| Flash
Gordon Conquers Universal
Pictures: The
3rd Serial |
| Ch.
8: In The Land of Rock Men and Monsters |
|
Saturday's
serial returns to the desolation around Ming's palace -- Iguana-like monsters,
sand, caves, rocks, and supposedly nothing else. |
Alex Raymond's Mongo had more variety -- although it began as a landscape of moon-like
crags and sharp mountains, populated by hungry creatures, and mean-spirited minions
of Emperor Ming. |
|
Lady
Sonja and Ming's soldiers set up a trap for Zarkov
and his party of Arborians
and Earthpeople. |
In the Sunday pages, Ming just attacked with overwhelming force whenever
he got word of Flash Gordon's whereabouts. |
|
Since
this episode is not related to the comic strip much, let's talk about Anne Gwynne.
She was a popular pinup model during World War Two, and her portrayal of a villainess
didn't seem to hurt her career. |
A nearly-forgotten tribe of Rock Men live in the wastelands.
They capture Lady
Sonja and Ming's soldiers -- but the
booby-trap blows up near the Arborian
expedition,
and the Earth People are captured too! |
|
Flash
Gordon and his band fall prey to the Rock Men,
after a cliffhanger where Ming's
land mine explodes. |
Earlier that year, Flash was also captured and knocked unconscious by primitive
men in the newspapers. |
|
Flash,
Dale, and Zarkov were held prisoner by cave
dwellers many times in
the strip and movies. |
Once Flash and Zarkov escape in the serial,
Dale is in REAL trouble with the
angry Rock Men. |
|
Zarkov
and Flash spend Saturday afternoon saving Dale's life by finding the missing Rock
Prince. | Flash
usually used brawn while Zarkov used brains
to rescue Dale in the Sunday comic
pages. |
|
The
idea of Flash Gordon saving the life of a prince had been used in one of Raymond's
earliest adventures. | The
Rock Prince thwarts Sonja's getaway. Friend and foe
alike take off to Arboria
for the next battle with Ming. |
| |
