Buck Rogers

The 1928 edition of Amazing Stories was one of the most important in the history of science fiction. The legendary edition introduced Anthony ‘Buck’ Rogers as a character in the play Armageddon-2419, from the Philip Francis Nowlan novel. Buck Rogers became a household name in America, with a terrifically loyal following, after the strip Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century was syndicated in various newspapers. He was also featured in a radio show that aired until the end of the 1930s, when it was ousted by imitators: the advent of Flash Gordon and Brick Bradford marked the end of the Buck Rogers era.

Nevertheless, the Buck Rogers character enjoyed a revival at the end of the 1970s. In 1977, the film Buck Rogers was released – essentially this was a clumsily-edited compilation of the original 1939 series starring Buster Crabbe (who also played Flash Gordon). In 1979, a television series named after the original comic strip, Buck Rogers in the Twenty-Fifth Century, starring Gil Gerard, made its debut and was on the air for three seasons. The basic storyline is about two space travellers who have an accident in outer space and remain in suspended animation for 500 years. When they are finally discovered and rescued, the main characters, Buck Rogers and Buddy Wade, return to a world that is dominated by an army of delinquents led by Killer Kane. Logically, their mission is to save the planet.