H: The Human Fly!

H 

is for Human Fly.

Back in the mid 1970s....when Evel Knievel was a household name...there came a comic from Marvel about a stuntman/daredevil called The Human Fly.

The book only ran about 19 issues, before it was cancelled but I'll never forget it because it was based off (very loosely) an actual person. A Canadian daredevil named Rick Rojatt. The book's tagline was "The Wildest Super Hero Ever--Because He's Real!" 

And he was...in a fashion.

Now, back in the mid 70s as a young kid, I thought this was all kinds of cool. I was always a huge fan of Evel Knievel and putting him into comics (in a roundabout way) captured my imagination. 

For the comic based version of the Fly, his backstory was that, as a young man, he had been in an accident and 60% of his bone structure had been replaced with steel.  This allowed him to take a licking and keep on ticking and was probably a big plus in the daredevil business. It also drove him to do charity stuntwork on behalf of disabled children. It doesn't get more heroic than that, right?

Each issue would have him traveling to a different town and doing a stunt for charity. Somehow, he'd always come across some sort of crime being committed and have to try to stop it using his wits and stunt related gadgets.

Some of his vast arsenal, in the comic, included: 

• A cape, woven with steel mesh fibers, that had gel pods in them. When it got to a certain temperature, the pods would explode and douse him in flame retardant foam.
• Magnetic clamps in his gloves and boots as well as suction cups that let him climb almost any surface.
• His helmet contained an oxygen mask which also acted as a gas mask as well as had a radio equipped into it. 
• The Fly also carried a baton that did all sorts of things....from shooting knockout gas to emitting a globe of light, to sending out a charge of electricity and acting as a taser.

And, of course, what self respecting 70s daredevil wouldn't have a souped up motorcycle? That along with a "stunt van" to carry all of his equipment, a rocket powered snowmobile, a hanglider, and a jet pack, made up some of the cool vehicles the Fly used to not only wage a war on crime, but to thrill and delight the fans. I have to wonder if they people behind The Human Fly were trying to do some sort of toy deal a la Evel Knievel?

Some characters, it seems, are just that unforgettable and it looks like some folks are trying to get a Human Fly movie going. You can check out the details at the film's website. 

Source

Even though The Human Fly was, mainly, a giant publicity stunt, I remember really enjoying the comic and couldn't fathom why it ever got cancelled. Of course, I was looking through the eyes of a pre teen who thought Evel Knievel was the greatest thing going.

Come back tomorrow and we'll all go kung fu fightin'...

UPDATE: I found a blog article about the Falcon appearing in the next Captain America movie, for those who were interested. You can catch it HERE.

F: Falcon!

F  

is for Falcon.

The Falcon was created by Stan Lee and Gene Colon in 1969 and holds the distinction as the first African-American superhero in mainstream comics.

Samuel Wilson was born and grew up in Harlem. A rebellious youth, it took the death of his parents to make him leave New York and move to Los Angeles. There he becomes "Snap" Wilson, an up and coming criminal.

While on his way to Rio De Janeiro for a "big deal", his plane crashes on a place called Exile Island. The island isn't deserted, though, it's been taken over by the Nazi supervillain....The Red Skull. Sam comes across the natives, who are in hiding, as well as large falcon he calls Redwing. Sam develops a good bond with Redwing and they meet up with a certain Star Spangled Avenger....Captain America.

In the ensuing showdown with the Skull, Sam is blasted by the Cosmic Cube (a device of considerable power) and is mentally 'fused' with Redwing. The fusing effect strengthens the connection they two already had and, eventually, would give Sam wide power over any bird.

With help from the Wakandan king T'challa (also known as the Black Panther), Sam gets a 'flying harness' which....you guessed it....allows him to fly. With combat training from Captain America, he fashions a costume and becomes Cap's crime fighting partner.

Thanks to Captain America, Sam is a trained hand to hand combatant as well as a natural trainer of birds. A natural leader and free thinker, Falcon also is just as comfortable in a team dynamic.

Cap and the Falcon fought crime alongside each other for quite a few years. Sam even took on the mantle of Captain America a couple of times when the Captain was thought to have been killed.

Sam is still flying high in the Marvel Universe, as far as I know. Guest starring in various other books and even getting his own mini-series back in the 90s.

Rumor has it that the Falcon will be in the next Captain America movie and played by Anthony Mackie. We'll have to wait and see about that one...

Head on back over here Monday for a hero of colossal proportions!