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Flash Gordon

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For other uses, see Flash Gordon (disambiguation).

Flash Gordon is a science fiction comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond, first published on January 7, 1935. It was created to compete with Buck Rogers.

Flash Gordon pulp magazine

Contents

[edit] Plot summary

The comic strip followed the adventures of Flash Gordon, for whom the series was named, and his companions Dr. Hans Zarkov and Dale Arden. The story begins with Dr. Zarkov's invention of a rocket ship, in which the three of them make a journey to the planet Mongo, where they are stranded. Mongo is inhabited by a number of different cultures, some quite technologically advanced, that have been falling one by one under the domination of the vicious tyrant Ming the Merciless.

Each region of Mongo is analogous to regions on Earth. Arboria ruled by Barin and his Tree Men, is a lush forest region. Frigia is a frozen polar region. Tropica is logically a tropic region. There are undersea kingdoms and a flying city ruled by Prince Vultan of the Hawk Men. There are many sentient species on Mongo including lion-men represented by Prince Thun and Shark-men ruled by King Kala.

The three Earth people are befriended shortly after their arrival by Prince Barin, rightful heir to the throne that Ming has taken. Ming banishes Prince Barin and his followers — including Ming's own daughter, Princess Aura, Barin's bride — to the forest realm of Arboria, and the three join in Barin's quest to topple Ming.

In 1995, the strip was one of 20 included in the Comic Strip Classics series of commemorative US Postal Service postage stamps.

[edit] Strip bibliography

Image:Flash Gordon Excerpt.jpg

See also List of Flash Gordon comic strips.

[edit] Films

[edit] Film Serials

Flash Gordon was featured in three serials starring Buster Crabbe: Flash Gordon (1936), Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938), and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940).

[edit] 1980 Film

Main article: Flash Gordon (film)
A scene from the finale of the 1980 Flash Gordon.
The 1980 film Flash Gordon stars Sam J. Jones in the title role and also features Melody Anderson as Dale Arden, Topol as Dr. Zarkov, Max von Sydow as Ming, Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin, and Ornella Muti as Aura. Although not a critical success, the film is noted for its musical score, which was composed and performed by Queen .

The film is noted for being camp, and as such has acquired a cult status amongst students, sci-fi fans, and others. Many of the film's lines are quotable, and often tongue-in-cheek, and this knowing sense of humour contributes heavily to the collective affection with which the picture is remembered. A good example is the performance of the actor Brian Blessed, who 25 years later is still most often remembered by the British public as the Hawkman character 'Prince Vultan', despite many more serious, dramatic roles in film, theatre and television. The plot of the film is based loosely on the first few years of the comic strip, and includes a film version of the famous Alex Raymond Sunday page, "Flight of the Hawkmen".

[edit] References

The official expanded bio for the Transformers character of Anti-Blaze makes a reference to the Flash Gordon movie when he refers to Earth as an "obscure body in the S-K system", a line used in the opening of this film.

[edit] Parody

A semi-pornographic parody called Flesh Gordon was released in 1974. It became a cult classic and was followed in the 1989 by Flesh Gordon Meets the Cosmic Cheerleaders.

In The Return of Megaton Man, comic-book superhero Megaton Man has a relative named Flash Megaton, who bears a close resemblance to Flash Gordon.

In the Duck Dodgers cartoon, released in 2003, the character of Captain Star Johnson has traits of Flash Gordon.

The 2006 short film Captain Valedor makes various references to Flash Gordon, notably the costumes.

[edit] Future Films

In 2004, Stephen Sommers, director of Van Helsing and The Mummy, purchased the movie rights to Flash Gordon. As of February 2006, there is no cast for a new movie installment. A summer 2007 release date has been rumoured, but not confirmed.

