Writer – Dan Jurgens
Artist – Dan Jurgens
Inker – Bruce D. Patterson
Colours – Anthony Tollin
Letters – John Workman

It is a race against time as Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Xeo try to escape the organ farm without getting killed, having been discovered and now on the run. They have witnessed horrors and for Xeo, it is a nightmare he will never forget. With a bit of luck and some smart thinking from Flash, they manage to get out and get back to Xeo’s antarctic home, yet due to their being discovered, Ming has removed the dome that kept the elements away from their city and cut off the electricity and everything else they needed to survive. So it is that a plan is formed at the moment, one that will evacuate everyone to Arboria. Now all that remains is letting Prince Barin know about it and to move on from there which is far easier said than done. Dan Jurgens, the man who has been writing and pencilling this book from the start, begins it all with a bit of action as Flash and company destroy the factory of death, thereby cutting off Ming and his people’s ability to live eternally and ends it all with quite possibly the same. After a lecture on what is good and right to Vultan and Barin, Flash then battles them for command of their armies and heads out to pick up the rest of Xeo’s people from Snowcap after which he blows it up. In doing so, he takes out a good portion of Ming’s forces which is then followed by a solo mission to stop Princess Aura from revealing what she knows to Ming. It is here that Flash is unable to rely upon his charm and his wits for while he tries to do so, Aura stabs him, leaving him quite possibly mortally wounded. With this issue, Jurgens leaves the book on a cliffhanger which leaves quite a bit in doubt, though readers know that Flash has to be fine, what with him being the main character. There is no way that he would kill off Flash Gordon in issue seven of a nine-issue series but it would make for a very shocking moment if he did. Where it goes from here and how it is that Flash gets better, for he has to get better, should be interesting to see, especially as he has an army to lead against Ming. That being said, anything can happen and reading the next issue is the only way to find out, something Jurgens guarantees readers will do after leaving it all like this.

4 out of 5