Flash Gordon Forever

Iconic

There may be no greater icon in comic strip history than Flash Gordon. Sorry, Buck Rogers. You came first but Flash had better art and story, and a much, much better villain. Creator/artist Alex Raymond is generally regarded as the greatest craftsman in the field; so great, in fact, that after Dave Sim recovered from producing 300 consecutive issues of Cerebus, he started up on a series called Glamourpuss that, oddly, is all about Raymond’s work.

Flash was the subject of what is also generally regarding as the three greatest movie serials ever made due, in no small part, to the performance of actor Charles Middleton as Ming The Merciless. And he had all the other media tie-ins: a radio series starring Gale Gordon (yep; Lucille Ball’s foil), a teevee series staring future Doc Savage model Steve Holland and a teevee series on Sci-Fi last year that was completely unwatchable, various animated series, a movie feature and another one in pre-production and numerous comic books by people including Archie Goodwin, Al Williamson, Reed Crandall, and Wally Wood, and licensed items. When Raymond went off to war, he was replaced by a series of artists nearly equal to him in talent: Austin Briggs, Mac Raboy (my favorite), and Dan Barry.

There’s a reason why Flash Gordon attracted such top-rank talent. Sadly, that’s also the same reason why Flash Gordon is an icon and no longer active in our contemporary entertainment: nostalgia. Flash Gordon was a product of his times, a wondrous visionary made irrelevant by real-life heroes such as Laika the dog, the first living being to orbit the Earth, and Yuri Gagaran, the first human being to orbit the Earth. Only Yuri returned alive, but I digress.

Flash

Flash Gordon is the epic hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip first drawn by Alex Raymond. The stories have universal themes of right and wrong, good versus evil, and epic heroism in the face of total anihilation. His appeal lies in his mortality and ability to defeat evil without the use of superpowers.
Flash was first published January 7, 1934, and was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip. Inspired by these series were comics such as Dash Dixon (1935 to 1939) by H.T. Elmo and Larry Antoinette and Don Dixon, and the Hidden Empire (1935 to 1941) by Carl Pfeufer and Bob Moore.

The Flash Gordon comic strip has been turned into a wide variety of media, including motion pictures, television and animated series. The latest version, a Flash Gordon TV series, appeared on the US SyFy Channel in 2007-2008 and then on the United Kingdom SyFy channel. A comic book series by Brendan Deneen and Paul Green and published by Ardden Entertainment debuted in 2008, with the first story arc entitled "The Mercy Wars". It is also available on iTunes for the iPod and iPhone. Ardden also published a Flash Gordon anthology entitled The Secret History of Mongo. Ardden's second Flash Gordon arc is currently entitled Invasion of the Red Sword (2010).

The comic strip follows the adventures of Flash Gordon, a handsome polo player and Yale graduate, and his companions Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov. The story begins with Earth bombarded by fiery meteors. Dr. Zarkov invents a rocket ship to locate their place of origin in outer space. Half mad, he kidnaps Flash and Dale, whose plane has crashed in the area, and the three travel to the planet Mongo, where they discover the meteors are weapons devised by Ming the Merciless, the evil ruler of Mongo.

For many years, the three companions have adventures on Mongo, traveling to the forest kingdom of Arboria, ruled by Prince Barin; the ice kingdom of Frigia, ruled by Queen Fria; the jungle kingdom of Tropica, ruled by Queen Desira; the undersea kingdom of the Shark Men, ruled by King Kala; and the flying city of the Hawkmen, ruled by Prince Vultan. They are joined in several early adventures by Prince Thun of the Lion Men. The long story of the Skorpii War takes Flash to other star systems, using starships that are faster than light. Flash and his friends also frequently return to Mongo, where Ming has been overthrown and Prince Barin, married to Ming's daughter Princess Aura, has established a peaceful rule (except for frequent revolts led by Ming or by one of his many descendants).

Film Highlights

The Flash Gordon films stand as tributes, and testament, to the timelessness of an enduring icon. Flash Gordon was featured in three serial films starring Buster Crabbe: Flash Gordon (1936), Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938), and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940). The 1936 Flash Gordon serial was also condensed into a feature-length film titled Flash Gordon.

The classic sci-fi adventure film Flash Gordon (1980) stars former Playgirl-centerfold Sam J. Jones in the title role. Its plot is based loosely on the first few years of the comic strip (and in particular the famous Alex Raymond Sunday page, "Flight of the Hawkmen", revising Flash's backstory by making him the quarterback of the New York Jets instead of a polo player. Raymond's drawings feature heavily in the opening credits, as does the signature theme-song "Flash!" by rock band Queen, who composed and performed the entire musical score.

Riding the coat-tails of Star Wars, Superman, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Flash Gordon was not a critical success on release, but the film has been buoyed by its later cult-status, and is particularly lauded for the calibre of both its score and supporting cast, which featured many notable actors. Melody Anderson co-starred with Jones as Dale Arden, alongside Chaim Topol as Dr. Hans Zarkov, Max von Sydow as Ming, Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin, Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan, Peter Wyngarde as Klytus and Ornella Muti as Princess Aura. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, with extraordinarily ornate production designs and costumes by Danilo Donati, the bright colors and retro effects were inspired directly by the comic strip and 1930s serials.

The film's mixture of action-adventure, science fiction, comedy and the earnest seriousness of its central characters have contributed heavily to its longevity and cult status. A highly quotable script - by the 1960s Batman scriptwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr. and Michael Allin - full of tongue-in-cheek gentle humor, parts of which were sampled by Queen for the title track, have also contributed to the collective affection with which it is remembered. In particular, Brian Blessed's performance as the Hawkman Prince Vultan lodged the veteran stage and screen actor into the collective consciousness for the utterance of a single line - "GORDON'S ALIVE?!" - which, nearly 30 years later, remains the most repeated, reused, and recycled quotation from both the film and Blessed's career.

