Flash Gordon: Kings Cross

Dynamite's Defenders of the Universe #5

by Jeff Parker, Jesse Hamm, Grace Allison (Illustrator)

Ming the Merciless wants to claim Earth as the crown jewel of his empire! His latest scheme? Teleporting a continent from his homeworld of Mongo into the Pacific Ocean, thereby unleashing its monstrous beasts into our seas and causing catastrophic tidal waves to devastate our naval defenses! It's up to Flash Gordon, the fearless daredevil who has unraveled the tyrant's previous schemes at every turn, to once again rally his friends in defense of the Earth. Join intrepid reporter Dale Arden, eccentric scientist Dr. Zarkov, Mandrake the Magician, two iterations of The Phantom, Jungle Jim, and the timelost hero Prince Valiant in the wildest adventure on this or any world!
"A fast-paced throwback to the pulps of yesteryear." - Newsarama
"Channel(s) the same style as the old pulp Flash Gordon movie series." - SciFiPulse
"A pleasure to read." - Fandom Post
"Jesse Hamm's... scenes have great comedic panels and fluid action sequences." - Comic Bastards
"An old-fashioned adventure in the pulp tradition, and that's no bad thing." - Capeless Crusader

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Science Fiction, Adventure

120 pages, Paperback

First published July 11, 2017

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

Reviews

[Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a fun comic... not great or memorable, but okay. Ming the Merciless has teleported a continent from Mongo to Earth from which he launches attacks with bombs that turn Earthlings into animal people so they'll elect him emperor of the planet. He's opposed by Flash Gordon, Dale Arden, Dr. Hans Zarkov, Mandrake the Magician, and two Phantoms. It's apparently an ongoing dispute that previously has caused the Earth technology to slip back a few decades. One of the Phantoms is Mandrake's old pal Lothar, and one is a young girl named Jen; no mention is made of Kit Walker. They're later joined by Prince Valiant (!?) and a weird character that was unknown to me, Jungle Jim. Ming is assisted by his daughter, Aura, who thinks Flash is a pretty good-looking guy. She's kind of greenish yellow with Vulcan or fairy ears and doesn't look anything at all like Priscilla Lawson, Shirley Dean, or even like Ornella Muti or anyone drawn by Alex Raymond. All of which is to say that there's obviously a lot of continuity that I lacked between the newspaper strips and leading into this graphic novel. The story itself is okay, but the art seems more cartoonish than comic strip-ish. The newspaper strip format is a quite different form of sequential art than the graphic novel concept, and you can tell that tried to get it right. I would have liked it a lot better if they'd've devoted a page or two to a summary of what has gone before.

[Rosangela · Rating 3 out of 5]

Old school.
Classic comic book characters.
Enjoyed it.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ming the Merciless has transported a continent from his world to Earth. He's trying to be elected as president of the world by scaring citizens that he'll turn them into animal men if they don't vote for him. The Defenders of the Universe (a bunch of characters from syndicated comic strips that King owns) are trying to stop him.

The Good: The pulpiness is here, surprisingly considering it's Jeff Parker much of the fun isn't.

The Bad: The plot is a convoluted mess.

The Ugly: I'm not really sure why this is billed as a Flash Gordon book. While he is in it , it's clearly the next volume in Dynamite's Defender of the Universe series.

Received an advanced copy from Dynamite and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

[Regina Hunter · Rating 5 out of 5]

A vintage looking comic. I felt utterly pleased to read it, as humor was mostly innocent and images were very classy. Walking beef jerky, spider monkeys , classical villains - it is a sum of what you can expect from this comic. Very smooth going, would definitely recommend to a comic head!

[Alex Sarll]

A vanquished tyrant comes up with a new and dastardly plot to cling to power...but enough about Theresa May and the DUP. The considerably more competent, honourable and likeable Ming the Merciless is here up against not just Flash (aa-aah!) but Mandrake and the Phantom, making this Defenders Of The Earth by any other name. Not sure whether it would convince anybody not nostalgic for these characters, but for me it was a nice lightweight bit of fun on an emotional rollercoaster of a day.

