*Archie: While Archie Comics is of course best known for their plethora of teen-comedy titles focused on their titular star, the publishers also have a stable of super-heroes whose history dates back as far as 1940. In the late Fifties, the company made their first serious attempt at a revival (the original runs having petered out more than a decade previously) with two characters created by the legendary Joe Simon and Jack Kirby: The Double Life of Private Strong and The Fly. The former was a meek private who was scientifically empowered into a star-spangled crusader. Sound familiar? The fledgling Marvel Comics (who weren’t even publishing Captain America at the time!) thought so too, and after two issues Private Strong was abruptly demobbed following a heartfelt ‘cease and desist’ order. His companion title, the Fly, fared better; initially reminiscent of the original Captain Marvel (plucky orphan gains magical artefact enabling him to become a super-adult), after the first few issues Simon & Kirby jumped ship, and he was retooled into an adult attorney, who, with his distaff counterpart Fly-Girl, had adventures very reminiscent of the Silver Age Superman. A further title, the Jaguar, joined the franchise, and they pottered along happily until the mid-Sixties, when the Batman TV show and Marvel’s success caused the entire line to mutate into an infinitely inept pastiche of Marvel’s ‘bickering heroes’ style. Fly became Fly Man, and a super-team (The Mighty Crusaders) and a ‘showcase’ title (Mighty Comics Presents) followed. We have both issues of Private Strong, a dash of Jaguar, and most issues of the Fly from the first wave, and substantial runs of Fly-Man, Mighty Comics Presents and the Mighty Crusaders from the second wave, as well as the one-off Super-Heroes Vs. Super-Villains. Buy the first wave, and be charmed and gently entertained; buy the second, and listen to the sound of your brains dribbling out of your ears. You have been warned…