A crazy bit of chaotic fun dialed up to eleven.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Parker, Jesse Hamm
Art: Jesse Hamm
Colors: Grace Allison
Letterer: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
SUPERSTAR JEFF PARKER (Future Quest) JESSE HAMM & GRACE ALLISON bring the thrilling conclusion! Hopelessly outnumbered by MING THE MERCILESS’S hordes of Beast-Men, Flash Gordon and his team go all-in and wage war alongside the glorious KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Flash Gordon: Kings Cross series draws to a close with this installment and it’s one that, like so much of this series was, just keeps going and going. While I do tend to have a preference for books that take time to breathe and explore their characters, Kings Cross is the kind of series that takes all of its energy and just applies it liberally throughout so that it hits the ground running and simply doesn’t stop right up until the last panel. A lot of that energy comes from Hamm’s artwork, and all those wonderful facial expressions, that when combined with the no fluff approach of Parker means that it’s just on from start to finish. And that’s almost like an addictive kind of book.
With a lot of things in play over the last four issues, the fifth and final of this leg of the larger story has a lot to accomplish and that means a very packed book. Having the gang all captured and Earth under siege with countries lining up to acquiesce to Ming and people turned into beasts thanks to the bomb, it all comes down to this strange group of characters to stop Ming from winning in full. Ming knows that he’s got this and that in besting Flash and the others that he’s dealt with his most difficult opponents ever, which is a really powerful feeling for him. His plan is simple in turning Flash into the de facto ruler of Earth for him, a territorial governor of sorts, with the right incentive. It’s one of those impossible choices that a hero has to make that in the end offers himself up for sacrifice. It’s fast but it works well as it’s definitely how Flash would act here.
Naturally, there’s a plan to save the day – largely thanks to Mandrake and his magic – and the talking out of it shows how it goes down so we can just thrill to the fun of it all. Hamm delivers some really great pages here thanks to how he and Parker put together the story, bringing the Knights of the Round Table into it and finding a simple and goofy but creative way to send the island off Earth. You know most things will wrap up well and everyone gets to play a part in it as a strong team ensemble book and there are no disappointments there. The fun with Aura as she goes to put a bomb in Flash’s head is pure silliness in all the right ways, especially with how Jen and Dale react to how those two are, but I was a bit more miffed with how Ming handles all of it when it’s said and done as he’s too accepting of this defeat. Granted, he’s in a really fun new position that will change the dynamic with a newly terraformed Mars as his home base, but considering how strong his grip was on Earth it all just resolves a little too quickly and abruptly for my tastes.
In Summary:
The Kings works have been fun overall with what they’ve been doing but Kings Cross just elevated itself to a whole other level from start to finish. There’s just such a sense of fun and wonder mixed with pure silliness that’s missing from so many other works these days – works where they should have more of this instead of taking themselves too seriously – that it was just a blast to read it and see how it would all unfold even if you could figure out the main beats of the story easily and quickly. Parker and Hamm are a very strong team together with this kind of project and the made this such a surprisingly fun and engaging work that I’m still surprised it delighted me for the past half year as much as it did. Definitely a worthwhile book in both single and future collected form.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: March 1st, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
