The ongoing adventures of Flash Gordon, published by Dynamite, have been some of the best comics to come from the publisher being both inherently fun and exciting.  But when the title started, Flash and his companions were already in space and heading to a planet called Arboria.  Not a bad way to start, but for those that might have been unaware, there was a miniseries before that entitled Kings Watch of which the collected edition was just published.  Containing the five issue miniseries, as well as a bunch of extras and written by Jeff Parker with artwork from Marc Laming, the series would stand as the lead-in to that new Flash Gordon title.  Starring not only Flash, but The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician, all King Features Syndicate heroes, the title would find itself just as thrilling and just as fun.

The book begins with people having nightmares all over the world, and somehow, they are all connected to the strange lights that have been appearing in the sky.  There are also strange creatures in the jungles of Africa, creatures the Phantom has never seen before and soon, Mandrake the Magician thinks he knows what is going on.  Meanwhile, Dr. Zarkov has created a ship that can go into space with the help of an ionic drive powered by a mysterious crystal which he and Flash then use to investigate the phenomena.  Fate then has the three men, including Zarkov, reporter Dale Arden, Karma and Lothar coming together as it becomes apparent that an alien force with Ming the Merciless at its head, and aided by the Cult of the Cobra here on Earth, are looking to enslave the planet.  Our heroes of course, do not see that as anything that can be considered acceptable.

The various characters of the book have appeared in other series over the years, not to mention their own syndicated newspaper strips, with Flash Gordon and the Phantom also having a previous series put out by Dynamite as well.  But it would finally be this book, Kings Watch that would bring them all together with the help of scribe Jeff Parker.  Parker has always had great wit when writing his stories, as well as a seeming fondness for characters that have a little bit of legacy behind them, case in point the Agents of Atlas title Parker did previously for Marvel.  Comparisons between the two can be drawn as both feature heroes from many years ago and both were rejuvenated by Parker into titles that featured over-the-top action as well as a lot of genuine humour.  The fact that Flash Gordon was spun-off from this book speaks to just how much faith Dynamite have in the man, and should you read this book or the ongoing, you will see why that faith is justified.

Seeing Mandrake, Flash and the Phantom interact is like a dream come true for any fan of the characters.  Alone they are interesting in their own right, but when they come together, it is like seeing Superman meet Spider-Man for the first time.  They work together well and fit together well and it would have been great to see this book made into an ongoing, or at the very least spin Mandrake and the Phantom off into a book of their own as they rightfully deserve to be so.  Having Ming go up against the team was also a no-brainer as he is one of those classic villains that actually do live up to the hype.  You hardly even see Ming raise a hand in the book and yet he is imposing and commands both fear and respect.  Such is his power that Ming merely commands and no longer has to do anything for himself anymore.  Both Parker and Laming give him an air of danger and the heroes know that they must at least stop Ming, if not defeat him.

While all superhero stories are, strictly speaking, science fiction, it was great to see Flash Gordon’s science fiction universe merge with the mystical of Mandrake`s and the mythical of the Phantom’s. The execution of that merging was done so well, both by author Jeff Parker and with incredibly great art by Marc Laming, that the story which was essentially standard superhero fare, has raised the game at Dynamite for their line of heroes.  From cover to cover, Kings Watch holds your attention and fills your head with fantastical adventure.  If Dynamite could publish more titles like this one, or the new Flash Gordon, with creative teams as strong as this, then they could truly give the Big Two a run for their money.  As it is, they have started to strive for quality over quantity most recently and this title is a perfect example of that.

4.5 out of 5