Flash Gordon Adventures! Vol 1 by Art Baltazar & Franco

I was a kid when I watched the Flash Gordon movie that was released in 1980, and all I remember of it was being distinctly unimpressed. So it was an absolute delight for me to go through the pages of this book and discover how charming the property could be in the hands of two of the most talented creators in the children’s comics market, Art Baltazar and Franco!

The basics of the story are covered in a quick prologue, of sorts, in the form of a comic written by Flash himself for his friends on the planet Lexray. It covers how he, Dale and Doctor Zarkov traveled there from Earth in order to answer a call for help. Landing on Lexray, they realized that they had been tricked by the planet’s ruler Ming the Merciless, who subsequently kept Zarkov captive. A free Flash and Dale soon befriend the other natives, whom they work with to figure out how to lift Ming’s despotic rule from them all.

Ofc, since this is an Art Baltazar comic, this is all presented in a very kid-friendly manner, with certain of the romantic relationships switched around from the film (and, I believe, from the comic strip. Tho being a comic book aficionado from way back, I know how soap operatic and convoluted romances can get in those!) Romance on the whole is very much on the back burner, with Dale, for example, being more a sensible friend than a love interest. Frankly, I love this version of her, especially since she spends more time coming to Flash’s rescue in these pages than the other way around.

That said, this book is very much geared to having everyone get along in the end, even the tyrannical Ming. Honestly, I think that’s a great way to introduce the characters to young readers in the 21st century. The bright colors help, too, and even tho Franco and guest artist John Patrick Green illustrate their own charming chapters, the real star is Mr Baltazar’s amazing art, especially in the vignette that made me laugh so hard it instantly converted me into a fan. That vignette, Salon-Worthy, takes on the issue of why Flash always wears a head piece: I don’t want to hype it up such that it fails to impress when you finally read it but the money shot was genuinely, to use a potentially dated term, All That.

Definitely get this book for any young readers, and especially for budding fans of sci-fi a/o comics in general. It sure made the old-timey Flash Gordon adventures feel fresh for even a jaded adult reader like myself!

Flash Gordon Adventures! Vol 1 by Art Baltazar & Franco was published November 26 2024 by Papercutz and is available from all good booksellers, including