Flash Gordon - A Flash Of Light - Niel Jacoby

Panel 1: Flash Gordon has defeated Ming The Merciless, and is standing by a rocket talking with Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov.

Flash: I'VE BESTED VULTAN'S HAWKMEN, OUTMATCHED PRINCE BARIN, AND FREED MONGO FROM MING'S CLUTCHES. I GUESS THE ONLY THING TO DO NOW IS GO-

Panel 2: Same viewpoint as before, but a small object is flitting around the room, trailing a green light, and Flash, Dale, and Hans are reacting in surprise.

Flash: -HOME?

Dale: I DIDN'T KNOW THEY HAD FIREFLIES ON MONGO--AND THAT FAST!

Hans: THAT'S NO FIREFLY, DALE, IT MUST BE SOME MANNER OF ALIEN TECHNOLOGY!

Panel 3: The object finally stops, and we can see that it is a green ring, of the manner used by the Green Lantern Corps.

Ring(dark green bg, light green text): FLASH GORDON OF EARTH!

Flash: WHY, THE LITTLE FELLA KNOWS MY NAME!

Panel 4: The ring is putting itself onto Flash's hand, and a green glow fills the room.

Ring: YOU HAVE DEMONSTRATED GREAT WILLPOWER. WELCOME TO THE GREEN LANTERN CORPS.

Dale: HAH! LOOKS LIKE THE JETS FINALLY WON A RING!

Flash Gordon - Another Life - J.D. Coughlan

Panel 1: Ming and Klytus stand in their evil lair, looking up at a large round viewscreen which displays Earth.

MING: Observe, Klytus!

MING: If my time tamperer has worked correctly--

KLYTUS: And I'm sure it has, my liege.

MING: --then we shall be able to view the new timeline. One where the meddlesome Gordon never came to interfere in my plans!

Panel 2: Close on the viewscreen. An image of Flash has appeared, but not the one we know. His hair is short and smart, and he wears a business suit. His expression is miserable.

MING (O.P.): Behold!

Panel 3: On the viewscreen still. Now it displays Flash sitting in an office cubicle, typing away miserably.

MING (O.P.): The once proud warrior, reduced to a mindless drone! The purpose gone from his life!

Panel 4: On the viewscreen still. Now it displays Flash sitting in a small apartment by himself in t-shirt and sweatpants, watching TV, eating a microwave meal. Emphasise the lonliness.

MING (O.P.): His friends -- his lover -- having abandoned him, and rightly so! In this timeline he is unworthy of attention!

Panel 5: On Ming and Klytus, looking up at the off-panel viewscreen. Ming seems slightly melancholy.

KLYTUS: Genius, sire! Truly your greatest victory!

MING: Yes... but can it really be called a victory...

Panel 6: Close up on Ming, his eyes wandering in thought.

MING: ...if your enemy is unaware of his downfall?

END OF PAGE

Flash Gordon – FLASH GORDON, As Imagined by George Lucas! – MK Stangeland Jr.

(As you may or may not know, prior to making STAR WARS, George Lucas actually wanted to make a Flash Gordon movie. The following takes a not entirely serious look at what might have happened had he actually been allowed to do it…)

(5 Panels)

Panel 1: DR. HANS ZARKOV is showing his starship to FLASH GORDON and DALE ARDEN.

TEXT BOX (1): Returning to theaters this summer for a limited engagement!

TEXT BOX (2): The greatest Science Fiction Epic of all time!

DR. ZARKOV: I came to Earth to find you, FLASH GORDON! Only you can save the universe!

Panel 2: MING THE MERCILESS and GENERAL KLYTUS stand on a tower balcony overlooking the construction of a massive space ship, the DEATH STAR.

TEXT BOX: WITNESS the epic struggle against the forces of EVIL!

MING (1): Gordon is of no concern.

MING (2): Soon my DEATH STAR shall be complete, and then no power in the universe can stop me!

