Broken Frontier

Flash Gordon writer Brendan Deneen reflects on King Features' decision to double-license Flash Gordon: to Deneen's Ardden Entertainment, and Dynamite Entertainment.

It was the start of the summer of 2010. Brendan Deneen was about to walk out of his office, his mind (and stomach) ready for a lunch meeting. His contact was already waiting in the lobby, but the meal and conversation would have to wait for a few hours.  Deneen had to collect his jaw from the floor first.

His day took an unexpected turn when Dynamite Entertainment announced it had acquired the Flash Gordon license, which everyone assumed was owned by Ardden Entertainment, the company Deneen is Co-Publisher of. Naturally, the Dynamite announcement came out of left field. “I saw the press release thanks to one of my Google Alerts,” Deneen said. “I was actually about to leave for a business lunch and when I saw the press release, my jaw almost literally hit my desk.  I had to make [that] lunch appointment wait down in the lobby while I quickly crafted my “response” press release.  It was NOT a pleasant afternoon for me.”

It didn’t help that while preparing said press release, Deneen’s contacts at King Features – the company that owns Flash Gordon proper, along with The Phantom, which recently became part of the Dynamite portfolio as well) – didn’t know what was going on either. “The whole thing was a maelstrom of confusion,” he goes on. “I must have called half a dozen people over there and no one really knew exactly what was going on.  We are business partners with King Features, so I have to try and respect their decisions, but it was a very odd experience, to say the least.

What makes it even more odd for Deneen is that the original negotiations between King Features and Ardden went quite well. “The negotiations went fine.  I originally pitched them the concept that became the first arc, THE MERCY WARS.  Then, things changed and we were going to do a comic book that tied into the Sci-Fi Network's series (this is, of course, before it became SyFy). 

“In fact, I then wrote up a pretty cool 6 issue premise that took place, I believe, between episodes 2 and 3 of the TV series, and it had a WRATH OF KHAN vibe.  I still have that treatment somewhere.  Maybe I'll print it in the back of one of the trades.  But I digress.  Anyway, eventually King Features nixed that pitch and went back to my original idea.  Like I said, the negotiations were smooth.”

In the end, Deneen doesn’t think that two publishers releasing similar Flash Gordon projects will affect fandom’s opinion of the character in a negative way. “Ultimately, I think it’s going to help our version of the character,” Deneen estimates. “We have had an incredibly positive reaction to THE MERCY WARS, and the first annual/anthology (THE SECRET HISTORY OF MONGO).  I think Dynamite will have to do a lot of work to match the critical acclaim we’ve received.  Our Flash Gordon trade consistently outsells their Buck Rogers trade on Amazon.  I’m just saying.”

Ardden will continue to aim for strong book market sales on their Flash Gordon publications, with three more story arcs – and thus three more trades – planned for this fall and beyond.

“We’re launching the next story arc, INVASION OF THE RED SWORD, this November,” Deneen clarifies the company’s upcoming plans for the character.  “We’ve just signed an artist for the next 18 issues, so we shouldn’t have the delays that plagued us when Paul Green was our artist.  The new artist is Eduardo Garcia, who I'm very excited about.  We found him via Space Goat, a great artist agency.

“After that, we’re contracted for two more arcs: THE VENGEANCE OF MING, which wraps up the ‘Red Sword’ trilogy, and then KING OF THE IMPOSSIBLE, which is more of a stand-alone story arc.  It features a Flash Gordon unlike you’ve ever seen him before.  I’m very, very excited about these next couple of arcs, and I think comic fans and fans of Flash Gordon are going to love them.  We're also contracted for three more annuals, so we're in the planning stages on those as well. 

“I would love to do more anthologies, and I’m ready to discuss an extension [of the license] when the time comes.”

Whether that’s in the cards now that Dynamite’s deal is in place too, Deneen doesn’t know. “That time is still a couple of years away.  A lot can change in a couple of years.”