Flash Gordon is sometimes labeled Sword & Planet fiction. It meets quite a few of the characteristics. It has an Earthman, Flash, ending up on a strange world where he engages in battles with strange monsters and weird humanoid aliens, including winged men, bird riders, lion men, and others. However, it fails the S&P test on one major feature, the primary weapon used. When Flash is first challenged, if at all possible, he reaches for a ray gun rather than a sword.

John Carter, Dray Prescot, Jandar of Callisto, and Ruenn Maclang of Talera reach for a sword. For this reason, since “sword” is the very first word in Sword & Planet, I tend to classify the Flash Gordon stories as Space Opera and put them in a category of S&P adjacent. It’s a matter of taste, of course. I tend to be a splitter rather than a lumper, which means I tend to separate genres along narrower lines than some other folks. The images I’ve posted today, downloaded as public domain or as stills from the movie, illustrate this feature of the Flash stories.

The Flash Gordon stories also have a different kind of origin from works like ERB’s John Carter of Mars tales. They were first developed as a comic strip rather than as serialized prose stories. A Buck Rodgers comic strip had proven popular and Flash Gordon was an attempt to cash in on that same territory. Artist Alex Raymond was given the job of creating the strip, but — as I understand it — did the art and some scripting while writer Don Moore did most of the actual writing.

A novel called When Worlds Collide, which I have and have read, may have inspired the initial set-up of the Flash stories. When a rogue planet is set to crash into Earth, a scientist builds a rocket to help a small group escape to a second world. There’s a heroic athlete aboard, along with his girlfriend, much like the main group in Flash Gordon: Flash, Dale Arden, and Dr. Zarkov. When Worlds Collide was published in 1933 and written by Philip Wylie and Edwin Balmer.

I never read the original Flash Gordon comic strip but have read several of the much later spin-off novels, which I’ve pictured here. And, of course, I saw the movie.

There’s a “campiness” to the movie and most of the books that I don’t see in the S&P work of ERB, or REH, or other S&P authors I’ve talked about, like Carter and Brackett. And that campiness is not an element I’m particularly fond of. Others may differ, of course, and that’s fine.

Flash Gordon on the Lost Continent of Mongo by Al Williamson
(Pinnacle Books, December 1980). Cover by Al Williamson

I’ll likely talk more about Flash Gordon later but for now, here’s the three books I currently have in my collection.

1. Flash Gordon on the Lost Continent of Mongo: Written and illustrated by Al Williamson (1931 – 2010), a well-known cartoonist who was a fan of Alex Raymond’s original work with the character. A decent enough story, although there are weird gaps in the tale where important events just get left out. This one is closer to S&P than most I’ve read. Likely meant for young readers.

2. Flash Gordon in the Sand World of Mongo: Written by Horace J. Elias. Mostly a prose story with frequent illustrations by an artist I haven’t been able to identify. The writing is fine but there’s almost no action. One swordfight in an arena, but we barely get any description of it. The book seems clearly targeted for kids and Elias also wrote Flintstones and Scooby Do adventures.

3. Flash Gordon: The Plague of Sound, by Con Steffanson, who was really Ron Goulart (1933 – 2022) in this case, I believe. A prose novel and not my cup of tea. I didn’t really care for the style and it’s certainly far removed from S&P fiction in my opinion. Cover artist unknown.

Flash Gordon in the Sand World of Mongo by Horace J. Elias
(Harper & Row, 1976). Cover design by Keith Moseley

None of these three particular books fired me up to read more Flash Gordon. If I could find something as compelling as an ERB or a Brackett, I’d be a much bigger fan.

If any of you know about better works featuring the character, tell me.

Flash Gordon: The Plague of Sound by Ron Goulart, adapted from the
comic by Alex Raymond (Avon Books, May 1974). Cover by George Wilson

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Charles Gramlich administers The Swords & Planet League group on Facebook, where this post first appeared. His last article for Black Gate was a look at The Sword & Planet of Leigh Brackett.