Comic books
Over the years, several publishers have produced Flash Gordon comics, either reprints or original stories:<[68] Several issues of the King Comics series were drawn by Al Williamson, who won the 1966 National Cartoonists Society Award for Best Comic Book for his work on the series.<[69]<[70] Williamson later said: "I was paying homage to Alex [Raymond], you know. I tried to treat his creation with respect and dignity and tried to do it to the best of my ability. I find that other artists who have done Flash Gordon just don't seem to get the feeling of the strip, you know. Flash is a noble guy and it's kind of nice to have that kind of a hero".<[71] King also released a comic version as a part of their Comics Reading Library in the 1970s.
Williamson provided artwork for a Western Publishing adaptation of Dino De Laurentiis' Flash Gordon film, written by Bruce Jones. It was released by Western Publishing in both hardcover and softcover formats to coincide with the film's release, and was also serialized in three issues of Whitman's Flash Gordon comic book, #31-33, March–May 1981.
In 1988, Dan Jurgens wrote a modernized version of the comic strip as a nine-issue DC Comics miniseries. It features Flash as a washed-up basketball player who finds new purpose in life on Mongo, Dale as an adventurous reporter who is just as capable as Flash, and a gray-skinned Ming who is less of an Asian stereotype. The series ran for the planned nine issues and was left with an open-ended conclusion. Though Mongo is not a threat to Earth in this series, Ming had every intention of conquering Earth once he coerced Dr. Zarkov into designing the needed ships.
In 1995, Marvel Comics published a new two-issue series, written by Mark Schultz with art by Al Williamson, in the style of the Flash comics Williamson had produced for King and others.
A new comic-book series was released by Ardden Entertainment in August 2008, though with inconsistent release dates for subsequent issues. The series, written by Brendan Deneen and Paul Green, debuted in 2008, with the first arc entitled "The Mercy Wars". The initial story arc concluded in mid-2009.<[72]<[73] These were followed by further storylines. Ardden also published a Flash Gordon anthology entitled The Secret History of Mongo. Ardden's second Flash Gordon arc is titled Invasion of the Red Sword (2010). Two other arcs were completed.
A reprint of all of Al Williamson's Flash Gordon comic books in black and white was printed by Flesk in 2009.<[74]
In 2010, Dark Horse Comics began an archive reprint series in hardback, starting with the original comics published by Dell. The second volume covers the comics published by King Comics, the third covers the comics published by Charlton Comics, the fourth covers the comics published by Gold Key, and the fifth covers the comics published by Whitman.
In 2011, Dynamite Entertainment began a new series called Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist. The series is written by Eric Trautmann (Vampirella, Red Sonja), from a story and designs by Alex Ross (Kingdom Come, Marvels, Project: Superpowers) and illustrated by Daniel Lindro.<[75] The company also produced a spin-off miniseries, Merciless: The Rise of Ming, in 2012, with story and art by Scott Beatty and Ron Adrian.<[76] Following a crossover miniseries called King's Watch (where, much like Defenders of the Earth, Flash Gordon teamed up with Mandrake and the Phantom; albeit, set in the 21st century), Dynamite launched a new Flash Gordon ongoing series in 2014, with story and art by Jeff Parker and Evan "Doc" Shaner.<[77] In 2015, Dynamite followed this run with another Flash Gordon miniseries as part of their "King: Dynamite" series. This series was written by Ben Acker and Ben Blacker and illustrated by Lee Ferguson.<[78]
In July 2023, Mad Cave Studios announced that it had obtained the license to publish new stories, graphic novels, and reprints.<[79] In 2024, Mad Cave Studios published a new Flash Gordon comic book, a trade paperback of Marvel's Defenders of the Earth series and launched a new series of the team.<[80]
- David McKay Publications King Comics #1–155 (1936–1949) [strip reprints]
- Dell Comics Four Color Comics #10, 84, 173, 190, 204, 247, 424, 512; Flash Gordon #2 (1945–1953) [first 2 strip reprints]
- Harvey Comics #1–5 (1950) [strip reprints]
- Gold Key Comics #1 (1965) [reprints FC #173]
- King Comics #1–11 (1966–1967) (also in Phantom #18–20)
- Charlton Comics #12–18 (1969–1970)
- Gold Key Comics #19–27 (1978–1979); under their "Whitman Comics" #28–37 (1980–1982)
