Wednesday Comics: Dynamte Flash Gordon

Last week, I talked about the original Flash Gordon comic strip and where it could be found in print. The last incarnation of the series is at Dynamite Entertainment. Dynamite produced a limited series in 2011 with designs by Alex Ross, then relaunched again with a limited series in 2014 written by Jeff Parker and drawn by Evan "Doc" Shaner. This series is available as an omnibus edition.

The basics are familiar to readers of the old strips and comics or viewers of the movie, cartoon, or serials. Flash, Dale, And Zarkov head to Mongo to save the Earth. Here Flash is a bit of an extreme sports enthusiast and son of a wealth. (If your keeping track, Flash as been a polo star, Olympic decathlon athlete, pro football player, and pro basketball player in previous incarnations). Parker characterizes him as personable, overconfident, and perhaps not terribly bright. It works pretty well. Dale has the biggest role she's probably had in any version, but that largely makes her into a no nonsense reporter a la Lois Lane, and straight man for Flash's antics. Zarkov is not totally unlike the 80s movie version, though perhaps with a hint of Tony Stark.

The various lands of the 30s Mongo, are now different worlds, having been conquered by Mingo via gates of some sort, one of which opened on Earth. The designs for various cultures seem a synthesis of the comic strip and the 80s film.

Overall, the series keeps the verve of the original version of the property, while updating it to a modern context. I'm not fond of all the choices they made, but in general it is well done. Dynamite had a 2015 series as well, which may well be a follow-up to the Parker/Shaner series, though neither of those creators were involved.