Panel 3: FLASH GORDON is dueling GENERAL KLYTUS, and each is using a LIGHTSABER.

TEXT BOX: BEHOLD as the heroic young FLASH GORDON learns the ways of the JEEDI GUARDIANS and discovers the truth about his past!

GENERAL KLYTUS: Join with me, Flash! We need not fight each other, Son!

FLASH GORDON: NOOOO!

Panel 4: Squadrons of starships that look like a cross between classic-style ROCKET SHIPS and Y-WING fighters are engaged in combat against squadrons of ships that look reminiscent of TIE FIGHTERS while still maintaining a unique appearance.

TEXT BOX: EXPERIENCE the exciting adventure all over again!

RED LEADER: We need to break through and destroy that ship before it’s too late!

Panel 5: An old-fashion style movie poster reminiscent of the classic STAR WARS trilogy posters by way of FLASH GORDON.

TEXT BOX: This summer, it’s the return of George Lucas’s FLASH GORDON!

TEXT BOX: For a limited time only!

(End Page)

Flash Gordon - Space - Grant McLaughlin

Captions should look handwritten, as they are part of Flash Gordon's "journal entry".

1 - A wide, exterior shot of Flash's rocketship flying through space.

CAPTION (FLASH): The fight against tyranny continues.

2 - Interior.  We see Flash sitting at a desk, facing away from the reader.  The light is low and he is bent over his journal, writing.  There are various items on the desk that will come into focus in the coming panels (including a corkboard in front of him with items that can't be made out yet).

CAPTION (FLASH): It seems every time I strike a victory, I find myself back on this ship, being whisked away to another planet in need.

3 - Focus on the corkboard.  It is covered in handwritten notes from different people who have been saved by Flash's actions.  There are so many that you can only make out bits and pieces of individual letters, lots of "thank you", "forever in your debt", "words aren't enough", careful signatures, and hand drawn pictures (particularly from children).

CAPTION (FLASH): It is tiring, but it is the right thing to do.

4 - Switch to the desk, focusing on a day calendar.  There are many sheets torn off and lying below the current day, building a not insignificant pile.  If desired, have "Travel" written on the current day.

CAPTION (FLASH): And while these journeys are long.

5 - Shift to yet another object on Flash's desk: a photo of him and his gal pal Dale Arden, holding each other close and looking happy.  There should be a handwritten "Come back to me soon!" written in the corner, possibly with her name at the bottom or a cliched lipstick mark.

CAPTION (FLASH): Lonely.

6 - We're once again behind Flash at his desk.  He has stopped writing and is now leaning back in his chair, as if contemplating everything before

CAPTION (FLASH): They give me a chance to experience something I can't seem to find anywhere else.

7 - Repeat the exterior shot of the rocketship from panel 1.

CAPTION (FLASH): Peace.

Flash Gordon - What's in a Name? - Ben Rosenthal

1.  Flash Gordon is camping on Mongo.  It is night.  He sits by the fire.   Dale Arden is asleep, and Flash and Hans talk.

HANS: You never told me my boy.  How did you get the name 'Flash'?


2.  A close up of Flash, thinking about a painful memory.


3.  A dorm room in Yale.  A young Flash of about 16 is topless in bed and looking sad and disappointed.  Next to him in bed is a female laughing hysterically. She has is also topless but the bed sheet covers her breasts.

Flash Gordon - Black Son - R.A. Wonsowski

The continuity for this is roughly five years after the 1980 movie.

Panel 1- Amidst the wreckage of dead black-garbed soldiers and the golden armoured cavalry, out on the sands of the desert under the red sky of Mongo, FLASH GORDON is fighting a vicious golden-skinned warrior in black robes. Upon the chest plate over the black robes is a stylized eight-pointed golden sun. His hood is down, revealing a shaved head. This is GRYVUS. Both men are dueling with long sabers, and FLASH is on the ropes.

FLASH: Maniac! Look around!

FLASH: You've decimated the planet! You assassinated the Emperor!

GRYVUS: Bah!