(Netgalley ARC)

[John Yelverton · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a decent story, but both the story and the artwork, for better or worse, hearken back to the Golden Age age of comics.

[Daniel · Rating 2 out of 5]

This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 2.0 of 5

I have been a fan of the Flash Gordon character since ... well, I don't know when. Probably when I read The Lion Men of Mongo (by Alex Raymond) back in 1974. Since then I've eagerly read almost anything with the Flash Gordon name on it.

This graphic novel, by Jeff Parker and with art by Jesse Hamm, really isn't so much a Flash Gordon story as it is a "Defenders of the Universe" story - a series by Dynamite Entertainment that mashes together a number of popular pulp-style heroes joining forces to ... well ... defend the universe. In this story, our band of pulp heroes (Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, The Phantom, and Prince Valiant (Prince Valiant?!)) are defending against Ming the Merciless, Flash's greatest foe. Ming is teleporting an entire continent from Mongo to Earth so that he can begin his reign of terror and take over the planet.

It's classic pulp action with some classic pulp heroes and it's ... well it's not going to be a classic.

Parker moves the story along very rapidly, making this read more like a series of Sunday comic strips rather than a book length story.

Hamm's art is cartoon-y, making this feel like early 1950's comic strip art, which at least lent an air of nostalgia to the piece, which I enjoyed. However, the art did take me out of the story. I often thought about a panel or even a page and why I liked it or why I didn't like, and what seemed 'different' about it, which meant I wasn't really thinking about what was happening on the page. Not that I missed much. The story was oddball corny and prompted more than a few rolling eyes on my part.

I definitely wanted to like this (I haven't requested many graphic novels to read lately), but other than for a bit of strange nostalgia, there really isn't anything here that would make me want to read more of this Defenders of the Universe series and I certainly can't recommend it to anyone.

Looking for a good book? The graphic novel Flash Gordon: King's Cross is part of the Defender's of the Universe graphic novel series and fans of the series will want to read this installment but anyone else should probably just keep on looking.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

[Jim Kettner · Rating 3 out of 5]

So I definitely missed a big chunk of continuity between this and the previous Flash Gordon series. The art and characterizations continue to be great, but this Avengers style teamup between Flash and fellow Kings Syndicate characters like the Phantom, Prince Valiant, and Mandrake the Magician (the "Defenders of the Earth" for kids of my generation) feels just a bit TOO RUSHED. I get that this is sadly a symptom of modern monthly comics, where a lot of titles are only given four issues to tell a solid yarn...and don't get me wrong, this is definitely solid! But the breakneck pace and overcrowded cast along with the limited page count make it so the story has no room to breathe. The characters interactions or any of the great little details I loved so much in Parker's original Flash run, feel squeezed in.

Still, the art by Jesse Hamm is crisp and has a style that works great with the series, and there are some excellent payoff moments (Flash wrangling a giant bat!) and leaves Ming the Merciless with an interesting new status quo I am curious to see explored...

[Adam Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book collects Dynamite's crossover event King's Cross which brings together Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician, two version of the Phantom, and eventually Jungle Jim, and Prince Valiant join together to thwart Ming the Merciless' attempt to invade Earth.

The first four issues of this story are okay. It felt a bit overwhelming and busy at times but Jeff Parker is a good writer and does a good job of keeping a sense of fun throughout the adventure. The climatic issue was epic with its humor, action, and stakes.

Overall, if you enjoyed Parker's run on Flash Gordon or his work on Batman '66, or you're a fan of the classic King characters, this an action-packed thrill ride you'll enjoy. It is the third of these crossovers and there's some continuity, but most of that is pretty well explained in the story.

Disclosure: I received a free digital copy from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review.

