Before the Ant-Man, there was...the Fly-Man! (Part 2)

There was a second Fly-Man introduced a decade after the first one got swatted...

...co-created by the artist who would co-create Ant-Man!

Using the classic idea (first embodied in comics by the original Captain Marvel) of a kid magically-transforming into a super-powered adult, Joe Simon and Jack Kirby devised a new insect-themed character for Archie Comics' first attempt at a super-hero line since they cancelled the last of their costumed characters in the late 1940s to concentrate on books about Archie and his entourage.

Among the Fly's attributes were flight, super-strength, enhanced eyesight, and the ability to cling to walls and ceilings.

Oddly, the talent to grow and shrink was not one of his initial powers, though it was added later on.

The Simon & Kirby comics studio "packaged" Adventures of The Fly and Double Life of Private Strong: the Shield for Archie, with Simon, Kirby, Bob Powell, George Tuska, and Jack Davis, among others, providing scripts and artwork.

This never-reprinted Joe Simon-written and illustrated tale from Archie Adventure Comics' The Fly #3 (1959) recaps the basics of his origin story without the various fights and chases that filled out the page count of the first issue.

Now you may notice that the character is called "The Fly", not "Fly-Man"!

After four issues, Simon and Kirby ended their long collaboration and went their separate ways.

The book was brought "in-house", and now produced by Archie's editorial staff.

The storyline was "rebooted" by making the teenage Tommy Troy into the adult Thomas Troy and stating he hadn't used the ring to become The Fly in nine years, re-setting the earlier issues (which featured 1959-contemporary clothes and technology) around 1950-51!

Other superheroes, including Private Strong: the Shield and the Golden Age Black Hood begin popping in for guest appearances.

A new girlfriend, Kim Brand, gains her own magic ring and becomes Fly Girl.

However, despite these changes, the book is cancelled in January, 1964 as of #29.

The Fly and Fly Girl's strip moves to the backs of Pep Comics and Laugh Comics before their title is revived with #30 in October 1964, then retitled Fly-Man with the next issue, which came out in May, 1965.

(Yes, that's over half a year between issues!

And you thought Marvel and DC started the trend of late books!)

Why that happened and what resulted will be shown tomorrow...with the warning that what you'll see may shock you!

Before the Ant-Man, there was...the Fly-Man! (Part 1)

With Ant-Man: the Movie opening today...

...we're presenting what could be considered his direct ancestor in comics.

Though he shares a number of attributes with the movie version of Ant-Man, including reduced height, retaining his full-sized strength while small, receiving his powers from a scientist, and criminal connections, Fly-Man couldn't control or communicate with insects.

Illustrated by Sam Glanzman, this never-reprinted tale from Harvey Comics' Spitfire Comics #1 (1941) was the first of two appearances by the Diminutive Daredevil.

In the next (and final) issue of the title, Fly-Man took both the cover and the lead section of the book from the comic's namesake character, Spitfire!

It didn't help since neither character ever reappeared...anywhere!

But, the "Fly-Man" name would reappear almost 20 years later...on a new character with interesting links to Ant-Man.

You'd learn about that on Monday!

Bugged with Comics?

With Ant-Man coming to theatres next week...

...though he'll look more like this...

...we thought it appropriate to take a look at the insect-themed heroes of comics, with a never-reprinted article from the amazingly-kool The Monster Times #3 (1972) by comics fan-turned-comics pro Marv Wolfman!

Now that you've read a primer of insect (and arachnid)-themed characters, be here next week when we present several never reprinted tales about them!

Reading Room: WOLFF "Lady of the Wolves"

When Last We Left Our Post-Apocalyptic Barbarian...

...he had been cursed to become a literal version of his name...a lycanthrope!

Is Wolff fated to repeat this nightmare whenever the Moon is full?

Or is there a way to defeat the curse?

While this chapter of the Wolff saga, written by Luis Gasca (aka Sadko) & Estaban Maroto and illustrated by Maroto from New English Library's Dracula #5 (1972) leaves us hanging, the next chapter will offer an answer...though it might not be one Wolff likes!

Thanksgiving Turkey BLACKHAWK "Junk-Heap Heroes: Book III" Part 3

We Have Already Seen...

Yes, this is the cover from #229, not this issue (#230), but it shows the Emperor in the Centurion of Doom armor...

...intercepting a message ordering the Blackhawks to rendevous, the Emperor dons a suit of high-tech armor and heads out to destroy the team personally...

Did the Emperor happen to leave the instruction manual in the armor?
If not, how did the less-than-brilliant Stan figure out how to use it (and all the built-in weaponry?
Plus, since it's powered by ionizing gold, did anyone think of how much it would cost to operate it?
(Heck, the Lone Ranger was always cautious about his silver bullets...)
And, why didn't Stan take the skull-and-crossbones logo off it?
Speaking of Stan being something of a dim-bulb, when did any of the team demonstrate the skills and abilities they suddenly picked up as of two issues ago?
I've looked over several dozen issues of both the Quality and DC runs prior to #228, and none of them show any of the crew being anything but a bunch of talented flyers/proficient hand-to-hand combatants with different accents!
At least they didn't put any of the old guys into tights/spandex!

Here's the cover for the issue (#230), showing the entire team...

...but if we showed it to you earlier, you might have thought the Emperor had killed/trapped Stan and replaced him as a spy within the team.

Hey, that's not a bad idea!

The undercover Emperor could claim he can't remove the armor because it's a life-support system keeping him alive...nah, it's been done.

Too bad writer Bob Haney, penciller Dick Dillin, and inker Chuck Cuidera didn't think of going that way...it would've added a bit of tension and excitement to a concept that quickly went downhill both in terms of story logic and sales until, in #242, the series was rebooted back to the original WWII flyers concept (complete with the classic black leather uniforms), but was cancelled as of the next issue.