Flash Gordon - WikiHQ

Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established Buck Rogers adventure strip.

Creation

The Buck Rogers comic strip had been commercially very successful, spawning novelizations and children's toys; King Features Syndicate decided to create its own science-fiction comic strip to compete with it. King Features then turned to Alex Raymond, one of their staff artists, to create the story. Raymond's first samples were dismissed for not containing enough action sequences. Raymond reworked the story and sent it back to the syndicate, which accepted it. Raymond was partnered with ghostwriter Don W. Moore, an experienced editor and writer.

Comic strip characters and story

thumb|300px|Flash Gordon and Dale Arden meet Ming the Merciless for the first time in the comic serial "[[On the Planet Mongo" (1934), art by Alex Raymond.]]

The Flash Gordon comic strip ran as a Sunday strip from 1934 until 2003, and daily strip from 1940 to 1944 and 1951 to 1992. Reprints of the Sunday strip were syndicated by King Features Syndicate from 2003 until 2023, when Flash Gordon was relaunched with a new daily and Sunday strip.

The comic strip follows the adventures of Flash Gordon, a handsome polo player and Yale University graduate, and his companions Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov. The story begins with Earth threatened by a collision with the planet Mongo. Dr. Zarkov invents a rocket ship to fly into space in an attempt to stop the disaster. Half mad, he kidnaps Flash and Dale. Landing on the planet, and halting the collision, they come into conflict with Ming the Merciless, Mongo's evil ruler.

For many years, the three companions have adventures on Mongo, traveling to the forest kingdom of Arboria, ruled by Prince Barin; the ice kingdom of Frigia, ruled by Queen Fria; the jungle kingdom of Tropica, ruled by Queen Desira; the undersea kingdom of the Shark Men, ruled by King Kala; and the flying city of the Hawkmen, ruled by Prince Vultan. They are joined in several early adventures by Prince Thun of the Lion Men. Eventually, Ming is overthrown, and Mongo is ruled by a council of leaders led by Barin. After Raymond's tenure, later writers created new enemies for Flash to combat. Austin Briggs created Kang the Cruel, Ming's callous son. In the 1930s and 1940s, several newspapers in Britain carried Flash Gordon, including the Scottish Sunday Mail. In France, his adventures were published in the magazine Robinson, under the name "Guy l'Éclair". Dale Arden was named Camille in the French translation. In Australia, the character and strip were retitled Speed Gordon to avoid a negative connotation of the word "Flash". (At the time, the predominant meaning of "flashy" was "showy", connoting dishonesty.)

However, events in the 1930s affected the strip's distribution. Newspapers in Nazi Germany were forbidden to carry the Flash Gordon strip, while in Fascist Italy it was restricted to two newspapers.

After the war's end, the strip enjoyed a resurgence in international popularity. Flash Gordon reappeared in Italy, Spain, and West Germany, and it was also syndicated to new markets such as Portugal and the Irish Republic. In India, Flash Gordon comics were published by Indrajal Comics.

Later years

The popularity of Raymond's Flash Gordon Sunday strip meant a daily strip was also introduced. This strip, drawn by Austin Briggs, ran from 1941 to 1944. After Raymond left Flash Gordon in 1944 to join the US Marines, the daily strip was cancelled and Briggs took over the Sunday strip. To conciliate Raymond, King Features allowed him to create a new strip, Rip Kirby. In 1951, King Features created a new daily Flash Gordon strip, drawn by Dan Barry, When Barry left the strip in 1990, various artists and writers worked on Flash Gordon. The daily strip was ended in 1993. The final artist to work on the Flash Gordon Sunday strip was Jim Keefe, King Features ended the Flash Gordon newspaper strip in 2003, although reruns of Keefe's strip still appear in a few US newspapers.

Strip bibliography

thumb|500px|right|Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon (March 4, 1934): Flash and Thun rush to stop the wedding of Ming and Dale.

