As part of their revival plans for Flash Gordon, Mad Cave Studios has announced the creative team for Defenders of the Earth, an eight-issue series based on the animated TV show. Former DC Publisher and current Frank Miller Presents publisher Dan DiDio will write the series, with Jim Calafiore of Exiles, Secret Six and Leaving Megalopolis fame on art.
Defenders of the Earth ran for 65 episodes back in the mid-1980s, and featured Flash Gordon teaming up with other King Features comic-strip characters to battle Ming the Merciless. Flash, The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician and Lothar, Mandrake’s assistant, were joined by their children as they, um, defended the Earth.
“As a fan of the original animated series, I was excited by the opportunity to work on this title,” said DiDio. “I’m hoping to build on some of the show’s classic elements and move them in new directions while exploring the personalities and lives of the characters that make the series great. One of the best aspects of the series was finding a way to unite the show’s four disparate, iconic stars following the end of their war with Ming. What sets it apart from other books featuring Flash Gordon, Mandrake, The Phantom, and Lothar is the added generational aspect of the story—that’s the fun part of writing. The father/son relationships of Flash and Rick, and Lothar and LJ; the father/daughter relationship of The Phantom and Jenna; and the mentor/protege relationship of Mandrake and Kshin are really the heart of the story. What makes and breaks these families is key to saving the world from a new and more deadly challenge.”
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