Definitive Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim, Volume 1 — Alex Raymond

Created by Raymond in 1934, Flash Gordon is arguably the most famous science fiction comic strip of all time. It follows the adventures of the title character and his companions, Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov, as they leave Earth to discover the source of meteors that are threatening the planet, and get waylaid on the planet Mongo, where they battle the evil Ming the Merciless. The three Earthlings encounter one strange race after another, from the water-breathing Shark-Men of the Undersea Kingdom, the winged Hawkmen, and the ferocious Tusk-Men. All the while, Flash finds himself in the arms of one beautiful woman after another — much to Dale Arden''s chagrin.

This gigantic volume collects every Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim from the first strips on January 7, 1934 through May 31, 1936. During Raymond’s ten-plus years drawing the strips, Jungle Jim was the topper to Flash, except for a brief period in the first half of 1935 when King Features switched all their Sundays comics to individual tabloid-format pages. Every one of these rare tabloid pages—which encompass the legendary “Tournament of Mongo” sequence when Flash is pitted against gladiators from the far reaches of the planet—are included. Bruce Canwell has also written a fascinating and insightful introductory essay that unearths, for the first time, the story of Don Moore, who was Raymond’s uncredited co-writer on the strips. This volume, the first of four, begins the ultimate Flash Gordon/Jungle Jim collection.

NOMINATED FOR TWO EISNER AWARDS for BEST NEWSPAPER STRIP REPRINT and BEST BOOK DESIGN