Garth Ennis' Virgin Comics Project Revealed

Having parted ways with DC over the eyebrow-raising content in The Boys, writer Garth Ennis will be working with Virgin Comics on a new series that re-imagines a classic character that Ennis calls the British equivalent of "...Captain America, our Superman, our Batman; he's all of them rolled into one."

Who could it be? Click the jump and end the suspense!


That's right kids, Dan Dare! Originally a 1950s British comic book hero, Dare was a dashing space-pilot in the far-flung future of the 1990s. And if Monty Python's fixation with Biggles taught me anything, it's that Brits love their pilots. World II R.A.F glory and all that, wot. Dare was kept alive over the last five decades in U.K video games, comic books, and TV series, but until now has never really made it across the pond.

Variety describes the plot of the new Ennis series:

"New books will have Dare emerge from a self-imposed exile, the result of his disgust with politics and the post-nuclear warfare that has destroyed North America and much of Asia -- leaving the U.K. as the world's last remaining superpower."

Interestingly enough, the excellent Children of Men also had a post-nuclear holocaust scenario where the U.K was the only superpower left standing. Must suck to lose an Empire.

With Garth Ennis at the helm, you might expect this re-envisioned Dan Dare series to amp up the hewn-limb and disturbing sex content. However, a Gnerd source tells us this is a particularly important project for Ennis, and one he's wanted to do for a long time. Perhaps we'll see a take on the series that might surprise thoes who think they have Ennis' writing style Simon Pegged. As a fan of both Ennis and several Virgin Comics titles (Walk-In was one of the best books around during it's sadly short run), I'll be looking forward to meeting Mr. Dare for the first time.

Via Variety and Cinematical.