Adventures of the Fly and Adventures of the Jaguar were the two big superhero series at Archie Comics during the Silver Age. These comics were clearly based on Fawcett and DC Comics, and by virtue of that they are quite Science Fictional in tone. The two series have many SF tropes and cliches, which you will also find in DC’s Strange Adventures and Superman as well as the Fawcett based S.H. A. Z. A. M. Ideas like intelligent super-apes, dinosaurs on the rampage and miniaturization. And best of all: tin robots! All these came first from the SF Pulps. Unlike DC and Fawcett, which had Pulpsters like Edmond Hamilton, Alfred Bester, Gardner F. Fox, Otto Binder and Manly Wade Wellman writing their stories, the adventures of the Fly and the Jaguar were penned exclusively by Robert Bernstein.
Robert Bernstein (1919-1988) began his comic career at EC Comics but eventually worked for Fawcett, DC and Marvel. He wrote suspense and crime for EC, Westerns for Fawcett, war and superhero comics for DC and worked with Jack Kirby at Marvel. In and amongst all this, he wrote for Archie Comics in the mid-1960s. The superhero comics at Archie were an attempt to diversify. The mainstay at Archie Comics was, of course, Archie in comics like Pep, Laugh and many others featuring characters like Jughead, Betty & Veronica and the rest of the gang. The publisher saw exciting things going on over at Marvel and DC and thought to get a slice.
These adventures were primarily drawn by two men after the 1950s experiments of Joe Simon: John Rosenberger and John Giunta. Rosenberger began and stayed in comics, drawing plenty of later Superman stories. John Giunta is more interesting since he got started doing illustrations in the Pulps including Weird Tales. He was the man who drew the first Sword & Sorcery comic, Gardner F. Fox’s “Crom the Barbarian”. For more on that title, go here.
“Tim O’Casy’s Wrecking Crew!” (Adventures of the Fly #2, September 1959) was written by Joe Simon. A leprechaun comes to America because two men have stolen Finn MacCool’s treasure. The magical being sends giant robots against Central City until the thieves confess. Only MacCool showing up himself gets the treasure back. Truly an odd comic. Irish mythology and giant robots! The staff ledger changes after this and maybe that’s a good thing, though the mock Jack Kirby feel was fun.
“Wizard of Nightmares!” (Adventures of the Fly #9, November 1960) was written by Robert Bernstein. The Yogi Shimar doesn’t feel appreciated so he send many different monsters at the crowds in the city including lions, dancing swords, a dragon but best of all, robots. The Fly figures out they are all illusions caused by a narcotic gas. Could be more robots in this one. Shimar is very similar to Marvel’s Mysterio who would appear four years later.
“The Drinker of Doom!” (Adventures of the Fly #11, March 1961) was written by Robert Bernstein. A scientist invents a robotic crab machine that blows up its control panel and goes on a rampage. The machine is attracted to water and sends lethal steam at the superhero. The Fly destroys it by boiling its top like a kettle.
“The Cyclops From Space!” (Adventures of the Fly #12, May 1961) was written by Robert Bernstein. A rocket lands and a giant one-eyed robot comes out. It goes on the attack, smashing buildings. The Fly stops it after much fighting by covering its eye with cable. The smashed robot opens and tiny aliens come out. They blow up the robot and flee into space. The retelling of the story of Polyphemus is irresistible.
“The Menace of the Metal Monster!” (Adventures of the Fly #14, September 1961) was written by Robert Bernstein. This was a lengthy two-parter that introduced Kim Brand, Fly-Girl. The Fly meets Kim on set where a movie is being made with a robot. The machine becomes controlled by a robot-looking character who spies on the Fly. The two fly superheroes meet and face off against an avalanche of metal ore and skyscrapers that attack. The villain is a robot called the Master of Metals. Fly-Girl melts him with the collective power of millions of fireflies. The Master will be back in later comics despite becoming a puddle. Like Marvel’s Magneto, the robot can control all metals. Magneto would appear two years later.
