WHAT'S THE DEAL WITH THE 2 FLASH GORDONS?

After posting in our year-in-review the section for Dynamite's Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist, I received this comment from Brendan Deneen, who is a comic book writer and publisher, which I refrained from publishing:

"Why pay for this when you can read FLASH GORDON: THE MERCY WARS #0 and #1 (34 pages of story) for FREE at www.Ardden-Entertainment.com

We've been publishing Flash Gordon since 2008 and have received rave reviews from Publishers Weekly, Ain't It Cool News, and more.

Thanks!"

Now here's my response. I wanted to properly address this matter not in the comments section but as a post:

Dear Mr. Deneen,
I commend you on the efforts you are making to get your Flash Gordon book recognized. Let me tell you that I have read the preview of The Mercy Wars, which is co-written by Jim Krueger, a frequent collaborator and friend of Alex Ross, and found it exhilarating.

As you may have noticed, this site is dedicated to collecting the art of Alex Ross, hence the post on Zeitgeist and the omission of the existence of your title(s). I would've loved for you to contact me through the proper channels and discuss both books. I believe that questioning my readers as to why are they reading one thing and not the other wasn't the appropriate way, that's the reason behind my refusal to publish your comment. I don't mean any disrespect with my action because I firmly believe in free will and that the existence of two very different titles of such a beloved character such as Flash Gordon could co-exist so people can chose which one they like most.

Thanks for your time and I enjoy having you as a reader of my blog as I am now a reader of your work.

Sincerely,

Andres Avila
The Alex Ross Collector
www.alexrosscollector.com

So, to all the readers of this blog, I'm hereby exhorting you to try both titles. The complete issue one of Zeitgeist with a more retro take on Flash Gordon by Eric Trautmann, Daniel Indro and Dynamite Entertainment which can be found on this blog or Brendan Deneen's and Jim Kruger's more modern take on the same character which can be found at their website.