Steve & The Fly

In the Spring of 1959, I discovered The Adventures of the Fly. It was an unusual discovery, noticing the comic book on a spinner rack in a pharmacy my family visited periodically. For the previous year or so, I had been reading all the comic books I could get my hands on. However, most of what I read was published by DC, regularly buying and reading virtually every title that featured Superman or Batman. This meant that I was also being enthralled by the adventures of the super-heroes in the back-up features as well, such as Green Arrow, Aquaman, Supergirl, and the Martian Manhunter. I would also, at least, take a peek at any titles that had the “Superman DC National Comics” logo on the corner of the covers. The Adventures of the Fly #1 [Aug. 1959] was different. The logo on its cover said “Archie Adventure Series.” I picked it up and flipped through the pages, but since it wasn’t a DC book, I didn’t buy it.

A few days later, I was back in the store again and the book was still on the rack. I paged through it again. I was intrigued enough by the Jack Kirby and Joe Simon artwork to hand my dime over to the pharmacist and buy the comic. I actually felt guilty for purchasing a non-DC comic.

The awesome comic melted that guilt away quickly and I became a fan. The tales of young orphan Tommy Troy and his magic ring that granted him the powers of the Fly really grabbed my imagination. It was unlike anything I was used to in the pages of the DC comics.

I didn’t know at the time that the character of the Fly was actually a re-working of a different character called the Silver Spider and the script had gone through quite a few hands before landing on Simon & Kirby’s drawing boards. The first four issues of The Adventures of the Fly had art by Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Dick Ayers, Paul Reinman, Al Williamson, Angelo Tores, Jack Davis, Bob Powell, Ted Giundo, Chic Stone, and Sol Brodsky.

Although this dazzling array of Golden Age artists contributed to the book, my enthusiasm waned quickly. By the fifth issue, Archie changed the character. Tommy had suddenly grown up and become a lawyer. The art was bland and the character rapidly became a weak and boring imitation of the worst of Superman. Even though the title ran until issue #30 [Oct. 1964], I never bought another one after issue #4.

During the “camp” craze generated by the Batman television show in the ’60s, the character of the Fly returned for another brief run under the title of Fly Man [#31, May 1965–#29, Sept. 1968]. I didn’t buy any of these either. I still missed the original Simon & Kirby version.

In the ’80s, Archie Comics tried the Fly once again. Archie tapped some modern talent to revive not only The Fly, but their Mighty Crusaders title as well, which included more of their other super-heroes from the past such as The Shield, The Jaguar, Black Hood, the Web and Fly Girl. Artist Rich Buckler came on board to oversee this possible revival.

Buckler and I had worked together for many years. When I first became an assistant editor at DC, Rich was there doing covers and illustrating stories for many of DC’s mystery titles as a pencil artist as well as an inker. When I was editing World’s Finest Comics, Rich drew a couple of Hawkman stories for me. We had a good working relationship.

When I heard of the revival of The Fly, I contacted Rich. I wanted to write for The Fly, in an effort to bring back some of the magic I remembered when I first discovered the Simon & Kirby version of the character. Rich invited me over to the Archie Comics offices.

The first Fly story I wrote was entitled “Ring Quest,” wherein someone steals the Fly’s ring while he’s unconscious as the Fly. I wanted to examine the modern nature of his powers. I remembered from his first incarnation that bright lights were a weakness. The Fly is felled by some security arc lights and his ring is stolen. He has to find it or he can