History ComicStrip / DanDare

* TeleportersAndTransporters: The telesender (which needed a machine at both ends).

* AFatherToHisMen: Sir Hubert, as Dan explicitly pointed out to some politicians who wanted to destroy a space station he was on at the time. Dan himself was more of a Brother to his Men.

* {{Fighting Irish}}: Perhaps not a perfect example of the trope, but Lex O'Malley was never one to turn down a scrap. And had the nose to prove it.

** It can be argued that the 2008 virgin comics mini-series changes the setting, characters and technology so much, that it is unrecognizable from the classic original series it supposedly follows. Of particular offense is a scene which suggests the original strip was dumbed-down stories for children. FridgeBrilliance or TakeThat? Take your pick.

* IronicEcho: In the 2008 mini-series: "You were asking about Digby."[[spoiler: To clarify: Digby is killed during a battle against the Mekon's forces. When Dan Dare is seemingly captured and brought before the Mekon, the Mekon mockingly asks him "No Digby?" Then, in the final battle, the Mekon ends up powerless and prone before Dare, who provide the Ironic Echo before a well-deserved stabbing.]]

* SurroundedByIdiots: A subtle but potent examination thereof; The Mekon has found that having an entire civilization of sycophants at his beck and call has resulted in thus. Dare once escaped from the Mekon's flagship via the open hangar because the deckmaster didn't shut the door - because he had no orders to do so. The same flagship is hit amidships despite the Mekon's orders to turn about... because the captain is so focused on his earlier orders to "attack the enemy" the Mekon is unable to convey that Dare actually intends to ''ram'' them. Both times the Mekon summarily executes the minions involved, but it's pretty obvious the Treens' lack of initiative is entirely his design; He's summarily punished rebellion so many times the average Treen has all the ambition of a tree slug.
* TakeAThirdOption: A pivotal moment in ''Marooned on Mercury'': The Mekon has created a super weapon called Panthanaton, and plans to wipe out all life on Earth and Venus with it, but he needs a human pilot and wants to force Dan to it. Consequently, he captures Dan's friends and tells Dan that he can either agree to the mission or watch as the chamber his friends are in is filled with Panthanaton. Escaping is not an option. Dan decides to [[spoiler: punch out the Mekon's guard and run. Escaping might not be an option, but seizing a container of Panthanaton and threatening to smash it ''is''.]]

* DownerEnding: ''Dare'', Grant Morrison's miniseries from the early 1990s, warps the original idealistic ''Dan Dare'' vision of the 1990s into a satire of the real 1990s bequeathed to Britain by the Thatcher government. An injured Dan Dare comes out of retirement to investigate a conspiracy that's already claimed Peabody's life and goes on to claim Digby's. In the final chapter [[spoiler:it's revealed that the British government has sold out to the Mekon. The story ends with Dare setting off a nuclear explosion that wipes out the Mekon, the corrupt government, and himself, along with an unspecified but no doubt large number of innocent bystanders -- with the possibility left open that it may already be too late to prevent the horrors of the Mekon's plot running its course]].

** It can be argued that the 2008 virgin comics mini-series changes the setting, characters and technology so much, that it is unrecognizable from the classic original series it supposedly follows. Of particular offense is a scene which suggests the original strip was dumbed down stories for children. FridgeBrilliance or TakeThat? Take your pick.

* TransplantedHumans: The Atlantines turn out to be the descendants of humans kidnapped from Earth by the Treens hundreds of thousands of years ago.

* CoolOldLady: Aunt Anastasia. Her MomentOfAwesome came when she noticed a hidden distress message in a communication from Digby. She immediately headed to Spacefleet HQ, pushed past all the guards, barged into the Acting Controller's office and demanded that he listen. This ended with a commando raid on the visiting Treen ships while she sat quietly in the office with a cup of tea.

* ContrivedCoincidence: On a Martian holiday, Dan pats a visit to his archaeologist Uncle Ivor, who explains that he's recently discovered that Martian civilisation was destroyed by something called the Red Moon. As Dan leaves he gets a message from Sir Hubert: A mysterious object from space has turned up, and could Dan investigate? The papers are calling it the Red Moon...

** The gravity on Venus is approximately 90% of that on Earth, giving every human a small degree of superstrength while on the planet. They're not kryptonians, but it does give them a bit of an edge.

* SurroundedByIdiots: A subtle but potent examination thereof; The Mekon has found that having an entire civilization of sycophants at his beck and call has resulted in thus. He's summarily punished rebellion so many times the average Treen has all the ambition of a tree slug, which makes them rather pathetic in pitched battle with Dare. Dare once escaped from the Mekon's flagship via the open hangar because the deckmaster didn't shut the door - because he had no orders to do so. The same flagship is hit amidships despite the Mekon's orders to turn about... because the captain is so focused on his earlier orders to "attack the enemy" the Mekon is unable to convey that Dare actually intends to ''ram'' them. Both times the Mekon summarily executes the minions involved, but it's pretty obvious the Treens' lack of initiative is entirely his design. The reason he's Surrounded by Idiots is because he's killed everyone else.

* {{Heavyworlder}}: The gravity on Venus is approximately 90% of that on Earth, giving every human a small degree of superstrength while on the planet. They're not kryptonians, but it does give them a bit of an edge.

* ThouShaltNotKill: Space-Fleet pistols fired non-lethal, paralysing gas, and Dan was always keen to find non-violent solutions to conflicts. Thrown out the window in the Ennis series, where the Royal Navy (who have taken over Space-Fleet's duties) pack futuristic assault rifles, and Dan apparently lethally wounds the Mekon in their climactic battle with what looks like a katana.

* PragmaticAdaptation: Given that Creator/GarthEnnis ''isn't'' WarrenEllis, he was unable to fill the 2008 limited series with scads of TechnologyPorn. Instead, he focused on what he ''is'' good at - characterization, particularly that of the half-broken yet unrepentantly idealistic Dare.

* ShoutOut: The comic strip is referenced in Music/PinkFloyd's ''Music/ThePiperAtTheGatesOfDawn''
--> ''Stairway scare, Dan Dare, who's there?''