posted 10-14-2003 11:31 AM            

Visited this exhibition on 13 October 2003 at Manchester Science and Industrial Museum. If you are an out-and-out Dan Dare fan or between 40-60 years old and remember the original 'Eagle' comics then this exhibition may be of interest. It has a couple of busts of Dan Dare and the Mekon - but the vast majority of the exhibition is made up of large wall posters featuring excerpts from Dan Dare strips from the "Eagle" comic - maybe as you would expect ! There are a couple of cabinets and wall boxes featuring 'Dan Dare' collectibles like jigsaws,'ray guns',card albums and so-forth.

In the exhibition shop - to buy - there are colour postcards featuring Dan Dare and the other main characters along with some repro comic strips. The Dan Dare show guide - finished in the glossy red of the original 'Eagle' comics - is probably the 'best buy' , as it gives capsule summary of the Dan Dare story. (This is about US$7-8) Also, for around US$20 there are some early Eagle comics packaged along with the show guide and a few postcards.

Running in parallel with the Dan Dare exhibition is "Destination Mars". This exhibition is possibly of more interest to members of collectSpace since it has two full size dioramas - one showing Pathfinder with Sojourner on Mars and - in a separate bay - the new Mars Rover with drilling arm. A few wall posters explain items about Mars.

Just across the road from these two exhibits is the Air and Space Museum. Inside - mainly along the first floor balcony is a display of the Museum's space exhibits. These include Tom Stafford Gemini space suit, a model of Sputnik-1 and Luna-9,the Gemini Rogallo Trainer, the Muirhead facsimile machine ( used for Luna-9 images ) and a smaller number of other items. Currently, there is a space art display being mounted.

I also took opportunity to view the 'Baby' computer - the first random accessed memory computer in the world - which has been rebuilt and is briefly operated everyday for visitors. One item that made me smile at the museum is the very early steam loco replica - which,from my space viewpoint, is aptly named "Planet" . The museum stands upon the site of the very first fare paying passenger railway line that ran from this site in Manchester out to Liverpool