Flash springs into life courtesy of Alex Raymond, award-winning comic strip artist (and great-uncle of actor Matt Dillon, trivia fans). Created as a response to Buck Rogers, the strip - with Flash as a professional polo player of all things - ends up running all the way through to 2003!

To capitalise on the tremendous success of the comics, three series of black and white movie serials were produced in 1936, 1938 and 1940. They starred the brilliantly named Buster Crabbe as Flash, Jean Rogers as Dale and Charles Laughton as Ming the Merciless.

Another black and white TV series followed in the '50s, shot in a rather bleak and expressionistic post-war West Germany. Steve Holland played Flash, who is now a rock singer for some reason.

Yes, it's true. There was a naughty satire called Flesh Gordon. Stop giggling at the back.

Flash Gordon enters the realm of Saturday morning animation, courtesy of Filmation (also responsible for He-Man and Star Trek: The Animated Series). It's gained something of a cult following as a masterful adaptation of Raymond's original work, and definitely worth catching if you can...

Who could possibly forget the gloriously camp movie starring Sam J Jones (this time as an American football-playing Flash), Melody Anderson and Max Von Sydow? Star Brian Blessed simply calls it "perfect". It's certainly a feast for the senses, not least because of Queen's extraordinary theme music. Speaking of which, the unforgettable title track has been covered by an American band name of Louis XIV, so keep an ear out for this exciting new version on SCI FI!

Flash returns to animated form in Defenders of the Earth alongside The Phantom and Mandrake the Magician. In a slightly odd move, Dale is not... well, not human any more. Her essence is used to power a supercomputer called Dynak X. Flash even has kids!

A decade later, Flash Gordon pops up in another cartoon, but this time as a teenage hoverboarder, fighting a reptilian Ming. Woah, dude.

Flash is back! A brand new TV show for a new generation of Gordonites starring Eric Johnson, Gina Holden, Jody Racicot and John Ralston. Use the navigation above to find out loads more - oh, and this time Flash is a marathon runner, his fourth career so far! That chap needs to just make a decision and stick to it.