When director George Lucas wanted to adapt Flash Gordon in the mid-seventies, he received a rejection from the rights holder. Inspired by the cult comic, he didn't give up and created a new science fiction opus that would go down in film history as Star Wars. However, Lucas couldn't let go of the originally intended hero character and incorporated numerous elements from the comic classic into his new work. Sword fights became lightsaber duels, the terrifying Ming transformed into the feared Darth Vader, and the love story of Flash Gordon continued with Princess Leia. The illustrator and author Alex Raymond launched the comic series in 1934. Aside from the simply drawn Buck Rogers, he had no templates. The fantastic worlds of the planet Mongo and its inhabitants sprang solely from his boundless imagination.