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"

|+ Artists

! Years

! Sundays

! Dailies

| 1934−1940

| rowspan=2| Alex Raymond

| N/A

|1940−1944

| Austin Briggs

|1944−1948

| Austin Briggs

| rowspan=2| N/A

|1948−1950

|rowspan=2| Mac Raboy

|1951−1967

| Dan Barry

|1967−1990

| colspan=2 | Dan Barry

|1990−1991

| colspan=2 | Ralph Reese & Gray Morrow

| 1991−1993

| colspan=2 | Andrés Klacik

|1993−1996

| Andrés Klacik

| rowspan=3 | N/A

|1996−2003

| Jim Keefe

|2003−2023

| Jim Keefe (reruns)

|2023−

| colspan=2 | Dan Schkade

Don W. Moore wrote the strip during Raymond's tenure. Writers involved with Barry's daily run include Harvey Kurtzman from 1952 to 1953 and Harry Harrison from 1958 to 1964. Bruce Jones wrote during Reese and Morrow's tenure. Under Kalcik, writers included Richard Bruning, Kevin VanHook, and Thomas Warkentin.

Guido Fantoni drew an unofficial Flash Gordon comic strip in Italy's L'Avventuroso in 1938. Edgar P. Jacobs published a similarly unofficial strip in Belgium's Bravo in 1941.

Critical reception and influence

Flash Gordon is regarded as one of the best illustrated and most influential of American adventure comic strips. Historian of science-fiction art Jane Frank asserted that because of his work on Flash Gordon, "Raymond is one of the most famous science-fiction artists of all time, although he never contributed an illustration to any science-fiction magazine or book". Comic-book artist Jerry Robinson has said, "What made Flash Gordon a classic strip was Raymond's artistry and the rich imagination he brought to his conceptions of the future", and described the final years of Raymond's tenure on the strip as being characterized by "sleek, brilliantly polished brush work." Science-fiction historian John Clute has stated, "The comics version of Flash Gordon was graceful, imaginative, and soaring", and included it on a list of the most important American science-fiction comics. In an article about Raymond for The Comics Journal, R.C. Harvey declared that Raymond's Flash Gordon displayed "a technical virtuosity matched on the comics pages only by Harold Foster in Prince Valiant". In Belgium, Edgar P. Jacobs was commissioned to produce a science-fiction comic strip in the style of Flash Gordon. Jacobs' new strip, Le Rayon U ("The U-Ray") began serial publication in Bravo in 1943. In Thailand Flash Gordon was a big influence for classic thai comics character Chaochaiphomthong (เจ้าชายผมทอง) (meaning "prince golden hair") a sword and magic hero created by Jullasak Amornvej in 1958.

Flash Gordon was also an influence on early superhero comics characters. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster based Superman's uniform of tights and a cape on costumes worn by Flash Gordon. Bob Kane's drawing of Batman on the cover of Detective Comics No. 27 (the first appearance of the character) was based on a 1937 Alex Raymond drawing of Flash Gordon. Dennis Neville modeled the comics hero Hawkman's costume on the "Hawkmen" characters in Raymond's Flash Gordon comic strip. In Avengers: Infinity War, Iron Man mockingly refers to Star-Lord as Flash Gordon due to their similar appearance and both being space heroes.

Scientist and track-and-field olympian Meredith C. Gourdine's nickname, "Flash" Gourdine, was based on Flash Gordon.

Films

Most of the Flash Gordon film and television adaptations retell the early adventures on the planet Mongo.

Film serials

Flash Gordon was featured in three serial films starring Buster Crabbe: Flash Gordon (1936), Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938), and Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940). The 1936 Flash Gordon serial was condensed into a feature-length film titled Flash Gordon or Rocket Ship or Space Soldiers or Flash Gordon: Spaceship to the Unknown; the 1938 serial into a feature-length film entitled Flash Gordon: The Deadly Ray from Mars; and the 1940 serial into a feature-length film entitled The Purple Death from Outer Space.

