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Flash Gordon by Alex Raymond (Kitchen Sink Press) #2
Flash Gordon - Volume 2 1935-1937: Three Against Ming
Collects strips 82-187 from August 11, 1935 to August 1, 1937
Welcome to the world of Mongo, renegade planet of caves, forests, mountains, and oceans. Each location has its own ruler, each ruler is under the lash of the dispotic Ming the Merciless. Only three people - aliens from Earth - dare to foment rebellion on this weird cruel world: Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov. Enter their world of politics and war, of adventure and magic: Enter the world of... Three Against Ming!
Welcome to the world of Mongo, renegade planet of caves, forests, mountains, and oceans. Each location has its own ruler, each ruler is under the lash of the dispotic Ming the Merciless. Only three people - aliens from Earth - dare to foment rebellion on this weird cruel world: Flash Gordon, Dale Arden and Dr. Zarkov. Enter their world of politics and war, of adventure and magic: Enter the world of... Three Against Ming!
- GenresComicsScience Fiction
112 pages, Hardcover
Published January 1, 1991
11 people want to read
About the author
Alex Raymond
720 books39 followersAlexander Gillespie Raymond was an American comic strip artist, best known for creating the comic Flash Gordon in 1934. The serial hit the silver screen three years later with Buster Crabbe and Jean Rogers as the leading players. Other strips he drew include Secret Agent X-9, Rip Kirby, Jungle Jim, Tim Tyler's Luck, and Tillie the Toiler. Alex Raymond received a Reuben Award from the National Cartoonists Society in 1949 for his work on Rip Kirby.
Born in New Rochelle, New York, Alex Raymond attended Iona Prep on a scholarship and played on the Gaels' football team. He joined the US Marines Corp in 1944 and served in the Pacific theatre during World War II.
His realistic style and skillful use of "feathering" (a shading technique in which a soft series of parallel lines helps to suggest the contour of an object) has continued to be an inspiration for generations of cartoonists.
Raymond was killed in an automobile accident in Westport, Connecticut while driving with fellow cartoonist Stan Drake, aged 46, and is buried in St. John's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Darien, Connecticut.
During the accident which led to his untimely demise, he was said to have remarked (by the surviving passenger of the accident) on the fact that a pencil on the dashboard seemed to be floating in relation to the plummet of the vehicle.
He was the great-uncle of actors Matt Dillon and Kevin Dillon.
Born in New Rochelle, New York, Alex Raymond attended Iona Prep on a scholarship and played on the Gaels' football team. He joined the US Marines Corp in 1944 and served in the Pacific theatre during World War II.
His realistic style and skillful use of "feathering" (a shading technique in which a soft series of parallel lines helps to suggest the contour of an object) has continued to be an inspiration for generations of cartoonists.
Raymond was killed in an automobile accident in Westport, Connecticut while driving with fellow cartoonist Stan Drake, aged 46, and is buried in St. John's Roman Catholic Cemetery in Darien, Connecticut.
During the accident which led to his untimely demise, he was said to have remarked (by the surviving passenger of the accident) on the fact that a pencil on the dashboard seemed to be floating in relation to the plummet of the vehicle.
He was the great-uncle of actors Matt Dillon and Kevin Dillon.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
December 28, 2025
Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon – Volume 2 (1935–1937): Three Against Ming confirms, without the slightest hesitation, why this series is one of the absolute pillars of adventure comics.
The continuation of Raymond’s original run is just as exhilarating as the first volume: relentless action, constant twists, and an imagination that never seems to run out of fuel. The pace is breathless, yet never chaotic; every episode raises the stakes, every cliffhanger feels earned, and the narrative drive is irresistible. Ming remains one of the great villains of popular culture—cruel, charismatic, and endlessly inventive—while Flash, Dale, and Dr. Zarkov face dangers that grow ever more audacious and surreal.
Visually, this volume is simply stunning. Raymond’s artwork reaches an even higher level of confidence and elegance: compositions are bold, anatomy is fluid, and the sense of scale—whether in palaces, alien landscapes, or aerial battles—is extraordinary. Each page feels carefully designed, with a cinematic clarity that still feels modern nearly a century later. The balance between realism and fantasy is masterful, giving Mongo a vivid, almost tangible presence.
What truly stands out is how inventive the series remains. New cultures, creatures, and technologies appear constantly, yet the world never feels cluttered or inconsistent. Raymond’s ability to blend science fiction, fantasy, romance, and pure pulp adventure is unmatched, and the result is a work that is both wildly entertaining and historically significant.
This volume isn’t just a continuation—it’s a peak. For fans of classic comics, science fiction, or adventure storytelling, Three Against Ming is essential reading and a reminder of how powerful and timeless great visual storytelling can be.
The continuation of Raymond’s original run is just as exhilarating as the first volume: relentless action, constant twists, and an imagination that never seems to run out of fuel. The pace is breathless, yet never chaotic; every episode raises the stakes, every cliffhanger feels earned, and the narrative drive is irresistible. Ming remains one of the great villains of popular culture—cruel, charismatic, and endlessly inventive—while Flash, Dale, and Dr. Zarkov face dangers that grow ever more audacious and surreal.
Visually, this volume is simply stunning. Raymond’s artwork reaches an even higher level of confidence and elegance: compositions are bold, anatomy is fluid, and the sense of scale—whether in palaces, alien landscapes, or aerial battles—is extraordinary. Each page feels carefully designed, with a cinematic clarity that still feels modern nearly a century later. The balance between realism and fantasy is masterful, giving Mongo a vivid, almost tangible presence.
What truly stands out is how inventive the series remains. New cultures, creatures, and technologies appear constantly, yet the world never feels cluttered or inconsistent. Raymond’s ability to blend science fiction, fantasy, romance, and pure pulp adventure is unmatched, and the result is a work that is both wildly entertaining and historically significant.
This volume isn’t just a continuation—it’s a peak. For fans of classic comics, science fiction, or adventure storytelling, Three Against Ming is essential reading and a reminder of how powerful and timeless great visual storytelling can be.
July 16, 2013
This is a rather generous three stars because these stories are pretty bad. Not terrible, just too incidental and they built too much to weekly cliff-hangers. The characters are one dimensional and thinly motivated to the point that it is just annoying when Flash Gordon and Dale Arden express their love for each other, because there is no emotional validation of what they say except, usually, for the planes in which they say it. It cannot be denied, however, that Alex Raymond's art is lush and lovely, so much so that people still read FLASH GORDON today despite its story defects.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews