Fly Club 2 2

[ThothAmon]

On 12/6/2023 at 1:57 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Is it in this?

Bingo. Too good. 
 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 12/6/2023 at 6:59 PM, ThothAmon said:

Bingo. Too good. 
 

@thecollectron deserves the credit - I'd never seen that book before he posted it earlier in the thread 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 12/5/2023 at 4:15 PM, pemart1966 said:

Is it just me or does the Jaguar need his own thread?  

 

™ ©

[pemart1966]

On 12/6/2023 at 2:23 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

 

™ ©

  Now let's see you change the thread title.   

[Get Marwood & I]

On 12/7/2023 at 1:07 AM, pemart1966 said:

  Now let's see you change the thread title.   

  

[pemart1966]

On 12/7/2023 at 3:19 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

  

I meant literally not figuratively 

[frozentundraguy]

Jaguar #14.

Yet another parallel to Superman, as the Jaguar has a secretary who suspects who he is. Now we get to see the teen-age Jaguar.

Can it be possible that not only did Jaguar borrow on Superman as a boy stories, but also from The Oliver Twist issue of Classics Illustrated?

 

 

 

Edited December 7, 2023 by frozentundraguy

[thecollectron]

Jaguar #1 and #7

 

[Unca Ben]

Love the Fly.

[FoggyNelson]

On 12/10/2023 at 8:18 PM, thecollectron said:

Jaguar #1 and #7

 

Number 1 has cool cover👍

[ThothAmon]

90’s Fly!

 

[Hepcat]

Okay. I'll start with my earliest issues then:

1

2

5 Bethlehem copy

6 Bethlehem copy

7 Bethlehem copy

Edited April 6 by Hepcat

[Get Marwood & I]

On 4/3/2024 at 4:11 AM, Hepcat said:

 

Some nice Flys there, Hep. Love the date stamp 

[Hepcat]

On 11/29/2023 at 1:35 PM, themagicrobot said:

Harvey Comics had a Bee Man (or was it B-Man?).

Bee-Man became B-Man:

[Hepcat]

On 4/3/2024 at 1:54 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

Some nice Flys there, Hep. Love the date stamp 

I have many more issues with date stamps that I'll be posting in the next few weeks. The only issues I still need are #3 and #4  but I'm still looking for quite a few upgrades (including #11 and #13) since Adventures of the Fly are super tough to find in high grade.

[Hepcat]

Five more of my Adventures of the Fly:

8 Bethlehem copy

9

10

11

Edited April 13 by Hepcat

[Hepcat]

The Fly was actually instrumental in turning me onto the superhero brigade. While I was already aware of "Superman" and "Batman" comics from the barber shop or wherever, the first superhero comics that really captured my attention were the Adventures of the Fly. I remember reading them in early 1961 at Lamont & Perkins drugstore a block away on Wortley Road before they chased me out, at which point I'd head for Tyler & Zettel's pharmacy six or so blocks to the south on Wortley Road. I believe the first issue of the Adventures of the Fly that caught my eye was #12:

Bethlehem copy

I think these drug stores only stocked Archie, Dell, Harvey and Classics Illustrated comics which is why the Fly was the first superhero to capture my fancy.  The closest two variety stores/grocery stores from which I bought bubble gum cards and various penny candies didn't stock comics. The best selection of comics in the immediate neighbourhood was at Ken's Variety four blocks away but I usually didn't have to travel that far to spend what little money I had. Moreover what was the point of making the four block trek to Ken's to be tempted by comics I didn't have the money to buy?  Therefore I just don't remember seeing any of the DC superhero titles that would have been on many newsstands/magazine racks at the same time.

But then Adventures of the Fly 13 turned out to be even more of an eye opener for me:

Because inside were these ads heralding the introduction of Fly Girl and the Jaguar!

I also read through the Adventures of the Jaguar 1 when it first hit the newsstand at Lamont & Perkins or perhaps Les' Variety which had opened up beside Lamont & Perkins at about that time:

Northland copy

I was spellbound by this dashing new hero! The issue also included this tantalizing ad for the mysterious Fly Girl:

Who would shortly make her debut appearance in Adventures of the Fly 14:

Bethlehem copy

These comics left such a profound impact on my impressionable young mind that Fly, Fly Girl and Jaguar have remained among my very favourite comic book characters and superheroes to this very day!

Edited April 13 by Hepcat

[Get Marwood & I]

On 4/13/2024 at 6:35 AM, Hepcat said:

These comics left such a profound impact on my impressionable young mind that Fly, Fly Girl and Jaguar have remained among my very favourite comic book characters and superheroes to this very day!

Nicely done 

[Hepcat]

It was actually 65 years ago earlier this month that the Fly was introduced in the The Double Life of Private Strong 1 cover dated June 1959. This was the comic in which the Shield, one of MLJ's Golden Age superheroes, was relaunched in a new incarnation as Lancelot Strong:

 (Sadly not mine.)

The first thing to note here is the composition of the cover. The main Shield figure appears to have been drawn by Joe Simon but most of the rest of the cover seems to have been rendered by Jack Kirby. 

The origin tale of the Shield is stretched over four stories all pencilled by Jack Kirby and inked by Joe Simon:

I was going to say that the Simon & Kirby artwork was once again a treat for the eyes, but I actually think it was their very best effort to this point!

The Shield, initially Roger Flemming, gains his powers as a result of his father, Dr. Malcolm Flemming, training him to use the untapped portions of the human brain thus making him a superhuman. But Communist spies kill Dr. Flemming and a farm couple, Mr. and Mrs. Strong, end up raising Roger. The new Shield's superhuman powers include great strength, the ability to fly, throw lightning bolts, run really rapidly and see in the dark.

The Double Life of Private Strong would last for only one more issue. Further appearances of this Lancelot Strong Shield in the Silver Age would be limited to two-pagers in Adventures of the Fly #1, 2 & 4 and guest team-ups with the Fly in Adventures of the Fly #8 & 9. Sad because this new Shield was a much more interesting character than the Golden Age Shield. 

Here's a good background summary of the new Shield:

https://www.mightycrusaders.net/shield-lancelot-strong/

The Fly was also introduced in the same issue through a very brief two pager which included a very cool teaser ad:

The issue also contained this nifty one pager starring the Fly's alter-ego Tommy Troy:

Talk about great reading excitement for one thin dime! Okay, okay, in Canada one dime in 1959 contained 0.06 of a troy ounce of silver. At today's silver price of Cdn.$38.95 per troy ounce, the cost of that comic would be Cdn.$2.34. Still a great deal!

Edited April 18 by Hepcat

[Hepcat]

Here are scans of four more of my Adventures of the Jaguar:

2

3

4

5