It can’t be overstated just how much of an influence Flash Gordon was on the early drafts of Star Wars and our very own RPG Editor Jonathan Hicks, over at his excellent RPG site Farsight Blogger takes a look at the man who only had 24 hours to save the earth, and did it.
This year (back on January 7th to be exact) is the 80th anniversary of Flash Gordon, and it’s stuff like this – damn big hero stories – that got me into classic science fiction.
I used to watch the Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers serials on television in the 1980s, all the classic Larry ‘Buster’ Crabbe adventures, along with others such as Radar Men from the Moon (that’s where ‘Commander Cody’ comes from, Star Wars fans!) and The Phantom Empire. I love them, especially Flash, as it’s straight forward no-nonsense adventure, where you get to explore strange lands and meet new friends and enemies. Flash Gordon isn’t some tortured soul or reluctant hero, he’s a fists-first adventurous man who fights for what he knows is right. There’s no messing around with Flash – if he sees injustice he’ll fight, no matter the odds, and he never gives up. Big damn hero, indeed.