Anthony Rogers first appeared in the August 1928 issue of Amazing Stories magazine, in Philip Francis Nowlan’s novella “Armageddon 2419 A.D.” He would return in “The Warlords of Han” in March 1929, but not before John Flint Dille, president of the National Newspaper Syndicate of America, had convinced Nowlan to adapt his story for a newspaper strip. That strip first appeared on Jan. 7, 1929— initially written by Nowlan and illustrated by Dick Calkin— and ran until the late 1960s. And it made Anthony a household name.
What? You’ve never heard of Anthony Rogers? Maybe you know him better by the name given him for the strip: Buck Rogers.
Although he first appeared in 1928, it wasn’t until his arrival in newspapers in 1929— 70 years ago— that Buck Rogers became a household name. And if you’ll pardon the obvious pun, the 20-year-old (27 in the novella) former Army Air Corps officer caught in a mine cave-in and preserved in suspended animation by the release of radioactive gases, took off like a rocket. For good and/or ill, science fiction became labeled as “that Buck Rogers stuff.” Though some of the derisive comments ended once actual spaceflight began.
Buck wasn’t the first character to reach the future via suspended animation, but he was the most famous. True, many remember Rip Van Winkle, but he only slept for 20 years (and aged during that time); but who in the general public today remembers Julian West from Edward Bellamy’ Looking Backward (1888) or Graham from Wells’, When the Sleeper Wakes (1899)?
Initially called Buck Rogers 2429 A.D., the strip was updated each year to remain 500 years ahead, until it finally stabilized as Buck Rogers in the 25th century.
According to the revised edition of The Collected Works of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, certain credos were established at the strip’s inception: It was to be based on the scientifically possible and plausible; it was to portray science fiction & education in a positive manner; it was to carry no heavy handed social message. The strip was to be non political and non discriminatory; the importance of the female sex was to be underscored. “Women were to play prominent roles in the strip, usually from a position of authority”; and the strip was to be basically adventure and entertainment.
By 2009 standards, the strip probably fell short in terms of racial and/or sexual equality, but the fact that such concepts were even entertained in 1929 are worth noting.
In 1932, Buck got his own radio show. It would air until 1936 on CBS; then in 1939, 1940 and 1946-47 on Mutual.
Buck’s popularity was such that according to the “Talk of the Town” in the Dec. 22, 1934 New Yorker, 125,000 maps of the planets had been mailed the previous year to radio listeners who’d requested one.
1934 also saw the debut of Buck’s primary rival, Flash Gordon, who first appeared Jan. 7 in a newspaper strip by Alex Raymond. Gold medal winning Olympic swimmer Buster Crabbe, who had portrayed Tarzan in a 1933 serial, would play both Flash in 1936 and Buck in 1939.
Crabbe would also appear in an episode of the 1979-1981 Buck Rogers in the 25th Century TV series as a character called Brigadier Gordon.
Buck first came to TV in a 30 minute series airing from 1950 to 1951.
Two years later, Daffy Duck starred in the Chuck Jones-directed parody, Duck Dodgers in the 24½ Century.
I don’t remember when I first heard of Buck Rogers, but I first saw him in the spring of 1979, in the movie Buck Rogers in the 25th Century. In it, Buck (now an astronaut) was frozen in a freak accident in 1987, to awaken in 2491.
The movie, slightly re-edited, became the two part opening episodes of the NBC TV series. By this time, he had become “William Anthony Rogers.”
In the late 1980s, TSR released Buck Rogers role-playing games, novels, and graphic novels. And in 1995, Martin Caidin, author of Cyborg—the basis for The Six Million Dollar Man— wrote Buck Rogers: A Life in the Future.
And just last year, Hermes Press began publishing Buck Rogers in the 25th Century: the Complete Newspaper Dailies. The publisher is also releasing a collection of Sunday strips.
No doubt Buck Rogers will return to the TV or movie screen one day. But will he remain in the 25th century or move into the 26th, so he’ll continue to be 500 years ahead of us?
It wouldn’t surprise me if he’ll be remembered in the actual 25th century.
Happy 70th, Buck.
Copyright 2009 Patrick Keating
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