From Publishers Weekly
After appearing in movies, TV, and porn parody, sci-fi icon Flash Gordon returns to the comics in this jazzy miniseries. A retooled origin story sends Flash, his girlfriend Dale Arden, and eccentric Dr. Zarkov off to the planet Mongo, where they are separated and thrown into the eponymous war between various squabbling races—hawkmen with big wings, lionmen with shaggy manes and big fangs, etc.—and tyrannical emperor Ming the Merciless, whose idea of mercy is to let everyone else serve him or die. Besides being impressively athletic, Flash is bright enough to realize that Ming's enemies would have a better chance of winning if they'd stop fighting each other. That's difficult to achieve; when, for example, hotheaded Prince Barin of Arboria catches his fiancée Princess Aura (who's also Ming's rebellious daughter) kissing Flash, a swordfight immediately ensues. In short, there are enough ethnic conflicts and personality quirks to keep the action bubbling. Deneen's script keeps the plot surprisingly clear, and Green's art combines mangaesque design and dramatic coloring. It's good, old-fashioned fun, freshly polished. (Feb.)
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Review
After appearing in movies, TV, and porn parody, sci-fi icon Flash Gordon returns to the comics in this jazzy miniseries. A retooled origin story sends Flash, his girlfriend Dale Arden, and eccentric Dr. Zarkov off to the planet Mongo, where they are separated and thrown into the eponymous war between various squabbling races - hawkmen with big wings, lionmen with shaggy manes and big fangs, etc. and tyrannical emperor Ming the Merciless, whose idea of mercy is to let everyone else serve him or die. Besides being impressively athletic, Flash is bright enough to realize that Ming's enemies would have a better chance of winning if they'd stop fighting each other. That's difficult to achieve; when, for example, hotheaded Prince Barin of Arboria catches his fiancÃÂée Princess Aura (who's also Ming's rebellious daughter) kissing Flash, a swordfight immediately ensues. In short, there are enough ethnic conflicts and personality quirks to keep the action bubbling. Deneen's script keeps the plot surprisingly clear, and Green's art combines mangaesque design and dramatic coloring. It's good, old-fashioned fun, freshly polished. --Publishers Weekly
After appearing in movies, TV, and porn parody, sci-fi icon Flash Gordon returns to the comics in this jazzy miniseries. A retooled origin story sends Flash, his girlfriend Dale Arden, and eccentric Dr. Zarkov off to the planet Mongo, where they are separated and thrown into the eponymous war between various squabbling races - hawkmen with big wings, lionmen with shaggy manes and big fangs, etc. and tyrannical emperor Ming the Merciless, whose idea of mercy is to let everyone else serve him or die. Besides being impressively athletic, Flash is bright enough to realize that Ming's enemies would have a better chance of winning if they'd stop fighting each other. That's difficult to achieve; when, for example, hotheaded Prince Barin of Arboria catches his fiancÃÂée Princess Aura (who's also Ming's rebellious daughter) kissing Flash, a swordfight immediately ensues. In short, there are enough ethnic conflicts and personality quirks to keep the action bubbling. Deneen's script keeps the plot surprisingly clear, and Green's art combines mangaesque design and dramatic coloring. It's good, old-fashioned fun, freshly polished. --Publishers Weekly
After appearing in movies, TV, and porn parody, sci-fi icon Flash Gordon returns to the comics in this jazzy miniseries. A retooled origin story sends Flash, his girlfriend Dale Arden, and eccentric Dr. Zarkov off to the planet Mongo, where they are separated and thrown into the eponymous war between various squabbling races - hawkmen with big wings, lionmen with shaggy manes and big fangs, etc. and tyrannical emperor Ming the Merciless, whose idea of mercy is to let everyone else serve him or die. Besides being impressively athletic, Flash is bright enough to realize that Ming's enemies would have a better chance of winning if they'd stop fighting each other. That's difficult to achieve; when, for example, hotheaded Prince Barin of Arboria catches his fiancÃÂée Princess Aura (who's also Ming's rebellious daughter) kissing Flash, a swordfight immediately ensues. In short, there are enough ethnic conflicts and personality quirks to keep the action bubbling. Deneen's script keeps the plot surprisingly clear, and Green's art combines mangaesque design and dramatic coloring. It's good, old-fashioned fun, freshly polished. --Publishers Weekly
About the Author
Brendan Deneen is the writer of the current monthly FLASH GORDON comic book series, which has been a commercial and critical smash. His 2006 comic book series SCATTERBRAIN (called one of the best indies of the year by Aint It Cool News) was recently optioned for television by Kickstart Entertainment (WANTED) and Brendan is currently writing the pilot episode/series bible. He co-ploted the recent Casper the Friendly Ghost relaunch (entitled CASPER AND THE SPECTRALS). He's also a former development/production executive for Scott Rudin and Bob & Harvey Weinstein, and now works as a literary manager and film/TV producer.
