Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #1
Plot and Script by Eric Trautmann
Plot and Art Direction by Alex Ross
Art by Daniel Indro
Colors by Slamet Mujiono
Letters by Simon Bowland
Covers by Alex Ross, Paul Renaud, Francesco Francavilla, and Wagner Reis
Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: November 30th, 2011
Cover Price: $1.00

Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #1 is really the perfect first issue. It introduces the characters and the world and gives you a sense of where the book is, and at the same time, will have you very anxious for the next issue.

With a plot by Alex Ross and Eric Trautmann, the issue is perfectly scripted by Trautmann. There’s a number of nods to previous incarnations of Flash Gordon, from the 1980 live-action movie to the incredibly done animated movie Flash Gordon The Greatest Adventure Of All produced by Filmation in 1982. And while this issue is sort of a love letter to these other Flash Gordon medias, it’s never distracting and it won’t take anything away from readers who haven’t seen them. It only provides cool Easter eggs for those of us that have.

I have to be honest, I wasn’t expecting much from this issue story wise. First issues now tend to be just a prologue to the second issue, but Zeitgeist #1 was packed with story. Hats off to Alex Ross and Eric Trautmann for creating a great, accessible, and very entertaining comic. And a big thank you to Dynamite Entertainment for pricing it at $1, so that it’s affordable to everyone.

Artist Daniel Indro, fresh off Dynamite’s Sherlock Holmes series, really surprised me with this book. Granted, you can’t get two books that are more different than Sherlock Holmes and Flash Gordon, but Indro really stepped up his game with this series. What impressed me most was his ability to totally change up his art style in different parts of the book. The pages that take place on Earth are a total 180 from the pages that take place on Mongo. And they are all fantastic. With his depiction of Mongo, he gives the planet and its technology a personality all its own. You get the feeling that Mongo itself is alive and a character in the book. A fantastic job by Daniel Indro.

All in all, Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist #1 might be my favorite single issue of 2011. It’s got everything. Another aspect that I was impressed by was Dynamite’s decision to set this book in the 30s, by doing that, they’ve made this Flash Gordon series TIMELESS. People are going to read this issue 5, 10, even 20 years from now and it will still make perfect sense and be just as entertaining then as it is for us today. I can’t recommend this book highly enough. And, with the $1 price tag, you have no excuses not to pick it up!