When Eagle was resurrected in 1982, a new version of Dan Dare was also created. The first story was a massive eighteen-month-long monster of a tale, starring the great-great-grandson of the original Dan Dare. Eagle continued in the ever-constricting comics market through various relaunches and featuring different incarnations of Dan Dare until 1994.

The seminal 1990 Dare was written by Grant Morrison for the short-lived comic Revolver, and was drawn by Rian Hughes. It was a satire on eighties Britain, featuring Dare as a bitter elderly man, disappointed by the future which failed to live up to his expectations, with Treens discriminated against and treated with disdain, a privatised Space Fleet and a prime minister who was very much a parody of Margaret Thatcher. It was a generally depressing return, with a climatic finale.

In 2007, Virgin Comics acquired the rights to Dan Dare and immediately set about producing a comic that would live up to the character's reputation. Richard Branson is apparently a fan, and he was keen to ensure that the new incarnation was as exciting and imaginative as the original. Virgin also acquired the television, film and computer game rights, in preparation for expanding the franchise.

Virgin Comics has entered the market in the last two years, utilising well known comic and movie names to bolster the usual wariness about a new publisher. Belfast man Garth Ennis was brought in to work on the first, seven-issue Dan Dare series, and with good reason: Ennis is very sympathetic to classic British comics, being a fan himself, and hugely popular after nearly twenty years in the business of crating highly entertaining stories. Ennis also has a track record of doing justice to characters, having recently taken The Punisher from a violent, mindless story vehicle to one that has struck a nerve by focussing on modern issues and atrocities. Ennis seems to adore being allowed to play with classic characters while always staying true to their original conception.

The newest version of Dan Dare follows on from the original comic. Dare is retired, living on an asteroid surrounded by a hologram of 1950s Britain, and avoiding contact with a dramatically changed world. Space Fleet and the UN are no more, and a war between China and American, combined with Professor Peabody's national defence shields, has resulted in Britain gaining supremacy over the world. Peabody is now the Home Secretary, serving with a Prime Minister who is not only amoral but also, unbeknown to others, compromised.

Our first story sees the hero being asked to come back out of retirement: the great Mekkon threat has returned from outer space! Ennis has done a great job on this series so far. It manages to entertain in a modern, quick-paced way while also giving the hero just enough cynicism to counter his natural charm, bravery and intelligence, so providing the perfect depth and edge for today’s readers but also staying true to Hampson's original. It’s interesting to see what Dare stands for in the modern age.

Finally, Biggles is returning. Rather, Biggles returned in comic format many years ago and has been enjoyed by thousands of readers in France, The Netherlands, Germany and the Czech Republic but is only now being translated into English.

The French and Dutch seem to have a greater appreciation of comics than the English-speaking world. Paris's left bank is home to some wonderful shops stocking bande dessinée, fitting well into the cultural quarter, and the oldest comic shop in Europe, Lambiek, is in Amsterdam and is a wonderful mix of comic shop and gallery, all with the relaxed aura of a library of classic works.

Cinebook ("The 9th Art Publisher") is a recent, UK-based entrant to the comic market which currently carries twenty-six titles, including Lucky Luke, Blake & Mortimer and IR$. They have a policy of selecting the finest French and Belgian comics for translation and republication.

Biggles Spitfire Parade, originally published in 1941, was the 24th of the 98 books which Captain W.E. Johns wrote about his fine, upstanding British hero. It finds Biggles in charge of 666 Squadron, a rag-tag bunch of varying nationalities, united by their dislike of discipline. The comic adaption is very true to its origin, and follows on from two Biggles Recounts offerings on The Battle of Britain and The Falklands War: these are historical comics, telling the history of the battles from an aerial point of view.

These adaptations are brilliant. It is ironic that it takes a French man, Francis Bergèse, to do true justice to the work of W.E. Johns. Bergèse was a pilot himself, having served in the French army at seventeen, but he found his true destiny in comics during the sixties. He drew four volumes of the Buck Danny series, as well as many other French adaptations, and his artwork can only be described as beautiful. Perfect draughtsmanship, amazing characterisation and perfectly drawn weaponry and planes: it is thoroughly delightful, and the expressions and actions match the amazing attention to detail.

Comics are definitely a medium that allows Biggles to shine and which is currently capturing the imagination again.

N.B. Biggles goes to Mars was a joke that Gaiman and Pratchett came up with in Good Omens, there is no science fiction Biggles, discounting the eighties movie.