Button, Dale Arden, Flash Gordon Character

This pin features Dale Arden, the female lead from the Flash Gordon comic strip. Created to compete with—and cash in on—the success of Buck Rogers, which was licensed by a competing newspaper syndicate, Flash Gordon debuted in comic strips in 1934. Alex Raymond, a staff writer for King Features, created the character and wrote the strip for 10 years.The Arden character, who also served as the love interest for the strip, accompanied the title character in battling Asian supervillian Ming the Merciless.Collector Michael O'Harro gave this button to the Museum in 1993.