I love pulp, and I love space opera, and so it's a no brainer that I love Flash Gordon. The 1980 film, though silly as hell, is one of my guilty pleasures. I just love that old film. Not in a Star Wars kind of way--my attraction to Star Wars is on a entirely different level.
But, the swashbuckling action of the Flash Gordon stories are just, well, fun!
Dynamite had published a new graphic novel. It is Flash Gordon rebooted. The art is breath-taking. The story is amazing. It delivers on ever level.
Alex Ross spearheaded the project. Like me, he fell in love with the 1980 film as well when he saw it as a kid of 11 years old. This new invention of Flash is influenced heavily by that film, but also has strong influences from the original Alex Raymond newspaper strip.
Reasonably priced, Flash Gordon - Zeitgeist is a jam packed book of swashbuckling, space opera action on 200 pages of glossy.
I'm not going to tell you much about the story except for three really cool things that stood out for me. The story begins in 1937, and Ming engages Hitler to be his representative on Earth.
Second, Ming and the royal family have gold skin! One character, Thun (one of the lion men) remarks, "Only Highborn, handpicked by Ming himself, wear gold skin, branding them as treasure, I suppose."
I just think that's awesome.
And, the third thing that I'll comment on is that I love how the universe is presented. Without going into much detail, the reader begins to realize that Mongo exists in another universe, and Ming isn't just the rule of the universe. He's the Emperor of all universes.
To get to Mongo, one must penetrate the Sea of Fire and travel through the Imperial Vortex. This is a wormhole type corridor that connects the universes (and they were seen in the 1980 film).
It's awesome stuff.
I'm going to let the book speak for itself. Check this out...
-- Ming, on his throne, getting the hots for Dale Arden.
-- Breath-taking shots of the Copernicus, Zarkov's vessel, piercing the Sea of Fire.
-- The characterizations are amazing. It's like watching a good film.
-- Check out Zarkov's face at the bottom.
-- Excellent two page spread detailing the crisis on Earth.
And, if you like this book, there's a prequel detailing Ming's rise to power on Mongo.
But, the swashbuckling action of the Flash Gordon stories are just, well, fun!
Dynamite had published a new graphic novel. It is Flash Gordon rebooted. The art is breath-taking. The story is amazing. It delivers on ever level.
Alex Ross spearheaded the project. Like me, he fell in love with the 1980 film as well when he saw it as a kid of 11 years old. This new invention of Flash is influenced heavily by that film, but also has strong influences from the original Alex Raymond newspaper strip.
Reasonably priced, Flash Gordon - Zeitgeist is a jam packed book of swashbuckling, space opera action on 200 pages of glossy.
I'm not going to tell you much about the story except for three really cool things that stood out for me. The story begins in 1937, and Ming engages Hitler to be his representative on Earth.
Second, Ming and the royal family have gold skin! One character, Thun (one of the lion men) remarks, "Only Highborn, handpicked by Ming himself, wear gold skin, branding them as treasure, I suppose."
I just think that's awesome.
And, the third thing that I'll comment on is that I love how the universe is presented. Without going into much detail, the reader begins to realize that Mongo exists in another universe, and Ming isn't just the rule of the universe. He's the Emperor of all universes.
To get to Mongo, one must penetrate the Sea of Fire and travel through the Imperial Vortex. This is a wormhole type corridor that connects the universes (and they were seen in the 1980 film).
It's awesome stuff.
I'm going to let the book speak for itself. Check this out...
-- Ming, on his throne, getting the hots for Dale Arden.
-- Breath-taking shots of the Copernicus, Zarkov's vessel, piercing the Sea of Fire.
-- The characterizations are amazing. It's like watching a good film.
-- Check out Zarkov's face at the bottom.
-- Excellent two page spread detailing the crisis on Earth.
And, if you like this book, there's a prequel detailing Ming's rise to power on Mongo.
