The Eagle Awards were a series of British awards for comic book titles and creators. They were awarded by UK fans voting for work produced during the previous year. Named after the UK's seminal boys' comic Eagle, the awards were launched in 1977 for comics released in 1976.
Original Eagle Award logo
Eagle was a British children's comics periodical, first published from 1950 to 1969, and then in a relaunched format from 1982 to 1994. It was founded by Marcus Morris, an Anglican vicar from Lancashire. Morris edited a Southport parish magazine called The Anvil, but felt that the church was not communicating its message effectively. Simultaneously disillusioned with contemporary children's literature, he and Anvil artist Frank Hampson created a dummy comic based on Christian values. Morris proposed the idea to several Fleet Street publishers, with little success, until Hulton Press took it on.
The front cover of the first issue of Eagle, with artwork by Frank Hampson. Advances in printing technology offered a substantial improvement on the original issue's faded colours. The logo was modelled on the top of a large brass inkwell owned by Marcus Morris, the comic's founder, and typography was by Berthold Wolpe, designer of the Tempest font.
Bust of Dan Dare in Southport
The front cover of an early issue of the relaunched Eagle