Customer Reviews

Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon, Vol. 1

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Normally, Checker does not rebut reviews, but in this case I felt the need to clarify some points brought up in the Publishers Weekly review above. First, every criticism within the review is 100% valid FOR THE REVIEW COPY PROVIDED TO PW.

As readers may or may not know review copies are provided the media four to five months prior to publication. With full color comic strip collections the quality of the REVIEW COPY is a difficult thing to measure. Subsequent to Checker mailing review copies, we chose to delay the publication of the collection and revamp the book format and design to better reflect its original published format. The end book is something wholly different than what we provided to the editorial staff at Publishers Weekly. We are confident that fans will relish this watershed of comics history in their collections.

Alex Raymond created Flash Gordon as a full page comic strip on January 7, 1934. The strip continues today, though only in reprint form, alas. There have been reprints from Kitchen Sink (these are the best), Dark Horse, Comics Revue, and many other publishers. Some of these are still in print, others can be found on ebay. This book, from Checker, reprises the Kitchen Sink material.

The strip had its ups and downs, but most collectors agree that it was in its prime in three eras, the Alex Raymond era from 1934 to 1944, the beginning of a revived daily strip, by Dan Barry, Frank Frazetta, Jack Davis, Wally Wood, Harvey Kurtzman, and just about the whole E.C. Comics gang, from 1951 to 1955, and the Harry Harrison era, from roughly 1958 to 1964. (Harry Harrison also contributed to E.C. Comics, and wrote The Stainless Steel Rat.)

It is good to see these strips back in print.

Checker has another hit on their hands with their reprint series of Alex Raymond's FLASH GORDON. Presented in oblong 12 x 9" hardcover format, this makes for an attractive, if somewhat awkward, format for collecting these classic strips. I say "awkward" because oblong editions don't store easily on the bookshelf, but the benefit is that you get the strips in their original format. In any case, it's great to see Raymond's original strips back in print. This edition introduces Flash Gordon and his travelling companions Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov, as well as the interplanetary comrades and enemies we all know and love (or love to hate). Reproduction is fair: the linework is a bit light, and the colors are too soft for my tastes. Better reproduction quality, plus a higher page count, would have netted this book five stars.

When I went to my local comic shop and saw this book, I bought it without even checking the prize. I first saw Raymond's work on the History Channel series of programs retelling the history of comics, and being a fan of the animated series and a comic book artist myself, I set out to find his work. No success.
Now, it is available in this hardcovers and I can only thank Checker for doing this. The artwork reproduction is fairly good (being strips from 1934), and the panels are printed in a good size, at least for me (regarding the previous reviews). I don't know the original measures and the up to date quality of the strip, but in this collection, I think you'll be able to thoroughly enjoy Alex Raymond's stunning artwork, wich is a reminder of an era and a great source of inspiration to artists, both up and coming and professionals.

One of the best reprints of comic art I've seen. The pages are high quality, the images are large and the colors are amazing. The Publisher's Weekly review must have had a different version (as one of these reviews claims), because this book is amazing. If you're a fan of comic art, you won't do much better than this.

Finally, with the publication of this book, I have had the chance to see and read the original color comic strip of the famous Flash Gordon serial that was eventually made into the successful Buster Crabbe series! Looking back at the original illustrations and storyline is a benefit for any fan of Flash Gordon because we get to see the germination of the ideas and EXPERIENCE the thrill that weekly readers must have felt when they bought their newspapers. The colors are interesting, the storyline of course is great, but perhaps the best is that we get to understand the names of various beasts and races that existed on the Planet Mongo better than the Crabbe series on film. The scientific interpretation of technology is fascinating and the order of the planet will make much more sense to you after reading this book. It will also most likely cause a more appreciative view of those old Buster Crabbe serials of Flash when you see them again! A real gem and I am looking forward to the next volume of a projected 3 volume series. The only problem encountered is that some of the text was a little hard to see because of the colors behind them but to those who are familiar with the story it should not be much of a burden.

The content itself is in great condition and very nice to look at, but the book itself is more of a children's book than a comic collection. It would've been great if they had decided to put it in a quality hardcover format.

Paperback, or another run of hardcover, it's all good! Just please give those of us who missed out on #1 a chance to buy it! I can't buy the others without the first one!

I am a fan of Flash Gordon since around 1946. The series of the 7 books is EXCELLENT, and it brought back many childhood memories. The format and quality of each book is very good.
I would not mind seeing and reading more of it in future publications.

1934, but almost doesn't seem like it. More dragons and monsters than you can shoot a light gun at. Introspective, this is not. Who else would you want for a hero, but a Yale polo champion? Polo skills are the perfect training for an interplanetary action hero, you would think. Not a horse to be seen, but this is great fun.