[Paul Franco · Rating 3 out of 5]

After a clever recap of past events via radio and movie trailers, the setting remains the movie theater as—is that The Phantom? Yes, twice; he’s got a redheaded sidekick now—they capture a poacher before heading off to Mandrake’s place to see what the next big crisis is. In the meantime Flash has to rescue Zarkov from some Russian goons. Then all they need is for Dale to show up so the plot can get moving, concerning tidal waves striking every coastline in the world.
Now that Dale’s become so serious, I like redhead Junior Phantom, so full of snark. Some of the best moments include:
“Close your eyes and think queenly thoughts.” “Really?” “Well, close your eyes, anyway.”
“Don’t apologize for loving me, darling.” Can’t believe Flash said that with a straight face.
Never expected to see Flash—or anyone—riding a giant bat.
This was not an easy slog; if it wasn’t for the humor I’m not sure I could have made it through. Got too silly in places.
15 pages of extras.

[Wayne McCoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

'Flash Gordon: King's Cross' by Jeff Parker with art and story by Jesse Hamm is a fun crossover title with lots of pulp characters.

When Ming the Merciless decides to claim Earth, he creates an entire continent and plans to turn humans in to animals unless he gets his way. Standing in his way are Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov. Along to help out are Mandrake the Magician, a couple versions of The Phantom and a few surprises. There are some nice twists and turns along the way.

I enjoyed the story and the art in this one. I had read a similar title a while back and it just didn't work, but these characters in this title work pretty well. The story feels like a pulp adventure and the art has a kind of nice retro feel as well.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

[Jill Jemmett · Rating 4 out of 5]

The world has been invaded by Ming, who is Flash Gordon’s nemesis. He placed a new continent in the Pacific Ocean, which created tidal waves around the world. Flash Gordon and his team go to the new land to defeat Ming and send him to another planet. But first they have to face apes, an animal army, and hallucinogenic plants.

I had never read any Flash Gordon comics before this one. I liked that the illustrations were done in an old fashioned style, so it looks like the original comics. The cover also looks like an old newsprint comic.

The story was pretty good. I had a hard time getting into it at the beginning because I’m not familiar with the history of the characters. But I liked it by the end. The final action scenes were exciting.

This graphic novel is great for fans of the original comics and new readers.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what one would expect from a Flash Gordon book. This time the action takes place on Earth as Ming comes along threatening to conquer the planet. Things become pretty dire and it is up to Flash to spoil the merciless one's plan. A fun, rip-roaring adventure full of action from the get go and plenty of witty repartee and humour. This story includes a host of heroes along with the regular cast from Flash, we have Mandrake, The Phantom, Prince Valiant and Jungle Jim all giving Gordon a hand with this immense task. The book is a complete stand-alone though it does follow (and mention events) from the previous book entitled "Kings Quest".

[Linnea Gelland · Rating 4 out of 5]

I say! Jolly good fun!

This should be messy and incomprehensible, considering the fact that this is a pretty rag-tag group of people trying to fight a weird I-wanna-rule-the-World-maniac. But it isn't. Well, a bit. But for the most part it's just plain fun. It has the charming feel of a 40's swashbuckling movie that indulges in the wacky and silly antics of the heroes.

And a gigantic tarantula made completely out of dead apes... I mean, if that isn't entertainment value, I don't know what is!

[Ron · Rating 3 out of 5]

Flash Gordon and company are facing a new crisis! Ming has managed to drop an island from Mungo in the Pacific Ocean! Now company of heroes just need to traverse the island, find the gatestone and return the island before Ming changes all of Earth to beastmen. Will they manage it? Or will Flash lose his head to a pretty face? Read Kings Cross and find out!

[Theediscerning · Rating 1 out of 5]

This starts poorly - well, not terribly but certainly something you need the prequel to - and gets worse. Prince Valiant can just do one, and what the heck is Jungle Jim?? Pathetic characters making for a stupid, stupid story.

[Cynde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fabulous throwback and update to the pulp comic and movies of the past. Ming the merciless sets out to conquer Earth and add it to his empire - Flash Gordon and his friends must thwart the evil alien once again in this great blend comic. Beautifully rendered, this was a joy to read!!!!

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old school comic book fun! Hail Ming!