“...Dark as a Dungeon Down in the Mine!”

THE HUMAN FLY — Issue no. 10, March 1978

Book: The Human Fly

Issue No.: 10

Published: March 7, 1978

Title: “...Dark as a Dungeon Down in the Mine!”

Cover Price: 35¢

I mentioned in my first Human Fly article that I assumed he was based on popular 1970s stuntman Evel Knievel. Well, I did a little actual research (or at least some actual web searching) and found out that the Fly was inspired by a different stuntman of the era, Rick Rojatt, who actually used the “Human Fly” monicker, and actually wore a costume just like in the comic book! Whoa. You can see a photo of Rojatt in costume on Ky Michaelson’s website. (Michaelson apparently built a rocket cycle that Rojatt used for one of his stunts.)

The tagline for this comic book is “The wildest superhero ever — because he’s real!” Apparently that is not hyperbole like I assumed. And yeah, that does indeed put the Human Fly in the running for wildest superhero ever.

This issue is set in Harlan County, Kentucky, a place I am slightly familiar with thanks to the awesome TV show Justified. Like Justified, the coal mining industry is one of the plot drivers for this story, which opens with the Human Fly performing his stuntman act at a United Mine Workers’ fair. Apparently he’s working pro-bono to help raise money for the miners because the Fly is a man of the people.

While his friends and co-workers are having fun at the fair, Joe Shields, an old Union guy, is arguing with some of the mining company executives about a mine that is about to be closed. Joe believes they’re closing the mine to avoid a federal safety inspection and leaves angry. Turns out Joe is right — the executives are shady and trying to avoid an investigation. They don’t like Joe drawing attention to them, so they vow to “deal with” Joe.

We see the Fly’s crew in this issue. They apparently travel around in a yellow and red tour van — this book is truly a product of the late-1970s. There are three people in the crew — Arnie (I’m assuming he’s the business guy because he wears a tie), Blaze (she drives the bus), and Ted (I’m not exactly sure what Ted’s role is yet).

The plot from there is straightforward — Joe and his son (Joe Jr.) head out to the soon-to-be-closed mine to document the safety violations, a company goon with a gun and a bunch of dynamite goes to the mine to “deal with” the Joes, and the Human Fly and his crew try to rescue the Joes from the company goon.

The Fly ends up in the mine with Joe and son, working to free them after the bad guys dynamite the mine entrance to trap the Joes inside. And the Fly’s crew ends up dealing with the mine owner, a guy named Dukas, and more company goons. The Human Fly’s crew foils Dukas and company with some help from a CB radio. Did I mention how late-1970s this book is?

I’m really surprised and impressed by how overtly political and progressive this story is. The good guys are labor, the bad guys are management... there’s even a throwaway line about how the police won’t help the miners because they’re in the pockets of management. And the Human Fly’s crew is more diverse than what we see in a lot of modern pop culture books and movies — Blaze is a Black woman, and Ted is a person with a disability (he has mechanical hands).

I wondered when I wrote about the previous issue of Human Fly what the series would be about — if a costumed comic book character in a ’70s Marvel book doesn’t fight costumed bad guys, then what exactly does he do? Now I am wondering if the book is going to be about the Fly and his crew traveling around rural America, doing fundraisers for blue collar folks and beating up corrupt businessmen. I mean, if this is a comic book about southern-fried social justice warriors, I am here for it, y’all.

Week Six Wrap-Up

There’s an extra book in this week’s wrap-up, since Sgt. Fury no. 44 came out by itself in the first week of March ’78 and I decided to include it with March ’78 week two books, so it wouldn’t be in a wrap-up all by itself.

Total cover price for eight regular comics plus the Conan magazine is $3.80. Adjusted for 2022 inflation, that’s about $17.50.

Next time — on to Marvel’s March 1978 week three books!