Yes folks, today we will be reviewing Flash Gordon! Cue the Queen song.

This is a character that I was aware of, yet never took the time to look into his story. So when I saw this issue on Free Comic Book Day back in May, I had to grab hold of the opportunity. To provide a little context to this character, we must know that Flash Gordon was created in 1934 as a comic strip illustrated by Alex Raymond and written by Dan Moore. The strip was released as a Sunday Feature for King Feature Syndicate, who still own the rights to Flash Gordon to this very day. The stories centered around the character Flash Gordon, a Yale graduate and well-known polo player, his girlfriend Dale Arden, and Dr. Hanz Zarkov and their adventures on the planet Mongo. Their story begins with Dr. Zarkov discovering that Earth was in danger of colliding with Mongo. Dr. Zarkov builds a rocket ship to fly into space to stop the impending doom. He doesn’t go alone however, he kidnaps Flash and Dale and forces them to join him. This leads them to their first conflict with Ming the Merciless, Mongo’s evil ruler. The story continues with Flash and his allies having many adventures on Mongo and many battles against Ming. Dr. Zarkov would go on to become a more sympathetic character and eventually an ally. The character of Flash Gordon would go on to become the subject of many radio show serials, movies, animated shows, and comic books.

When it comes to comics, Flash has had various publishers such as Dark Horse Comics, Ardden Entertainment, Dynamite, Marvel, and others. The last time Flash appeared in comics was in 2017 with the limited series Flash Gordon: Kings Cross. And now, Mad Cave Studios is taking over the reins and revamping the character with a creative team composed of writer Jeremy Adams, artist Will Conrad, colorist Lee Loughridge, and letterer Taylor Espisito.

Now without further ado, let’s get into Flash Gordon #0!

Flash Gordon FCBD - image from Mad Cave's FCBD page

This issue opens with Flash and his allies running an ambush on a train in the Magnetic Mountains on the planet Mongo. They successfully derail the train but before they can interrogate the train conductor, his reinforcements rush in and start clashing with Flash and his allies! By the end of the second page Flash Gordon is dead.

I know, what a heckuva way to start!

The news of Flash’s death reaches the ears of the dreaded Emperor Ming (full name Ming the Merciless). He is in the middle of completing his weapon of destruction called the Unraveller which he plans to use to destroy Earth. But he is more than happy to divert his attention to the cadaver of his long time rival.

The death of Flash encourages Ming in his efforts to destroy the Earth. However, there is an “inside man” that is working with Flash, Ming’s own daughter, Aura. Right outside of the complex where Flash’s body is being held, Aura hides among the trees. She carries a rifle which shoots a “dna-seeking syringe” coded for Flash’s DNA in order to revive him. The syringe successfully gets plunged into Flash’s body and injects him with the serum that brings the previously thought-to-be-dead Flash back to life. Flash then emerges from his casket and confronts Ming.

Flash Gordon tries to stop Ming, but Ming is able to start the Unraveller. In order to save Earth, Flash sabotages the Unraveller by cutting off the support wires, causing the Unraveller to fall. The issue ends with the Unraveller exploding on impact and destroying Mongo, presumably with Ming, Flash, and the rest of his allies being destroyed in the process.

Even though I have no history with Flash Gordon, I think this comic is great! I personally love the plot twist where the heroes devise a plan to make it look like they were killed or otherwise captured to sneak into the enemy base and defeat the enemy from inside. I love the moment when it is revealed that the hero is alive and it was all a ruse. By that aspect alone, this comic is great.

I found that I did not need to know any of the character relationships to follow along with what was happening, which makes this comic even better. Granted, I’m sure that would’ve added a nice layer in understanding the events of the story. I felt like this was a well paced comic from Flash dying to reveal of what Ming the Merciless was doing with the Unraveller, to the reveal that Flash is alive and to the destruction of Mongo, nothing seemed out of place or unimportant, which is the hallmark of good pacing.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the art. Man, did it look good. I saw the covers of some of the previous iterations of Flash Gordon comics and just from what I could see from the covers alone, I definitely prefer the art style that Will Conrad is going for. I also think the colors are great. There are a lot of blue and orange tints, fitting since the blue and orange color scheme is supposedly the most appealing to mainstream audiences (so I’ve heard and just assumed to be true).

I think fans of Flash Gordon will enjoy this iteration of the character and I think new readers of Flash will find something for them in this series as well. I am certainly looking forward to reading more once they start being released. Be on the lookout for Flash Gordon #1 by Mad Cave Studios later this month!

Enjoy reading and God bless,

Tailon Russell, co-host of The Comic Panel

If you liked this review, you can listen to more of my opinions alongside my three co-hosts on The Comic Panel on Saturdays at 1:30pm AKDT.

Flash! Ahh-ahh Savior of the Universe…is Back!