Brandon Borzelli's Geek Goggle Reviews
Flash Gordon: Invasion of the Red Sword #4
Ardden Entertainment
Deneen & Garcia
The latest issue of Flash Gordon's Invasion of the Red Sword storyline introduces a ton of new characters, mixes in a whole of action and continues to build a plot that just grows arms and legs all over the place. This issue is another great example of what a fun comic book can and should strive to be. The plot has enough teeth so that you are left thinking about possible directions, but the comic book is action-packed to keep you visually entertained. You can't beat a mix like that and you shouldn't be missing out on this series.
The issue has a lot of different plots but I will attempt address them as spoiler-free as possible. The most intriguing new thread is that of Ming's daughter and the reveal of her mother's identity. It seems Aura is at peace with this now that her mother has explained the back story. What's good about this is that Aura is seen as vulnerable, in need of her mother and it builds up her mother's street cred in the process as to how she could have been paired with Ming in the first place.
The next most interesting plot thread is that of Dale, Vultan and Talon meeting Ergon of the Power Men of Mongo. The Power Men get a good backstory as Deneen immediately positions them as allies. However, not everything is as it seems with the Power Men that are both men and machine.
There are other plots that I've left out (notice I haven't mentioned Ming?) but that's because I would like to now focus on the characters. Deneen introduces (or reintroduces) a lot of characters and species. King Zug, Lizard Men, King Naquk, Orax, Fire People and let's not forgot Komok, the dragon. Deneen is building a huge cache of characters to bring this conflict with the Red Sword to a true, global nature. Some of the characters haven't had enough face time yet to get a real personality, but I am sure this is on its way. The flipside to this is that it may be overwhelming for some readers to have so much thrown at them in a short span, but i personally find it to be very creative and visually fun.
Garcia presents all of these new characters in unique ways. Some of the differences are subtle, but I found that each of the Kings or peoples that are new in this book to have some variance to make them stand out and I credit Garcia with this. His action sequences are pitch-perfect for the story and bring a high level of excitement to the book, especially the opening pages. I can't say enough about how he draws Dale. Dale seems to be the perfect mix of tough and tender I'm not sure I've seen in any Flash Gordon series. Excellent artwork in this issue all around.
The question coming out of this issue is: where is all of this heading? I really can't visualize how this arc is going to wrap up but I have a feeling that there is going to be a major cliffhanger to launch into the next series. This is an exciting time and an exciting book and now is the opportunity to jump on board. I can't recommend this series enough for any fan of, not just science-fiction or Flash Gordon, but entertaining comic book stories in general.
4.5 out of 5 Geek Goggles