Steve Holland starred in a 1954-55 live-action TV series which ran for 39 episodes. The first 26 episodes had the distinction of being filmed in West Berlin, Germany less than a decade after the end of World War II. This is notable, given that some episodes show the real-life destruction still evident in Germany several years after the war. The final 13 episodes were filmed in Marseille, France. In this series, Flash, Dale (Irene Champlin), and Dr. Zarkov (Joseph Nash) worked for the Galactic Bureau of Investigation in the year 3203. The actual timeline was established in one episode, "Deadline at Noon", in which Flash, Dale, and Dr. Zarkov went back in time to Berlin in the year 1953. The GBI agents traveled in the Skyflash and Skyflash II spaceships. The series was syndicated, appearing on stations affiliated with the long-defunct DuMont Network, and many other independent stations in the United States. Stylistic similarities with the Buster Crabbe films are obvious, and may have been desired by the producers. It was recut into a movie in 1957.

Flash Animated

In 1979, Filmation produced an animated series, often referred to as The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, but is actually titled Flash Gordon. The expanded title was used to distinguish it from previous versions. The project was originally designed as a TV film but NBC decided to change it into an animated series.

NBC was unhappy with the serial nature of the first season, as it clashed with their re-run style (details can be found on a documentary included on the DVD), so the second season was much changed and also aimed at a younger audience. Each episode included two stand-alone stories, often featuring a young dragon named Gremlin, introduced for comic relief. Unfortunately, this decision led to a decline in ratings and the show was canceled thereafter.

Filmation produced this successful animated television movie, written by Star Trek writer Samuel A. Peeples, before they began their Saturday morning series, but the TV-movie did not actually air until 1982. It was critically well-received, and is considered one of the best film versions of Flash Gordon, though it would never be re-broadcast following its premiere.

This movie has yet to be commercially released in the United States, although off-air bootlegs abound. The only known commercial releases were by VAP Video in Japan, c. 1983, in both laser disc and NTSC VHS videotape formats and in Bulgaria, where it was released on VHS . The movie also aired numerous times on the "Diema" Channel in the late 90s. In the Japanese release it is presented uncut with the original English voice track, with Japanese subtitles added for its intended audience. At the end of the movie is a trailer for the De Laurentiis live-action movie, as well as trailers for other titles from the VAP Video library at the time. The covers for both versions feature comic-strip panels, using stills taken from the movie. Its last listing was in VAP Video's catalog for 1983.

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 all the characters, revealing that Flash 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.

While Flash vows that 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.

Flash on SyFy

 On January 12, 2007 at the Television Critics Association tour, it was announced that a live-action Flash Gordon series would comprise 22 one-hour episodes, produced in Canada in early 2007. Under an agreement with King Features Syndicate, the series was produced by Reunion Pictures of Vancouver with Robert Halmi Sr. and Robert Halmi Jr. of RHI Entertainment serving as Executive Producers. The SyFy Channel premiered its new Flash Gordon series in the United States on August 10, 2007.

The characters of Ming, Dale Arden, and Dr. Hans Zarkov were drastically altered. Eric Johnson, best known for his earlier work on the WB's Smallville, played the title character of Steven "Flash" Gordon. Gina Holden (who has appeared in Fantastic Four and Aliens vs. Predator) played Dale Arden, Dr. Hans Zarkov played by Jody Racicot (Night at the Museum), and John Ralston portrayed the arch-villain, Ming.

In this version of the series, Flash's actual name is "Steven Gordon", with "Flash" being a nickname. The series enjoyed limited success, but did not resonate with fans. Some speculate that the story had been so drastically changed that it was not a version of Flash Gordon that was recognizable to fans. Advertisements featured a cover version of Queen's "Flash's Theme" performed by the band Louis XIV. The song was not present in any episode of the show, however. The show was canceled officially in early 2008.

A Short Filmography

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

Film serials (1936-1940)

Flash Gordon (1936)

Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers. (245 minutes)

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

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (2 discs). (299 minutes)

Flash Gordon: O raio mortal de Marte. Hearst Entertainment, Inc., 2002. (97 minutes)

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)

Flash Gordon (1954-55)

Flash Gordon (2-Discs). (180 minutes, only 9 episodes)

The New Adventures of Flash Gordon (1979)

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

Flash Gordon (1980)

On May 6, 1998, Image Home Entertainment released the 1980 film on DVD in North America for DVD Region 1 territories through a contract with Universal, but it quickly went out of print.

Momentum Pictures later released it in the UK for DVD Region 2 territories on October 10, 2005. This edition of the film, the "Silver Anniversary Edition", features an anamorphic widescreen transfer at the film's 2.4:1 aspect ratio, both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio, the original Queen theatrical trailer, an audio commentary by director Mike Hodges, a second audio commentary from actor Brian Blessed, an interview with Mike Hodges, a photo slideshow and an original 1940s Serial, episode one of Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe.

Universal released the film on August 7, 2007 in North America and Region 1 territories once again. The new disc, entitled the "Saviour of the Universe Edition," features a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. Extras include an "Alex Ross on Flash Gordon" featurette in which world-renowned comic artist Alex Ross talks about the film and how it has inspired him in his life and work, a "Writing a Classic" featurette with screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr. and a Flash Gordon 1936 serial episode (chapter one of Planet of Peril).

Defenders of the Earth

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)

Defenders Of The Earth - The Story Begins

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

Flash Gordon (1996)

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

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