flashlogoFor the first time, Alex Raymond's classic Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim are collected together, in the oversized 12" x 16" champagne edition format that lets us see the strips as he originally intended. Created by Raymond in 1934, Flash Gordon is arguably the most famous science fiction comic strip of all time. It follows the adventures of the title character and his two companions—Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov—on the planet Mongo, where they battle the evil Ming the Merciless. The neglected classic Jungle Jim was created as a topper to Flash and tells of Jim Bradley as he fights pirates, slave traders, and assorted villains in the exotic Southeast Asia of the 1930s. The real star of both strips, however, is Alex Raymond's incredibly lush and lyrical artwork, which continues to inspire artists today.

    Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim Vol. 1: 1934-1936

    by Alex Raymond
    Writing assist by Don Moore. Edited by Dean Mullaney, Designed by Lorraine Turner. Introduction by Bruce Canwell.

    NOMINATED FOR TWO EISNER AWARDS for BEST NEWSPAPER STRIP REPRINT and BEST BOOK DESIGN

    "This meticulously remastered and restored edition…will be the definitive edition for the ages."—Bud Plant

    This gigantic volume collects every Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim from the first strips on January 7, 1934 through May 31, 1936. During Raymond's ten-plus years drawing the strips, Jungle Jim was the topper to Flash, except for a brief period in the first half of 1935 when King Features switched all their Sundays comics to individual tabloid-format pages. Every one of these rare tabloid pages—which encompass the legendary "Tournament of Mongo" sequence when Flash is pitted against gladiators from the far reaches of the planet—are included. Bruce Canwell has also written a fascinating and insightful introductory essay that unearths, for the first time, the story of Don Moore, who was Raymond's uncredited co-writer on the strips. This volume, the first of four, begins the ultimate Flash Gordon/Jungle Jim collection.

    Champagne edition 12" x 16" hardcover, 156 pp., $75.00. ISBN: 978-1-61377-015-3.

    Click here to find your local comics shop, or…

    Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim Vol. 2: 1936-1939

    by Alex Raymond
    Writing assist by Don Moore. Edited by Dean Mullaney, Designed by Lorraine Turner. Introduction by Bruce Canwell.

    This gigantic volume collects every Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim from June 7, 1936 through March 5, 1939. The introductory material includes a look at the Flash Gordon movie serials. This volume is the second in a series of four.

    Champagne edition 12" x 16" hardcover, 156 pp., $75.00. ISBN: 978-1-61377-220-1.

    Click here to find your local comics shop, or…

    Coming Soon

    Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim Vol. 3: 1939-1941

    by Alex Raymond
    Writing assist by Don Moore. Edited by Dean Mullaney, Designed by Lorraine Turner. Introduction by Bruce Canwell.

    This gigantic volume collects every Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim from March 12, 1939 through December 28, 1941. The introductory material includes a discussion of Raymond's art by Joe Kubert and Howard Chaykin and a look at the influence on Raymond of the Clark brothers—Benton and Matt. This volume is the third in a series of four.

    Champagne edition 12" x 16" hardcover, 156 pp., $75.00

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Alex Raymond (1909-1956) is regarded, with Milton Caniff and Hal Foster, as one of the three giants of newspaper adventure strip artists. Raymond apprenticed with Chic Young on Blondie and Lyman Young on Tim Tyler's Luck. The year 1934 was a major turning point in his career: he illustrated Secret Agent X-9, a new detective comic strip written by Dashiell Hammett, and then created Flash Gordon and Jungle Jim. He left X-9 after a couple of years and continued drawing Flash and Jim, with a writing assist from Don Moore,  until 1944, when he enlisted in the Marines. In 1946 Raymond created the ultimate post-War cool detective series, Rip Kirby, which is also available from the Library of American Comics.