Panel 2- GRYVUS surprises FLASH with a roundhouse kick to the kidney. FLASH drops his sword.

GRYVUS: Barin was never my emperor! Only the eternal name of Ming will ever cross my lips in fealty!

GRYVUS: As it was with my father who you had slain!

Panel 3- worm's-eye view, FLASH, foreground and lying on the sand, looks up at GRYVUS, who has FLASH at saber-point and pulls his hood up with his free hand. In the sky, the flying city of the Hawk-men can be seen.

GRYVUS: How fitting it is that you should die beneath Vultan's city. He told me all under my blade...

FLASH: Who are you?

Panel 4- Zoom in, GRYVUS pulls something shiny and golden from the folds of his robe as he rattles his saber. His rage is palpable.

GRYVUS: I am Gryvus! I am one of the Ten Thousand Flames of Dyzan, god of the Black Sun!

GRYVUS; I am Gryvus, son of Klytus, who you so cowardly murdered!

Panel 5- Flashback. Foreground, KLYTUS, impaled on the spikes of the gladiatorial platform. Background, FLASH, BARIN, and VULTAN look upon what they had done.

CAPTION (Flash): My God...

Panel 6- Zoom in, as GRYVUS finishes fitting the golden mask of Klytus upon his face.

GRYVUS: I am Gryvus, pathetic earthling!

GRYVUS: WHO CAN SAVE YOU NOW?!?

Why Flash Gordon?

Actually, I have been meaning to approach this character for quite a while, because I was recently reacquainted with him by sheer coincidence...

The first time I met Flash Gordon was through the 1970's Filmation Saturday morning cartoon.  It was episodic, dramatic, and filled with daring-do. Later, as a young adult, I would discover the original Buster Crabbe serials of the '40s, and how closely they resembled each other in delivery, if not content.

The turning point for me was when, in 1981, Flash Gordon came on HBO.  From Ming's opening ennui, "Klytus, I'm bored...", to the rocking Queen soundtrack (Flash! *boom* Aah-aaah - saviour of the universe!) to Sam Jones's deadpan self-introductions and Max von Sydow's merciless emperor of alien Mongo ("Pathetic earthlings..."), to Barin's vicious streak and Vultan's gregariousness ("Gordon's alive?!?")...Lucky for me, my local public library had a beaten copy of the original strips...

That was the first time I ever considered comics as art.  One look at Alex Raymond's dynamic anatomy, his alien landscapes, his seductive females, his futuristic design sense and his pulp action sequences, you're aware that you are holding a Work in your hands.

The irony is that King Features originally didn't particularly care about the strip.  They just wanted something to compete with rival strip Buck Rogers in the 25th Century.  Even the hero's name, in the context of the 1930s, denoted style without substance, a fad.  He was a jock who never used his fancy education (the sport has changed over time; in the first strips, he was a polo player, but he's also been a basketballer, quarterback for the NY Jets, a snowboarder, and in one poorly-thought-out version, the drummer of a rock band).  But his heart, his desire to win, his sense of honor, and his ability to build great teams (including paramour Dale Arden and scientist Hans Zarkov) raised him above the other Sunday comics heroes.  He fights Ming not for glory, but because it is right to fight tyranny and terror, even if you are the only one who knows.

Not too long ago, I was hunting for our new home in Utah, and the local comic shop was putting up Alex Ross posters up, one of Emperor Ming in particular stood out from the others.  The move was my own adventure into unknown territory, looking for work, fighting for my family's survival, fighting my own imperial terror. That night I streamed that 80s Flash, and I knew everything would be fine. As Queen sang, all it takes is "just a man, with a man's courage".

Not long ago, Eric Trautmann and Alex Ross collaborated on a miniseries called Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist, a pulpy love letter to all of the different iterations of the character, and why he is still relevant today.  This year, he turns 80, and what better way to celebrate his birthday than with a week of Thoughtballoons  one-page tributes.

King of the impossible, indeed...