Jeff Parker finds something awfully familiar about the logo for the Sci Fi Channel’s new Flash Gordon TV series:
Did someone at SciFi Network just google “Flash” when designing the new show logo and find the DC character? Or like those people who don’t know comics and always think The Invisible Man is a superhero, assume Flash and Flash Gordon are the same thing? For the record, Alex Raymond’s Flash Gordon never had a lightning bolt, and even the movie only gave him a slight one- not a three-parter in a circle like the guy who runs really fast.
I almost hesitate to point to the page for the show’s “Sing the Flash Anthem” contest, which depicts the lightning bolt-through-a-circle logo emblazoned on the chest of a silhouetted figure. Kind of like a certain Scarlet Speedster.
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:05 pm
You must have missed the panel at SDCC when a “fan” asked a question about Flash and how it would fit into continuity with the TV show, movies and comic book. The guy was obviously had Flash (DC superhero) and Flash Gordon (30’s serial hero) confused and intertwined in his head. It was a funny moment in a sad sort of way. Even the cast on stage had no idea what the guy was talking about at first then caught on and corrected him and even cracked a couple jokes at the poor guy’s expense.
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:12 pm
I knew a guy in high school who went by Flash as a nickname. I never even knew his real name, the moniker was so firmly in place. Being the nerd I was (and am), I once asked him which Flash had inspired him to adopt the nickname. He said something like, “You know, when I was a kid I just liked the Flash, cause he could run fast and fly in space.” I was very disappointed in Flash, that day.
August 3rd, 2007 at 1:15 pm
Oh, one other thing. Last night my wife was watching a Sex and the City rerun, the one in which Carries compares her boyfriends to superheroes. There’s a funny line in which she confuses the Green Hornet and Green Lantern, then later refers to one guy as “The Green Bee.” Made me laugh.
The climax comes when Pete the dog, dubbed “Kato” for the episode, bites Chris Noth in the ass. Good stuff.
August 3rd, 2007 at 2:47 pm
Wow. I’ve seen non-nerds make this mistake before, but never on such a public/professional scale. Don’t they have any nerds working on this show? Jeez.
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:09 pm
While I do not have high hopes for this show (doesn’t help that I just started reading Alex Raymond’s original comic stips, which are amazing), in their defense, it could be that they are simply doing a bit of an homage to the cult classic Flash Gordon film. Might not be any more than that.
I’d point out what a geeky thing it was for Jeff Parker to analyze this, but since he’s a comic book writer, and a fantastic one at that, and, as such, pretty much required to be obsessed with such things, I’ll give him a pass.
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:25 pm
Ooooh, Karen Cliche.
August 3rd, 2007 at 3:31 pm
Well, in defense of being obsessive, I did a few searches at the United States Patent & Trademark Office website. I went through a list of 735 trademarks registered to DC Comics Inc., and none of them appeared to be the Flash lightning-in-circle symbol. I also did a search for “flash” and a lightning-bolt design code, and found a number of marks which had nothing to do with sci-fi or superheroes. However, I couldn’t find the trademark “Flash Gordon” currently registered for use with an ongoing television program.
Of course, my search skills might be lacking. I’m sure the appropriate owners have registered these particular marks. Heck, I’ve got a Flash-symbol T-shirt that I’m pretty sure has fine-print trademark information. The question is, who used the lightning-in-a-circle first — the comics and/or serials that came out before 1956, or the character design that appeared in Showcase #4?
Not to make a federal case out of it (although that’s actually what it could be)….
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:00 pm
A lightning bolt through a circle is nothing original. Plus, this symbol is used in the logo, not on the character’s chest.
It is an “homage” to the 1981 Flash Gordon movie…
http://static.rateyourmusic.com/album_images/6611.jpg
August 3rd, 2007 at 4:39 pm
The circle with the lightning bolt is a registered trademark for DC Comics. It appeared first, of note, with the DC Comics Silver Age FLASH debut. As stated in the blog above, this lightning bolt design wasn’t even associated with Flash Gordon until the film and, even then, wasn’t this particular style of bolt. None of which matters, since DC owns the trademark and any claim FLASH GORDON would have had to it lapsed long ago.
August 3rd, 2007 at 6:36 pm
So that’s what Adam Sessler would look like if he went on the juice.
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:16 pm
Not enough Max von Sydow.
August 3rd, 2007 at 8:51 pm
It doesn’t bode well for the budget of the show when the logo looks like a really bad combo of Photoshop effects.
I really want this to be good because I love space heroes, so I’m really not getting my hopes up until I see it.
August 3rd, 2007 at 11:25 pm
“The circle with the lightning bolt is a registered trademark for DC Comics.”
Looks like Tom did a fair bit of research and found out that it *isn’t* registered.
August 4th, 2007 at 2:30 pm
I’m not going to say it’s not registered, because my T-shirt says the symbol is (TM) and (C) DC Comics 1988 — just that I couldn’t find where the symbol is registered.
And yeah, a jagged lightning-bolt symbol seems to have a pretty close association with the word “Flash.”
Still, I agree that the symbol does look a lot like Barry/Wally’s.
August 5th, 2007 at 7:55 pm
Very interesting observations! I was almost under the same misconceptions, myself…until I re-upped on the Bios of the two superheros, and got it straight…
I think Flash Gordon (not the one in red…with bolts from the head…who needs to consume massive amounts of food for energy…)has been under the radar for so long, people just need a re-intro. I’m looking forward to the show, at least…Flash-Ahhhhhhhhhhh!