[edit] Television

Image:Flash-Gordon Deadline-At-Noon-DVDSnap.jpg

[edit] Flash Gordon 1954-55

Steve Holland, starred in a 1954-1955 TV series which ran for 39 episodes and is, to date, the only live-action TV series based upon the character. The series had the distinction of being filmed in West Berlin, less than a decade after the end of World War II. It was recut into a movie in 1957.

[edit] The New Adventures of Flash Gordon 1979-80

In 1979, Filmation produced an animated series based on the comic strip and the first season is remembered as one of the better efforts of the studio.

[edit] Description

The animated series first season follows, more or less, the traditional FG mythos, opening with the launch of the rocketship carrying Flash, Dale Arden, and Dr. Zarkov from somewhere in the Eastern Hemisphere (or at least the opening scene shows the ship clearing Earth's atmosphere above Europe and the Middle East). The series actually opens with the crash of the Terran ship into an ocean on Mongo after being attacked during the final approach to the planet.

In the opening scenes, Gordon, Arden, and Zarkov meet Thun the Lion-man and Prince Barin of the forest-kingdom of Arboria. This coincidence (meeting reigning royalty of two different realms by apparent chance) sets much of the tone of the series, in which we must conclude either that logic is irrelevant, or that Destiny is at work in the arrival of FG on Mongo.

The remainder of the first season consists of pulpish adventures of Gordon and Co. across the face of Mongo, in traditional pulp style passing from one near-death situation to another with a cheery disregard for probability or logic, and a definite sense of fun. The protagonists meet Emperor Ming almost immediately, and Ming is revealed as being the classic archetype of the Evil Overlord.

[edit] Mongo Physical Outline

The planet Mongo seems to be highly Earth-like, with an atmosphere fully compatible with Terran life, and indeed the dominant species on Mongo appears to be fully familiar Homo sapiens, though other intelligent races do exist, though most seem to be either H. sapiens variants or creatures of a clearly humanoid pattern, such as Thun the Lion-man.

It is mentioned at least once that Terrans are stronger on Mongo than on Earth, so apparently Mongo's surface gravity is at least slightly lower than that of Earth. It appears to be close, however, as would be expected from its highly Earth-like surface environment, the Terrans may be a bit stronger and more enduring on Mongo, but they are by no means superhuman (other than Flash Gordon's apparent supreme skill as a combatant and gymnast).

Mongo's surface is host to a variety of climates and biomes, over the course of the first season we see the heavily forested kingdom of Arboria, the frozen tundra and mountains of Friggia, Tropica, a kingdom in Mongo's tropic zone, and extensive rocky deserts. Mongo is also shown to have extensive underground domains.

[edit] Mongo Politics

The capital city (or the closest thing to such) of Mongo is Mingo City, the site of the palace of Ming the Merciless, who styles himself Emperor of the Universe, and appears to actually be Emperor of Mongo.

The political structure of Mongo appears to be exclusively monarchical. In no case do we see any sort of republican or democratic government, though there are hints of theocratic elements here and there. Each realm that Gordon and Co. visit has its own king or queen. All initially seem to give at least some deference to Ming the Merciless (save initially Prince Barin and Thun, the ruler of the Lion-men).

The title of Emperor seems to be regarded as at least theoretically legitimate, Thun informs Flash and his friends that Barin would be the Emperor, but for Ming, though he adds his personal view that this would be no improvement. Whether the rank of Emperor is seen as hereditary or is otherwise obtained is never made clear, nor is it clear that the Emperor is seen as an absolute ruler. The authority commanded by Ming seems to be based as much on his vast military power as on his theoretical legal powers. It might be that title of Emperor passes from one monarch to another by some process of election or seniority, rather than being literally hereditary.

Whether Ming is rightful Emperor or not is also unclear, nor is it certain how long he has held the throne. At one point a reference is made to legends of Ming once acting as high priest of an ancient Mongovian king [see below], and it also said that Ming launched invasions 'long and long ago'. Ming claims to be immortal, and these references may be evidence in support of the claim.

