Space Immortals: Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon by Linda Rosenkrantz on Creators.com

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Space Immortals: Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon

Space heroes come and go, with apparatus and weaponry that gets more and more sleek and sophisticated. But there are two classic names that continue to survive despite their primitive equipment: Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon.

Both were created close to 80 years ago. But they remain the original and quintessential intergalactic superstars.

Buck Rogers, then known by his full name of Anthony, first blazed the extraterrestrial trail in a pulp fiction story entitled "Armageddon 2419 AD," written by Phillip Francis Nowlan. But it was in the daily comic strip "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" that Buck Rogers shot to instant success. The strip — plotted by Nowlan and John Flint Dille, and drawn by Dick Calkins — first appeared on Jan. 7, 1929, followed by a Sunday strip in 1930,.

The first science fiction comic strip, it was also one of the most inventive and lively. Buck was a fairly ordinary guy, an American aviator who happened to become caught in suspended animation and take a five-century nap. He awoke to find himself and his luscious co-pilot, Wilma Deering, charged with the mission to "save the whole universe"— specifically from such arch-villains as Killer Kane and the seductive Princess Ardala.

Fortunately for them, they had at their disposal all the complex technology of the 25th century (some of the more outlandish of which did evolve into late 20th century reality). Their arsenal of cosmic weaponry included rocket pistols — emitting what was probably the first comic strip "ZAP" — and atomic bombs. These attracted the public's attention to the point that when Macy's announced a toy version of the Buck Rogers Disintegrator Pistol, there was a line of 20,000 people waiting to buy it the following morning.

The next medium for Buck to conquer was radio, which he did in 1932. It was one of the earliest afternoon network adventure series, running for 15 years.

For memorabilia collectors, the Golden Age of Buck Rogers was 1933-37, when sponsors like Cream of Wheat and Cocomalt issued now rare premiums and giveaways. One of the first radio offerings was a Solar Map of the planetary locations of some of Buck's Solar Scout adventures, now much sought after.

Buck Rogers also had two brief runs on television, first in 1950-51, then in a somewhat glitzier prime-time incarnation in 1979. By then, Buck had become an astronaut, a member of NASA's last deep-space probe, Ranger III, which was knocked out of orbit, freezing Buck's life support system until he awoke 504 years later in the new capital of America, New Chicago. But the youth of the country was already well into the Star Wars era, and the "Buck Rogers in the 25th Century" lasted only a year. However, a Web series is in the works to bring it into the 21st century.

In the mid-'30s, Buck was joined in the pantheon of comic strip space heroes by Flash Gordon, drawn by one of the great comic illustrators, Alec Raymond. He produced a graphically sophisticated, clean, crisp strip that displayed some of the most dazzling techniques in the Sunday supplements, featuring a masterful use of black shadow.

Unlike Buck Rogers, who was just your everyday aviator, Flash was more, well, flashy. He was a worldly, Yale-educated, polo-playing hero. Accompanied by his glamorous cohort Dale Arden, he was kidnapped onto the rocket ship of the evil genius Dr. Hans Zarkov when the planet Mongo threatened to collide with Earth.

With the skill of a true American icon, Flash was able to outsmart villains like Mongo ruler Ming the Merciless, and to move dauntlessly from comic pages to radio series to Big Little Books to archetypal movie serials, and finally to television, where, sadly, he was reduced to a limited animation cartoon.

Linda Rosenkrantz has edited Auction magazine and authored 18 books, including "Cool Names for Babies" and "The Baby Name Bible" (St. Martin's Press). Visit her baby names website at http://nameberry.com. She cannot answer letters personally. To find out more about Linda Rosenkrantz and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.