The first panel of the inaugural strip shows the front page of a newspaper, the headlines blaring, "WORLD COMING TO END—STRANGE NEW PLANET RUSHING TOWARD EARTH—ONLY MIRACLE CAN SAVE US, SAYS SCIENCE." In the succeeding panels, the narration informs us: "In African jungles tom-toms roll and thunder incessantly as the howling blacks await their doom! The Arab in the desert resigned to the inevitable faces Mecca and prays for his salvation! Times Square, New York—A seething mass of humanity watches a bulletin board describing the flight of the comet! The scientist, Dr. Hans Zarkov works day and night perfecting a device with which he hopes to save the world—His great brain is weakening under the strain. Aboard an eastbound transcontinental plane we have Flash Gordon, Yale graduate and world renowned polo player and Dale Arden, a passenger. Suddenly, a flaming meteor torn loose from the approaching comet, roars past the plane shearing off a wing—The plane flounders helplessly and dives! Flash takes the girl in his arms and bails out. His 'chute opens with a crack! They float earthward. Landing near Dr. Zarkov's great observatory, Flash frees himself of his parachute. A dishevelled wild-eyed figure confronts them..."