Be that as it may, Ming does face challenges at the time of Gordon's arrival on Mongo, Prince Barin has apparently been leading a guerrilla war against Ming based in Arboria (which would be well suited to such tactics, as well as the traditional techniques of 'jungle warfare'). Thun the Lion-man, too, seems to be an active enemy of Ming at the beginning of the series, and as he is the monarch of his people it can be assumed that the Lion-men are also in rebellion against Ming.

However, Arboria and Prince Barin seem to be at odds with both their fellow rebels the Lion-men, and with almost everyone else. Flash is told at the beginning of the series that 'every race on Mongo is an enemy to every other race' and that 'each man stands alone on Mongo'. Indeed, a state of perpetual semi-warfare between Ming's subject states seems to be accepted as the norm of politics on Mongo at the time of Flash Gordon's arrival.

Much of the efforts of Flash Gordon are directed toward overcoming this mutual and general antipathy, which might itself be a product of Ming's statecraft if he has indeed ruled Mongo for multiple lifetimes. If Ming has shaped Mongo's internal affairs to keep potential rebels at each others' throats, then Gordon's personal charisma and apparently instinctive knack for bridging those gaps would make him a profound threat to Ming's rule.

For all its technological advancement, Mongo is semi-barbaric in terms of its social structures. Ming uses slave labor in mining radioactive elements for power and industry, Thun says that even a week in the mines could damage one's health, and 100 days is the limit of survival for the workers, in effect making the mines a slow death sentence. Ming's beautiful daughter Aura hunts people for thrills, and seems to be simultaneously sadistic and spoiled, though she has her better moments. Being raised by Ming might explain much, however.

Even the protagonist-rulers are seen to practice slavery at the start of the series, the Hawk-men of King Vultan use slave labor from rival states in dangerous high-radiation work, even Prince Barin hunts political enemies for sport. King Vultan of the flying Hawk-men has ambitions of becoming Ming's son-in-law by the forced marriage of his daughter Aura. The various peoples appear to be highly civilized with regard to each other, but to be conditioned to see all outsiders as enemies to be slain or exploited.

Ironically, Prince Barin says of the Lion-men at one point that they are barely out of the dark ages compared to the rest of Mongo, and other native characters make desparaging references to the 'savagery' of Thun. However, of all the natives of Mongo that Flash meets, it is Thun who initially and consistantly seems to be the most personally honorable, loyal, and decent, even more so than Barin or Vultan, Flash's other main allies.

Ironically, there are hints that the history of Mongo, and its barbaric state, might just possibly be derived from Flash Gordon himself...in another life.

[edit] The Witch Kingdom of Syk

Mongo's crusts is riddled with caverns and chambers, and in some of them is to be found a realm that is the remnant, according to legend, of a kingdom that once ruled all Mongo, and the monarch of that ancient realm was Ghor-Dhan, pronounced the same as 'Gordon', and his appearance was identical to Flash Gordon of Terra.

Syk is a kingdom supposedly founded on magic, as opposed to the high technology that underlies the civilization of the rest of Mongo, though it becomes clear as events unfold that Syk's 'magic' is actually a sufficiently advanced technology, in the sense of Clarke's Third Law, though they do use some of the imagery of magic. Dr. Zarkov even masters some of it, with his own tremendous intellect.

Syk is ruled by the witch-queen Azura, who is feared by everyone on Mongo. Even Ming the Merciless is said by legend to have attempted to conquer Syk, 'long and long ago' with an army of one million, who disappeared to the last man. Thun says that legend also made reference to Ming once acting as King Ghor-dhan's 'high priest'. Supposedly Ghor-dhan left Mongo ages before seeking new worlds to conquer, leaving his lover Azura to rule in his stead...and never returned, leaving Azura to rule Syk for ages, being apparently immortal.

(Note that Ming claims immortality, and in Syk this is apparently a known technology, so if Ming was the high priest this might explain his longevity).

