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Checker Flash Gordon Reprints #7
Alex Raymond's Flash Gordon, Vol. 7
Volume seven of Flash Gordon includes the stories The Fiery Desert of Mongo, Battle for Tropica, Triumph in Tropica and Marvela, all originally appearing from 1943 to 1945. Steeped in intrigue and bounded only by Raymond fertile imagination, our heros face an exciting and dangerous future, as could only have been brought to life by the brilliant pen of a cartoon master.
- GenresScience Fiction
100 pages, Hardcover
Published October 1, 2006
19 people want to read
About the author
Alex Raymond
721 books38 followersAlexander Gillespie Raymond was an American comic strip artist, best known for creating the comic Flash Gordon in 1934. The serial hit the silver screen three years later with Buster Crabbe and Jean Rogers as the leading players. Other strips he drew include Secret Agent X-9, Rip Kirby, Jungle Jim, Tim Tyler's Luck, and Tillie the Toiler. Alex Raymond received a Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society in 1949 for his work on Rip Kirby.
Born in New Rochelle, New York, Alex Raymond attended Iona Prep on a scholarship and played on the Gaels' football team. He joined the US Marines Corp in 1944 and served in the Pacific theatre during World War II.
His realistic style and skillful use of "feathering" (a shading technique in which a soft series of parallel lines helps to suggest the contour of an object) has continued to be an inspiration for generations of cartoonists.
Raymond was killed in an automobile accident in Westport, Connecticut while driving with fellow cartoonist Stan Drake, aged 46, and is buried in St. John's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Darien, Connecticut.
During the accident which led to his untimely demise, he was said to have remarked (by the surviving passenger of the accident) on the fact that a pencil on the dashboard seemed to be floating in relation to the plummet of the vehicle.
He was the great-uncle of actors Matt Dillon and Kevin Dillon.
Born in New Rochelle, New York, Alex Raymond attended Iona Prep on a scholarship and played on the Gaels' football team. He joined the US Marines Corp in 1944 and served in the Pacific theatre during World War II.
His realistic style and skillful use of "feathering" (a shading technique in which a soft series of parallel lines helps to suggest the contour of an object) has continued to be an inspiration for generations of cartoonists.
Raymond was killed in an automobile accident in Westport, Connecticut while driving with fellow cartoonist Stan Drake, aged 46, and is buried in St. John's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Darien, Connecticut.
During the accident which led to his untimely demise, he was said to have remarked (by the surviving passenger of the accident) on the fact that a pencil on the dashboard seemed to be floating in relation to the plummet of the vehicle.
He was the great-uncle of actors Matt Dillon and Kevin Dillon.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
March 9, 2026
You just can't beat Flash Gordon for great SiFi action . Very recommended
June 3, 2019
"Fiery Desert of Mongo" (11/8/42 to 7/11/43)
This anthology only contains the nine strips from 5/16/43 to 7/11/43, and it's apparent that this is only the tail end of the story. There is no desert, let alone a fiery desert. All the action takes place inside a large cave where Flash and his friends are trapped by their enemies. The nine pages show how our heroes escape the cave. The artwork is great, but the writing leaves a lot to be desired.
SPOILERS
Halfway through the ordeal, one of Flash's companions reveals there's a secret passage out of the cave. Seems like that's something he should have mentioned a lot earlier! And then after almost everyone gets out, Flash detonates a cache of explosives to bury the villains. Where did those come from?? To top it off, Flash is buried in some of the rubble, but sustains absolutely no injuries.
This anthology only contains the nine strips from 5/16/43 to 7/11/43, and it's apparent that this is only the tail end of the story. There is no desert, let alone a fiery desert. All the action takes place inside a large cave where Flash and his friends are trapped by their enemies. The nine pages show how our heroes escape the cave. The artwork is great, but the writing leaves a lot to be desired.
SPOILERS
Halfway through the ordeal, one of Flash's companions reveals there's a secret passage out of the cave. Seems like that's something he should have mentioned a lot earlier! And then after almost everyone gets out, Flash detonates a cache of explosives to bury the villains. Where did those come from?? To top it off, Flash is buried in some of the rubble, but sustains absolutely no injuries.
November 19, 2017
This volume reprints Sunday strips from May 16, 1943 through February 4, 1945. According to both Wikipedia and Ron Goulart's book THE ADVENTUROUS DECADE, Alex Raymond actually left the strip in 1944 to join the Marines. All artwork in this volume is credited to Raymond, so either the credit is wrong, those two sources are incorrect...or Raymond simply worked ahead and his work was still running in early 1945. I do know that Raymond was succeeded by his assistant, Austin Briggs and that Briggs sometimes ghosted Sunday pages for Raymond. It's quite possible, then, that the transition between those two artists wouldn't be noticeable to an untrained eye.
That said - the artwork does seem to become less detailed around late 1943. There are fewer lines, and frankly, things look a little more hurried. Make of that what you will.
A few words on the story: In 1943, the world was at war, and so was Flash Gordon. With Ming deposed, Flash finds himself fighting another tyrant in an unexplored part of Mongo. This time, he leads an army, and wartime culture is all over this volume. Flash is brave and patriotic, and like George S. Patton, he has no use for cowards. Raymond - or maybe it's scripter Don Moore - seem to have pretty specific views on gender roles, too, and while the male characters are expected to wage war and protect the women, loyalty to male heroes seems to be the most virtuous trait for females. A gender studies scholar could probably have a field day with this series. While these stories are unquestionably dated, I still enjoy the old-time sense of escapism that they embody.
That said - the artwork does seem to become less detailed around late 1943. There are fewer lines, and frankly, things look a little more hurried. Make of that what you will.
A few words on the story: In 1943, the world was at war, and so was Flash Gordon. With Ming deposed, Flash finds himself fighting another tyrant in an unexplored part of Mongo. This time, he leads an army, and wartime culture is all over this volume. Flash is brave and patriotic, and like George S. Patton, he has no use for cowards. Raymond - or maybe it's scripter Don Moore - seem to have pretty specific views on gender roles, too, and while the male characters are expected to wage war and protect the women, loyalty to male heroes seems to be the most virtuous trait for females. A gender studies scholar could probably have a field day with this series. While these stories are unquestionably dated, I still enjoy the old-time sense of escapism that they embody.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews