One of the earliest comic book characters "inspired" by Flash Gordon...
...also had one of the most convoluted publication histories!
For one thing, the title character didn't even
appear in the first two installments in
Centaur's Star Comics (#1 above and #2 below) until the very end!
Instead, this pair of two-page chapters concentrate on Mexady's
Ming the Merciless-type dictator and his reluctant chief scientist!
As of Centaur's Star Comics #3, our stalwart hero, his scientist friend, Dr Carter, the scientist's son (and Dan's sidekick) Bob...
...and the scientist's hot daughter,
Gloria (whom the alien dictator immediately lusts for), finally get some attention!
Within four pages, we've gone from a World War (placed on hold) to a War of the Worlds!
And that was just the
beginning!The strip was created/written/illustrated by Fred Guardineer, one of the busier creatives of the Golden Age!
Though he's best known for his numerous magician characters including DC's Zatara, and Quality's Tor the Magic Master and Merlin the Magician, Fred worked in every genre, including Western, romance, high adventure, sci-fi, and even costumed super-heroes!
After his initial serial in Centaur's Star Comics 1-9, Dan Hastings popped up in titles published by MLJ/Archie, St John, and publisher Harry Chesler's various imprints!
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