The first Flash Gordon serial remains copyrighted, but the compilation made of the second serial, and the third serial itself are in the public domain.

Flash Gordon 1980 film

In the 1970s, several noted directors attempted to make a film of the story. Federico Fellini optioned the Flash Gordon rights from Dino De Laurentiis, but never made the film. George Lucas also attempted to make a Flash Gordon film in the 1970s, but was unable to acquire the rights from De Laurentiis, so he decided to create Star Wars, instead. De Laurentiis then hired Nicolas Roeg to make a Flash Gordon film, but was unhappy with Roeg's ideas, and Roeg left the project. Finally, De Laurentiis hired Mike Hodges to direct the Flash Gordon film. Sam J. Jones in the title role. Its plot is based loosely on the first few years of the comic strip, revising Flash's backstory by making him the quarterback of the New York Jets instead of a polo player. Raymond's drawings feature heavily in the opening credits, as does the signature theme-song "Flash" by rock band Queen, who composed and performed the entire musical score.

Riding the coattails of Star Wars, Superman, and Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Flash Gordon was not a critical success on release. Melody Anderson co-starred with Jones as Dale Arden, alongside Chaim Topol as Dr. Hans Zarkov, Max von Sydow as Ming, Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin, Brian Blessed as Prince Vultan, Peter Wyngarde as Klytus, and Ornella Muti as Princess Aura. Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, with ornate production designs and costumes by Danilo Donati, the bright colors and retro effects were inspired directly by the comic strip and 1930s serials.

The film's cult status led it to feature heavily in the comedy films Ted (2012) and Ted 2 (2015), causing a resurgence in interest in the film.

Unofficial films

In 1967, a low-budget Turkish adaptation of the comic was made, called Flash Gordon's Battle in Space (Baytekin – Fezada Çarpisanlar in Turkish). Hasan Demirtag played Flash Gordon.

Robb Pratt, director of the popular fan film Superman Classic, made Flash Gordon Classic, released in May 2015. The traditionally animated short features the characters Flash Gordon, girlfriend Dale Arden, sidekick Dr. Hans Zarkov, antagonist Ming the Merciless, and Princess Aura.

Possible future films

In 2010, Breck Eisner expressed interest to direct a three-dimensional film version of Flash Gordon. Since April 2014, 20th Century Fox was developing the Flash Gordon reboot with J. D. Payne and Patrick McKay writing the film's script. Matthew Vaughn was in talks to direct the film. Mark Protosevich was hired to rewrite the film's script. Julius Avery was later signed to write and direct the film, with Vaughn as producer alongside John Davis. An animated film was under development at Disney/Fox with Taika Waititi writing and directing. In August 2019, the animated film was believed to be cancelled, but in July 2021, producers John Davis and John Fox revealed that Waititi was still working on the film, though it would now be live action instead of animation.

Television

Flash Gordon (1954–1955 live-action)

Steve Holland starred in a 1954–55 live-action television series which ran for 39 episodes.

Flash Gordon (2007–2008 live-action)

A live-action series, comprising 22 one-hour episodes, was produced in Canada in early 2007. Under an agreement with King Features Syndicate, the series was produced by Reunion Pictures of Vancouver with Robert Halmi Sr. and Robert Halmi Jr. of RHI Entertainment serving as Executive Producers.

Sci-Fi Channel premiered its new Flash Gordon series in the United States on August 10, 2007.

The traditional primary supporting characters of Ming, Dale Arden, and Dr. Hans Zarkov were drastically altered. Eric Johnson, best known for his earlier work on the WB's Smallville, played the title character of Steven "Flash" Gordon. Gina Holden played Dale Arden, Jody Racicot played Dr. Hans Zarkov, and John Ralston portrayed the arch-villain, Ming.

Radio serials and audio-dramas

Starting April 22, 1935, the strip was adapted into The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon, a 26-episode weekly radio serial.

The radio series broke with the strip continuity in the last two episodes, when Flash, Dale, and Zarkov returned to Earth. They make a crash landing in Malaysia, where they meet Jungle Jim, the star of another of Alex Raymond's comic strips.

