*Archie: A chunky update to what started out being called the Archie Adventure series, ending up as Mighty Comics in a shameless attempt to cash in on Marvel’s success. Along the way, the world gained two very individual and well-executed super-heroes (the Fly and the Jaguar), a team of mainly revival characters (Mighty Comics Presents, Mighty Crusaders) and one non-Archie hero, the dark and mysterious Shadow here reinvented as a traditional super-hero. Although the Fly came into being as a result of the work of Simon & Kirby, it was (according to this chronicler) when John Rosenberger took over the art duties that the Fly became an excellent comic with cast including the Fly-Girl and a string of nemeses including the Spider, Cat-Girl and many more. It was also Rosenberger who drew nearly every issue of the Jaguar from the beginning, and the beautiful art was adorned with a strong female supporting cast. Unfortunately, when the Fly changed to Fly-Man and Archie to Mighty Comics, the quality plummeted; it might have helped if they had got someone who could actually draw rather than Paul Reinman. Nevertheless, Mighty’s attempt to be Marvel, although laughable, had a kitsch appeal and presented stories quite unlike any you’d see elsewhere. Many issues of all these titles in our current update (see our catalogue) plus the giant one-shot Super-Heroes vs Super-Villains.
PICTURED: JAGUAR (ADVENTURES OF THE) #1 GD+ p £21.25 SOLD