Wednesday 7 December 2016

Flash Gordon #14 (Charlton/1969)




Flash Gordon #14 (Charlton Comics)

Sal Gentile (w) Pat Boyette (a)

These days when most people think of Flash Gordon the 1980 film with Queens wonderful music always comes to mind, but Flash goes back much further than that rather "campy" but wonderful adaptation. which actually originated as a comic strip in 1934!

Flash Gordon.jpg
Photo: Fair use

Flash Gordon went on to be a film serial shown in cinema's between 1936 and 1940 and Radio adventures in 1935/36. There have been a number of comic books over the years but it is this one with which I am familiar.

This comic published in the sixties started with King Features in 1966 and ran util the licence was picked up Charlton in 1969 with #12. However Charlton only published 7 bi-monthly issues until 1970.
The comic was reborn as a Gold Key title in 1978, and subsequently Whitman who adapted the 1980 movie across three issues. The comic ran for a combined total of 37 issues.

 

In #14 Flash is forced to travel to to The Land of of Witch Queen to rescue Dale after a plot to overthrow King Barin involving a gang of lookalikes who orchestrate events. The story recreates the wonderful world of Mongo and it's various races as we see particularly in #15 when Dale is kidnapped again and taken to the unexplored continent.

These comics are great fun and reflect the age when adventure was more swashbuckling and heroic than gritty and ultra-violent as a lot of comics can be these days.

Worth picking up. I may look out for the other publishers of Flash Gordon at a later date!

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