The series ended on October 26, 1935, with Flash and Dale's marriage. The next week, The Adventures of Jungle Jim picked up in that Saturday timeslot.

Two days later, on October 28, The Further Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon debuted as a daily show, running four days a week. This series strayed further from Raymond's strip, involving Flash, Dale, and Zarkov in an adventure in Atlantis. The series aired 60 episodes, ending on February 6, 1936.

Twenty-six years after he had played Flash Gordon in the last of the three Universal film serials (1940), Buster Crabbe again played Flash for two newly recorded audio-dramas released as the 1966 LP, The Official Adventures Of Flash Gordon (MGM/Leo The Lion Records CH-1028).

Stage

In 1989, Lee Ahlin and Gary Gordon wrote a musical for children, Flash Gordon, based on the comic. The musical premiered in 1989 in Oak Hall Performing Arts Theater in Gainesville, Florida. Flash Gordon starred Brian LeDuc as Flash, Kim Ehrich as Dale Arden, John Pelkey as Ming, and Julie Hamric as Princess Aura.

David McKay Publications King Comics #1–155 (1936–1949) [strip reprints]
Dell Comics Four Color Comics #10, 84, 173, 190, 204, 247, 424, 512; Flash Gordon #2 (1945–1953) [first 2 strip reprints]
Harvey Comics #1–5 (1950) [strip reprints]
Gold Key Comics #1 (1965) [reprints FC #173]
King Comics #1–11 (1966–1967) (also in Phantom #18–20)
Charlton Comics #12–18 (1969–1970)
Gold Key Comics #19–27 (1978–1979); under their "Whitman Comics" #28–37 (1980–1982)

Several issues of the King Comics series were drawn by Al Williamson, who won the 1966 National Cartoonists Society Award for Best Comic Book for his work on the series. Williamson later said: "I was paying homage to Alex [Raymond], you know. I tried to treat his creation with respect and dignity and tried to do it to the best of my ability. I find that other artists who have done Flash Gordon just don't seem to get the feeling of the strip, you know. Flash is a noble guy and it's kind of nice to have that kind of a hero". King also released a comic version as a part of their Comics Reading Library in the 1970s.

Williamson provided artwork for a Western Publishing adaptation of Dino De Laurentiis' Flash Gordon film, written by Bruce Jones. It was released by Western Publishing in both hardcover and softcover formats to coincide with the film's release, and was also serialized in three issues of Whitman's Flash Gordon comic book, #31-33, March–May 1981.

In 1988, Dan Jurgens wrote a modernized version of the comic strip as a nine-issue DC Comics miniseries. It features Flash as a washed-up basketball player who finds new purpose in life on Mongo, Dale as an adventurous reporter who is just as capable as Flash, and a gray-skinned Ming who is less of an Asian stereotype. The series ran for the planned nine issues and was left with an open-ended conclusion. Though Mongo is not a threat to Earth in this series, Ming had every intention of conquering Earth once he coerced Dr. Zarkov into designing the needed ships.

In 1995, Marvel Comics published a new two-issue series, written by Mark Schultz with art by Al Williamson, in the style of the Flash comics Williamson had produced for King and others.

A new comic-book series was released by Ardden Entertainment in August 2008, though with inconsistent release dates for subsequent issues. The series, written by Brendan Deneen and Paul Green, debuted in 2008, with the first arc entitled "The Mercy Wars". The initial story arc concluded in mid-2009. These were followed by further storylines. Ardden also published a Flash Gordon anthology entitled The Secret History of Mongo. Ardden's second Flash Gordon arc is titled Invasion of the Red Sword (2010). Two other arcs were completed.

A reprint of all of Al Williamson's Flash Gordon comic books in black and white was printed by Flesk in 2009.

In 2010, Dark Horse Comics began an archive reprint series in hardback, starting with the original comics published by Dell. The second volume covers the comics published by King Comics, the third covers the comics published by Charlton Comics, the fourth covers the comics published by Gold Key, and the fifth covers the comics published by Whitman.

