Kings Watch Volume 1: Flash Gordon, the Phantom, Mandrake the Magician (KINGS WATCH TP)

I am a big fan of the old strip comics from King Features. I think it is a medium of expression that it's not done the way it used to be, and that the three iconic characters that appear in this comic book paved the way to the superheroes as we know them today. I am especially a big fan of The Phantom, and I am looking to complete the Moonstone era little by little. As you will understand, I was really looking forward to this comic book. There has been some speculation about the new Phantom film, and the most enthusiastic people are even dreaming of a Defenders of the Earth film. I don't know if that will ever happen, but this is not to be discussed here. As I say, I had so much faith in this comic book, in the perspective of seeing Flash Gordon, Mandrake and The Phantom together. Instead, I found myself trying to like the story and the characters. But, as much as I tried, I couldn't.***ATTENTION! SPOILER ALERT!***The story in itself is not too bad. The Cobra is working alongside Ming the Merciless -and Narda, Mandrake's wife- to open a series of portals between Earth and Mongo using an ancient gateway known as the Kings Watch. Due to this, people all over Earth are suffering the same nightmares day after day. At the same time, Dr. Zharkhov has created a spaceship -well, more like a jet- that can get into space in mere seconds thanks to a strange crystal that can bend, er, space rules. Turns out this crystal is one of two that the Cobra needs to open the Kings Watch. This involves Flash Gordon into the plot, since he was helping Zharkhov with his tests. Mandrake is warned about this by an ancient demon he trapped long time ago, but he is not sure about intervening. Only after Lothar is nearly killed in the jungles of Bangalla, and saved by the Phantom, he decides to take part and help the other two heroes save the world. The rest, well, you can read it by yourself...I could have liked the story, if it wasn't because, in my opinion, the writer didn't get the characters right. Maybe it is my nostalgia about the three of them, but they don't sound the way they used to in the daily strip. Flash Gordon is probably the one who is better built, and I love how the writer ridicules some facts of his life that seem really dated (e.g playing polo). You can tell the book is a vehicle for him. With Mandrake he does a decent job, but the wizard doesn't have the same charm he used to have, unfortunately. However, what I cannot forgive Parker is the treatment he has done of The Phantom. Apart from the fact that he is underused, the writer just throws the back story of the character down the toilet and turns it into a travesty. I can understand that they wanted to make it more realistic, that there was the chance that the line might be broken at some point. But really, was that the solution? And, honestly, making Lothar take the mantle of The Phantom? LOTHAR????END OF THE SPOILERSSumming up, a fair try and a show of what this could have been. I suppose I should have faith and wait for the continuation of the series, but really, if this is the path it is going to take, I'd rather start collecting the Moonstone run of The Phantom. At least I know they were giving this awesome character the treatment it deserves. If you are a hardcore fan of the characters and don't mind the huge changes they make to some of them, you might enjoy this. But again, if you are a hardcore fan you will probably not like the changes. Maybe it is a good comic-book to introduce the characters to a new generation. As for old -well, not that old!- fans like me, I 'd rather stick to the old stories or to new ones that respect the source material much more...

This was excellent neo-pulp.

Another great title from Dynamite! This is a vehicle for Flash Gordon and an origins novel for him and The Phantom. Phantom has a history with Mandrake but they meet up with Flash and Zarkov who are just getting started out on their space exploration but their first foray has mixed up the plans of The Cobra who just happens to be working for Ming. Along with Dale and Lothar this group travels to Africa to foil Ming's merciless plot to take over the Earth. This is my first time reading Flash Gordon, though I'm a big fran from the serials of the '30s and the cult '80s movie. Even though Gordon is most definitely the centre of attention here his world is entwined with The Phantom's and thus it satisfies my "masked hero" love at the same time. This was my first intro to Phantom's world and I loved it. He and Mandrake have a supernatural element about them using real magic giving Africa an even more exotic feel to it, just like the original comics these guys are based on. A fun romp with monsters and mayhem, crossing Africa's jungle dangers with space travel and evil alien empire lords. The art was fantastic and the story was pure pulp. Loved it!

Ohhhh, this one hurts!Jeff Parker is one of my favourite new writers thanks to his Bat-tastic work on Batman ’66, so it’s super-disappointing to discover that his King’s Watch series for Dynamite completely stinks.How’s this for the world’s worst “superhero” team: Flash Gordon, Mandrake the Magician and the Phantom? They have to team up for some reason to defeat Ming the Merciless from opening a portal on Earth and sending through his useless animal/man armies to conquer the planet.Who is Flash Gordon? He’s just a man… with a man’s courage… no, I can’t sing that awesome song here! Seriously, Flash is just a dude SAVIOUR OF THE UNIVERSE!! and has no powers. What’s special about him? He starred in AH AHHH! a cult b-movie in the early ‘80s that had the best theme song ever. But as one third of a force to GORDON’S ALIVE?!?! repel an alien army on a global scale? Come on, he was a freakin’ quarterback!The Phantom is a crappy version of Batman. He lives in a Skull Cave in Africa but he’s white?! He has stripey underpants and shoots guns. How does he fight Ming’s armies? With a pair of pistols! What’s special about these pistols? Nothing!Mandrake, the cut price Doctor Strange, is the only one of the three who made any kind of sense. He can make illusions that fight, he can cast epic spells, and all kinds of useful things.Together, they are the worst “superhero” team ever, even worse than New 52 Justice League of America – and those guys had Vibe!These are the chaps who somehow manage to defeat millions of alien warriors?! Those fight scenes were so unconvincing, watching Flash tackle aliens football-style and Phantom firing his handguns, both totally open to be shot – they would’ve been killed in no time!Why does Ming want to take over Earth? Because that’s what bad guys do. But the fact that he couldn’t do it because these three clowns stopped him makes him one of the most incompetent villains ever.But maybe Parker’s being tongue in cheek like he was when he wrote Batman ’66, you say? Nope, King’s Watch was written totally straight. We’re actually supposed to believe these three saved the world!Mark Laming’s art is pretty good – he’s got the range to draw characters as diverse as monster men from outer space, weird magical goings-on, big battle scenes, and is comfortable with urban and jungle backgrounds. It’s artwork that’s perfectly suited to mainstream hero comics.King’s Watch is awful: the story is flat, boring and corny as hell, the writing is forgettable, none of the action is convincing, and the finale is rushed through in a handful of pages. And what was the King’s Watch again – did they even explain that? And how were everyone’s weird dreams at the start connected in any way to what happened in the second half of the book?Man, this sucked! I loved your work on Batman ‘66, Jeff Parker, but King’s Watch was miles away from that high level of quality.