Flash Gordon Volume 4: The Storm Queen of Valkir

by Don Moore, Austin Briggs

Overview

Science fiction’s most enduring icon Flash Gordon returns in newly restored editions, collecting his ongoing adventures on the mysterious planet Mongo. In this volume, two new evil tyrants rise up to fill the vacuum left by the death of Ming, the Merciless. The Storm Queen of Valkir and now Flash must once again fight not just for his very life, but for the lives of us all. ‘The Storm Queen of Valkir’ reprints all of Austin Briggs’ Sunday strips from August 20, 1944 to July 25, 1948, restored from the original tearsheets to present the series as intended and includes a feature on the artist Austin Briggs, who took over from the strip’s original artist, Alex Raymond.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781782769064
Publisher:	Titan Comics
Publication date:	10/20/2015
Series:	Flash Gordon
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	65 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Don Moore was the writer of the Flash Gordon, taking over scriptwriting duties from strip creator Alex Raymond in August 1935. Moore was a former pulp editor.
Raymond was the creator of several strips at the time; Flash Gordon, Secret Agent X-9, Jungle Jim; and needed Moore's scripting assistance. Moore lasted on the strip beyond Raymond's tenure

Austin Briggs (August 9, 1908 – October 10, 1973)
After working for a while at advertising agency, he became an assistant to the cartoonist Alex Raymond on Flash Gordon and succeeded him on Secret Agent Corrigan. In 1940 he drew a Flash Gordon Daily strip which he stayed on until about 1944. He drew the prestigious Flash Gordon Sunday strip from 1944 until 1948He was one of the founding faculty for the Famous Artists School. In 1969 he was elected to the Society of Illustrators’ Hall of Fame.

Editorial Reviews

★ 01/01/2016
Much of the great appeal and influence of the classic Flash Gordon newspaper strip, begun in 1934, is owing to the masterful, dynamic illustration of its founding artist, Alex Raymond. Unusually, the strip has recently been collected in two simultaneous, competing reprint series, from Titan and IDW (a review of Titan's Volume 1 [LJ 1/13; see ow.ly/VAEJu] compares them). The IDW series ends shortly after Raymond left the strip in 1944, yet Titan continues forward here with the remaining 1944–48 work of Raymond's successor Briggs, most of it never before reprinted. The tyrant Ming has been overthrown, but Flash and his companions, Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov, battle Ming's cruel son Kang and continue their adventures through the planet Mongo's many exotic civilizations. Briggs's work is less lush and polished than Raymond's, and his human figure renderings, though fine, can't match Raymond's stellar example. The writing has declined as well, with repetitive situations and preposterously revealing character names (the evil Evila, the traitor Traito). Yet the stories still provide pulpy fun. VERDICT For collections in which classic comic strips or previous Flash Gordon volumes are popular.—SR

Library Journal