“Demon Dynamos!” (Pep #150, October 1961) was written by Robert Bernstein. The Jaguar, zoologist, Ralph Hardy, is transported back in time by Native American magic. He is brought to fight an army of giant robots, walking dynamos that shoot lightning from their weapons. Once the silver demons are defeated, the Jaguar is returned to the present where he sees a totem pole with a winged jaguar on the top.
“Slaves of the Brain!” (Laugh Comics #131, February 1962) was written by Robert Bernstein. Skan, a future scientist in the year 5009 AD, brings the Jaguar into the future to destroy the brain that controls the city. The brain is guarded by robots. The Jaguar has to retreat. He asks the future men to help but they are afraid so he calls the animals from the zoo. The future men do help in the end and the brain is destroyed. All the robots are destroyed and the future men are freed. The Jaguar returns to our time. Very Pulpy scenario.
“The Scourge of the Jaguar!” (Adventures of the Jaguar #6, May 1962) was written by Robert Bernstein. The giant robot Colosso is used as a pawn in the war between The Jaguar and Cat Girl, who is madly in love with him. The robot goes on a rampage but is stopped. Colosso later saves the Jaguar when Cat Girl sends weird birds filled with radiation to capture the Jaguar.
“The Jaguar’s Sixth Sense!” (Adventures of the Jaguar #8, September 1962) was written by Robert Bernstein. A giant robot is found frozen in the Arctic. The Jaguar thaws it out but Cat Girl takes control of it. She can’t control it and it goes on a rampage. The Jaguar figures out it is seeking cold like it had in the Arctic and on its original planet. He destroys it by igniting its gasses. For more on things frozen in the Arctic, go here.
“The Jaguar’s Last Stand!” (Adventures of the Jaguar #9, October 1962) was written by Robert Bernstein. The Mineral-Men send one of their kind to Earth to collect iron gas. The robotic enemy uses its freezing gaze to turn the Jaguar into a popsicle. It is up to the Jaguar’s girl Jill and her rivals for the Jaguar’s love, Cat Girl and Kree-Nal, to team up and thaw the Jaguar so he can send the metallic menace packing.
“Lxo III’s Secret Weapon!” (Adventures of the Fly #23, November 1962) was written by Robert Bernstein. Not much about robots here except that The Master of Metals is one of the assembled villains at the Anti-Fly League.
“The Menace of the Space Pirates!” (Adventures of the Jaguar #10, November 1962) was written by Robert Bernstein. The Interstellar Patrol call in the Jaguar to deal with the Ziks, the worst Space Pirates in the galaxy. We learn that the pirates place crates with robots hidden inside on different vessels then activate them to rob the ship. Ray guns are useless against their metallic bodies. The Jaguar uses the same trick, exploding out of a wooden crate. He slams the robots heads together Three Stooges style. The Ziks ships attack but the Jaguar rounds them up.
Conclusion
The robots of the Fly and the Jaguar fit nicely into the Silver Age alongside those found at DC. (If you squint, you might not tell the difference.) The usual themes show up with plenty of aliens from outer space, rampaging silver giants, inventions gone wrong, etc. The Fly and The Jaguar didn’t really add anything new to the tales of robotic enemies but some of their villains predated Marvel Comics. We got only one sympathetic robot in Collosso. But this was the era of Magnus, Robot Fighter, so punching of ‘Bots was par-for-the-course. The era of the Transformers was still twenty years away.
What we didn’t see was the robot that looked like a human being that was a well-used trope at DC. Perhaps if these two superheroes, and the Archie Adventure line, had lasted more than three years, we might have seen a robot version of Thomas Troy or Ralph Hardy. The type of story where protecting the secret identity is central hadn’t set in yet. Both the Fly and the Jaguar only had to say their name to transform. In this, they are closer to Captain Marvel and Billy Batson than Superman and Clark Kent. I, for one, am glad because I like the tin robot over the simulacra every time.
