Human Fly (comics)

The Human Fly is the name of two comic book characters in the Marvel Comics universe, one a super-villain who was an occasional antagonist of Spider-Man, and the other a superhero. Additionally, "Human Fly" was the title of a short-lived series in the late 1950s reprinting some of Fox's Blue Beetle strips from the 1940s. It was published by Super Comics.

The Human Fly (Richard Deacon)

Superherobox|

caption=Cover to "Amazing Spider-Man Annual" #10, 1976. Pencils by Gil Kane, inks by John Romita.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Human Fly
real_name=Richard Deacon
species=
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut="Amazing Spider-Man Annual #10" (1976)
creators=Len Wein, Bill Mantlo, and Gil Kane
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
alliances=
aliases=Fly
powers=Flight, wall-crawling, super strength and agility, compound eyes.|

Publication history

The Fly first appeared in "Amazing Spider-Man Annual #10" (1976), and was created by Len Wein, Bill Mantlo, and Gil Kane.

The character subsequently appears in "The Amazing Spider-Man" #192-193 (May-June 1979), "Spider-Woman" #30 (September 1980), "Moon Knight" #35 (January 1984), "Spectacular Spider-Man" #86 (January 1984), and "Amazing Spider-Man" #276 (May 1986), in which he was killed by the Scourge of the Underworld.

The Fly received an entry in the original "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe" #4, and the "The Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe: Spider-Man" #1 (2005).

Fictional character biography

The supervillain the Human Fly (alter ego: Richard Deacon) was born in Newark, New Jersey. He was a small-time criminal who was shot by the police and left for dead after his unsuccessful kidnapping attempt, which was foiled by Spider-Man. Stumbling into the laboratory of Dr. Harlan Stillwell (whose brother Farley Stillwell created the Scorpion for J. Jonah Jameson), Deacon coerced the scientist into saving his life. Overhearing an offer Jameson made with Stillwell to fund the creation of a new super hero, Deacon insisted he be the subject of the experiment. Stillwell imprinted the genetic coding of a common fly onto Deacon, empowering him and healing him of his bullet wounds. Deacon killed Harlan Stillwell and used his newfound powers to further his criminal ambitions. He first used Jameson as bait to get revenge on Spider-Man, but due to his inexperience he was no match for the web-slinger and he was defeated.

It was some time later when the Fly began to display fly-like tendencies (like eating garbage). This later developed into a fully physical mutation which made him eventually look like a humanoid fly, including antennae and facet eyes.

Sometime later, the Fly attacked Spider-Man after Spencer Smythe had handcuffed him — along with Jameson — to a bomb. The Fly hurled the two from a rooftop and left them for dead. Once freed from the shackle, Spider-Man tried to stop the Fly from stealing an art exhibit, but the villain knocked him down and escaped. Soon afterwards, however, the police caught the Fly using S.H.I.E.L.D. equipment.

Traveling to San Francisco, the Fly sought out Dr. Karl Malus, a criminally inclined scientist. Malus planned to augment Deacon's powers with a blood transfusion from Spider-Woman. The Fly attacked her unsuccessfully. Malus then suggested that he kidnap her associate, Scotty MacDowell. Spider-Woman followed the Fly to Malus' headquarters and, after a brief fight, defeated him. Afterwards, Malus used some of the Fly's DNA to temporarily mutate Scotty into the similarly powered Hornet.

The Fly subsequently battled Moon Knight, leaving the hero temporarily paralyzed, and again tried to seek revenge against Jameson and Spider-Man. Partnered with the Black Cat, Spider-Man once more defeated the Fly.

Over time, Deacon's mutation increased. After escaping from a mental institution, Deacon was killed by one of the vigilantes calling themselves the Scourge of the Underworld while trying to take revenge on Spider-Man.

The original story of the Fly was drawn by Fred Hembeck, who (in his cartoon form) had a guest appearance in that particular issue.

Human Fly (superhero)

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caption=Cover to issue #1 of "The Human Fly", September 1977. Art by Al Milgrom.
comic_color=background:#ff8080
character_name=Human Fly
real_name=unrevealed
species=
publisher=Marvel Comics
debut=
creators=Bill Mantlo
alliance_color=background:#ffc0c0
alliances=
aliases=
powers=|

Publication history

The superhero the Human Fly starred in Marvel Comics' "The Human Fly" #1–19 (Sept. 1977 — March 1979).

Fictional character biography

The second Human Fly was a young man of unknown identity who was severely injured during a car crash. After a long hospitalization, including a number of reconstructive surgeries in which much of his skeleton was replaced by steel, he took on the masked identity of the Human Fly. As the Human Fly, he performed daredevil stunts to benefit various charities, especially those helping children with disabilities.

His activities often drew him into conflict with criminals, who were often seeking to rob the charity events at which he performed. Additionally, he drew the attention of Spider-Man, who thought he might be the villain of the same name.

The character was based on real-life stuntman Rick Rojatt. The comic-book series carried the tag line "The Wildest Super-Hero Ever — Because He's "Real!", and photographs of someone in a Human Fly costume appeared in the comic books. Jim Shooter, Marvel's editor-in-chief at the time, said in 2007 that the photos were indeed of Rojatt. ["Back Issue" #20 (Jan. 2007)]

Footnotes

References

* [http://www.marvunapp.com/Appendix/flyrickd.htm Jeff Christiansen's The Appendix to the Handbook of the Marvel Universe: The Fly]
* [http://ape-law.com/GAF/2007/10/classic-gone-and-forgotten-human-fly.html A satirical discussion of Marvel's series on the Human Fly/Rick Rojatt]