Customer Reviews

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

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Al Williamson's take on Flash Gordon is loved by most comic artists and the delight of almost anyone who has seen them. To collect them in this one volume is a dream come true for a lot readers and creators who enjoy or work in the sequential storytelling medium.
The production here is typical of Flesk Publishing in that it's excellent! The love for Williamson's work exudes from every page.
What has to be said about Al Williamson's work on Flash Gordon is that he was the next logical and creative step in the long career of Flash Gordon in publishing. Dan Barry did a great job before him but the comic strip format was very limiting.
Williamson's visuals -in the more open format of the comic book page- were much more closely allied to that that of the character's creator, the legendary Alex Raymond.
Collected here, as near as I can tell, are all of Williamson's Flash Gordon including hard to find comic book stories from the sixties (including the Union Crbide color strips), the adaptation of the cult film favorite from producer Dino De Laurentis in 1980, and the last Al Williamson Flash Gordon which was written by this book's writer, Mark Schultz, for Marvel Comics back in '94-95. While the latter story was only comprised of 2 issues it's a complete story and a contemporary take on Flash Gordon that doesn't so much stray from the original but shows the natural growth in the medium as well as a Mongo that's growing up with Flash's altruistic influence helping to guide its citizens.

A side note- The adaptation of the film has to be seen to be believed. The film's controversial camp elements are strangely absent in this sincere but also fairly strict adaptation (Bruce Jones apparently decided not to be too strict, revising the script for the medium instead of copying the film's script). If you like the film you'll love the adaptation, and if you don't like the film you'll LOVE the adaptation. Bruce Jones adapted the script while Al Williamson provided the art with an assist from Rick Veitch, Carlos Garzon and Alden McWilliams (thanks, Mark).
Regardless of what your opinion of this film may be this adaptation is sure to please you.

The text of this volume is provided by artist and writer Mark Schultz and it's not slavish towards the Al Williamson. It's an honest and well informed background of the work of the artist, the history of the character and the ins and outs of the comic strip/book medium.
The reproduction of the art, including dozens of samples of sketches, studies, unfinished drawings and promotional art along with the full production pages is without comparison. A lot of the pages appear to be reproduced from the original artwork.
The introduction by the great Sergio Aragones is succinct and at the same time a loving acknowledgement of the artform and Al Williamson's contribution to that art and its medium.

While the heroism in this volume may seem dated, it is not. Even in our jaded society we still root for the underdog because the underdog is all of us, in one way or the other. Flash Gordon is the kind of tale that cuts through the nuances and allows us to enjoy the sheer fun of being the guy who can do what's right, against all odds. Bloodied, battered and betrayed he stays true to his heart, and manages to live to fight for a better day. It's clear that his motives are to help everyone. He needs his friends and they need him, always helping each other out a tight spot.
In the end, he is us, as well as who we want to be, even if only in the confines of our imagination and the printed page.

When it comes beautiful, exotic and dangerous escape it doesn't get any better than this.

Flesk delivers a primo book. The bulk of the artwork is from scans of Al Williamson's original artwork which he has retained in his personal collection. It runs the gamut of Mr. Williamson's association with Flash Gordon from childhood and adolescent artwork to the obvious professional work he has done. Beautiful book with some of the images in color but the majority is in black and white. I had hoped that it would have been done in color but it doesn't disappoint either way. Sergio Aragones writes a nice intro and the text by Mark Schultz is very informative.

This in an extraordinary book. While one reviewer complained of the art being in black and white, I could not be more pleased--Here we start with Flash Gordon #1 in 1966. Williamson was 35 years old and in his absolute prime. Some pages are obviously shot from copies but many of the pages are reproduced from originals. This is a book to savor, to pour over and enjoy over time, a book to come back to again and again. While the 1960s Flash is the highlight, the 1980 movie adaptation is also terrific. If you are a fan of great art and Al Williamson I can't give this book a higher recommendation--buy it.

This book is worth every penny and you can double. What I like about the book is the size of the reproducted pages which really shows the artwork, I bought the hardcover which just feels so much better. Great reading, great art....and a really great job of tracking down very rare art that I have never seen before, and I have been collecting for over 39 years.

There are earlier reviews that describe the contents of this book and how it fits into the history of comics (and into the work of Al Williamson) much better than anything I can write without feeling that I am duplicating someone's superior earlier effort. However I wanted to write a few words about the artwork from my point of view.

