Flash Gordon #8 Review

Should Ming fear the release of this issue? Read on to find out.

The official description from Dynamite:

This is the end. The final issue by super-team Jeff Parker, Evan Shaner, and Jordie Bellaire! Flash, Dale, and Zarkov may have finally figured out a way back to Earth! But will Ming’s forces follow? Are their adventures over? Find out in the astounding final issue of Flash Gordon!

Every fanboy and fangirl needs to understand that what this title represents is a declaration of how a reboot can actually be a good thing. The creative team behind it has taken the time tested franchise and made something truly spectacular. From beginning to end this conclusion is exactly what it needed to be, as it acts as a peak of sorts for what has already been an enthralling volume.

Jeff Parker can sit proudly as the author who took the icon and created a contemporary interpretation in keeping with the intentions and works by Alex Raymond. In this yarn our heroes come face to face with their decisions, as their ultimate fate and questions about their future bubble to the surface. What’s always caught my attention is how we’re dealing with something that’s modern but, even in this finale, successfully conveys genre tropes. All the way to the end the written word brings a sense of adventure that could only be described as universal, with a cadence that expertly brought Flash Gordon back to comic racks in just the right ways.

Let me simply say that the illustrations handed in by Evan Shaner are, as always, top notch. Each page is drenched in personality and that right amount of detail in order to support the mission at hand. The characters are rendered in what could arguably be described as one of the best looking books in this or any other year. Add in the colors by Jordie Bellaire and there’s no doubt that this one dynamite team that’s made use of their time. In other words: buy this for the pretty pictures, you’ll be happy.

Flash Gordon #8 is a smart comic book that has enough worth to know how it needs to end. The whole of this volume has been fun in a way few titles can muster and for that reason plus plenty of others, all born from Kings Watch, this release earns the right to be called a must own.