Art: Alex Ross

Art: Alex Ross

Art: Alex Ross

Art: Alex Ross

Art: Alex Ross

“Scott [Beatty] has taken the groundwork laid by Eric [Trautmann] and Alex [Ross] in Flash Gordon and gone back in time to tell the tale of the Rise of Ming,” states Dynamite Editor Joe Rybandt. “This is the direct precursor to the story in Flash Gordon and presents the definitive origin of the universe’s most merciless dictator.”

Flash Gordon is the hero of a science fiction adventure comic strip originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by and created to compete with the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip.

The original Flash Gordon 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, 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. Eventually, Ming is overthrown, and Mongo is ruled by a council of leaders led by Barin. Flash and friends return to Earth and have some adventures before returning to Mongo and crashing in the kingdom of Tropica, before reuniting with Barin and others. Flash and his friends would travel to other worlds and frequently return to Mongo, where 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). The long story of the Skorpii War takes Flash to other star systems, using starships that are faster than light.
 

Join the conversation on Twitter with #FlashGordon and on Dynamite Entertainment’s twitter page at https://x.com/DynamiteComics

LOST Veterans Elizabeth Sarnoff and Jack Bender join us to talk about their role in the new Fox series, ALCATRAZ, plus more with Jorge Garcia and Sarah Jones. DC drops the axe on 6 New 52 titles and Mark Millar creatures a universe.

Over the last two weeks I’ve taken more taxis than I did in all of 2010. I hate taking cabs. They’re expensive, and it frustrates me to sit in traffic watching the meter click. It makes me feel like Geraldine Chaplin in Welcome to L.A. I much prefer the subway, smells and all, because it’s cheap and fast.

I took the expensive cabs because I needed them. If we didn’t need the cabs, we would have been quite content to walk or take mass transit. The person with whom I was traveling couldn’t walk to a bus stop much less climb the stairs to the subway, and it was imperative that we get where we were going. Luckily, I can afford to do this when necessary.

What does this have to do with comic books?

DC Comics recently announced a price hike on some of their books. Naturally, customers aren’t happy about this. No one wants to spend more money if they don’t have to.

You know what? You don’t have to.

It’s possible to lead a productive and satisfying life without reading Batman comics the week they hit the stands. Or so I’ve been told. Billions of people do it. Some of these people will read the stories later, paying for them in a back-issue bin, or a trade paperback collection, or online when the price goes down. Most of the people on this planet will never read them.

It’s a choice.

I don’t know what financial pressures are behind DC’s decision to raise those prices. It could be motivated by editorial considerations. Maybe retailers told the publisher they needed a higher cover price to make a profit. Maybe Diamond needs the profit. Maybe DC does.

I’ve read on some bulletin boards that some customers feel this is stupid, that DC is taking that extra dollar from customers who will therefore have a dollar less to spend on other titles. This presumes that there are only so many dollars available, because there are only so many customers. Maybe that’s true in some markets, but, nationally, there are all those millions of people who haven’t yet bought a Batman comic. I would guess that those people would prefer to pay $2.99 instead of $3.99, but that as long as it’s under $5, it’s not that noticeable.

If you can’t afford to buy a comic the day it comes out, don’t buy it that day. Take a deep breath. Wait a week.

It’s okay. Stories keep.

Save your money for when you need that taxi.

SATURDAY: Will Marc Alan Fishman Take Up The Michael Davis Challenge?

Just as one mysterious character departs, another enters as MERLIN welcomes its newest addition – Agravaine, chief adviser to the King. Played by acclaimed actor Nathaniel Parker, the character provides yet another potential snake in Camelot’s grass for Arthur and Merlin as they fend off Morgana’s attack in the epic conclusion of the season-opening, two-part episode entitled “The Darkest Hour, Part 2.” The episode premieres this Friday, January 6 at 10 p.m. ET/PT on Syfy.

The magic of MERLIN continues to cast a spell over audiences: Last Friday’s fourth-season premiere of MERLIN attracted the biggest-ever first-episode audience in its Syfy history, with viewership 29% higher for Season 4 than Season 3.  Episodes from all three previous seasons are available on iTunes, and Season 3 will be released January 17 on DVD.

In “The Darkest Hour, Part 2” the kingdom of Camelot is on the brink of collapse as Lancelot (Santiago Cabrera) races back to Camelot with the dying Merlin, the Dorocha continue their siege on the kingdom, Arthur considers an unthinkable sacrifice … and Morgana waits to strike. (more…)

Ah, there you are. Still with us. Good. You survived the turning of the new year and the doom some are predicting hasn’t happened. Yet. But be of good cheer, you who are longing to manifest the death instinct that Sigmund Freud said is common among homo sapiens. According to something I read somewhere, the Big Erasure isn’t due until the fall. So we might yet be annihilated, thank you very much.

Meanwhile, we can read comic books and/or go to the movies. That’s what I did day before yesterday, went to my local monsterplex and saw the new Sherlock Holmes flick. And pretty much enjoyed it. Director Guy Ritchie and his associates have done what, I maintain, must be done with olden characters if they’re to appeal to contemporary audiences; he reinvented Sherlock and Dr. Watson and even Sherlock’s smarter brother, Mycroft.

Sherlock is still the world’s greatest “consulting detective” and Watson is still loyal, courageous and honorable and Mycroft is still brilliant and still needs to get to the gym, urgently. Nothing here alien to the 60 Holmes stories Arthur Conan Doyle gave us more than a century ago. But although Doyle’s Sherlock was occasionally a man of action – he could give a good account of himself in a donnybrook, by Jove – and he had a streak of the rebel in him, he was primarily a thinker and a scientist, and despite that tiny flavor of rebellion, he espoused the Victorian values: respect for order and tradition and law and, despite the denseness of some of the policemen he dealt with, also a respect for authority.

Those aren’t our values.

The world has churned and we know that science isn’t always benevolent and order is not the highest good and scoundrels can hide in tradition and authority figures…oh, come on! Check the headlines or a reputable newscast or two.

Mr. Ritchie and friends haven’t gobsmacked those quaint values – if you squint hard you might be able to discern them – but they’re largely ignored. What’s emphasized is comedy and action, along with enough science and ratiocination to qualify the hero as Sherlock. If you’re familiar with the Doyle canon, you might react to the movie’s references and rearrangement of plot elements. If you’re not… no harm, no foul. What you need is up there on the screen, though you might have to pay close attention to get it all.

I have one gripe, and for me it’s not a new one; I can level it against a number of entertainments. It’s this: much of the action is rendered in blurs and pans and ultra-swift cuts and so we popcorn eaters don’t know exactly what’s going on. The Asian actioners have demonstrated that there is considerable entertainment value in a clearly seen, cleverly choreographed fight scene. Why deny us that pleasure, particularly in a movie the budget of which is the size of Neptune? I mean, you can hire really good stunt people.

RECOMMENDED READING: The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Arthur Conan Doyle

FRIDAY: Martha Thomases