Flash Gordon and his legacy

Flash Gordon is a character appearing in American comic strip. He is the hero of the space opera adventure comic strip of the same name that was first published in 1934. At that time, the story of Buck Rogers was commercially successful. In order to compete the John F. Dille Syndicate, King Features decided to create their own hero. It is Alex Raymond, one of the staff artists from the company, who got to create the character of Flash Gordon.

The story follows Flash, Dale Arden (his friend and love interest), and the doctor Hans Zarkov in their quest to save the Earth. Indeed, their misadventures began when the planet is threatened by a comet that is going to collide with the Earth. When they intended to fly into the comet to sacrifice their lives in order to destroy the comet, they actually discover a planet. The planet is called Mongo and is ruled by an insane dictator named Ming the Merciless.

This encounter marks the beginning of a long war in which Flash will meet many allies in the people of Mongo and other planets. The story follows their fights in order to free the people of Mongo and to save the Earth. Flash Gordon offered a new kind of hero and story. He is the influencer of the next generation of hero and science-fiction stories.

One of the first superhero

Flash Gordon has no superpower. He is a human. But he is stronger than other people thanks to his career as a polo player. He is also shown as an intelligent man who graduated from Yale University. Yet, he stays an ordinary man until he got captured and forced to join the fight against the planet Mongo that is threatening the Earth. That is when he becomes the great fighter people know about.

His story is not as well-known as the superheroes that followed him in the 1930s. And even if he is just a human, his story and his capacity of saving the Earth several times making him one of the first superheroes ever created. Plus, he has influenced many other characters after him. Superman or Hawkman show direct references to Flash Gordon through the design of their costume and some part of their own stories.

A model to the science-fiction genre

Flash Gordon has not only inspired other superheroes. The comic strip inspired many people. George Lucas is said to have filmed Star Wars instead of his own adaptation of Flash Gordon as he couldn’t get the rights to the story. And thus, he used Flash Gordon as an inspiration for his classic movie trilogy.

But George Lucas is not the only one to have been influenced by Flash Gordon and his original comic strip. Even in recent movies like Thor: Ragnarok, the director Taika Waititi has said to have taken ideas from Flash Gordon to create this retro and colorful visual for this movie.

His legacy is not over

If the first appearance of the hero was done through comic strips, his story has been adapted to many different media. Indeed, you can find movies, television series, and even radio series of Flash Gordon. The comic strip got translated into eight different languages. Read by over 50 million of people, Flash Gordon was one of the most famous comic heroes of that time. Many directors have loved the character in their youth and have wanted to adapt the story to the big screen. From Federico Fellini to George Lucas, Flash Gordon has inspired and influenced many artists over the years.

Flash Gordon has a long history of comic strips, animated movies, movie series, television series, and radio series. Everyone has seen at least one version of his story. Get the nostalgic feeling of this vintage and classic character through this great Flash Gordon Vintage Poster Coffee Mug.