Queen Azura believes that Flash Gordon is her long-lost lover returned, and she is even able to bring forth what seem to be memories of that time in him. When Flash marvels at the similarity to the statue, the similarity of name, and the other indications of some sort of connection, even Dr. Zarkov is forced to note that there are things science cannot account for.

It would appear to be at least a real possibility that in some previous life, Flash Gordon ruled Mongo, with the witch-queen Azura at his side, and Ming as his mere servant. (Ming makes no sign of recognizing Flash despite the similarity in appearance and name...but Ming doesn't reveal all he knows to anyone). Flash even develops what appears to be an echoing affection for Azura, in spite of her rather ghastly treatment of him and his friends, though he tells her that Ghor-dhan's love for her is dust.

If Flash is the reincarnation of Ghor-dhan, it would be ironic, because the kingdom of Syk that is the remnant of Ghor-dhan's realm is perhaps the most cold and cruel on Mongo, Azura, his long-lost love, is callously cruel and arguably insane, and Ming seems to be an expatriat of that same realm. The hints are that Ghor-dhan was probably more evil than good, and his legacy appears to have been negative.

It might thus be that Flash Gordon is in fact undoing damage he himself did in a previous existence as he works to free Mongo from Ming's evil.

[edit] Ming the Merciless

The chief villain of the series is Ming the Merciless, archetype of the Evil Overlord. Cruel, cold, arrogant, avaricious, ruthless, and machiavellian, Ming is the epitome of the tyrant. Yet he is brilliant, referred to by some as the greatest scientist in the universe, and politically and diplomatically capable. He is skilled in personal combat, but feels no compulsion to engage in it when misdirection will work as well.

His personal race is unclear, his ears are pointed, his teeth seem fanged, his frame oddly thin yet very strong...and he claims to be immortal, with some supporting evidence.

His sexual tastes seem varied, to judge by the various types of female we see in glimpses of his harem, but he seems to find Dale Arden particularly attractive, and his daughter Aura seems to be a Homo sapiens, so presumably Ming is not very alien. His origin may tie in to the nature of Syk the witch-kingdom.

His resources are immense, with armies of robots, armies of humans and other species, a fleet of armed rocketships and spacecraft...and access to even more impressive technologies. However, he does seem to fear the possibility of a united rebellion on Mongo, because he seems to work to keep the races at each other's throats. It might be that his power is greater than anyone else's, but not greater than everyone else's.

[edit] Season Two

The 1979 animated series was released first, but the made-for-tv movie, Flash Gordon, the Greatest Adventure of Them All was made first, and the tv series, titled The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, endlessly reused footage from the movie, while eliminating more adult material, including a subplot involving Hitler and sexually suggestive imagery (such as Emperor Ming's harem).

[edit] Buck Rogers 1979

In the third episode of the 1979 television series Buck Rogers in the 25th Century entitled Planet of the Slave Girls, an old veteran fighter pilot named Brigadier Gordon (portrayed by Flash Gordon film actor Buster Crabbe), responds to Rogers after doing some impressive flying, "I've been doing this sort of thing since before you were born, Captain." The character (as well as the casting) was meant to imply that the character was indeed Flash Gordon.

[edit] Defenders of the Earth 1986

In the 1986 cartoon Defenders of the Earth, Flash teamed up with fellow King Features heroes The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician in 65 episodes. This series took extreme liberties with the character, revealing that he and Dale Arden had conceived a son, Rick Gordon, who is in his mid-teens when the series begins. Dale has her mind torn from her body by Ming in the first episode and is preserved in a crystal, which Rick is able to recover and give to his father. Dale is reborn on Earth as Dynak X, the strategic battle computer of the Defender's base Monitor Earth.

Whilst Flash vows he will restore Dale to her human form, later episodes of the series see him openly flirting and embracing other women, in one case developing a relationship with the android Kala in the episode "Flesh and Blood", Kala is killed at the conclusion of the episode when she sacrifices her life to save the Defenders.

