Like the original Eagle, the comic's lead feature was Dan Dare; other long-running stories included "Doomlord" and "Computer Warrior".

Originally launched in 1950 by Reverend Marcus Morris as a reaction to the controversial importation of American horror comics (a genre which would be outright banned by British parliament in the Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955), the original Eagle had changed the face of British comics in the decade following its launch, with a peak circulation of a million copies and a readership which included the future Charles III.

Sales continued to fall, leading to a series of cost-cutting measures – including the controversial replacement of Frank Hampson's art studio with less costly alternatives.

In 1969, another takeover saw Odhams and Fleetway combined into IPC Magazines, which was left with a huge portfolio of titles, and decided to trim a number of underperformers.

[6] Dave Hunt, who had experience on Battle Picture Weekly, Tornado and Top Soccer, was chosen as editor,[5][6] while Ian Rimmer was among the sub-editors on the title.

[7] Tomlinson chose to eschew the updated 2000 AD version in favour of hemming closer to Frank Hampson's work on the character, particularly wanting to reintroduce The Mekon, reasoning "he is one of the best villains ever created!"

[7] Ian Kennedy had been Tomlinson's first choice for drawing the strip, but at the time of the launch was enduring a three-month period of rehabilitation following a car crash.

He also tapped into some of the techniques which had worked for him on Tiger, such as celebrity columnists in the form of Radio One DJ Mike Read and athlete Daley Thompson.

[9] The move was controversial;[10] the method was not popular with IPC's artists, who saw the approach as a potential threat to their livelihoods[5] while writer Gerry Finley-Day, who scripted "Sgt.

[5] At the time Grant and Wagner contributed so many scripts to IPC titles that managing director John Sanders insisted they use pseudonyms to disguise how prolific they were.

[12] In addition to "Dan Dare" and "Doomlord", the launch issue contained four other stories – two photo strips in the form of police drama "Sgt.

[6] April saw the debut of the occasional "Adventures of Fred"; Tomlinson would later claim the humorous photo-strip – which he wrote and starred in – was discontinued on management orders.

Streetwise" concluded, and were cycled out for inept private eye "Joe Soap" (another by Grant and Wagner, credited to 'Grant/Grover') and Finley-Day's Western "Saddle Tramp".

The writers considered the basic idea of Manix absurd – noting that the two tonne character should fall through the floor of most buildings, but ultimately reasoned "if you're going to have a ridiculous concept like a robot secret agent, you might as well have fun with it".

With Embleton's style perceived as old-fashioned, "Dan Dare" was again offered to the recovered Ian Kennedy; a childhood fan of the original, he jumped at the chance to join up, recalling it as "a huge challenge and an awful lot of fun".

[8] Mills remained as solo writer and decided on a NASA-based approach, influenced by Tom Wolfe's The Right Stuff to play to Kennedy's strength.

[5] Other new stories in both formats largely failed to stick for more than a few months, however, and a worrying sign came in July 1983 when the comic began reprinting "One-Eyed Jack" from Valiant.

November saw the debut of "Robo Machines", based on the Bandai toyline and with the manufacturer underwriting the cost, while December saw reprints of "Gaunt" from Battle Picture Weekly to save money.

– short for "Dial A Dawn Destructor", and detailing the exploits of a rock group whose musical career was a cover for their international crimefighting activities – and "Legend of the Linkits", another licensed story bankrolled by Matchbox, while 2000 AD strips "Ant Wars", "M.A.C.H.

[17] In light of these trends, IPC decided to divest itself of all of its comics, and placed the currently running titles, including Eagle and 2000 AD, in a resurrected Fleetway Publications.

[19] Summer 1987 saw the end of the long-running "Death Wish" after an unsuccessful reconfiguration as "The Incredible Adventures of Blake Edmonds", while there was another short-lived toy tie-in with Bluebird's Manta Force.

By the time of its cancellation, Battle had been a shadow of its former self, and relied heavily on reprints after the loss of the Action Force licence to Marvel UK at the end of 1986.

[24][25] The Dan Dare Corporation has leased material from the revived Eagle to Hibernia Books (including "Doomlord", "The House of Daemon" and "The Tower King")[26] and Rebellion Developments ("The Thirteenth Floor").

While acknowledging that "Doomlord" was memorable and that the return of Keith Watson to "Dan Dare" was a positive, TV Cream was less enthusiastic about the "pointless celebrity columns" and mocked the photo-stories, particularly Western "Saddle Tramp" for looking "like a bunch of pasty Eagle employees stomping around the badlands of modern-day Satmford Street and anywhere else within a bus ride of the office".