In 2011, Dynamite Entertainment began a new series called Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist. The series is written by Eric Trautmann (Vampirella, Red Sonja), from a story and designs by Alex Ross (Kingdom Come, Marvels, Project: Superpowers) and illustrated by Daniel Lindro. The company also produced a spin-off miniseries, Merciless: The Rise of Ming, in 2012, with story and art by Scott Beatty and Ron Adrian. Following a crossover miniseries called King's Watch (where, much like Defenders of the Earth, Flash Gordon teamed up with Mandrake and the Phantom; albeit, set in the 21st century), Dynamite launched a new Flash Gordon ongoing series in 2014, with story and art by Jeff Parker and Evan "Doc" Shaner. In 2015, Dynamite followed this run with another Flash Gordon miniseries as part of their "King: Dynamite" series. This series was written by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker and illustrated by Lee Ferguson.

In July 2023, Mad Cave Studios announced that it had obtained the license to publish new stories, graphic novels, and reprints. In 2024, Mad Cave Studios published a new Flash Gordon comic book, a trade paperback of Marvel's Defenders of the Earth series and launched a new series of the team.

Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazine

thumb|Cover of the December 1936 issue of Flash Gordon Strange Adventures.

In 1936, one issue of Flash Gordon Strange Adventure Magazine was published by Harold Hersey, featuring a novel about Flash Gordon, entitled The Master of Mars. Although the books were credited to Alex Raymond, the first three were written by SF writer Ron Goulart (under the house name "Con Steffanson") and the other three novels were by Bruce Cassiday (the first under the "Steffanson" name, and the latter two under the pseudonym "Carson Bingham").

Reprints

Raymond's work, particularly his Sunday strips, has been reprinted many times over the years by many different publishers.

Some of the Austin Briggs dailies were reprinted by Kitchen Sink Press. The King Comics run of Flash Gordon reprinted one Alex Raymond story and two Mac Raboy ones in 1967. The Mac Raboy Sundays have been reprinted by Dark Horse Comics in black and white, while Kitchen Sink began to collect both the Dan Barry and Austin Briggs daily strips. The Dan Barry dailies have never been entirely reprinted, but the Barry stories written by noted author Harry Harrison were reprinted in Comics Revue magazine, published by Manuscript Press. Tempo Books published six mass-market paperbacks reprinting Dan Barry strips from the 1970s in the 1980s. Two stories from the Dan Barry dailies, D2-133 "Baldur Battles Skorpi" (February 24 to May 10, 1986) and D2-134 "The Bear" (May 12 to August 21, 1986), were reprinted in an oblong format, 6.5 by 10.5 paperback edition with two strips per page by Budget Books PTY of Melbourne, Australia in 1987 under the title The New Adventures of Flash Gordon, . A reprint of all of Al Williamson's Flash Gordon comic strip and comic book work was released in 2009. All of the reprints from Mad Cave Studios listed below have previously appeared in excellent editions from IDW Publishing or Titan Publishing Group.

{| class="wikitable sortable"

! Title !! Collects !! Publisher !! Publication date !! IBSN !! Notes

| Flash Gordon on the Planet Mongo || 1934–35 || Nostalgia || || ||

| Flash Gordon into the Water World || 1935–37 || Nostalgia || || ||

| Flash Gordon Escapes to Arboria || 1937–39 || Nostalgia || || ||

| Flash Gordon vs Frozen Horrors || 1939–40 || Nostalgia || || ||

| Flash Gordon Joins the Power Men || 1940–41 || Nostalgia || || ||

| Flash Gordon: A New Kingdom || 1939 || Pacific Comics Club/Club Anni Trenta || 1977 || || (limited edition for collectors)

| Flash Gordon: The End of Ming || 1940 || Pacific Comics Club/Club Anni Trenta || 1977 || || (limited edition for collectors)

