Adventures of the Fly #1 (1959)
by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby
To the extent that anyone knows about The Fly, it’s because of the claim that he’s the basis of Spider-Man.
It’s not entirely out of nowhere: you have a character co-created by Jack Kirby who is a bug-themed kid hero. Adding some of Kirby’s claims, it’s understandable why the rumor could start.
I’ve discussed the claims that Spider-Man was based on the Kirby’s pitch for the Fly in the review of the first Spider-Man story… but what about the character itself?
Technically speaking, however, The Fly’s first solo book is not his first-ever appearance.
The Double Life of Private Strong #1 (1959)
by Joe Simon & Jack Kirby
cover by Joe Simon
That would be a two-page teaser from THIS book, starring ANOTHER Simon & Kirby patriotic superhero after Captain America and Fighting American.
It’s not surprising to find another one here, considering Archie Comics created The Shield first.
This one is not particularly notable…
…aside from the fact that he ALSO calls himself The Shield.
So he’s Private Strong on the cover, his name is Lancelot Strong, and his codename is The Shield… no wonder he only lasts TWO issues, readers couldn’t figure out how to call him!
What’s important from this issue is the two-page story featuring a more historically significant character.
This is surprisingly moody for Kirby; if it wasn’t for those distinct faces, I could have mistaken this for a Ditko page.
Since it’s a teaser, it’s not much of a story… it’s just a mysterious guy knocking out a couple of people. But he does have stage presence, I’ll give him that.
Alright, I’m sold. What’s the main book like?
The series proper starts in an orphanage, so expect a different tone.
The orphanage’s owner is using its funding to pay for his gambling depts.
Our protagonist Tommy finds out…
…and he’s sentenced to be adopted by some creepy wizards.
He eventually finds a ring hidden between cobwebs and flies, so obviously he puts it on.
And that puts him into contact with fly people!!!
This is one of the most bonkers origins I’ve ever come across, WHICH IS SAYING SOMETHING.
First of all, the fly people used to have enormous science powers…
…and that is the origin of the housefly.
Also the fly people are “at war with all greed and crime” and waiting for a person pure of heart to help them.
I should point out that this guy JUST met Tommy; we saw he’s a good kid since he was willing to stand up for the other orphans, but still, why do I get the feeling that the fly dude would have done the same for anyone?
Despite the claim that his people have powers that dwarf atom bombs, the powers he can bestow upon Tommy are climbing to surfaces, super-strength, omni-directional vision and escape artistry.
Notice something missing?
The Fly CANNOT FLY.
For now.
The way he says this makes me wonder if Tommy is stuck in another dimension whenever he rubs the ring, instead of being transformed into an adult.
It’s not elaborated, obviously.
The fly dude didn’t mention super-hearing, so I don’t think we can rely too much on the information he gave.
The Fly proceeds to knock out the guys who were extorting money from the orphanage.
You might think The Fly is a ripoff of Captain Marvel, being a kid who transforms into a superpowered adult. But he doesn’t need to say a magic word to transform into a hero… only his real name to turn back into a kid.
Totally different.
The book is a collection of VERY short stories about The Fly; the first one is over, but I’ll quickly mention the others.
We see that he’s still living with the wizards.
We also see the Buzz Gun in action.
It just makes his targets sleepy so that he can punch them.
You know this is starting to feel a bit underwhelming when compared to the power of atom bombs.
I really fail to see ANY reason for why The Fly reverts back to Tommy and lives with these wizards.
The cover story has a very rare case of almost splash page, with two thirds being taken by this “wide angle scream” that was notable enough to be advertised on the cover.
Not even Kirby superfans suggest that The Spider was the true inspiration for Spider-Man.
I hope.
We also learn that The Fly has a specific weakness: bright lights.
Feels a bit outside of his theme.
Aside from the orphan-abusing wizards… now that’s a sentence… The Fly has a recurring character with Dolly.
A girl who… is a girl. That’s the extent of her characterization and role.
There’s a story where The Fly fights a robot, mistaking him for the inventor.
Returning the favor, there’s a two-page teaser for The Shield.
Historical significance: 1 / 
The Fly is definitely one of the most significant Archie superheroes… and even this score might be too much.
Silver Age-ness: 10 /
Flies are the devolved form of dimension-hopping super-aliens who hate crime and have unfathomably advanced weapons… and can’t give out decent superpowers.
Does it stand the test of time? 0 /
While this clearly has a younger target audience than most of its DC competitors of the era… this feels like a throwback to Golden Age tropes and simultaneously an even more primitive story.
Kirby’s talent still shines through here and there, but this is incredibly bare bones.
