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Flash Gordon #3
Dynamite Entertainment, $3.99, 32 pages
Released: June 25, 2014
Story Grade: A
Issue Score: 81.50*
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
[no title]
(20 pages / 86 panels / 1,359 words / 11:15 read time)
Writer: Jeff Parker
Artist: Evan Shaner
Colorist: Jordie Bellaire
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Editor: Nate Cosby
I absolutely adore this title. And the funny thing is, the first issue was a complete impulse purchase. I was waiting in line to buy my comics at Zimmie's, in Lewiston, Maine, when I saw the cover of the first issue, the one with the swinging-from-the-maws-of-a-tyrannosaur image by Gabriel Hardman. Well, buddy, that cover did exactly what a comic book cover is supposed to do — it all but compelled me to pick it up and take a look. Now, if the artwork inside by Evan Shaner had been anything less than terrif, I'd have put it right back down. But Shaner's work has such an old-school charm to it that I was instantly enchanted, and I have not been disappointed with any issue since.
That said, this one does have a couple of minor issues. Mind you, these are not criticisms. They're more akin to not being able to help noticing the one tiny flaw in an otherwise flawless diamond. For one thing, Shaner's art, to my mind, calls out for old style brushwork. And maybe he does use a brush, for all I know. Still, this issue looked to be inked largely with a pen, and had the feel to me of being a bit rushed, as though Shaner was struggling to get the pages done on time, and had largely resorted to using micron markers. A few of the panels, especially in the big fight scene also had a "first draft" feel, as if they had been finished direct from a preliminary stage. But, of course, "rushed" in this sense means "still looking better than 95 percent of what else is on the stands," so don't get me wrong.
My other issue is probably just me being stupid. Still, I did not get in the last issue that the chosen of Aboria were being turned into animals. My impression was that turning them into mindless beasts meant creating monsters of s sort, not a process of anthropomorphism. So, I started this issue thinking the same thing, and my eye saw the slave in the first panel as just some guy with long hair and a scraggly beard. Thus, I was a little confused when we started to have animal men in the arena, perhaps, in part, because I passed over them when shown in silhouette in the prison scene, not recognizing them there for what they were. So, when lion-man showed up to help Flash in the big fight, referencing his earlier rescue, I actually turned back to page one to realize, "Oh, look, same guy. My bad."
My only other question mark is about the beast-making process. I seem to recall from Issue 2 that Ming is making mindless, easily controlled soldiers out of the Aborians. However, those who were fully converted have all of their faculties here. Perhaps being made into an animal man just makes you an asshole? I dunno.
At any rate, it doesn't really matter. The artwork in this book is so amazing, the dialogue so witty and sparkling, the adventure so high and the villany of Ming so . . . well, um, villainous, that Flash Gordon is about my favorite comic currently being published.
I can give no higher compliment that this: When I read this comic, my inner 12-yea-old, otherwise long dormant, sits up and takes notice, becomes WIDE awake, and is ready to have some fun. And isn't that what comics are all about?
One final note — I'm not sure what timeframe Flash and his pals come from in this version of the story. Maybe it was said in the first issue and I forgot. Anyway, Zarkov mentions Muhammad Ali, so clearly it's not the 1930s anymore.
*[COVER: 8.0 — PLOT: 7.75 — SCRIPT: 9.75 — LAYOUT: 8.75 — ARTWORK: 9.0 — EDITING: 7.75 — COLORS/PRODUCTION: 8.0 — DOLLAR VALUE: 6.25 — COLLECTIBILITY: 7.0 —GOSH-WOW FACTOR: 9.25]
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