| Flash Gordon: Return to Earth || 1941 || Pacific Comics Club/Club Anni Trenta || 1977 || || (limited edition for collectors)

| Flash Gordon: A New War || 1941 || Pacific Comics Club/Club Anni Trenta || 1977 || || (limited edition for collectors)

| Flash Gordon: The Usurper || 1942 || Pacific Comics Club/Club Anni Trenta || 1977 || || (limited edition for collectors)

| Flash Gordon: Gundar the Hawk of Tropica || 1942–43 || Pacific Comics Club/Club Anni Trenta || 1977 || || (limited edition for collectors)

| Flash Gordon: The End of Brazor || 1944 || Pacific Comics Club/Club Anni Trenta || 1977 || || (limited edition for collectors)

| Mongo, Planet of Doom || 1934–35 || Kitchen Sink Press || || ||

| Three Against Ming || 1935–37 || Kitchen Sink Press || || ||

| The Tides of Battle || 1937–39 || Kitchen Sink Press || || ||

| The Fall of Ming || 1939–41 || Kitchen Sink Press || || ||

| Between Worlds at War || 1941–43 || Kitchen Sink Press || || ||

| Triumph in Tropica || 1943–44 || Kitchen Sink Press || || ||

| Flash Gordon, Dead or Alive!: Daily Strips 5/27/40 to 8/26/40 by Austin Briggs || || Pacific Comics Club || 1981 || || (limited edition for collectors)

| Prisoner of Ming : Daily Strips 8/27/40 to 11/13/40 by Austin Briggs || || Pacific Comics Club || 1981 || || (limited edition for collectors)

| Flight to Freeland: Daily Strips 11/14/40 to 2/28/41 by Austin Briggs || || Pacific Comics Club || 1981 || || (limited edition for collectors)

| Adora of the Forest People: Daily Strips 3/1/41 to 8/23/41 by Austin Briggs || || Pacific Comics Club || 1981 || || (limited edition for collectors)

| Flash Gordon: The Dailies by Austin Briggs 1940–1942 Volume 1 || strips from 1940 || Kitchen Sink Press || || ||

| Flash Gordon: The Dailies by Austin Briggs 1940–1942 Volume 2 || strips from 1941 || Kitchen Sink Press || || ||

| Flash Gordon The Complete Daily Strips 1951–1953 || || Kitchen Sink Press || || ||

| Flash Gordon - Star Over Atlantis || dailies 1953–1954. || Manuscript Press || 2007 || ||

| Flash Gordon: Volume 1 (1934–35) || || || || ||

| Flash Gordon: Volume 2 (1935–36) || || || || ||

| Flash Gordon: Volume 3 (1936–37) || || || || ||

| Flash Gordon: Volume 4 (1938–40) || || || || ||

| Flash Gordon: Volume 5 (1940–41) || || || || ||

| Flash Gordon: Volume 6 (1941–43) || || || || ||

| Flash Gordon: Volume 7 (1943–45) || || || || ||

| Mac Raboy's Flash Gordon, Volume 1 || Sundays 1948–1953 S32-S45 || Dark Horse Comics || || ||

| Mac Raboy's Flash Gordon, Volume 2 || Sundays 1953–1958 S45-S68 || Dark Horse Comics || || ||

| Mac Raboy's Flash Gordon, Volume 3 || Sundays 1958–1962 || Dark Horse Comics || || ||

| Mac Raboy's Flash Gordon, Volume 4 || Sundays 1962–1967 || Dark Horse Comics || || ||

| The Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon, Volume 1 || S132/D2-097 - S135 || Tempo Books || || ||

| The Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon, Volume 2 || D2-081, D2-082 || Tempo Books || || ||

| The Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon, Volume 3 || S114-S118 || Tempo Books || || ||

| The Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon, Volume 4 || D2-105, D2-107 || Tempo Books || || ||

| The Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon, Volume 5 || D2-098 || Tempo Books || || ||

