FLASH GORDON PART 10

“TRIUMPH IN TROPICA”
by Alex Raymond & Don Moore

And now we reach the finale of Alex Raymond’s ten-year run on FLASH GORDON. When last we left our heroes, Flash and Dale had made their way into Tropica’s capitol with the assistance of an elderly woman named Tartara and her perennially shell-shocked son, Timor.

Timor quickly turns coward and tries to hand Flash and Dale over to King Brazor’s secret police, but our heroes escape with the assistance of a criminal named Trico. Trico introduces Flash to the Underground, a resistance group working against Brazor. Flash quickly assumes command of the Underground. Meanwhile, Brazor plots Desira’s execution. Flash and Trico work to rescue her, even as news from the front lines comes in: the army of Gundar, which had lain siege to the capitol, has been wiped out.

Amid all this, a female member of the Underground, Gypsa — a beautiful dancer — has made clear her lust for Flash. But, in a surprising twist, there’s no zany misunderstanding on anyone’s part. Flash shuts Gypsa down, Dale retains control of her emotions, and Gypsa — after a brief flash of anger — takes it all in stride, continuing to assist Flash in his mission. It’s all quite refreshing.

In the end, Flash and Trico rescue Desira, with Gundar, having survived the routing of his forces, arriving to help as well. Brazor is killed in action, and Desira is restored as queen of Tropica, with plans to marry Gundar.

Note that there’s no sign of Zarkov above. He hasn’t been seen at all since the siege of the capitol started, when he was instructed by Gundar to lead part of the assault. Even as this adventure draws to a close, with Flash and Dale merrily going on their way in a craft provided by Desira, Zarkov is totally absent. Mind you, this is par for the course as far as the good doctor is concerned, but it’s still odd to see Flash and Dale leave this place where they’ve spent so much time — they’re clearly bound for Mongo proper, per Dale — with nary a thought for their missing ally.

The artwork, which I noted seemed very simplified in the final pages of the prior arc, recovers somewhat throughout “Triumph”; it never retains the level of detail that previously defined it, but it’s better. I’ve determined that this change may be due in part to the fact that Raymond was relying heavily on his assistant, Austin Briggs — who would go on to become the regular Sunday artist following Raymond’s departure — for these final chapters. Is this an indication that Raymond was finally losing interest in Flash? It seems plausible.

Overall, “Triumph” comes with the feeling that we’ve gone through all these motions before. Raymond’s previously wild imagination seems kind of lackluster here. Even as recently as “Fiery Desert of Mongo”, we saw the old Raymond in action with an “Arabian Knights” pastiche. This Tropica stuff started off strong, with enough differences from prior arcs to make it interesting. But at this point, everything feels like a repeat of stuff we’ve seen earlier (sometimes more than once): Brazor is a stand-in for Ming, Desira plays Dale’s damsel in distress role (even as Dale herself participates in the action alongside Flash). Gundar fills Barin’s role as the loyal ally. The Underground is the Freemen, and Tropica’s capitol is Mingo City.

Mind you, I’m not necessarily complaining about the repetition in the storyline. That’s to be expected in a serialized saga that spans a decade. It’s more the fact that previously, Raymond would dress up his repetition by sending Flash off to various new and exotic locales. And while Tropica began as another such setting, by the end it’s become pretty much a direct copy of Mongo.

So overall, what are my thoughts on Alex Raymond’s FLASH GORDON?

For the most part, I liked it. From the outset, it’s imaginative and exciting. Yes, the afore-mentioned repetition pops up fairly quickly, but as noted above, Raymond generally finds new and interesting ways to repeat himself, if nothing else. And besides that, by the time Raymond starts hitting certain beats over and over, the artwork has become so sublime that story issues can mostly be overlooked. It’s just unfortunate that in the end, story and art both fizzle out.

I would’ve liked to have seen more of the exotic trappings of Mongo continue throughout the serial. While I'm certainly okay with Raymond playing down the overt racist elements of Ming and his people, we also lose groups like the Lion Men, Hawk Men, etc. Key characters in most adaptations, they all vanish very early in the source material. Further, the clothing of Mongo’s citizens eventually begins to resemble plain Earth garments rather than interesting sci-fi outfits. Even Mongo’s society comes to look a lot like Earth’s by the end. Of course this is all so Raymond can use the various conflicts on Mongo as a stand-in for World War II, but in doing so, a lot of the charm of his earliest work vanishes.

So there are ups and down to the entire saga. I’m happy to finally say I read it, though, and I'm certain I'll revisit it -- at least to browse the artwork -- a few more times over the years. This strip has been on my short list for a long time, and thanks to Titan Books, I can cross it off at last.