THE EVERLASTING FIRST: Flash Gordon

Continuing a look back at my first exposure to a number of rock 'n' roll acts and superheroes (or other denizens of print or periodical publication), some of which were passing fancies, and some of which I went on to kinda like. They say you never forget your first time; that may be true, but it's the subsequent visits--the second time, the fourth time, the twentieth time, the hundredth time--that define our relationships with the things we cherish. Ultimately, the first meeting is less important than what comes after that. But every love story still needs to begin with that first kiss.

This was originally posted as part of a longer piece covering both pop music and comic book characters. It's separated here for convenience.



This was originally posted as part of a longer piece covering both pop music and comic book characters. It's separated here for convenience.

In 1964 to maybe '66 or so, our neighborhood rocket ship was parked in my back yard.

There was a large weeping willow towering above the ground behind my house, a tree that the kids on my block could climb and capture and, more importantly, use the boundless power of imagination to launch into outer space, and then fire retro rockets to land on exciting distant planets. With adventure in our hearts and rayguns at our side, the universe was ours! We were Flash Gordon!

Flash Gordon was probably my first superhero, maybe even before Popeye, and certainly before Batman. All the kids on my block watched reruns of the 1930s Flash Gordon movie serials starring Buster Crabbe; the serials were shown every freakin' day on Channel 9 by Baron Daemon, Syracuse's popular TV vampire. Baron Daemon, played by local hambone Mike Price, was a superstar to us kids, and I still regard him as a superstar, honestly. Price was just terrific at chewing the scenery, yukkin' it up, and doing broad schtick and corny comedy to the delight and merriment of every child in the greater Syracuse area. I tell ya, Baron Daemon shoulda been nationwide, and his local hit, "Transylvania Twist," is timeless and irresistible:

 

I hate to be judgmental, but if you don't dig this, then there's something wrong with you.

Price began his Baron Daemon character as the host of Channel 9's weekend monster movies, but the Baron proved so popular that he was given a weekday afternoon slot, The Baron & His Buddies. And, in between Baron Daemon's comic turns, he would show cartoons (including Astro Boy, another favorite!) and he would show Flash Gordon.

As a kid of four or five, I had no friggin' clue what was going on with Flash Gordon. But I knew that Flash was the good guy, and that he would pilot his rocket ship fearlessly through space. I don't even remember Dr. Zarkov, the chick Dale Arden, or the evil Ming the Merciless; Flash Gordon was all we kids on Richardson Drive needed to know. Good thing, too, because I wasn't the only clueless one at the time. I remember watching Flash Gordon, and hearing references to Earth, and thinking to myself, We must live on Earth! I shared this revelation with some friends, and they replied, No! We don't live on Earth! Earth is a planet! NO, IT'S NOT!, I replied, certain that I'd gained cosmic knowledge that my peers just couldn't grasp. I would now like to take a time-traveling rocket ship back to 1964 and give myself such a smack.

(And speaking of giving me a smack: I'm not sure how my parents resisted sending me to the moon--Bang! ZOOM!--when I effectively ruined our little TV set while playing Flash Gordon, moving the antenna and twiddling the knobs as if it were the control panel of a rocket ship. Oy....)



Within a few years' time, Flash Gordon was replaced as our science-fiction reference point by Lost In Space and Star Trek, though I didn't really become a fan of the latter until reruns in the '70s. Although ol' Flash was inarguably one of the most popular heroes of the '30s and '40s, his time had largely passed by the '60s. As far as I can recall, his comic strip was not carried in either of our local papers, The Post Standard and The Herald-Journal. I didn't see a Flash Gordon comic book until 1966 or later, when King Comics began its own short-lived comics line. King's titles were sold in multi-packs--three comics in one bag--so my Flash Gordon comic (purchased at Clancy's Silver Star in North Syracuse) came with an issue of The Phantom and an issue of Mandrake The Magician. The Flash Gordon comic had absolutely gorgeous artwork by Al Williamson. Charlton Comics picked up the Flash Gordon license from King in the late '60s, but I don't think I saw those until much later. Beyond that, my only other Flash Gordon memory in the '60s is via Captain Action, the superhero action figure from Ideal; Flash Gordon was one of the licensed superheroes that Captain Action could transform himself into.

Hey, cool illo of Flash Gordon by artist Murphy Anderson!

My Flash Gordon fandom grew a bit in the '70s. I saw the original serials at matinee showings, and picked up a few Flash Gordon paperback novels, as well. Plus, there was the dirty-movie parody Flesh Gordon, which screened on a double bill with The Cheerleaders at The North Drive-In in Cicero.




Alas, I hated the late '70s Flash Gordon movie that came out in the wake of Star Wars' success; one can only wonder what would have happened if Star Wars auteur George Lucas had been successful in his original, thwarted effort to license the rights to a Flash Gordon feature instead; it would have deprived the world of both Darth Vader and slave-girl Princess Leia, but it would have given Flash Gordon one hell of a great return to the planet Mongo.

Eat your heart out, Dale Arden!

And I betcha kids in the '70s woulda known Earth was our home, and a planet. Stupid '60s kids....

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