The story, the characters and the action feel incredibly dull and old-fashioned, and I get the feeling it was already old-fashioned for a 1959 audience.
The only saving graces are the completely bonkers origin and the two-page teaser.
Those two initial pages are FAR better than anything else in the 25 pages of the main book.
How close is this to the modern character? What modern character?
The Fly is reportedly the second attempt to create this character: Simon and Kirby submitted a similar pitch with the name “Silver Spider” to Harvey Comics a few years earlier, but it never materialized.
Jack Kirby didn’t stay long: he only drew the first and second issues before leaving the book.
Joe Simon stayed for 2 more issues.
This is not Kirby’s best work.
But even without Kirby, the series had a respectable run given the times.
It lasted 30 issues, from 1959 to 1964, and along the way it introduced a rare example of a female sidekick with Fly Girl.
Issue 4 has the first published artwork by Neal Adams.
I started to do samples for Archie and I left my Fly samples there. A couple weeks later when I came in to show my Archie samples, I noticed that the pages were still there, but the bottom panel was cut off of one of my pages. I said, “What happened?” They said, “One of the artists did this transition where Tommy Troy turns into the Fly and it’s not very good. You did this real nice piece so we’ll use that, if it’s OK.” I said, “That’s great. That’s terrific.”
NEAL ADAMS
Joe Simon left the book after 4 issues, and in issue 5 the series has a soft reboot by jumping ahead several years and completely dropping the “kid superhero” angle.
Which was a good call considering that from what I’ve seen the series NEVER did anything interesting with the premise.
Also The Fly can fly now. He’ll get other insect-themed powers over the years.
Speaking of Fly Girl, she debuts in issue 14. She’s an actress who is given the same powers by the fly people. Sometimes her name is written “Fly-Girl” or even “Flygirl”.
By this point the Silver Age was in full swing. The Fly was renamed Fly-Man for the remaining 8 issues.
Also in this period Archie Comics decided to hire none other than Jerry Siegel to write the superhero team Mighty Crusaders, while doing his best Stan Lee impression.
The Fly joined this absolute trainwreck of a team in 1965.
Seriously, this is one of the most painful comics I’ve ever read.
Siegel is blatantly doing this for a paycheck; it’s not his style in the slightest, and the lack of enthusiasm is obvious.
The series was mercifully ended in 1966; the other Archie superheroes made a few appearances on Mighty Comics, but The Fly disappeared.
Archie Comics attempted a revival in 1983 in a 9-issue series.
It’s yet another time-skip.
Notably, Steve Ditko does the artwork beginning with issue 2 (together with Rich Buckler).
Interestingly the writer is Jack C. Harris, perhaps best known as the creator of the post-Crisis version of the Ray and who had been editor for the Legion issues that Ditko drew in the 80s.
Issue 5 is a strange beast; Ditko is fully on pencils and Rich Buckler is writing.
This is a very jarring issue because Ditko is in his full classic mode and the stories include both the old-fashioned fantastical plot elements while also including stuff you DEFINITELY wouldn’t expect to find in an Archie book.
Compare to issue 6 with Ditko delivering a plot about who gets the money from an invention.
If you know ANYTHING about his history, it shouldn’t surprise you.
Issue 6 is about an old man needing to defend his earned money from money-grabbing ingrates.
Yeah Ditko definitely had a theme, didn’t he?
With that attempt ending with issue 9 in 1984, Archie Comics had so few idea of what to do with the character that they licensed it to DC Comics in 1991.
It lasted 17 issues, and it went back to basics with The Fly being a kid who transforms into an adult.
The Fly wasn’t alone; DC had the rights to all Archie superheroes, even reviving the Crusaders in their own book (written by Mark Waid).
That lasted only 8 issues.
In 1999, Joe Simon regained the rights to the Fly… but not to Fly Girl, since she had been created after his departure from the original book.
So Fly Girl has taken the Fly’s place in the Crusaders, both in the DC Comics series published in 2010.
This version is completely unrelated to the original.
But then Archie Comics attempted another revival two years later…
…and THAT Fly Girl is the daughter of the original.
As far as I can tell, The Fly himself doesn’t appear in other Archie comics.
Archie being Archie, Fly Girl can sometimes show up in their other franchises; these examples are from 2022 and 2023.
The Fly’s only other appearance I was able to find was in 2007 when Joe Simon licensed the character to the French publisher Organic Comix.
They renamed him “Spider Spry” and turned him into the most blatant Spider-Man ripoff imaginable.
It’s a pity that the character is now entirely remembered for the non-existent relationship to Spider-Man and that, despite a respectable history, nobody seems to have found an angle for him.