| The Amazing Adventures of Flash Gordon, Volume 6 || D2-102, D2-109 || Tempo Books || || ||

| Al Williamson's Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic || || Flesk || || ||

| Flash Gordon: On the Planet Mongo: The Complete Flash Gordon Library 1934–37 || || Titan Books || || ||

| Flash Gordon: The Tyrant of Mongo: The Complete Flash Gordon Library 1937–41 || || Titan Books || || ||

| Flash Gordon: The Fall of Ming: The Complete Flash Gordon Library 1941–44 || || Titan Books || || ||

| Flash Gordon: The Storm Queen of Valkir: The Complete Flash Gordon Library 1944-48 || Sundays from Aug 20, 1944 to Jul 25, 1948 || Titan Books || || ||

| Flash Gordon Dailies: The City of Ice: The Complete Flash Gordon Library 1951-1953 || Dailies from Nov 11, 1951 to Oct 10, 1953 || Titan Books || || ||

| Flash Gordon Dailies: The Lost Continent: The Complete Flash Gordon Library 1953-1956 || Dailies from Oct 26, 1953 to Jul 9 1956 || Titan Books || || ||

| Flash Gordon Sundays: The Death Planet: The Complete Flash Gordon Library 1967-1971 || Sundays from Jul 20, 1967 to Jul 18, 1971 || Titan Books || || ||

| Flash Gordon Dailies: Radium Mines of Electra: The Complete Flash Gordon Library 1940-42 || Dailies from May 1940 to Sep 1942 || Titan Books || || ||

| Definitive Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim Volume 1: 1934-1936 || || IDW Publishing || || ||

| Definitive Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim Volume 2: 1936-1939 || || IDW Publishing || || ||

| Definitive Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim Volume 3: 1939-1941 || || IDW Publishing || || ||

| Definitive Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim Volume 4: 1942-1944 || || IDW Publishing || || ||

| Flash Gordon: Classic Collection Vol. 1 || Sundays from Jan 1, 1934 to Apr 18, 1937 || Mad Cave Studios || Aug 13, 2024 || ||

| Flash Gordon: Classic Collection Vol. 2 || Sundays from Apr 25, 1937 to Jan 12, 1941 || Mad Cave Studios || Nov 12, 2024 || ||

| Flash Gordon: Classic Collection Vol. 3 || Sundays from Jan 19, 1941 to Aug 13, 1944 || Mad Cave Studios || Mar 25, 2025 || ||

| Flash Gordon: Classic Collection Vol. 4 || Sundays from Aug 20, 1944 to Jul 25, 1948. || Mad Cave Studios || Jun 24, 2025 || ||

| Flash Gordon: Classic Collection Vol. 5 || Dailies from Nov 19, 1951 to Oct 24, 1953 || Mad Cave Studios || Oct 28, 2025 || ||

| Flash Gordon: Classic Collection Vol. 6 || Dailies from Oct 26, 1953 to Jul 9, 1956 || Mad Cave Studios || Feb 24, 2026 || ||

| Flash Gordon: Classic Collection Vol. 7 || Sundays from Jul 30, 1967 to Jul 18, 1971 || Mad Cave Studios || Jun 23, 2026 || ||

Games

The Flash Gordon & the Warriors of Mongo role-playing game was released by Fantasy Games Unlimited in 1977.
A Flash Gordon video game was released by Mastertronic in 1986 loosely tying into the 1980 movie.
The Savage World of Flash Gordon Roleplaying Game written by Scott Alan Woodard was released by Pinnacle Entertainment Group in 2018.
Flash Gordon (pinball)

DVD releases

Flash Gordon has been released to DVD under a variety of titles and in both edited and non-edited versions. Conquers The Universe and 1950s television series have no shortage of public domain DVD releases.

