Review of "Defenders of the Earth: The Sun Stealers," by Mark Sufrin

 Review of

Defenders of the Earth: The Sun Stealers, by Mark Sufrin ISBN 0307617653

Five out of five stars

Great team up of Sunday comic legends

 This short story for young people features four of the greatest heroes ever to appear in the newspaper comic sections. They are the Phantom created by Lee Falk, Flash Gordon created by Alex Raymond, and Mandrake the Magician and his sidekick Lothar also created by Lee Falk. In this story they do battle with Flash’s old adversary Ming the Merciless.

 Ming’s goal in this book is to capture the energy of the Earth’s sun and channel it to his own uses. He has no concern regarding the effects that the theft will have on Earth. Towards this end, Ming has made an alliance with the Glow People, who possess the ability to store solar energy from other stars. It is a great threat to Earth and one the Defenders must thwart.

 The story is simple and lacks drama. However, fans of the comic section of the Sunday papers will be thrilled to see these heroes teamed together to defend Earth from a dangerous cosmic menace.