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!

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Year Three: Influences - George Lucas – MK Stangeland Jr.

(5 Panels)

Panel 1: The setting should be analogous to a booming old wild west style town. The location is near the front of the town, where a sign hangs that reads “LucasFilm”. GEORGE LUCAS is sitting on top of a tauntuan, wearing a wild west-style business suit. A wagon pulled by two other tauntauns is nearby, which has a couple of STORMTROOPERS sitting at the reigns.

Standing around GEORGE LUCAS are a handful of characters from his movies as well as a handful of unaffiliated fans.

CAPTION: With the town no longer in his hands, the man who had founded it prepared to leave and head on out into the sunset.

Panel 2: Exterior view of a building that looks kind of like a saloon. Sounds and sights suggesting a celebration going on inside surround it. A sign over the building’s door reads “FAN HEADQUARTERS”

CAPTION: Some took the news as reason to celebrate.

Panel 3: ‘Twin Panel’, showing two things happening at once.

One part of it shows a crew of MICKEY MOUSE robots/droids/clones (workers) assembling a train station, complete with a set of signs that have names of other DISNEY properties on them, such as DISNEY HEADQUARTERS, MARVEL, and PIXAR (as examples).

The other half shows a crew of other MICKEY MOUSE workers demolishing a building with a sign that reads LUCASARTS.

CAPTION: Even as the new owners began to put their own imprint on the town.

Panel 4: GEORGE LUCAS looks at those who have gathered around him as he prepares to move out.

CAPTION (1): As he prepared to leave, those who still believed in the town’s founder asked why he had chosen to leave, and how he could trust what he had built and maintained on his own for so long to a new entity and an unknown future.

CAPTION (2): In response, he said that he believed it was finally time for him to move on to a new adventure. And that while he was no longer in command, there was still hope that the new leaders would be willing to call on his knowledge if it was ever needed.

Panel 5: GEORGE LUCAS and the wagon ride off into the sunset, leaving the town and the crowd behind.

CAPTION (1): As he finally left them behind, if there was one thing they could all agree on, it was this:

CAPTION (2): That in whatever calls he may have made while he was in charge, however questionable they may have been, from the time he built the town until the time he sold it, there was one theme they all had in common…

CAPTION (3): …That they were all done on his own terms.

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