Category: Flash Media

GORDON’S ALIVE! is proud to present the first of what will become complete archive of features on Flash Gordon from the vintage pages of the phenomenal Starlog magazine.

Indispensable in its day for the genre fan and now fondly referred to as the Internet of its age, the ‘Magazine of the future’ would chronicle a pioneering age of Science Fiction in movies and television by way of compelling journalism complimented by exciting imagery.

Well established as of issue #41, the format shown above would change little over the years and the prospect of an all-new motion picture based on a beloved comic-book character/movie serial star was a hugely exciting prospect and more than worthy of the cover story (top pic).

The Starlog Interview with cocky young superstar-in-the-making Sam J. Jones is typically thorough coverage – providing a fascinating insight into the production of the film while pulling no punches with its inset summary of the infamous legal issues that would ultimately result in Sam’s performance being looped by another actor..

Coming Soon – A harmony with Melody…

Hurling their bodies out of the void and Earthbound once more, Flash Gordon & Dale Arden (aka Sam J. Jones and Melody Anderson) head on a promotional tour of the Far East.

Clearly enjoying themselves in Japan courtesy of Screen magazine (source of the majority of clippings reproduced above) in January of 1981, Sam & Melody attended a screening of the film and were interviewed at length about their exciting all-new sci-fi blockbuster.  Should anybody feel compelled to translate the text above in the comments below Gordon’s Alive would be eternally grateful…

From the long-running (1972-1987) children’s magazine comes Flash Gordon’s appearance in the January 1981 Electric Company magazine.

Billed as an educational publication for ‘graduates of Sesame Street‘, this vintage issue features a bizarrely witty quiz to promote the ‘new space movie’, making good use of publicity stills (including the cover shot of a Ming Guardsman) and even includes this answers page (bottom) should you require it…

Thanks to Tom Simpson for the great scans taken from his Flickr album…