Flash Gordon Rules

Flash Gordon Rules is a repository of images of Flash Gordon memorabilia (presumably from the author's collection) with an accompanying blog. It does not seem to have been updated since 2017, but the images offer a glimpse of the various ways Flash Gordon has made a cultural impact throughout the world since the 1930s.

Alex Raymond Profile

Joshua Burnett has penned "A Profile of Legendary Illustrator Alex Raymond" (otherwise known as the original artist and co-creator of Flash Gordon), which can be found on the Goodman Games site.

Where Are the Robots?

I find it curious that in the first eight or ten years of the Flash Gordon comic strip, not a single robot makes an appearance. As far as I can tell, the first time a robot appears in any version of Flash Gordon is in the 1940 motion picture serial, Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, which introduces the Annihilatons. I've made it to 7 September 1942 in the dailies and 4 February 1945 in the Sundays, and not a robot is to be seen. All of this causes me to wonder: Was the absence of robots in the comic strip deliberate, or was it an oversight? If the absence was deliberate, what was the reason? And who was the first artist to bring robots to the strip? I can't wait to find out...

Flash Gordon Thought of the Day 2023-07-15

In my opinion, the following (presented in chronologial order) are the three best examples of Flash Gordon in any media:

• The Flash Gordon Sunday comic strips drawn by Alex Raymond,
• The Flash Gordon movie serials starring Larry "Buster" Crabbe, and
• Flash Gordon, the 1980 movie starring Sam Jones.

There are many other examples that are quite good, but this, for me, is the Flash Gordon trinity.

Savage News: SWADE 5th Printing and Player's Book

The Savage Worlds 20th Anniversary Collection is being crowdfunded via Kickstarter and will consist of a 5th printing of SWADE, a softcover Player's Book with five different covers, and a new accessory box full of accessories. You can pledge through 27 July 2023. Click on the link for details.

Flash Gordon Initialisms: A Proposal

If we ever need or want a shorthand for referring to various Flash Gordon media, I would propose the following:

FG: SC

Flash Gordon: Sunday Comic Strip

Flash Gordon

FG: DC

Flash Gordon: Daily Comic Strip

Flash Gordon

FG: RS1

Flash Gordon: Radio Show 1

The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon (1935)

FG: RS2

Flash Gordon: Radio Show 2

The Further Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon (1935-1936)

FG: MS1

Flash Gordon: Movie Serial 1

Flash Gordon (1936)

FG: MS2

Flash Gordon: Movie Serial 2

Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars (1938)

FG: MS3

Flash Gordon: Movie Serial 3

Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe (1940)

FG: TV1

Flash Gordon: Television Series 1

Flash Gordon (1954-1955)

FG: AS1

Flash Gordon: Animated Series 1

Flash Gordon (1979-1982)

FG: TM

Flash Gordon: The Movie

Flash Gordon (1980)

FG: AS2

Flash Gordon: Animated Series 2

Flash Gordon (1996-1997)

FG: TV2

Flash Gordon: Television Series 2

Flash Gordon: A Modern Space Opera (2007-2008)

Peoples of Mongo and the Peculiarities of Their Nomenclature

A glance at the Peoples of Mongo list will reveal some obvious inconsistencies in how they are named. In 1934, the first year of the Flash Gordon comic strip, there are Lionmen and Hawkmen as well as Shark Men and Red Monkey Men. For the sake of consistency, should it not be Lion Men and Hawk Men to match the latter two or Sharkmen and Red Monkeymen to match the former pair? Alas, in 1935, we are introduced not to Tuskmen or Tusk Men, but to Tusk-Men. Hyphenated. Whether it's ___men, ___ Men, or ___-Men, it's an unfortunate masculine emphasis that ignores the ___women, ___ Women, and ___-Women. All of this is avoided by the Fire People who appear in November 1935 and the Sea Folk who appear in April 1936. Meanwhile, you have Prince Barin's followers who are known variously as Tree Men, Forest People, or Arborians. Arborians is the first instance of a people of Mongo who are named for a specific geographic location. They will be followed by the Frigians in 1939 and the Tropicans in 1940.

What a mess.

Obviously, Alex Raymond and Don Moore couldn't be bothered to concern themselves with consistency when it came to naming (or spelling) things, but I can. For the sake of running The Savage World of Flash Gordon or any other role-playing adaptation of Flash Gordon in a manner that doesn't make my editing muscles twitch, I am instituting the following:

All peoples of Mongo will be known as ___ People or by a name derived from their geographic origin. Individuals may be identified as ___ Man, ___ Woman, or ___ Person as appropriate.

This is not meant to be a lecture on gender identification or anything of the sort. This is just my own solution to sloppiness. Please feel free to adopt it in your own games and fan fiction.

