the five Action Force mini-comics that led to Battle starting the ongoing Action Force strip in the autumn.

Eagle's slow decline also continues - we had a price rise of tuppence to 22p and two of the eight colour pages cut in January, then the page count reduced from 32 to 28 in May, now last week the first use of reprint material - One-Eyed Jack nicked from the pages of Valiant from eight years previously. Great News For All Readers is on the horizon - in ten weeks' time the photo stories go and the paper changes to match Battle/2000AD.

The weird thing about the page count dropping is that to reduce it by four they didn't just lose one A3 sheet, the comic now has two A4 sheets in it that have a little flap to make sure they're included in the staple. That must be something to do with where the colour pages fall as the inserted ones are always b/w.

[KnightBeat]

That must have created more work for the printers.

It's a pity the 1980s Eagle has such complex rights issues. It would be nice to see the photo stories reprinted again.

[The Doctor]

Yup. I fondly recall 80's Eagle and would love to see the Dare strip getting a reprint. The Dan Dare Corporation work in mysterious ways though.

Hibernia have printed some 80's Eagle stuff.

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

The photo stories I think get a lot of benefit from rose tinted spectacles. Some are good, but even Doomlord had to go tongue in cheek eventually to accept the fact you can't do with cut and paste photography what you can with art. They're fun to read, but don't work as 'good' comic stories.

Ian Kennedy's run on Dare would make a magnificent collection. His weekly covers, which account for the first page of the story, are absolutely beautiful. This is the one from 40 Years back last week:

[Andy Turnbull]

Yes, they are stunning, shame there hasn't been a reprint.

[Pinwig]

Phil will be pleased to know Pinwig has just noticed this week 40 years ago, issue 73 of the Eagle was published.

[Philip Ayres]

While we're on the subject .....

[Pinwig]

Woah! I think I'm popular if I get a 1 on that!

[Philip Ayres]

Pinwig I just forget to check it that often. I've had it in the double hundreds before now

[Pinwig]

I got a 1! I got a 1!

[The Doctor]

A 1 for what??

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

Oh, a flag on my profile because Phil did an Pinwig in his post. Where he had 73 notifications in the image above, I was saying I very rarely ever get 1, so Phil did one.

[Pinwig]

There was an exciting free gift convergence in the Eagle 40 years ago this week. Not only did readers get the fifth and final Action Force mini-comic, but also a Return of the Jedi Sticker album and six stickers.

I still have the RotJ sticker album that I got with this issue first time round, completed amid much playground sticker swapping in the months following. 2000AD also had the sticker album (and the legendary "Umm... Synthi-Sausage" cover), so did Buster, while Battle gave away the fifth Action Force comic. Only Eagle had them both!

[The Doctor]

You could have some Eagles Dare while reading:

www.southportbrewery.co.uk/products/eagles-dare-3-9-5-litres

-Ralph

[Pinwig]

I bet the shipping on a five litre keg is almost as much as the keg!