Each week, Big Issues focuses on newly released comic books of significance. This week, they are Flash Gordon #4 by writer Jeff Parker, artist Evan Shaner, and colorist Jordie Bellaire, and Captain Victory And The Galactic Rangers #1 by writer Joe Casey, artists Nathan Fox, Jim Rugg, and Ulises Farinas, and colorist Brad Simpson. These two issues showcase the potential in reimagining past properties for modern audiences, and are indicative of a recent shift by Dynamite Comics to seek out a wider range of creative talent. This review reveals major plot points.
In his keynote speech for last month’s Image Expo, Image Comics publisher Eric Stephenson once again took shots at the publishers of licensed comics, describing their work as “grave robbing the past in an attempt to pump new life into decades-old characters.” Like Stephenson’s last Image Expo keynote, which echoed those remarks, his opinions prompted a fair amount of backlash from the people that work on and read those licensed comics. His point of view is understandable in that he wants to see new creations rather than retreads of old material, but he forgets that the foundation of storytelling is based in building narratives around familiar characters.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to tell stories with characters and concepts that were created by someone else in the past. William Shakespeare did it all the time, and that work has influenced countless artists in turn. With comics, especially superhero comics, there’s some iffy ethical territory involving characters whose creators were never adequately compensated for their contributions, but that doesn’t apply to all licensed properties. If a company wants to make their name publishing comics based on characters that the world recognizes, they should be able to without being attacked, especially if the product is good.
Dynamite Comics loves licensed properties. Ash Williams, The Lone Ranger, Zorro, Green Hornet, John Carter, and Red Sonja are just a few of the many licensed characters in Dynamite’s stable, and the publisher is constantly gathering new properties. Dynamite has had middling success with this strategy over the last decade, but it has considerably upped its game for its 10th anniversary year, starting with an outstanding relaunch of the Gold Key line of superhero titles, which includes Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Magnus: Robot Fighter, Solar: Man Of The Atom, and Doctor Spektor.
Editor Nate Cosby is responsible for seeking out the exceptional talent that has made the Gold Key titles stand out, but his most inspired editorial decision is the relaunch of Flash Gordon under the team of writer Jeff Parker, artist Evan Shaner, and colorist Jordie Bellaire. Each of these creators has a talent for balancing retro charm with modern sophistication in their work, and collaborating together has brought out their best qualities.
Parker’s scripts are full of swashbuckling adventure, interplanetary intrigue, and character-based humor, a delightful juggling act that keeps the reader engaged and invested in the plot. Upholding the tradition of drafting masters like Al Williamson and Alex Toth, Evan Shaner delivers beautifully nuanced artwork that grounds the otherworldly events in emotional reality, making it easy to connect with the book’s central trio of Flash Gordon, Dale Arden, and Hans Zarkov. It’s always a bit disappointing to reach the end of an issue of Flash Gordon, because the world developed by this creative team is so welcoming it’s hard to leave.
An Eisner Award winner for her work on 11 different titles last year, Jordie Bellaire is one of the most sought-after colorists in the industry, and her work is an integral part of this book’s aesthetic. There’s a subtle graininess to her coloring that creates the illusion of newsprint, emphasizing the classic feel of Shaner’s linework. Bellaire’s colors don’t need to add much dimension thanks to the textured inks, so she focuses on conveying tone through an expressive color palette, embracing bold shades of orange, blue, green, and pink to heighten the mood of a scene while spicing up the art.
The visual highlight of Flash Gordon #4 is a gorgeous four-page sequence that takes an inventive approach to depicting a huge chunk of exposition, using circular layouts across a pair of two-page spreads catching the reader up on the events that led to the first issue of the series (also chronicled in last year’s Kings Watch miniseries). The first spread details the background of the Quantum Crystals and Gatestones that have allowed Ming The Merciless to conquer other planets, presenting the information via a series of connected circles that represent the interstellar locations Ming has jumped through. The following spread zooms in on one of those circles and uses a ripple effect to present flashbacks to events on Earth, and the combination of the graphic layout with Bellaire’s intensely orange coloring gives the rush of information a strong visual impact.
One gripe about this issue of Flash Gordon is the cover, which has nothing to do with the events within. Next month sees Flash and the gang making their way to Sky World, where there will likely be plenty of jetpack-enabled sword fighting, but why couldn’t Dynamite commission a cover showing something from this issue? And the 80th anniversary variant cover is far worse, showing two bikini-clad women in an anatomically questionable fight while Flash and Ming The Merciless watch in the background. (It does make you appreciate this creative team’s approach to Dale Arden, who has taken a strong role in this series while fully clothed.) Dynamite very often caters to the T&A crowd, and frankly it can do better than that with its female characters. In Flash Gordon and the Gold Key titles, creators are putting better representations of women on the page, and it would be refreshing to see some of that respect applied to the images on the covers.