30 January 2021

Flash Gordon Inspiration: Coloring and Activity Book

Adventures of Flash Gordon Coloring and Activity Book from 1979.

This is the cover of the Adventures of Flash Gordon Coloring and Activity Book, published in 1979, the same year as the Flash Gordon animated television series. I can't remember if my first exposure to Flash Gordon was the animated series or the film serials starring Buster Crabbe (which I probably watched on Matinee at the Bijou on PBS), but I was a big fan of both. Later, I was equally a fan of the original comic strip and the 1980 film starring Sam Jones. Last year, I bought the The Savage World of Flash Gordon for Savage Worlds, and with any luck I'll be running it for my players this year.

In the meantime, I'll be sharing thoughts and occasional images related to Flash Gordon's universe, such as this coloring book I acquired when I was ten years old and somehow managed to preserve into the 21st century. Being a children's coloring book, it isn't challenging, but perhaps someday its contents will inspire an adventure. (I'd scan it in its entirety, but I'm concerned the process might damage it.)

[Edit: This was originally entitled "Flash Gordon Inspiration 1," but I have since decided to differientiate the articles in this series by subject.]

Flash Gordon's 44th Anniversary: The Film

On this day in 1980, Flash Gordon made its feature film debut in the cinemas of a planet known as... "Earth." Starring Sam J. ...