When I first reviewed Flash Gordon Quarterly, I was really excited to continue the series and see more of these wild and varied twists on the Flash Gordon universe. The first issue included a noir detective story and a Western. What other cool and innovative settings would they find for these familiar characters?
But then no more issues came up for review—until now, over a year later. Fortunately, the stories in the first issue were all standalone adventures, so it should be fine to pick it up again with issue #5, right? Well, apparently I’ve missed quite a bit, because we start this issue with “Chapter 4.”
The story is titled “Flash Gordon and the Madness of M’nnngh,” and while parts of it are confusing without the first three chapters, it’s fairly easy to pick up. Dale Arden (Flash’s girlfriend) is an FBI agent, and she, Flash, and Dr. Zarkov are breaking into the archives at the Smithsonian to find a portal to another dimension. That dimension is home to the evil M’nnngh (stand-in in this story for Ming the Merciless), who has conquered his dimension and now wants to conquer ours, as well.
Over half the issue is spent on this first adventure, and while there is a fair amount of context that I’m missing, it’s still pretty fun. And this chapter does wrap up the four-part adventure, with enough room for two more standalone Flash Gordon stories.
Next up, we have a bit of a Halloween-y adventure with “The Witch Queen of Mongo Manor.” Flash, Dale, and Dr. Zarkov are paranormal investigators, checking out a crumbling, old haunted mansion, rumored to be the home of a witch and possibly other specters. As soon as they enter the house, they get separated, each having to deal with a different sort of monster. I don’t want to say too much about this one, because it’s pretty short, so anything I mention is likely to give something away. But this was my favorite of the three stories, well-written and unusual.
Finally, we end with “FlashWolf.” Our heroes all live on Aeterna Nox, which is a planet of werewolves. For twenty years, there’s been peace between the werewolf population and the non-werewolves. But it’s a tenuous peace, and a werewolf attack seems imminent. Again, the less said about this very short adventure, the better, but it’s a lot of fun for horror fans, and the artwork is great.
I really enjoy seeing all of these unique, one-off takes on the Flash Gordon universe and its characters. The stories are very different, but they all have familiar elements. It’s great seeing how many wildly diverse contexts those elements can be placed into. Whenever the next Flash Gordon Quarterly issue comes up for review, whether it’s a few months from now or another year, I’ll be eager to read it.
Creative Team: The Madness of M’nnngh – Marc Andreyko (writer), Igor Lima & Tom Derenick (artists), Mark Englert (colorist), Taylor Esposito (letterer); The Witch Queen of Mongo Manor – Jadzia Axelrod (writer), Carola Borelli (artist), Rebecca Nalty (colorist), Becca Carey (letterer); FlashWolf – Kelly Williams (writer and artist), Chas! Pangburn (letterer)
Publisher: Mad Cave Studios
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