Film serials (1936–1940)

Flash Gordon (1936)

Flash Gordon: Space Soldiers (245 minutes)
Flash Gordon: Spaceship to the Unknown. Hearst Entertainment, Inc., 2002. (edited to 98 minutes)

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (2 discs) (299 minutes)
Flash Gordon: O raio mortal de Marte. Hearst Entertainment, Inc., 2002. (97 minutes)

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (234 minutes)
Flash Gordon: The Peril from Planet Mongo. Hearst Entertainment, Inc., 2002. (edited to 91 minutes)

Flash Gordon (1954–1955)

Flash Gordon (three volumes). Alpha Home Entertainment (only thirteen of the episodes have been released thus far).

The New Adventures of Flash Gordon (1979)

US – BCI Eclipse

The New Adventures of Flash Gordon: The Complete Series (4–Discs). 600 minutes

UK – Hollywood DVD LTD

The Adventures of Flash Gordon – Castaways in Tropica
The Adventures of Flash Gordon – Blue Magic

Flash Gordon (1980)

On May 6, 1998, Image Entertainment released the 1980 film on DVD in North America for DVD Region 1 territories through a contract with Universal, but it quickly went out of print.

Momentum Pictures later released it in the United Kingdom for DVD Region 2 territories on October 10, 2005. This edition of the film, the "Silver Anniversary Edition", features an anamorphic widescreen transfer at the film's 2.4:1 aspect ratio, both Dolby Digital and DTS 5.1 audio, the original Queen theatrical trailer, an audio commentary by director Mike Hodges, a second audio commentary from actor Brian Blessed, an interview with Mike Hodges, a photo slideshow and an original 1940s Serial, episode one of Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe.

Universal released the film on August 7, 2007, in North America and Region 1 territories once again. The new disc, entitled the "Savior of the Universe Edition", features a 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer and an English Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround track. Extras include an "Alex Ross on Flash Gordon" featurette in which world-renowned comic artist Alex Ross talks about the film and how it has inspired him in his life and work, a "Writing a Classic" featurette with screenwriter Lorenzo Semple Jr. and a Flash Gordon 1936 serial episode (chapter one of "The Planet of Peril").

Defenders of the Earth

US – BCI Eclipse LLC

Defenders of the Earth – The Complete Series, Volume 1 (5 Discs) 33 Episodes
Defenders of the Earth – The Complete Series, Volume 2 (5 Discs) 32 Episodes (Spring 2007)

UK – Hollywood DVD LTD

Defenders of The Earth – The Story Begins

UK – Delta Music PLC

Defenders of the Earth Movie (3 Discs)
Defenders of the Earth Vol 1
Defenders of the Earth Vol 2
Defenders of the Earth Vol 3
Defenders of the Earth Movie – Prince of Kro-Tan
Defenders of the Earth Movie – Necklace of Oros
Defenders of the Earth Movie – The Book of Mysteries

UK – Fabulous Films Ltd.

Defenders of the Earth – The Complete Series

Flash Gordon (1996)

Lionsgate on September 21, 2004, released three 4-episode DVDs of Flash Gordon (1996) and Phantom 2040.

Flash Gordon: Marooned on Mongo – The Animated Movie (97 minutes)

Parodies

Flesh Gordon (1974) is an American erotic science fiction adventure comedy film. It is an erotic spoof of the Universal Pictures Flash Gordon serials from the 1930s. The screenplay was written by Michael Benveniste, who also co-directed the film with Howard Ziehm. The cast includes Jason Williams, Suzanne Fields, and William Dennis Hunt. The film had an MPAA rating of X, but was also re-edited for a reduced rating of R. It has an original runtime of 78 minutes, and the unrated "collector's edition" release runs 90 minutes.

Several episodes of the spin-off series Star Trek: Voyager featured a holodeck program called The Adventures of Captain Proton, which features many elements lifted straight from the Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s.

The comedy film A Christmas Story (1983) featured a deleted scene with Ralphie and his Red Ryder BB gun saving Flash (played by Paul Hubbard) from Ming (played by Colin Fox). None of the footage from the scene survived. Jones reprised his role for the sequel Ted 2 (2015).

References

External links

Flash Gordon at King Features