'Flash Gordon', the 'kitsch' fantasy of the planet Mongo that paved the way for 'Star Wars'

On January 7, 1934,

Flash Gordon

, one of the most recognizable science fiction comic icons, began to be published in the American press.

Nine decades later, two careful collector's editions arrive to vindicate this character who has never ceased to be present on newsstands.

The

Flash Gordon

series appeared at a time when the American public was not up for many jokes or to be reminded of the difficult situation that the crash of '29 caused during the following years.

The comics that filled the Sunday supplements began to move from the everyday customs of

Gasoline Alley

or

Mutt and Jeff

to an overflowing fantasy, to showing exotic scenarios that favored the evasion of an unbearable reality.

In that context, the all-powerful King Features Syndicate (KFS) launched a series dedicated precisely to meeting that need that followed in the wake of others like

Buck Rogers in the 21st century

, betting on the talent of a young cartoonist, Alex Raymond.

With scripts by Don Moore, an experienced in-house screenwriter,

Flash Gordon

began clearly inspired by the novel

When Worlds Collide

, by Philip Wylie.

While the planet Mongo was approaching at full speed against the Earth, a plane has an accident and the athletic Flash Gordon survives with the beautiful Dale Arden, being kidnapped by Professor Zarkov, who tries to launch a spaceship against the dangerous world in collision. to save the Earth.

More information

"Flash Gordon" in the cinema, a prodigy of bad taste

Already on the planet Mongo, the series quickly drifts into a fantasy as naive as it is indebted to Burroughs'

John Carter of Mars

, but in which the academicism of Raymond's lines evolved towards a spectacular graphic baroqueism, with plates that became sumptuous works. of art from which it was impossible to escape.

The success was immediate and in a few months the series not only became one of the great hits of the KFS in the United States, but in the entire world: with just a delay of months, the adventures of the blonde protagonist appeared translated in France, Italy or in Spain, in the pages of Aventurero magazine

.

Frame from the science fiction series 'Flash Gordon', directed by Frederick Stephani.

John Kobal Foundation (Getty Images)

A popular favor that soon attracted film production companies that, decades before the interest in superhero comics, found in these adventures perfect material to bring to the big screen.

In 1936, Universal produced a successful film series starring Buster Crabbe.

It faithfully adapted the arguments that were published in the press and paved the way for two other series in later years.

The passion was such in Europe that when the materials stopped arriving during World War II, national cartoonists such as Edgard P. Jacobs in France or Jesús Blasco in Spain were commissioned to continue the comics that had been cut.

Graphic influence

When Raymond was called up, the series was left in the hands of Austin Briggs, who maintained the popularity of

Flash Gordon

even when the original artist returned from the fight and decided to create a new work,

Rip Kirby

.

But at that point, Raymond had already developed his own iconography and a style that had a decisive influence on the entire comic: from a visual point of view, the creations and compositions of the pages of

Flash Gordon

are largely based on science. later fiction, the

Star Wars

series

included (in fact, George Lucas wanted to make an adaptation of the comics previously).

But even more important was its graphic influence.

Virtually all superhero comic artists drew on Raymond's work, without forgetting his decisive importance in Spanish creators such as Manuel Gago or Miguel Quesada.

In the 1950s, the series was no stranger to the new trends in science fiction and, led by Dan Barry and his talented studio - which brought together everything from screenwriters like Harvey Kurtzman and Harry Harrison to artists like Al Williamson, Frank Frazzetta or Bob Fujitani—the series achieved a new period of splendor with more modern plots that opted for a more realistic science fiction, leaving behind the falcon men and the lion men to look at the excellence of technology, once again becoming a reference for the later comic (it is easy to find influences from this stage in the plots and characters of the first Marvel comics of The

Fantastic Four

).

Flash Gordon cartoon by Mac Raboy.

In our country, interest in the series had not faded: Hispano Americana continued publishing both Raymond's adventures and those drawn by Briggs or McRaboy, his followers, often under the name that the character had in Latin America,

Roldan El Temerario

.

At the end of the 1950s, Editorial Dólar launched its legendary collection

Héroes Modernos

, in which Barry's period began to be published and Raymond's period was recovered, yes, with a censorship that took care to lengthen skirts and hide necklines. , opaque transparencies and separate the characters when they fell into passion.

During the 1960s, Dólar republished the series in different formats, including the pioneering “Graphic Novels for Adults” to avoid the strict controls on comics that were imposed by the authorities.

But the passion for Flash Gordon did not wane in Spain: in the 70s, the Buru Lan publishing house put on the market a collector's edition of Raymond's sagas, recolored and with an inappropriate but highly successful re-editing, which favored an edition later in black and white, also for collectors, from the publisher BO And although the series in the United States no longer aroused the same fervor (despite the fact that they tried to add it to the trend of superheroes by forming a group with

Mandrake

and

The

Masked Man

), the affection for the character and, above all, the box office success of George Lucas' film favored Dino de Laurentiis to resume an old project he had to adapt the mythical comic book character with Federico Fellini that never came to fruition.

After trying to get directors like Nicholas Roeg or Sergio Leone to take charge, Mike Hodges would finally be in charge of bringing the visual imagery of the comics to the screen, with results as irregular as they were remembered thanks to the soundtrack of Queen, which today are high to the category of cult work of

kitsch

.

The undoubted popular popularity of the film brought Flash back to Spanish newsstands, this time with the help of Editorial Valenciana and Bruguera, among others, without stopping being published in different editions since then.

In fact, a few years ago Dolmen Editorial recovered the character's adventures chronologically in a very careful edition that can be described as one of the best ever seen, putting on the market this same month a comprehensive edition of Alex Raymond's period, At the same time, the Salvat publishing house begins a collectible for newsstands of the character, finishing certifying that it is the most published American press comic series in Spain.

The interest in the character is still alive, to the point that KFS has recently relaunched the series for the US press at the hands of cartoonist Dan Schkade, seeking to recover the younger reading public with a drawing style and modern and related plots. with the new aesthetics that come from manga and animation.

So, as Mercury sang, Gordon will continue to be the savior of the universe and king of the impossible and we can continue singing heartily “Flash!

Ah-Ah!”

Poster for the film 'Flash Gordon' directed by Ford Beebe in 1940. Getty Images (Getty Images)

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