Generally, people spend the first few weeks of a new year looking ahead, making resolutions, adjusting to new lifestyle changes and forming plans for themselves and their families during the months ahead.
So far in 2025, this particular column has been a little nostalgic, looking back on the comics, toys and cartoons that shaped our childhood. Witness last month’s column that focused on 1980’s toy line, Power Lords, amidst a phoenix-like resurgence into a new comic book series.
Yep. We might be keenly aware of those old pop culture references, but we’re always keeping it firmly grounded in the present, here on The Wednesday Run.
Today continues that standing theme.
Some readers might recall a 1986 cartoon series called Defenders of the Earth. It only lasted for one year, but it impressively produced 65 episodes. A prolific output when you compare it to what we get these days. If you don’t remember the series, you’ll most likely recall its famous cast of characters: The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, Lothar and, of course, Flash Gordon.
These were all properties of King Features Syndicate and it’s probably true to say the individual pieces were greater than the sum that was Defenders of the Earth. Still, the series made an indelible mark on young minds, introducing naïve cartoon viewers to a team of world-renown heroes, fighting to save the earth from the villainous machination of Ming the merciless, he of Flash Gordon lore. At the time, the series was able to make the leap into comic books via publisher Star Comics, an imprint of Marvel Comics. Characters have been licensed over the decades to various comic book publishers, large and small, and have seen those properties appear in film, television, books and, of course, other cartoons.
Defenders of the Earth are known all over this Earth!
Most recently, the ensemble title was licensed to independent comic book publisher, Mad Cave Studios, and today sees the eagerly anticipated release of Defenders of the Earth Volume 1: A World Divided.
Nostalgia, meet our exciting present!
Written by ex-DC Comics Vice President, Executive Editor and Co-Publisher and current Publisher with Frank Miller Presents, Dan DiDio (Metal Men via Wednesday Comics, The Outsiders, Sideways, O.M.A.C., Phantom Stanger) and illustrated by comics veteran Jim Calafiore (Exiles, Secret Six, Gotham Underground, Deadpool), the Defenders of the Earth series picks up right where the 1986 cartoon series ended, collecting the recent 4-issue miniseries into a handsome 120-page paperback compilation.
The opening prologue of Defenders of the Earth Volume 1: A World Divided showcases the last days of the battle with Ming the Merciless and the planet of Mongo that ends with the villain’s death at the hands of the heroic Flash Gordon.
Still, the end of one enemy leaves a vacuum for new antagonists. And that’s what Defenders of the Earth Volume 1: A World Divided is all about – leaping from the nostalgia of what came before and bringing something new, something modern to the story and its inherent heroes.
One of the main themes of the original Defenders was “family”. A young Rick Gordon (son of Flash Gordon), L.J. or Lothar Jr. (son of Lothar), Kshin (adopted son of Mandrake) and Jedda Walker (daughter of the Phantom) were front and center in each episode of the animated series. DiDio and Calafiore do well to keep that sense of family front and center with the new series. Unfortunately for our group of heroes, adjusting to a world without the interstellar evil of Ming, that means threats are much, much closer to home both figuratively and literally.
Defenders of the Earth Volume 1: A World Divided is a wonderfully entertaining, fun and heroic romp that encapsulates all the great nostalgia of the original series and old-school comic book reading with a more modern take on storytelling, keeping the adventure evergreen. It’s a great read for anyone of any age: young or old, new or veteran in their knowledge of these legendary heroes.
Make the run to your local comic book shop or better bookstore and pick up the exciting and heroic story that is Defenders of the Earth Volume 1: A World Divided today!
As a reminder of the characters and the action you’ll get in Defenders of the Earth Volume 1: A World Divided, you can catch the opening sequence of the 1986 cartoon directly below!
