I think this answers also my question I had when Ming first appeared: "What makes people fear Ming now?". The answer "Because they feared me before, they will continue to fear me, and from that I have power". I'm not satisfied with that answer but that's because I don't agree that "fear is forever".
I don't agree with his assertion that "fear is forever" but that is probably one of his core beliefs that drives his actions. He's the antagonist, the villain, I shouldn't be agreeing with him anyway!
Ming's statements are defining who he is. Shrewd and intelligent. A great judge of character. He's a person with a goal and labels like Hero and Villain are abstractions to understand motivations, not ethical or moral concerns.
Oooh. I love this comic. This comic is doing a ton of story. I've learned so many things.
Valkira's "Secret ways" comment made me laugh, and shows she fears Ming and doesn't really fully understand him.
Hi
I love seeing Bok's reasoning here. Thank you.
I was just commenting that trains don't tend to fair well I this comic, but then realized you could extend that to most vehicles huh.
And Ming is the manipulative villain right? So is this a setup by him to test loyalties somehow? Having only read this comic I'm still trying to understand what gives Ming power. He has fanatic loyalty / fear but what inspires that? Does he still have it now? Will these other villains tear him down?
The suspense in this comic is masterful. So many conflicting desires for Bok and for the me. Bok can't die, but he totally can. Short term high cost win or long term gamble?
"When all you want is coffee everything looks like a tool." So the saying goes?
Your Flash Gordon strips are current the standard I compare for daily 4 panel comics. Consistently performing in story, pace, art, economy, and more.
Oh yeah! Perfect we can green light the Flash Gordon anime now.
I think we had a Flash Gordon beach episode. And we had a tournament arc. So now we need a hot springs episode?
Longhorn Lemure
Liminal Livestock
Bones is good peoples.
Noooooooo!
Wooooooo!
I admit I thought Bones would milk this longer before throwing Flash at them. But take the opportunities you got I guess.
So is Bones betraying us or did someone get the jump on them and take their sword? I'm guessing 30/70. Maybe 40/60. If it is betrayal I'm leaning towards a "had to or it would have been worse" explanation.
Flash has to get his flirting practice in somewhere or he'll never get to Zarkov's level.
I don't know which implication I like more. That Bones stole a queen's sword, or that Bones is the (former?) ruler of a nation/region. But I'm enjoying how good they are at not confirming anything.
What is I feel is implied is not that they earned some right to harm her, it's that they earned her vengeance.
I'm a little sad Bok is going away for awhile and we don't get to see much Bones/Bok interaction yet. I understand though! Too much awesome in tiny little panels.
The rest of 2025 with Bones? Early surprise holiday gifts are the best!
Also poor snow shield! Such a valiant sacrifice. May we meet again.
Yesss! Bones!! They'll save every one of us! I'm excited for tomorrow and Sunday's comic. More so than usual.
"Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"
"Meanwhile" !!?! Gah! And I actually want to know what's going on with Fria and Aura, which makes this segue even more "annoying". Well played.
Each of these panels is doing so much story lifting/stakes raising, it nearly blew my mind. Bok gets an upgrade, a callback, a threat, and an obstacle. And he knows he needs draw this out as long as he can while not being able to find out Adrane's condition.
Still suspicious of Vultan. I know some people think he suddenly cares for his kid but that expression when he picks Adrane up is ambivalent to me.
