Now That's More Like It

Merciless: The Rise of Ming tpb
Dynamite Entertainment
Scott Beatty, writer
Ron Adrian, artist

This four-issue limited series tells Emperor Ming's back story and leads directly into Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist, a series I actually found a little bit disappointing. I actually read Zeitgeist first because I received that trade in the mail a few months before this one. Not sure if the collection for Merciless was delayed for everyone or if maybe I just ordered mine late and had to wait longer for my copy to arrive, but I did order Merciless before Zeitgeist. If I'd read them in the "proper" order, maybe my perceptions of both series would be different, but that ship has sailed.

On the whole, Merciless just read better to me. Maybe it was because there were fewer expectations in the story of Ming's younger years, a subject not often breached before, versus the more well-tread path of Flash Gordon's adventures featured in Zeitgeist. I mean no disrespect to Zeitgeist scribe Eric Trautmann when I say that it might also have been the writing. I have read a number of things written by Scott Beatty and liked almost all of them. I have read only a handful of Trautmann stories and found those few a more mixed bag when it comes to lining up with my tastes.

Ming is not the only familiar character in this tale of his rise to power on Mongo. Of course, most of the races of Mongo are familiar to those who have read the exploits of Flash Gordon -- Frigians, Arborians, the Lionmen and the Hawkmen, among others -- but we also are introduced to a younger Prince Vultan before he became ruler of the winged denizens of the Aerie. We also see a young scientific researcher named Klytus rewarded for his efforts by Ming and elevated to being the new emperor's second-in-command. And we witness the birth of Ming's heir, Aura, another character quite central to the later Flash Gordon tales.

But mostly this tale centers on Ming's cunning and ruthless rise to power. His father, the Emperor Krang, seems to be an emperor in name only. Rather than ruling over the other kingdoms, he is head of a council of rulers who enjoy a shaky non-aggression pact with each other, a pact that is often broken and reformed with the whims of any of the various players.

That changes quickly once Ming decides to usurp his father's title. He does not win every one of his early campaigns, but he learns quickly from defeats and ultimately, with a few well-placed, decisive victories -- and one nasty bit of genocide -- to pull the other people of Mongo into line under his reign. And once Mongo is under Ming's complete control, he sets his sights on the rest of the universe and beyond.

As always, the Alex Ross designs and covers for this series are simply beautiful. But Ron Adrian does an excellent job, too. Adrian follows Ross' designs for these characters so closely, a casual observer might even miss the fact that one artist is responsible for the covers and another for the interiors. Kudos all around, gentlemen!

I Want To Like It So Much

Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist tpb
Eric Trautmann, writer
Daniel Indro and Ron Adrian, artists
Alex Ross, plotter and art director

Beautiful, photo-realistic covers and story concepts executed by others seems to be Alex Ross' stock-in-trade these days. The artist admits he works too slowly to handle the demands of being the sole artist on a monthly series. But when he does provide the art for the odd book from time to time, it is well worth the wait.

Adding to my appreciation for Ross' work is the fact that we are of the same mind on a number of areas of interest. Almost 15 years ago now, he collaborated on a series of picture-book style projects with Paul Dini focusing on Superman, Batman, Captain Marvel, Wonder Woman and the entire Justice League. More recently, he worked on a two-year maxi-series featuring the Justice League titled simply Justice. All of these books revealed an underlying appreciation Ross and I have in common for the old "SuperFriends" television cartoon series.

We also share a fondness for the source material for this Flash Gordon collection -- the original Alex Raymond newspaper strips, the 1979 Filmation cartoon series and the 1980 feature film starring Sam Jones, Melody Anderson and Max von Sydow. Ross cites his goal to tell the definitive Flash Gordon story, combining elements from all the previous incarnations of the character. I can appreciate that goal, and I can see the influences of each of those sources in this collected 10-issue series from Dynamite.

I also like how Ross incorporates real-world events into the story. The Flash Gordon comic strip debuted in the 1930s, so this story is also set in those times. The evil emperor Ming's advance invasion force from Mongo comes to Earth, and the aliens ally themselves with a charismatic figure who seems to be rising in power in Europe -- Adolph Hitler. While Flash, Dale Arden and Prof. Hans Zarkov are battling Ming's forces on Mongo, there are also battles going on here on Earth, between Mongo forces teamed with Nazis fighting against a resistance at least in part made up of rebels from Mongo and Ming's rule.

There is much to like about this series, and I really do appreciate a great deal of it. I think the problem comes in with this project being a little too ambitious. Some key parts of the story seem glossed over in favor of the overarching story. For instance, when Flash and his companions first travel to Mongo, they are quickly captured. Ming takes a liking to Dale and decides to keep her for himself, tries to make use of Zarkov's scientific genius for his attack on Earth, and opts to dispose of Flash by sending him to a gladiator-style tournament. Nothing new here, that is all established lore for the characters. Flash not only defeats a few opponents in the tournaments, but over time, he gains their trust and loyalty and uses them to begin forming an army to challenge Ming's tyranny.

It is an often-repeated concept simply because it is so great. And it is great to watch. But it is missing here. In just a couple pages, we see the beginning of Flash's first experience in the arena. Then some beautiful panels of random battle scenes. And then the unity has already been achieved.

Amid all of this, we get "voiceover" dialog boxes of Flash explaining the significance of the title of this collection, "Zeitgeist," which is very well written, but it's not the rallying speeches I expected to read. And this is just one example where familiar scenes are omitted simply because they are well-known. It's understood that they happened, but they are omitted here. I wish they were still there simply because they are the moments when the hero shines.

This series includes some great scenes, some incredible action, but it is missing some key things I expect from a Flash Gordon story leaving what almost feels like the Cliff's Notes version of what should be a rousing tale. Your mileage may vary, of course.