Flash Gordon #16: The New Mission

Flash Gordon’s new reality continues in Flash Gordon #16. He’s grounded, and his counsel is barely listened to. This is precisely where Abnett left him at the end of the recent Flash Gordon #0. That said, Flash Gordon #0 is not an essential issue for readers to understand Flash Gordon #16 which sets up the new status quo while kicking off a brand new multi-issue storyline.

Abnett wastes no time establishing big stakes in his first Flash Gordon story arc–a Mars-sized planetoid is headed straight for Earth. It’s an outsized threat, for better or worse. But it’s the perfect way to set up the space related status quo on Earth. Most importantly, the storyline establishes that amateur space adventuring a la Flash’s previous adventuring isn’t allowed. He’s basically a relic with no purpose.

This is where Flash Gordon #16’s real strength lies. Abnett establishes Flash’s new situation and takes time to develop his character. There is a compelling blend of anger and resignation at the heart of the character as he watches another crew prepare to launch and hopefully save the day. Especially interesting is Abnett’s choice to amplify Flash’s sense of resignation as his friends push him to go into space without authorization. A reluctant protagonist can be a tricky thing. If they have too much reluctance, readers may not be as eager to embrace them as a hero. Given that Abnett is essentially resetting the series, this could be risky–both in holding existing readers and appealing to new ones. But for now it’s an effective choice and makes for a complex character. Abnett also defuses this problem a little by adding humor near the end of the issue.

Garcia and De La Cruz’s work combines very effectively to deliver richly expressive characters which helps propel Flash’s arc within the issue. Garcia uses very small lines here and there on characters’ faces in order to add a little extra detail to facial features–just enough to help convey a furrowed brow or establish the edge of cheekbones. De La Cruz is then very effective at using subtle color changes along the features Garcia has very slightly established. The result is a real sense of dimension as light seems to play off characters’ faces.

There is actually a greater level of detail to backgrounds than these characters. Garcia is far more liberal with linework which helps create a sense of depth. This is furthered by De La Cruz’s choice to mute background colors relative to foreground objects and characters.

Esposito does a good job keeping the dialogue fast paced when it needs to be. Dialogue bubbles will slightly overlap during some conversations. And when multiple dialogue bubbles are needed to hold all the dialogue text, Esposito connects the bubbles one to another without tails in between. It reads as though the dialogue just keeps going, without pause between the bubbles.