I enjoy drawing and I very much enjoy looking at the work of other artists. This book is great, because it is almost like getting a class in comic book inking. Al Williamson, apart from being a great draftsman, was also an incredible (award winning) inker who was able to take his pencil drawings and embellish them with beautiful ink linework using different pens and brushes. It is simply a pleasure to see how differently he handles his inks on backgrounds vs. foregrounds. He showcases many different approaches to textures and how to get various effects on paper. The reproduction is crisp and every line can be seen.

It is also very interesting to see how Mr. Williamson's art changed from his 1960's Flash Gordon comics to his 1980's Flash Gordon movie adaptation to the final Marvel mini-series. Every stage had great strengths and seeing all of them in one volume showed a wide range of his abilities.

This is a review of the hardcover edition. There's very little I can add to the other positive reviews. If you're a fan of either Williamson or Flash Gordon, this book belongs in your library. The large page size means the art looks better than it did in any other previous format. I do agree that color would have been better, since the art was always intended to be in color, but that's a small quibble. The text, although minimal, is informative too. Highly recommended!

Al Williamson is a true legend among comic artists. He was one of the stars of EC Comics in the 1950s and went on to become a popular artist and inker at Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse Comics. But Williamson's passion, the character who he's had a lifelong, on again-off again relationship with is Flash Gordon. This fantastic book from Flesk Publications covers Gordon's dalliances with the character beginning with the 1966 comic series for King Features. Williamson drew three issues of the title and you will find all three issues reprinted inside.

Since the book is a large format, it truly brings Williamson's style to life. Only the great Alex Raymond, creator of Flash Gordon, could capture the pure space opera essence as well as Williamson. These issues have not been seen in decades and this is Williamson at his peak. Over the next couple of decades, Williamson would keep returning to the character however he could, including illustrating one page stories commissioned by Union Carbide and doing the comics adaptation of the 1980 Flash Gordon Film, as well as the 1980s Marvel Flash Gordon series, all of which are reprinted inside.

In addition the book provides a biography and overview of Williamson's career. For those who may only know Williamson from his later work as an inker, it's a treat to see his earlier work. His art is powerful and yet subtle. Flesk has produced a true treasure for fans of Flash Gordon and Al Williamson.

If you're a fan of Al Williamson, and what comic book art fan isn't, then this is definitely a book that you should consider. Each page is shot from Williamson's original artwork, meaning the pages of the book actually reflect the art boards, scribbles, notes and all. This is a terrific book. Written by Mark Schultz, an outstanding comics and fantasy artist himself, this wonderful book is a full-on tribute to the genius of Al Williamson. You will love looking through this collection of the FLASH GORDON comics that Williamson delineated, and the only disappointment that you will feel is knowing that there will be no future artwork from Al's deft pen and creative brain. An outstanding collection.

The 1960s & 1990s stories are the best. The long middle section, an adaptation of the 1980 movie, is beautifully drawn but the story, taken directly from the inept screenplay, is incredibly clumsy in its narrative and structure. Still, this is worth the money spent. Williamson's art is just beautiful and any time you can get to read an Archie Goodwin/Al Williamson story is a pretty darn good day.

There is a certain purist take on having the original art prior to the color stage, but with computer color facsimile/restoration it is possible to reproduce the color from those old comics faithfully.

Yes the Russ Cochran editions of the star wars volumes were all in black and white too, and a good many reprints of raymond's sundays were in black and white. But since the color pages other than the line drawing is what drew me to flash gordon in the first place i could not be more dissapointed.

Also Al's other half in my opinion in his best work was Archie Goodwin. Al Produced his best work on the star wars strip and the secret agent corrigan strip, His flash while the best since raymond matches raymonds early art but not when he was at his stunning best later on. Though i will say the best issue of the king comics is #1 and the quality from then on was lacking when al was not doing the book and only drawing cover art.

Also some of Al's early work is unmatched in the imaginative way it was presented like in the weird science/weird fantasy EC comics titles, especially when he had the help of the Legend in his own right Frank Frazetta, Al was and still is a legend in the field of comics.

Changed my review after reading that these were shot from the original art so the black and white makes sense. Also recently seen some of the old comics reproduced and the sixties printing left a lot to be desired, the colors muddied AL's art.