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

Everything that has happened in the last eight issues comes down to this story, the ninth and final book in the series by writer-artist Dan Jurgens and the man does his best to make it as exciting as possible. When seen last, it seemed as if Flash Gordon was dead and that he was but thanks to Ming’s regeneration machine, he lives again, much to the surprise of Mongo’s ruler. A quick tussle soon follows which is to be expected by readers but Jurgens cannot end it there during the first few pages so Ming gets away to plot revenge while Flash and company make plans to take the fight to the despot. Those plans are desperate and involve many moving pieces, players that are going to find it hard to do what is needed and yet, if they do not, then all is lost. Flash is confident that they will make the right choice and yet, if they do not, he wonders just what will become of the people that live on this planet. Everyone rallies together, including Princess Aura who now realizes that if she is on the wrong side of history, then there will be no place on Mongo for her anymore. Things are soon put into motion and they seem foolhardy because they are but they work, wonder of wonders and as the book marches towards its conclusion, it all comes down to the final meeting between Ming and Flash Gordon and only one man will walk away. For a final issue, Jurgens packed this story with a lot of action and drama and it was everything that one would want to read which was a good thing. Some might balk at the ending, given that the guy never got the girl and lived happily ever after, but the way this conclusion played out worked quite well and it made sense to see it play out this way. The series ended up being quite fun even though it started out a wee bit slow and not as exciting as one might have wanted. With time, things picked up and each subsequent issue would get better and better. This also worked quite well as a limited series. Were it ongoing, things might have been stretched out a bit more and would not have worked as well. True, there could be new threats and Ming could have returned at some point but this was a complete story with a beginning, middle and end which is what it needed and Jurgens delivered in the best of ways. Dramatic, enjoyable, exciting and even humourous at times, this was a solid maxiseries.

4 out of 5