Dan Dare
Free Comic Book Day Edition
Created by Frank Hampson
Script by Garth Ennis
Art by Gary Erskine
Colors by Parasuraman A.
Letters by Rakesh B. Mahadik
Virgin Comics

Man, do I love me some Garth Ennis. Garth Ennis could turn mind-numbing drivel like Jane-fucking-Eyre into a comic and it would rock out with its cock out, I’m sure. So, Dan Dare may as well be called “Garth Ennis” as far as I’m concerned because I’m already digging this preview on strength of Ennis’ name alone.

That being said”¦

Dan Dare is Virgin Comics’ revival of the classic, 50’s British pulp hero of the same name. I wouldn’t worry if you don’t remember him because I don’t think too many people on these shores do. To our friends across the pond he’s an amalgam of our Captain America, Batman, and Superman. And, regardless of what I wrote in my first paragraph, this title does have potential for reasons other than Ennis’ involvement alone. The art of Gary Erskine evokes, in my mind, the work of Steve Dillon and I’m sure that’s not just a happy coincidence after the successes Ennis and Dillon shared on Preacher and in the revival of Marvel’s Punisher.

The nine-page preview presented here is snappy, straightforward and leaves me wanting more, which is all a good preview should do. “˜Nuff said.

The Stranded
Free Comic Book Day Edition
Written by Mike Carey
Pencils by Siddharth Kotian
Inks by Jyotsna V. Domse
Colors by Anand Balusamy
Letters by Sudhir B. Pisal
Cover by Marc Silvestri
Virgin Comics

The Stranded is a new high-concept series from the fine minds at Virgin Comics and the Sci Fi Channel. The basic premise of the series is that there are people walking the Earth whose entire existence (family, memories, etc.) is fabricated and they are truly beings from another world. (I think I may have dated a few of these people and I didn’t call them stranded, I called them psychos”¦but that’s just me, I guess!) Of course, some diabolical alien force is trying to eliminate all of the “Stranded,” but fortunately, they have a mysterious, female protector in Tamree, whose purpose (other than acting as a guardian) is to “wake” all of the “Stranded” to their true nature.

Unfortunately, all of that isn’t explained in the actual, 11-page preview in this book; it is explained in the foreword, which isn’t even written by the author himself. The actual, 11-page preview presented here is a bit of a jumble, I’m afraid, and I can’t say that it entices me to read any further. The concept is solid, although it smacks of a failed movie pitch, and the art is decent, but as a whole, this preview just failed to grab me on any level. If high-concept sci-fi is your bag, then give The Stranded a look, otherwise stay away.