“I’m now a pretty big believer that the Riverdale gang can fit with practically any other characters and genres, but it’s best when they get to really flex and go way outside their zone like say, the planet Mongo with Flash Gordon, King of the Impossible,” Parker said in a statement about the project. “This of course coincides with the sad passing of cinema great Max Von Sydow who was the most memorable Ming the Merciless, and wait until you see our take on the Emperor of Mongo. I wanted to write more Archie and more Flash Gordon, so this really clicked for me, and I tried to laser in on tailoring this to be a story Dan Parent would enjoy drawing. He hasn’t yelled at me yet, so fingers crossed!”
Rather than yelling, Parent seems excited by the chance to reteam with his Archie Meets Batman ’66 partner. “I was more than thrilled to work with Jeff again,” he said. “And what could be better than working with a classic character like Flash Gordon? The story has so much action and fun, it really jumps off every page! As a fan of the classic comics and movie serials — and the 1980 movie which I happened to watch again before I was approached with this project — I was excited to take part in another monumental Archie team up.”
The issue represents a partnership between Archie and King Features Syndicate, the owner of Flash Gordon, which launched in 1934 as a newspaper comic strip created by Alex Raymond.
“King Features and Archie Comics are a great team, so having our beloved characters, Flash Gordon and the Archie kids, team up, too, is an exciting moment for both of these classic brands” said King Features Syndicate editorial director Tea Fougner. “To top it off, to work with such amazing talent like Dan Parent and Jeff Parker is an honor. Their love for all of these characters shines through every page, and we’re thrilled to share this story with fans new and old.”
Added Archie Comics co-president Alex Segura: “Flash Gordon is an iconic, sci-fi/pulp hero, and in the long tradition of great, off-the-wall Archie crossovers, this seemed like a perfect next step. When we were thinking of creative for this, Jeff Parker, who did a bang-up job on Archie Meets Batman ’66, was atop our list. And no one is better equipped to give this one-shot the classic, retro-but-modern vibe that it demands than Archie legend Dan Parent. This book will be fun, accessible, and just what people are looking for.”
Archie Meets Flash Gordon is set to be released June 3, with covers from Parent and Sandy Jarrell, both of which can be seen below.
