Eagle Times v37 no3 (Autumn 2024)

David Britton begins a new series studying the true historical backgrounds of various Jeff Arnold stories, much as he did in his previous series, about the Indian Wars. There can be downsides—I wrote an introduction to a story earlier this year, and discovered that the date given in the first line of the first panel was wrong. Similarly, Britton points out that the setting of the very first episode of Jeff Arnold—"Texas 1870—the Pecos County"—did not exist... Pecos County was created in 1871.

If you're like me, you won't let the odd inconsistency or error spoil the telling of a good story, and Jeff Arnold's creator Charles Chilton could certainly spin a good yarn. But it's still fun to pick at the loose threads as David does here.

Steve Winders offers a similarly detailed account of 'Danger Unlimited', a 1961-62 strip that featured two former Royal Marine Commandos hired to take a dispatch bag from Jamaica to Buenos Aires. The story was by radio and TV scriptwriter Leonard Fincham and Steve reveals that the basic plot was also used by the author for an episode of The Avengers.

Steve is back again for a look at the back page biography of 'Lincoln of America', which spanned 26 episodes in 1955. It takes the story from his tough childhood to his first job as a ferryman, his involvement in the Black Hawk War (pointing out a highly inaccurate image of Lincoln in uniform) and his work as a lawyer. The story will conclude next issue.

A change of pace brings us to Marie Severin, nothing to do with Eagle but an active artist in the 1950s, including colouring work for E.C. and drawing 'Doctor Strange' and 'Spider-Woman' amongst many others.

And another change of pace takes us to the Royal Oak, a Royal Navy battleship that was attacked by a German U-Boat at Scapa Flow. (Earlier this year, I dug out my copy of Gunther Prien's I Sank the Royal Oak, written shortly before his death in 1941, the cover of which appears on page 26 of my book Beyond the Void.)

Steve Winders begins another P.C. 49 story while David Britton rounds out the issue with an obituary of Ron French, a stalwart of the Eagle Society and regular at many Eagle Dinners, who died in July, aged 87.

This issue introduces a queries column and a quiz amongst its shorter features.

The quarterly Eagle Times is the journal of the Eagle Society, with membership costing £30 in the UK, £50 (in sterling) overseas. You can send subscriptions to Bob Corn, Mayfield Lodge, Llanbadoc, Usk, Monmouthshire NP15 1SY; subs can also be submitted via PayPal to membership@eagle-society.org.uk. Back issues are available for newcomers to the magazine and they have even issued binders to keep those issues nice and neat.