#3 OCT 29, 2016 · 9 yr ago
Glad you're enjoying it. This show has been a favourite of mine for about three decades, so it's interesting to see the reaction of someone watching it for the very first time.
Yes, we have a very diverse range of characters, possibly the most diverse range of any show from that period. Flash is the All American Hero, Mandrake the English Gentleman, you're absolutely right in that Lothar is basically Panthro by another name, I started saying a while back you could swap those two characters over and it wouldn't make any difference! The Phantom is from somewhere in Africa (back then a lot of media still portrayed Africa as if it was a single country, although this show does occasionally get more specific), although there is one episode where a previous Phantom was seen to be based in India - which makes more sense when you think of the Ten Tigers power.
The kids are pretty good too, all of them having some skill related to that of their respective fathers, and as far as we can tell, looking passably like them too. (As for Kshin's biological parents, we'll be hearing about them in a week or two!)
For the record, Flash, the Phantom, and Mandrake (and his sidekick Lothar) all began in comic strip adventures in the 1930s. Obviously when viewing the villains from those comics, Ming was the most powerful and best suited to being the Arch Baddie, although some other villains from the other strips made an appearance here and there. There's so much you can delve into with the mythology of these characters . . .
Yes, Ming's song, Prince Kro-Tan, does have a very mocking tone, and yes, that's perhaps a little reminiscent of Starscream. Actually there's a few other parallels with Transformers in this show. The volcano base being the most obvious, but also the music by Robert Walsh, which is quite excellent.
Kro-Tan only appears occasionally in the show. He appeared in one part of The Necklace Of Oros movie, and of course had his day in the spotlight in the Prince Kro-Tan movie (the one we'll be watching for ROCKS 2D so you know in advance). They could have done a lot more with the character, it's a pity we didn't see more of him. Actually, in the comic book version of this show, Kro-Tan did accompany Ming to Earth.
As for the episodes:
ESCAPE FROM MONGO
This is a very solid start. We go straight into the action. Flash's ship crashes by Mandrake's mansion and that brings them together right away, which works very well. Bringing seemingly unrelated characters together is a tricky business, but this episode handles it almost to perfection. The Phantom's recruitment could have been done a little better, however. They just seem to gloss over the bit where Flash, Mandrake and Lothar explain why they want him. Actually in the comics, they did show that process, and interestingly enough had this scene before the rescue mission to Mongo.
The death of Flash's wife (unnamed in the episode but presumed to be Dale Arden, and indeed identified as such in the comic) is a shocker. This was a show that, while not gory by any means, did perhaps show a few more character deaths than most of its contemporaries. Certainly this one is a big shocker.
The one thing that doesn't quite work for me is the last part, where Rick and L.J. are abducted. It's like a separate idea to what's gone before in the episode. It's as if the pilot is two shorter adventures fused together. And it's not explained why Zuffy, despite being found by Rick, became Kshin's pet rather than his. I know the probable answer is "because Kshin was the youngest" but still . . .
One of my favourite little tricks though was Ming's opening scene - we don't get to see his face until the end, there's a definite nod to Blofeld from the Bond films there.
THE CREATION OF MONITOR
Dynak X - yes, not that much of a personality, but give her a break, she's only just been created and switched on! For the most part, she doesn't have that much personality, true, but there are a couple of early episodes where she does, notably The Revenge Of Astra where she claims to be the one really flying the spaceship instead of "Glamour Boy"! As for Morkon and the Krell (Morbius and the Cryl in the comic), they only appear in this episode, they help build Monitor in the way the Berbils help build Cats' Lair and that's it. They're never seen again. Still, this is a good solid continuation of the show.
BITS & CHIPS
I place this episode as no3 in continuity order, although really I think that the real episode 3 doesn't exist and this would have been episode 4. There's some developments that were never formalised (the building of the Space Station and the discovery of where Ming's base was for instance), but this is the best thing we have to a proper 3rd episode in continuity terms, so that's where I always put it. (Everyone I've introduced or reintroduced to this show, I've shown them this episode as no3 and they've never believed me when I said it was aired 5th!)
Anyhow, this episode is one of the best for action. Every character (apart from Kshin) gets his or her moment to shine, and while I regard it as an ensemble episode, there's some major emotional goings-on for Rick (a bit like the first episode had for Flash). On the other hand it's one of the worst for explanations. Why does Ming take his flying throne room to this atoll to power up the maggot, if the maggot is going to be entering Dynak X in Paris? How does smashing that crystal give Ming access to all those weapons codes? How come the guns stopped working on Flash's ship when they didn't take even one hit (other than the canopy one)? So much about it doesn't make sense. But I can suspend my disbelief because the action and characters are so well done.