[edit] Flash Gordon 1996

In 1996, Hearst Entertainment premiered a Flash Gordon (TV Series) animated television series. This version turned Flash and Dale into hover-boarding teen-agers.

[edit] Radio Serials

In 1935, the strip was adapted into The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon, a 26 episode radio serial that followed the strip fairly closely, except for the last two episodes when Flash and his friends meet Jungle Jim, another Alex Raymond character.

A second serial, The Further Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon, apparently ran through 1936.

[edit] Comic Books

Over the years, several publishers put out Flash Gordon Comics based on the classic strip.

Also, these companies may have run Flash Gordon backup strips in other titles they published.

In 1988, DC Comics produced a modernized version of the comic strip. It featured Flash as washed up basketball player who finds new purpose in life on Mongo, Dale who is an adventurous reporter who is just as capable as Flash, and a gray-skinned Ming who is less of an Asian stereotype.

The series ran for a planned nine issues and was left with an open-ended conclusion, probably in hopes that it would have been popular enough to start a regular comic run. Though Mongo was not a threat to Earth in this series, Ming had every intention of becoming one once he coerced Dr. Zarkhov into designing the needed ships.

In 1995, Marvel Comics did a two issue series with art by Al Williamson, in the style of the Flash comics he had done for King and others.

[edit] Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazine

In 1936 the first, and only, issue of a would be series of Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazine was published. The novel was entitled The Masters of Mars and written by the otherwise unknown James Edison Northford. The pulp was based more or less on the comic strip story lines, and included illustrations reminescent of Alex Raymond's artwork. On the back pages a second installment The Sun Men of Saturn is promised, but, of course, never saw print.

Even though the series did not take off, the one issue of Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazine has become a much sought after item for pulp magazine collectors.

[edit] Novels

The first novel based on the strip, Flash Gordon in the Caverns of Mongo was published in 1936 by Grosset & Dunlap. The credited author was Alex Raymond. Like the pulp magazine of the same year, it failed to launch a series.

In 1973 Avon books launched a six book series of adult-oreinted Flash Gordon novels: The Lion Men of Mongo, The Plague of Sound, The Space Circus, The Time Trap of Ming XIII, The Witch Queen of Mongo, and The War of the Cybernauts

In 1980 Temp books releases a series: Massacre in the 22nd Century, War of the Citadels, Crisis on Citadel II, Forces from the Federation, Citadels under Attack, and Citadels on Earth,

[edit] Inspirations

In his youth, George Lucas was a fan of the Flash Gordon serials, and once wanted to adapt it to the screen as part of his modern-day myth. Dino De Laurentiis, who owned the rights, was not interested in Lucas' interpretation, so Lucas wrote Star Wars instead,[citation needed] which borrowed liberally from the serials. The opening expository roll-up that appeared in episodes of Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe became the now-famous opening crawl of each Star Wars episode. Flash Gordon and Dale Arden inspired not only Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia, but also their parents, Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala.[citation needed]

The famous Tauntaun character from Star Wars was also directly inspired by a similar creature from the snow world of Princess Aura.[citation needed]

[edit] Reprints

The Alex Raymond Sunday strips have been reprinted by several publishers, notably Nostalgia Press, Kitchen Sink Press, and Checker Book Publishing Group. The Kitchen Sink and Checker versions are in color, Nostalgia Press did one in black and white and the others in color. The Mac Raboy Sundays have been reprinted by Dark Horse in black and white. The Dan Barry dailies have never been entirely reprinted, but the early years were published by Kitchen Sink and the stories written by Harry Harrison are reprinted in Comics Revue from Manuscript Press. Tempo Books published 6 massmarket paperbacks reprinting strips from the 1970s in the 1980s. Some of the Austin Briggs dailies were reprinted by Kitchen Sink Press.Image:Flash Gordon -3.jpg

