The publishing phenomenon of the fifties is celebrated in a new exhibition at the city's Museum and Art Gallery.

So if you would like to meet the Mekon, marvel at the space ships and quake before the atomic jet gun, safely behind glass of course, here's your chance.

To find out more I spoke to Sandra Stancliffe, the museum's Exhibitions Organiser.

EBG: So, who was Dan Dare, why does he deserve an exhibition?

SS: Dan Dare was the first British Space hero. The pilot of the future, he was invented at the beginning of the 1950s and became the hero of the Eagle comic.

What's often forgotten is that, unlike now, the British had a very active space programme at that time and Dan Dare promoted and celebrated it.

EBG: Who invented the Eagle comic?

SS: The Eagle was started by a vicar, the Reverend Marcus Morris who was appalled by the standard of comics at the time, particularly salacious American imports.

He wanted to produce a comic that was more suitable for children with ethical and Christian values.

EBG: That all sounds very worthy, so the Eagle was a propaganda exercise?

SS: Yes I suppose it was in a away, but very subtle.

The vicar secured the services of an unknown young artist Frank Hampson by first getting him to illustrate the church magazine. They then agreed the manifesto for the Eagle:

::No ridicule, humour or violence
::Colour in abundance
::Realism to be achieved through detail
::Artists to be accountable and sign their strips
::To develop a relationship with readers with Christian and moral messages.

Getting the magazine to an acceptable standard where publishers would take him seriously, nearly bankrupted the vicar and Hampson.

When Hulton Press saw the mock-up they said they could sell a million copies a week.

The Eagle was welcomed by schools , one headmaster writing to parents in 1950 remarked:

"The only publication I can allow is Eagle, which though at times does have a touch of silliness, I think the educational aspect far outweighs the disadvantages."

Dan Dare wasn't the only new role model when the comic strip was launched in April 1950.

Dan's colleague Professor Peabody was female, highly intelligent and articulate; radical casting for a woman at the time.

EBG: What are the story lines about, what happens in the comics?

SS: Dan Dare and his crew travel to other planets and save the Earth, usually from the Mekon who is the star alien villain, a guy with a big green head.

EBG: What's in the exhibition?

SS: Lots of original artwork for the comic and studio models that were built for the artists to draw from.

EBG: Any surprises?

SS: The amount of Dan Dare merchandise that came out in the fifties and sixties.

We think its a modern phenomenon, that dates from Star Wars, but they were at it long before.

Jigsaw puzzles, cosmic ray guns, socks, belt buckles.

EBG: And your favourite exhibit?

SS: A replica of the Dan Dare studio, it's a fairly accurate representation of the conditions the artist Frank Hampson worked in, a really messy studio, the most high tech thing is an angle poise lamp. Paper and paint all over the place.

EBG: What was Hampson's working method?

SS: Anyone who was around the studio and office would be posed and photographed and these tableau would be sketched and find their way into the comic, virtually as posed.

You can recognise office workers and Hampson's contemporaries and friends in the strips.

EBG: Who bought the Eagle?

SS: It was aimed at boys, but when they brought out a companion comic called "Girl" no one bought it, because they were already reading the Eagle.

Likewise the exhibition will appeal to boys and girls of all ages.

The exhibition runs until 1 September 2002, daily from 10am to 4pm, Admission is free.