On this day, 14 September 1985: Eagle and Tiger
Cover artwork: Carlos Cruz
On this day, 14 September 1985 … There’s some great stuff in here. Having subsumed the ailing Tiger, the ten-year-old Battle now on the wane, and 2000AD and Roy of the Rovers becoming more national institutions than comics, by late 1985 Eagle was established as the adventure comic for boys. While always eye-catching and newsworthy, the relaunched Eagle took a while to settle on its identity. It experimented with photo-stories and a smattering of humour strips and feature articles for its first year or so, and for a while dithered over which incarnation of Dan Dare should be its lead story. But by the time of this issue, with its buzzing Carlos Cruz cover, Eagle had found its groove. Doomlord, The Computer Warrior, Billy’s Boots, Death Wish and The Thirteenth Floor were a long-running, solid second strata of adventure stories beneath the headlining Dan Dare, while less stellar, shorter-run strips such as Star Rider, Shadow and Golden Boy were represented by some of IPC’s most established and respected artists (Jose Casanovas, Mike Western and Sandy James respectively).
Doomlord: Alan Grant (writer), Eric Bradbury (artist)
Billy’s Boots: Fred Baker (writer), John Gillatt (artist)
Star Rider: G Douglas (writer), Jose Casanovas (artist)
The Computer Warrior: Alan Grant (writer), Ian Kennedy (artist)
Dan Dare: Barrie Tomlinson (writer), Carlos Cruz (artist)
Death Wish: Barrie Tomlinson (writer), Eduardo Vanyo (artist)
Shadow: John Wagner (writer), Mike Western (artist)
Golden Boy: A Power (writer), Sandy James (artist)
The Thirteenth Floor: John Wagner and Alan Grant (writer), Jose Ortiz (artist)
Dan Dare: Barrie Tomlinson (writer), Carlos Cruz (artist)
