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Synopsis[]
Dr. Zarkov recovers just in time to knock Flash out of the path of the rushing Stratosled. The pilot's reckless attempt to kill Flash causes the ship to crash nearby. The crew stumble out and think that Flash is still paralyzed, in reality he is only feigning as Zarkov has already restored his movement.
With this element of surprise, the pair defeat the Martian party but cannot use the stratosled as it is wrecked. They take Bat wing suits from it and, jumping from the cliff, use these to glide back to the Power House.
Their aim now is to obtain gas masks, which will enable them to use the underground tunnel to return to the Kingdom of the Clay People.
By now, the paralysis effect has worn off Ming the Merciless and his guards. Flash and Zarkov sneak into the Power House pretending to be Martian troops. They take a gas mask each, but Ming spots them just as they leave through the secret hatch that leads to the underground tunnel. Guards give chase, but Flash and Zarkov are already away in the Vacuum Car.
Ming and Queen Azura realize that the tunnel must extend all the way to the Valley of Desolation. Azura is reluctant to send men after the fugitives when it will surely mean them getting killed, but Ming suggests sending some in as Clay People. Azura changes 2 of her soldiers into clay and tasks them to retrieve the Paralyzer Gun.
Flash and Zarkov use the Paralyzer Gun to force the Clay King to release Dale Arden and Happy. But as Flash helps Dale, Zarkov is jumped by the 2 Clay Men loyal to Azura. They seize the Paralyzer Gun and are about to turn it on the Clay King when Flash knocks it out of their hands with a well-aimed rock. The enemy Clay Men flee. The Paralyzer Gun is now shattered and useless.
Flash tells the Clay King of his previous encounter with Ming. The Clay King is now convinced of Flash's integrity, but regrets that his people cannot assist in defeating Ming and destroying the Nitron beam which is slowly destroying the Earth. Happy asks the King if he knows of anybody who can help, and the King suggests they try the Forest People and gives them directions to their domain.
Using a televisor, Ming and Queen Azura witness the Earth party's arrival in the Forest Kingdom, the home of the Fire People. "They are the most savage nation on Mars", says Azura, "No one has ever entered there and lived!" Ming reminds her that Flash Gordon is no ordinary man.
The party stumble across a religious shrine in the forest. Happy decides to take a photograph of it, but as he aims his camera, Azura, still watching on the televisor, uses her magic to destroy the idol remotely. The watching Forest People assume Happy destroyed the idol of their great god Kalu with his camera and are furious. They swarm to attack the Earth people and shoot flaming arrows at them. Flash and his friends are quickly trapped in a ring of fire.
Recap card[]
Flash wins the support of / the Clay People in his war / against Ming and Azura.
At the advice of the Clay King, / Flash and his friends journey / to the Forest Kingdom for help.
Happy spies a sacred shrine / in the forest and innocently / takes a snapshot of it.
Ming and Azura, watching over the / televisor, seize this chance to turn / the savage tribe against Flash.
Trivia[]
- Rather conveniently, the gas masks are kept right next to the secret hatch leading into the tunnel. Why didn't Flash and Zarkov use them the first time they wanted to get back to the Clay Kingdom?
- One of the Martian soldiers puts his gas mask on back-to-front as they hurry after Flash and Zarkov.
- All of Happy's clothes and belongings were taken from him when he was first captured by the Clay People, so how come he suddenly has his camera back? Did he ask the Clay King to return it to him?
- In this chapter only, the Forest People are called the Fire People.
- The televisor is somehow able to tune into the location of the Earth people even though Ming and Azura don't know where they are. Despite the operator continuing to adjust the controls of the televisor, he then lets the Earth people wander completely out of view.
- Azura uses her magic to destroy the sacred idol of the Forest People, yet it will be established in the following chapter that the Forest Kingdom is immune to her magic power as its inhabitants possess the Black Sapphire.
- As Flash tells the Clay King of his previous encounters with Ming, flashbacks are used from chapters 1, 10, and 11 of the earlier 1936 serial.
Gallery[]