Flash Gordon Actual Play Video

Unbeknownst to me until a few seconds ago, there was a Savage World of Flash Gordon actual play video uploaded to YouTube courtesy of Saving Throw back in January 2018. Hosted by the game's creator, Scott Woodard, it features Allisyn Ashley Arm (now Allisyn Snyder), Dylan Riley Snyder, Jennifer Kretchner, and Jordan Caves-Callarman. (Allisyn Snyder, incidentally, played my favorite character on A.P. Bio, which can be seen on the Peacock streaming service.) As I only just became aware of this, I'll have to comment at a later date, but I expect it will be entertaining and elucidating.

Happy actual play-viewing!

Flash Gordon Video from Analog Toys

Analog Toys has a video on YouTube featuring Flash Gordon toys entitled Top 10 Best Vintage Flash Gordon Toys. Enjoy!

Savage Worlds Thought of the Day 2023-02-28

I think the best fit for the next Judge Dredd role-playing adaptation would be either Savage Worlds or The D6 System 2nd edition glimpsed in Zorro: The Roleplaying Game. I mentioned it in an earlier article in Decidedly Six-Sided after EN Publishing announced the end of Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000 A.D. In terms of production value, Pinnacle would do a better job than any other publisher, and, unlike EN Publishing, ensure it was legible.

Accessible Gaming Quarterly Year 4 Crowdfunding Project

I shall be posting this to each of my five gaming blogs because the cause is worthy and time is of the essence. Jacob Wood of Accessible Games has launched Accessible Gaming Quarterly Year 4, a crowdfunding project on Kickstarter to produce four more issues of Accessible Gaming Quarterly, "a zine about accessibility and inclusion in tabletop RPGs." As it states on the project page, "This project will only be funded if it reaches its goal by Thu, March 9 2023 11:59 PM EST." AGQ provides a much-needed service in this hobby, and I hope you will join me in lending support.

Jacob Wood is also the designer of several role-playing games based on Fudge including Monster Kart Mayhem, Psi-punk, and Survival of the Able.

Purchase Accessible Games products here.

Reverse the Polarity of the Blog!

No, I am not changing this blog; I am ending the experimental change of this blog's title and returning it to its original state: Savage Arts & Sciences. I think it lost views during the experiment, if that can be believed. (I might be this blog's only reader now.)

Well, I think that's enough melodrama for now.

NEXT TIME: BLOG CRASHLANDS ON MONGO!

Flash Gordon/Savage Worlds Thought of the Day 2023-01-21

Given the lack of traction, I wonder if I ought to have made Flash Gordon the primary focus of this blog. I could have kept the Savage Worlds content (and increased it), but a few changes here and there — such as an overt reference to Flash Gordon in the blog's title — might have led to a wider readership than the average of 2.5 views per day. Would it have made a difference? Is it too late to try? I could change the title right now, but would anyone notice? What do I have to lose? Literally nothing, apparently.(Please forgive the soliloquy.) Very well, I'll change the title and see if anything changes in terms of views or comments (of which there is exactly one in the history of this blog thus far). As of now, the title of this blog shall be changed from Savage Arts & Sciences: Role-Playing in Savage Worlds to Flash of Inspiration: Flash Gordon and His Universe. We'll see how it goes. Maybe it will be temporary; maybe it will be eternal.

Flash Gordon Inspiration: The First Animated Series (Season 2)

Season 2 of the Flash Gordon animated series was eagerly anticipated by fans of Season 1, but like so many other second seasons of science fiction television shows of that era, it was destined to disappoint us. The cliffhanger endings and overarching plots were abandoned as a matter of convenience, which resulted in a loss of dramatic urgency and purpose. Instead of each episode representing a chapter in a continuing story, it was chopped into two unrelated, self-contained mini-episodes. Scenes were recycled even more heavily than in the first season. Humor was attempted with increasingly lame one-liners and joke endings. And most notoriously of all, it introduced a new main character: Gremlin.

Gremlin was a pink baby dragon that filled the ostensibly cute comedy relief role popularized by R2D2 in Star Wars. At that time, it seemed every science fiction or fantasy television show had a mascot of this sort calculated to appeal to younger viewers and parents. At first, predictably, it was robots: Buck Rogers in the 25th Century had Twiki, Battlestar Galactica had Muffit II, Jason of Star Command had W1K1, Space Academy had Peepo. Soon, it was wee folk: Blackstar had the Trobbits, He-Man and the Masters of the Universe had Orko, She-Ra: Princess of Power had the Twiggets. There are many examples, but Gremlin was one of the earliest in animated shows.

Gremlin didn't appeal to me or anyone I knew. He seemed to be not of the Flash Gordon universe, but rather an obvious intrusion from an entirely different genre. With Gremlin's introduction as a central character, the show was effectively rebranding itself as entertainment for the youngest possible audience and thereby alienating its existing fanbase (at least as far as I knew). The animated series ended upon the second season's conclusion, and it would not surprise me if Gremlin were part of the reason.

I probably stopped watching the animated series after one or two episodes of the second season when it originally aired. I felt betrayed and insulted by its abandonment of what made Flash Gordon great. I've seen them all now, thanks to the DVD collection, but watching Season 2 is a joyless slog. There is nothing inspiring here. My suggestion is to move on or return to Season 1, which may not be perfect, but at least it is Gremlin-free.