Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews

Flash Gordon #1
Ardden Comics
Deneen & Green

I had a passing interest in this comic when the solicitations came out. I saw it was shipping this week and I decided I would look through it in the store and if I liked the art I would probably buy it. As my budget provided I purchased it and this comic was a fun read that had strong characters immediately. This isn’t a super hero comic, but more of a sci-fi story, but the first issue is very much rooted in every day life until the very end, that is. This is a great first issue.

I knew of the long history of the character of Flash Gordon, but my only exposure was from the movie about 30 years ago. I loved that movie and had a strong idea of what this comic would be about. However, this thing is much better than the movie in the initial stages.

Flash Gordon doesn’t play for the Jets in this story, he’s a professor at Yale. Yes, that’s right. But he is also an adventurer as the opening sequence indicates. You could say this mirrors Indiana Jones to a degree, but this comic establishes his character immediately and it’s not like Indiana Jones at all. Flash is smart, a step ahead of everyone, he’s arrogant and he’s extremely sure of himself. The story marks his presence from the first page and it works really well throughout the story.

Flash has ties to the CIA and this is where Dale Arden comes into the picture. As you might suspect the CIA is looking for Zarkov. Flash, as it happens, knows him very well and where they might find him. It turns out it isn’t a straight forward plot as to why the CIA wants Zarkov. In fact, there is a nice twist at the end that allows Flash, Dale and Zarkov to end up in a spaceship together heading towards a different world.

For a story that needs to tell you about the characters and set up the main story it does this very well. We don’t get to know Zarkov at all and Dale’s character is only scratched, but Flash is built up very well. The comic helps to make the reader want more which is a great thing to do in a number one issue.

The artwork has a fresh feeling to it. The characters have a cartoon-like look, but in a realistic way, if that makes sense. It reminds me of Mike Wieringo’s style, but in a way that was as unique as the first issues to role out of Image all those years ago. It’s really cool looking art for a sci-fi comic.

The series has a great start. The question now becomes if they can create interesting arcs once they reach their destination and find Ming. The price tag scares me off a little bit, but I will be keeping my eyes open for the next issue.

4 out of 5 geek goggles