Compare Rocket Ships Across the Solar System!
Just Imagine -- A Rocket to Mars		Snappy, Crackling Pop -- Flash Gordon
Just Imagine; An inventor resembling Frank Lloyd Wright is about to launch a Rocket Ship to Mars with two volunteers aboard. Young Maureen O'Sullivan races to see her fiancé, John Garrick, before he blasts off into the unknown.		A rogue planet is menacing Earth! Larry (Flash) Gordon and new parachute-pal Dale Arden escape an airliner crash. They join Dr. Zarkoff aboard a familiar Rocket Ship, scheming to alter the mystery planet's course.
Maureen O'Sullivan is too late to say goodbye, as the Rocket Ship lifts off in a sudden cloud of smoke and fire.		Zarkoff's Rocket Ship takes off with a little more pace, as it jets it's way into interplanetary space.
Planet Earth is hazy, with a misplaced Moon in the distance. A vaudeville comedian stows away on the Rocket Ship. (Another low-rent comic hitched a Rocket-ride in Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars, the second Universal chapter-serial.)		This inverted 'T' dial is common to both Rocket Ships. Flash Gordon's ships are more fully furnished, with a lot of electronic doo-dads on board. Receding Earth is a 3-D ball in smoggy, starry space.
One month later -- they're nearing Mars. The Rocket Ship zooms along with wheeled landing gear at the front.		Zarkoff steers through the "Death Zone," and the mystery planet rapidly comes into view. Time to hit the brakes!
Movie Mars almost looks like a moonscape mixed with a drained aquarium, as Fox's primitive Rocket Ship zips along for a few frames and skids to a sudden stop.		Planet Mongo resembles Movie Mars with it's distant  jagged mountains. A fancy Universal Studios Rocket Ship circles around in it's characteristic landing style.
A couple of Rocket Ship views from 1930, as everyone disembarks, and readies the ship for a quick getaway.		Flash, Dale, and Zarkoff jump from their gleaming, shiny Rocket Ship in 1936, but are soon in monstrous trouble!
Exploration of Mars begins, but true-to-form for our species the space pilots carry guns. They don't need them right now -- the local civilization sends a fetching emissary.		A loud, buzzing Rocket Ship, with sparkly, smoking side-pipes, arrives just in time. It's circular landing is seen in the credits of every chapter of the first serial.
Their guide leads them through a crystalline palace, while bouffant-coiffed female courtiers wave their greetings.		Flash, Dale, and Zarkoff observe the Rocket Ship's descent. Notice it's front spike, and Ultra-Deco detailing.
The emissary presents the Earthlings to her Martian Queen, played by actress Joyzelle. Echoes of Haggard's She Who Must Be Obeyed reverberate in outer space.		As the strange Rocket Ship plops to a stop, a detachment of flat-topped heavy-metal soldiers emerges, led by a pointy-headed chrome-plated captain.
Good Queen Joyzelle is gentle, friendly, and attractive in a bizarre glittering way. She communicates by pantomime and gestures, but what is she trying to say?		Flash tries to shake hands, but the troopers arrest them. (They speak English too!) Every serial chapter starts with our heroes marching into trouble at Ming's court!
Compare Choreography, Love & More Rockets in our Next Episode! Just Imagine and Flash Gordon are the property of their copyright holders.  All images are used for scholastic purposes ONLY in the context of this article.  Text and graphic design copyright by Michael R. Evans 2005