  • Flash Gordon on the Planet Mongo (1934-35), Nostalgia
  • Flash Gordon in the Winter World (1935-37), Nostalgia
  • Flash Gordon Escapes to Arboria (1937-39), Nostalgia
  • Flash Gordon vs Frozen Terrors (1939-41 ?), Nostalgia
  • Flash Gordon Joins the Power Men (1941-43 ?), Nostalgia
  • Flash Gordon: The Dailies by Austin Briggs 1940-1942 Volume 1, Kitchen Sink Press ISBN 0-87816-172-4
  • Flash Gordon: The Dailies by Austin Briggs 1940-1942 Volume 2, Kitchen Sink Press ISBN 0-87816-187-2
  • Mac Rayboy's Flash Gordon, Volume 1, Dark Horse Comics ISBN 1-56971-882-2
  • Mac Rayboy's Flash Gordon, Volume 2, Dark Horse Comics
  • Mac Rayboy's Flash Gordon, Volume 3, Dark Horse Comics ISBN 1-56971-978-0
  • Mac Rayboy's Flash Gordon, Volume 4, Dark Horse Comics
  • Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon, 6 volumes (mix of dailies & Sundays from 1970s), Tempo Books

[edit] DVD Releases

Flash Gordon has been released to DVD under a variety of titles and in both edited and non-edited versions. The serials and 50's TV show have no shortage of public domain DVD releases.

[edit] Film Serials (1936, 1938, 1940)

[edit] Buster Crabbe: Flash Gordon (1936)

  • Flash Gordon : Space Soldiers. (245 minutes)
  • Flash Gordon : Spaceship to the Unknown. Hearst Entertainment, Inc., 2002. (edited to 98 minutes)

[edit] Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars (1938)

  • Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars (2-Discs). (299 minutes)
  • Flash Gordon : The Deadly Ray From Mars. Hearst Entertainment, Inc., 2002. (edited to 97 minutes)


[edit] Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)

  • Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. (234 minutes)
  • Flash Gordon : The Peril from Planet Mongo. Hearst Entertainment, Inc., 2002. (edited to 91 minutes)

[edit] Flash Gordon (1954-55)

  • Flash Gordon (2-Discs). (180 minutes, only 8 episodes)

[edit] The New Adventures of Flash Gordon (1979)

US - BCI Eclipse

  • The New Adventures of Flash Gordon : The Complete Series (4-Discs). (600 minutes)

UK - Hollywood DVD LTD

  • The Adventures of Flash Gordon - Castaways In Tropica
  • The Adventures of Flash Gordon - Blue Magic

[edit] Flash Gordon (1980)

On May 6th 1998 Universal released the movie, but it quickly went out of print.

  • Flash Gordon (111 minutes)

[edit] Defenders of the Earth

US - BCI Ecplise

  • Defenders of the Earth - Complete Series Volume 1 (5-Discs) 33 Episodes
  • Defenders of the Earth - Complete Series Volume 2 (5-Discs) 32 Episodes (Spring 2007)

UK - Hollywood DVD LTD

  • Defenders Of The Earth - The Story Begins

UK - Delta Music PLC

  • Defenders of the Earth Movie (3-Discs)
  • Defenders of the Earth vol 1
  • Defenders of the Earth vol 2
  • Defenders of the Earth vol 3
  • Defenders of the Earth Movie - Prince Of Kro-Tan
  • Defenders of the Earth Movie - Necklace Of Oros
  • Defenders of the Earth Movie - The Book Of Mysteries

[edit] Flash Gordon (1996)

Lion's Gate on September 21st 2004, released 3-4 episode DVD's of Flash Gordon (1996) and Phantom 2040.

  • Flash Gordon: Marooned on Mongo - The Animated Movie (97 minutes)

[edit] References

[edit] External links

[edit] Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe

The original Buster Crabbe serials, online.

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