Real
Name: "Flash" Gordon
Flash Gordon
Real
Name: "Flash" Gordon
Identity/Class: Normal human
Occupation: Professional athlete (polo player), resistance fighter
Affiliations: Dale Arden; Dr.Zarkov; Princess Aura
Enemies: Ming the Merciless
Known Relatives: None known
Aliases:
None known
Base of Operations: Mongo
First Appearance: Flash Gordon (King Features Syndicate, comic strip, 1934)
Powers/Abilities:
History: While a new planet is detected hurtling toward Earth, internationally renowned polo player and Yale graduate "Flash" Gordon and Dale Arden are on an airplane struggling through atmospheric disturbance when it goes into a tailspin and they manage to just bail out in the nick of time. Landing by parachute near the lab of Dr. Zarkov (whose name is Hans in the comic strip and Alexis here), they are shown the scientist's missile, which he hope to pilot to Mongo and then prevent the catastrophic collision. They land on Mongo, but are captured by Officer Torch and two robot soldiers who hold them at bay with scientifically-advanced rifles. They are taken to Ming, ruthless ruler of the planet. His daughter Aura falls for Flash at first glance but will kill him if she can't have him for herself.
Ming, deciding Dale will be his wife, drugs her into subservience. Flash is hurled into the "Arena of Death" for Ming's entertainment but is saved from this doom by Aura. Meanwhile Dr. Zarkov convinces Ming to preserve Earth so it can be conquered, a desperate ploy to save our planet.
Ming's
empire is attacked by Mongonian dissidents known as The Lion Men whose gyro
ships pepper Ming's palace with fire. After evading Aura's seductive nails
and escaping from a giant reptile pit, Flash battles Thun, King of The Lion
Men, and subdues him. Realizing their common enemy, they join forces and
head to save Dale. Later Flash would encounter Shark Men and Hawkmen, before
he finally defeated the evil Ming.
In "Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938, 15 episodes) a mysterious beam of light emanating from Mars is sucking the nitrogen from the Earth's atmosphere, and only Flash can stop it. He battles Queen Azura, the Clay People of Mars, and his mortal enemy Ming the Merciless once more. In "Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe" (1940, 12 episodes) a rocket is dropping purple dust into the Earth's atmosphere, causing instant death. Flash has to locate the antidote on the frozen planet of Frigia and stop Ming.
Comments:
Alex Raymond's comic strip first appeared in 1934, and Universal bought the
rights two years later. Larry "Buster" Crabbe landed the part of the lead.
One major difference between the strip and the serial was the Mongonians' skin colour. In the strip they were Oriental yellow, but no mention of this pigmentation appears in the film. Later the aliens were presented as Caucasians in the newspapers as well.
CLARIFICATIONS:
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