All throughout April and May, we’re crowdsourcing a coronavirus quarantine comics reading list. Each weekday, we post a new recommendation from someone in the comics industry to help folks get through the isolation. This includes writers, artists, letterers, editors, comics journalists, publicists, and more…often paired with a local shop that’s currently selling the books via mail order.

Today’s pick comes from artist Blacky Shepherd…enjoy!

Through most of the ‘90s, I hated comics. The decade started out well enough…I joined the army in 1992, and during basic training, any time the drill instructors would march us down to the PX (the Post Exchange, where we could spend our money on pizza, haircuts, toiletries and in my case, comics) I was picking up the Ghost Rider run. This was the Danny Ketch era…the art was good, the writing was good, I was happy enough.

But then, when basic really picked up, the trips to the PX stopped. After graduation from basic, I went on to Jump School, where they made me jump out of planes…to say I had a hard time focusing on Ghost Rider is a monumental understatement. So I didn’t get the chance to dive back into comics until about May of 1993.

I was…nonplussed.

It seemed that comics were beginning the slide into a collection of action scene splash pages that would come to dominate the remaining decade. It also seemed that I was alone in feeling that something vital was being lost. The art was becoming so over the top while the writing was taking a backseat, and I was having a hard time engaging with the product being put out there.

I started to dive into licensed titles, mostly by Dark Horse, like Star Wars and Alien, and these were my respite. There were some great writers and artists working on the titles and great stories being told. I focused also on more obscure titles, like From Hell by Alan Moore and Eddie Campbell, and I ate that messy, ink and blood-splattered mix up with a spoon.

But mainstream comics seemingly had left me behind…I was just not part of the new zeitgeist.

And then, starting in July of 1994, it all came crashing down. The End Of Comics came…in the form of the Spider-Man clone saga.

I tried…I really did. I tried hard…but so many of my favorite titles had either been canceled or handed over to artists with styles that, though popular, were just not my cup of tea. The writing was in the toilet, and the stories were becoming ridiculous. By December of 1994 I was out.

And I stayed out, for more than 15 years. I stopped drawing, stopped reading comics, stopped being interested in a medium that had dominated my mind since before I knew how to read. I got out of the Army, went to college, got married, moved a few times, and fell into a day job managing technical support departments…it seemed that with my love of comics gone, so too had gone my desire to be creative. I was in the artistic equivalent of the doldrums.

And then one day in late 2011 (or maybe it was early 2012?), during a lunch break from my grind of a job in Redmond, Washington, I noticed that next to the restaurant I was at there was a comic book shop. Closed now, sadly. I got it in my head that I should at least stop in, and see what kind of state the world of comics were in. I didn’t have high hopes.

What greeted me was a whole new beginning. There was a slew of new smaller publishers that were doing amazing things…incredible art had returned. Incredible writing had returned. Gone were the days where you had to wade through stacks and stacks of tights-clad superheroes doing the same one-two dance they had been doing since the ‘60s, and in their place were amazing pulp heroes come back to life…horror comics that were grisly and gripping. Tough Chicks with slasher sidekicks, and Vampirella. My first love. There she was, in a recently rebooted ongoing series…with great art and top-shelf writing. If I was any more excited I would have blinked out of existence. I filled my arms with The Shadow, Vampirella, Crossed, Hellraiser, Ghost, Hack/Slash, The Boys, Rotten, The Walking Dead, and the first few issues of the series that would seal the deal…the book that would draw me back into comics so deeply that I would decide that very day to quit my job managing a tech support department and start drawing comics.

Among the $300 dollars worth of comics I bought that day (my job was crappy but it paid well) were the first few issues of Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist.

The art was mind blowing. It had covers and art direction from one of the few artists to come out of the ‘90s that I truly loved, the inimitable Alex Ross. The interior art, done by (depending on the issue) Daniel Indro or Ron Adrian, though different from Ross was exciting and animated. The colors by Slamet Mujiono were great and poppy. The book looked as though it were a sequel in tone and vision to the film from 1980, which has always been one of my favorites. You could see Ross’ design sensibilities and he definitely loved that film as well.

But as impressive as the art was, it was the writing that kept me coming back. Written by Eric Trautmann, it gave me everything I wanted – and some things I didn’t know I needed – in a Flash Gordon story. It starts similarly to the 1980 film but quickly diverges into something…deeper. Back was Ming in all his merciless glory. Preparing to annex an obscure body in the SK system, with the help of his majordomo, and one of my favorite characters of all time - the ever ominous General Klytus.

Ming is fleshed out as a power-drunken horndog…but one you absolutely do not cross. His plan is to annex Earth and install Hitler (yep, *that * guy) as the surrogate leader. It is up to Flash, Dale Arden, Doctor Zarkov and a cadre of disparate allies from across both Mongo and Earth to prevent Earth from falling into Ming’s hands. The series ran 10 issues and never once dragged, never lost its steam or urgency. I’ve been a Flash Gordon fan since I was 8 years old…I’ve seen and read pretty much all of the serials, comics, and cartoons. This is hands down my favorite version of the character and my go-to story to read when I need a Flash Gordon fix.

So to make a long story short (too late)…Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist is so good it got me back into comics, made me quit my job and set my focus on breaking into comics.

I mean, that’s pretty good.

So do yourself a favor and track it down. The trade paperback has a lot of amazing bonus content, from a gallery of all the covers to lots of commentary from Alex Ross, and an enormous amount of concept art. Really really top shelf stuff.

In these days of anxiety and uncertainty, one thing is sure: Flash will save every one of us. -Blacky Shepherd

Blacky Shepherd is a comic book artist whose credits include Vampirella Vs ReAnimator, Voltron: From the Ashes, Pumpkin Head, and more.

Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist (Trade Paperback)
Writer: Eric Trautmann
Artists: Daniel Indro and Ron Adrian
Colorist: Slamet Mujiono
Letterer: Simon Bowland
Publisher: Dynamite Comics
A classic of science-fiction is reborn in Flash Gordon: Zeitgeist. Inspired by Alex Raymond's legendary tales of invasion, action, and romance on the distant planet Mongo, and under the artistic supervision of renowned artist Alex Ross, Zeitgeist returns Flash Gordon to his two-fisted, thrill-packed roots.

Support Local Comic Shops: Stargazer Comics in Tacoma, Wash., is currently doing curbside pick-up on sales as well as offering flat-rate shipping. You can find Stargazer Comics online here!

Or, to find a local comic shop near you, check out his directory from the Comics Industry Collective of stores open and doing mail order!

Click here for the full coronavirus reading list!