The Fly

[Longalp]

Is it possible to download The Fly comics, that was edited by Archie adventures ? Does anybody have these comics ?

[JonTheScanner]

Those are not in public domain, and all but maybe a very few of them are from after 1959.

[Yoc]

A Google search might turn up some Yahoo groups with scans but no, we can't share them here L.
Nothing past 1959, sorry.

[John C]

Since there's talk of possible ways one might acquire material under copyright, it might be preferable to do so in private.  The reason for focusing on public domain works isn't just to avoid getting sued, after all.

Thanks.

[Yoc]

Good point John.
I've removed the specific posts.  I think enough is said on the topic.

[krankyboy]

Just a quick note on the comic itself -- I thought "The Fly" was great for the first two issues, where Tommy Troy was a kid and his super alter-ego was almost like a modern day (for the late 1950's) Cinderella wish fulfillment fantasy in the vein of Captain Marvel. But the art quality dropped off in the third and fourth issues. And then, Thomas Troy was aged to a twenty-something lawyer, and thus became a fairly mundane hero. He certainly did manage to last a while, especially after Fly Girl was introduced, but I don't think the series ever came remotely close to matching those first two issues again.

[narfstar]

The first issues were Kirby after all

[krankyboy]

Very true, but I was still fairly surprised at the rather precipitous drop-off in quality. What do you think were the reasons for aging the character and having him use the fly ring again as an adult?

[jfglade]

 I suspect that the reason Thomas Troy became an adult and a lawyer was that whoever took over the series after Simon (and Kirby) left thought it would be easier to write stories about a costumed hero with a more typical alter ego. I can remember wondering what the hell had happened when I saw the first issue with the older Troy when I was eleven. I still continued reading "The Adventures of the Fly" but it took me several issues to get used to the change.

[narfstar]

I remember first reading the adult stories. I was totally baffled when I read my first kid story. I thought the kid stories were better though. I probably got my first exposure from a cousin who had access to a wider variety of comics than I did. Even though it was over 40 years ago I do remember discovering the Jaguar looking at a comic in his room. He had a tree house and that is the first place I ever saw Doll Man. You know you a true comic book geek and nerd when these are some of the seminal moments in your life.

[darkmark (RIP)]

I enjoyed the Fly stories, and especially Fly Girl...John Rosenberger really had a talent for drawing beautiful women.

[darkboy]

I like Fly stories to.

[roxolid]

Also have fond memories of the Fly. That was a guy with goggles, wings, a gun of some kind wasn't it? (Unless my old brain remembers wrong?) Aside from the colour cover, we never got much in the way of colour comic books in the UK with certain characters. They were printed in a digest size book with a bunch of other stories, if I recall, but I'd flip to the fly and ignore the rest. I'll rack my brain to see what else I can remember from way back when (though I will admit that most people on here have far better knowledge than I!)

[jfglade]

Also have fond memories of the Fly. That was a guy with goggles, wings, a gun of some kind wasn't it? (Unless my old brain remembers wrong?) Aside from the colour cover, we never got much in the way of colour comic books in the UK with certain characters. They were printed in a digest size book with a bunch of other stories, if I recall, but I'd flip to the fly and ignore the rest. I'll rack my brain to see what else I can remember from way back when (though I will admit that most people on here have far better knowledge than I!)

 That was the Fly alright, Paul. Hard to say what else you saw reprinted from the USA around that time. The Fly was from the same company that published Archie, which was and is a long running teenage humor series and I doubt it was ever exported. The Jaguar was the other hero book from Archie Comics/Radio Comics which featured a character who had animal powers the way the Fly had insect powers; no idea if he turned up in the UK. Later on, the Fly and his doxie, Flygirl, became part of a team called the Mighty Crusaders who only lasted a few issues.

  Did you follow any of the British comics which became known in the U.S.? Dan Dare, Judge Dredd, Modesty Blaise and so on?

[Yoc]

You can find out all you'd ever want to know about Archie's heroes at the following very well made site -
Rik Offenberger's  http://www.mightycrusaders.net/

Rik is one of the many good guys of our hobby and his love of Archie's heroes knows no bounds!