NY Is Book Country
Related Articles
The golden age of newspaper comics was a glorious time for imaginative readers, with iconic series from Superman, Prince Valiant, Buck Rogers and, of course, blonde-haired space adventurer Flash Gordon. .
Gordon, the handsome Yale University alumnus and famous polo player, first appeared as a King Features Syndicate strip in January 1934. Created and drawn by Alex Raymond, Flash Gordon branched out into a daily series of otherworldly getaways with his beloved Dale Arden and Dr. Hans Zarkov as they battle the evil villain of the planet Mongo named Ming the Merciless.
The official strip ran in hundreds of newspapers around the world from 1934 to 1992, with color Sunday strips published until 2003. Many adaptations of the characters have been seen in comic books, games, serial TV shows, episodic radio programs, and even a big-budget disco-era feature film steeped in a galaxy-saving Queen soundtrack.
A new 276-page illustrated hardcover titled “Flash Gordon Dailies: Austin Briggs – Electra Radium MinesComing February 15 is the latest release from Titan Books’ outstanding catalog of luxury Flash Gordon collections.
This upcoming edition brings together for the very first time over two years of comic books from the early 1940s that transport readers to a lost era of daring heroes, alien creatures, strange beasts, laser guns, rockets, ladies in peril and exciting science fiction spectacles.
Arriving in comic shops and bookstores on February 15, Titan’s premium volume features Don Moore’s superb writing and dynamic pencil work courtesy of artist Austin Briggs as the creative duo reveled from pulpy sci-fi fare to the height of their industry.
Moore was the acclaimed wordsmith behind Flash Gordon’s newspaper appearances for more than two decades, replacing legendary creator Alex Raymond in August 1935. Moore had previous experience as an editor, had formed the Nassau News Bureau , and later plied his trade as fiction. editor of Cosmopolitan magazine and editor of Screen Gems TV.
After writing an impressive series of ‘Flash Gordon’ comics, he continued in Tinseltown as a respected television writer for ‘Captain Video’, ‘Rawhide’, ‘Sea Hunt’ and ‘Death Valley Days’.
As a creative cohort, Briggs began delivering illustrations for famed pulp magazine “Blue Book” before becoming Alex Raymond’s assistant on “Flash Gordon.” Then in 1940, Raymond passed the baton of daily “Flash Gordon” comic strips to Briggs, where he remained until 1944.
His fine lines and illustrations have been seen on other projects by millions in periodicals like Readers Digest and The Saturday Evening Post.
Titan Books'”Flash Gordon Dailies: Austin Briggs – Electra Radium Mines“Arrives February 15.
Follow us on twitter @Spacedotcom and on Facebook.
