Back to the Future

On a recent recce to London's Science Museum I discovered a particuarly interesting upper hall exhibit that I hadn't expected in a great number of ways.

In brief, the premis of the exhibition is that post war Britain had actively looked towards a new, gleaming technological future as a reaction to the oppressive background of the Cold War

So closely following the long years of post-war rationing and austertiy this stuck a chord with Frank Hampson who created Dan Dare, cutting a technicolour dash across across the pages of Eagle comic.

The quality of the display was excellent. Interspersed amongst various examples of 50s and 60s industrial, cold war and labour saving technologies were the vivid front covers of Dan Dare's fantastic adventures.

Sheer cathartic escaspism.

Surrounded by Vulcans, Minis an Cappucino makers it suddenly struck me where Thunderbirds, Forbidden Planet and The Voice of the Mysterons sprang from and why.

Art is a reflection of it's time. Comics are a reflection of thier time. Comics are ART.