Much to his delight, 2000AD artist Chris Weston has provided the cover to a new collection of Flash Gordon from Mad Cave Studios, republishing the 1990s mini-series written by Mark Schulz and drawn by Al Williamson, a star of the comics industry and a long-running artist on the Flash Gordon strip.
In 1995, writer Mark Schultz and artist Al Williamson paired up for a two-part Flash Gordon tale, published under the Marvel Select imprint. Celebrated for its gorgeous detail and classically epic story, now the legendary specials are now being collected on their own for the very first time, in Flash Gordon (1995), with a cover by Chris Weston, due for release in May 2026.
(Flesk Publications previously included the mini series in its book, Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic, published back in 2009).
The story offers an entertaining adventure that also reveals the secret origin of Flash Gordon, featuring many diverse, exotic regions of the planet Mongo, and its colourful inhabitants.
A collector’s item with a new introduction, Flash Gordon (1995 is available to preorder now from your local bookshop, Comic Shop or online retailer, including AmazonUK (Affiliate Link)
Mark Schultz is an American cartoonist, illustrator and author whose interest in adventure fiction and the sciences led him to create his award-winning Xenozoic Tales comics, as well as SubHuman, in collaboration with paleontologist Dr. Michael J. Ryan. He has illustrated a collection of Robert E. Howard’s Conan of Cimmeria and written the science primer The Stuff of Life: A Graphic Guide to Genetics and DNA. His illustrated novella, Storms at Sea, was released in 2015. Currently, he writes the adventures of Prince Valiant for King Features Syndicate, drawn by Thomas Yeates. His illustrations, commissions and sketches can be found collected in the Carbon art-book series.
Hugely influential and much admired, American artist Al Williamson (21st March 1931 – 12th June 2010) specialised in adventure, Western, science fiction, and fantasy. In addition to his own illustrations, Williamson is known for inking collaborations with major artists such as Frank Frazetta, Roy Krenkel, and Angelo Torres. Williamson was inducted into the Will Eisner Comic Book Hall of Fame in 2000.
“I think the thing that makes Williamson’s artwork unique and special, that keeps you coming back to it… was that Al, more than any other comic artist I know, he went beyond the traditional illustrative roots of adventure comic art,” Schults said of Williamson in 2009, in an interview with Newsarama. “Even though he incorporates traditional illustration, as his inspiration [Alex] Raymond did, Al was a big fan of motion pictures, especially the old movie serials from the 1940s. He would endlessly watch these films and their choreographed fight scenes, and he just has a genius for taking the choreography from these movies and interpreting it on the page. He creates the illusion of movement on the page, and he’s better than anyone I know at creating a sense of elegance and movement. That I think sets his work apart from just about anybody else I can think of, he does it better than anyone.
“Beyond that sense of movement and action, there’s a feeling of elegance to his work, his figures and his compositions. Though he mostly works in fantasy and science fiction, there’s a wonderful feeling of elegance and dignity and mystery to everything that he does. That’s just part of it.”
Mad Cave Studios is an independent comic book publisher based out of Miami, Florida, established in 2014. The company has published a range of comic books and trade paperbacks, including the new Flash Gordon written by Jeremy Adams, drawn by Will Conrad, Dick Tracy and Defenders of the Earth.
• Flash Gordon (1995) – AmazonUK Affiliate Link
• Al Williamson’s Flash Gordon: A Lifelong Vision of the Heroic (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
Offers a collection of Williamson’s major works featuring the heroic character Flash Gordon, including his contributions to the King Comics strip, the 1980 adaptation of the motion picture, and the 1994 Marvel Comic miniseries. Schulltz acknowledges being inspired by Williamson’s work, and was instrumental in working with John Fleskes to assemble this collection, and contributes the major essay
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, Comic Previews, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, US Comics
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