FLASH GORDON AND THE STRANGE PLANET MONGO (KING COMICS)

FLASH GORDON
Vol. 1 No. 1
September 1966
King Features Syndicate, Inc. (King Comics)
Editor: Bill Harris
Cover art: Al Williamson
Pages: 36
Cover price: 12 cents

CONTENTS
"Flash Gordon"
Script: Al Williamson
Pencils: Al Williamson
Inks: Al Williamson; Gray Morrow
Colors: Al Williamson
Letters: Arlene Williamson

"Midnight With Mandrake!"
Script: Dick Wood
Pencils: Don Heck
Inks: Andre LeBlanc
Letters: Charlotte Jetter

"Flash Gordon and the Mole Machine"
Script: Al Williamson
Pencils: Al Williamson
Inks: Al Williamson
Colors: Al Williamson
Letters: Arlene Williamson

I recently caught a few minutes of a Buster Crabbe Flash Gordon chapter serial on a local "retro" channel. I was instantly hooked! Again! As corny as some of the scenes are, I'm always willing to forego the obligatory groans and just let myself be immersed in the fun. Based on the hugely popular newspaper comic strip by Alex Raymond, the 13-part serial was produced by Universal Pictures and released on 6 April 1936. The budget was immense, $360,000, which was three times the money spent on a typical chapter serial at the time.

Never a studio to leave good lumber to rot, FLASH GORDON appropriated the laboratory and crypt sets from BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, castle interiors from DRACULA'S DAUGHTER, the idol that held the Scroll of Thoth in THE MUMMY, opera house interiors from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA, and cathedral walls from THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME. I'm also guessing that, since it was 1938 and Universal monsters were temporarily on hiatus, that Jake Pierce was on hand to ply his makeup expertise.

Almost three decades later, King Features Syndicate, who published the comic strip, launched their own, independent comic book imprint, King Comics. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Flash Gordon would be one of the titles.

I still have the copy that I bought off the spinner rack back in September 1966, and a more artful first issue would be hard to imagine. The exquisite art and expert design is by Al Williamson, whose fluid style in the Alex Raymond tradition has never looked better. No wonder, because when Williamson got the job, he remembered the thrill he had watching the Flash Gordon serials as a boy in Bogota, Columbia, and his enthusiasm shows through. During his formative illustrating career, he mentioned being tutored by the master himself, Alex Raymond, for about 2 hours! Williamson is also known for his work on the newspaper strip, SECRET AGENT X-9, as well as Warren horror titles, such as CREEPY and EERIE.

Williams illustrates both the Flash Gordon stories in this issue. His first wife, Arlene (d. 1977) was the letterer. The backup feature starring another King Features newspaper character, MANDRAKE THE MAGICIAN, was drawn by Don Heck.

Now, it's time to blast off to the Planet of Peril to prevent the evil emperor of Mongo, Ming the Merciless, from crashing his planet into Earth! Let's hope we're not too late!