The Death-Defying Human FlyCast #6 — Fear in Funland!

First he gave our mailbag a name, and now he's the next guest on The Death-Defying Human FlyCast! Max welcomes the always-astute Dr. Anj to the podcast, and in this episode they marvel at the acrobatic athleticism of The Human Fly (and the muscular art of Frank Robbins)  as the heroic stuntman busts up a stolen-car ring hidden in the depths of an active amusement park! Will The Fly manage to bring the chop shop to justice ... and keep the kids safe? Join us as we talk about issue #6 of The Human Fly, as well as our own local amusement parks, The Maltese Falcon, and why Harmony Whyte may be the second-most important character in this series.

Let's get wild!

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Opening theme: “Human Fly” by The Cramps
Closing music: "Land of Confusion" by Genesis
Clips from commercials for Western Playland and Rocky Point Amusement Park

Check out the gallery for this issue here!

9 responses to “The Death-Defying Human FlyCast #6 — Fear in Funland!

  1. This is probably a bad time to mention the first ever all-network meet-up is taking place at an abandoned amusement park on the outskirts of Chicago, Attendance is mandatory, Max.

    I absolutely love the cover to this issue. As you discussed, the colors are garish and the action is crazy. Frank Robbins’ panels are stuffed to the brim with detail, weird background characters, and assorted bric-a-brac. The sequence in the spook house is top notch.

    I think they lost the letters page to get that full page Dr. Strange ad in there. It’s all politics.

  2. I prefer old school wooden roller coasters, myself. The modern ones make me nauseous, if I ride them too many times.

    This sounds like a fun read. I’m really interested to see this quippier side of the Human Fly.

  3. Great episode, Max and Anj! I don’t care for heights myself either, but strangely love amusement/theme parks! I’ve slowly worked my way up to the coasters at Disney and Universal, although many of them are tame by coaster afficianados’ standards. If it’s not incredible well-themed, I’m not interested.

    That image of Harry on the phone…that is one scary dude! I can’t image what that guy is hopped up on. Robbins was really adept at drawing ugly, nearly inhuman people.

    Human Fly cast in shadowy blues and purples reminds me of GI Joe’s Snake-Eyes. Both equally mysterious!

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  4. This was a fun episode! I enjoyed the Human Fly when it was coming out in the 70s (sorry Max, I am another guy who bought them off the stands), but don’t recall any of the stories. The issues are long-gone so really enjoying the podcast overall.

    Max- I am with you, I am not a roller coaster guy and will be skipping the F&W amusement park meeting Rob mentions above!

    Frank Robbins was not my favorite artist. I also read the Invaders and while I enjoyed the stories, at the time I just kind of tolerated the art. I was enamored by the Adams/Aparo style. But looking at it now, you can certainly see the kinetic energy which I really appreciate! And agree with Anj that page 17 is a great sequence – nice layout and action!

  5. Max and Anj, I’m not done listening yet, so I’ll comment more later, but I think the sports car was a DeLorean. The production model didn’t come out until ’81, but they developed the prototype in ’76, and I think it got enough publicity for Robbins to see it and sneak it in. There’s a video on YouTube showing the prototype in a museum in Pennsylvania.

    It was probably a cool car for Robbins to draw, but it was too easily identifiable to move easily as a stolen car unless they had a buyer lined up already. Maybe Slade was right about the quality of his staff, and somebody committed a theft that was more problem than profit!

    1. Okay, now my real comments. This might have been the best Human Flycast episode, but it’s difficult to say, ’cause they’re all so good. This was a great comic, and I agree with you, Max and Dr. Anj, it’s great to have someone who isn’t going out to look for bad guys, he’s just caught in a situation while trying to do the right thing. It’s a little bit Die Hard, you know? The best part is when he figures out what the bad guys are up to and his first thought is to get away and call a cop.

      I like the Human Fly’s crew helping for the same reason. I always like it when the regular Joes take it to the bad guys.

      I also appreciated Harmony’s editor. His amoral, all business take seemed very real, even if it wasn’t right. And it’s nice that the writers made Harmony intelligent enough to change her mind.

      As far as the rides go, Anj, I don’t think either the DC or Marvel Universes have the same safety standards we do on Earth-Prime. If they did, the heroes would get more days off.

      I’m glad this is back. Looking forward to the next episode!

    2. Okay, the hood scoop on the car in the panel was bothering me, ‘ cause the DeLorean didn’t have one. Here’s a website of 20 other wedge-shaped sports cars:
      https://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/g1832/the-future-was-here-20-of-the-greatest-sports-cars-of-the-70s-and-80s/
      Some don’t fit the time window, and none are an exact match. I still think the front end matches the DeLorean best, but the Ferrari’s close, too. Regardless, as the Human Fly would say, you have the power to decide for yourself! No one can stop you!

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  6. Another fantastic episode, everyone! I love to hear Anj on any podcast. He always brings great knowledge and joy for whatever he is talking about. Max, you said you are afraid of heights but are interested in the human daredevil, the Human Fly? That seems…. odd? But I totally get the fear of heights and not liking fair rides. I was also that kid sitting on the benches holding coats while friends and family went on the rides. I usually got ice cream, though, to pacify me to sit there. But I feel vindicated because look at that splash page! That safety bar is not in the safe position! It should be over their laps! Why is the Fly pushing it away?!? This is what can happen at the fair so don’t get on the rides, people!

    I really loved the story for, like Max pointed out, the Human Fly seemed street level in this issue. He seemed to understand that he’s no Thor and should maybe get the proper help. Maybe because kids were reading this and the tag of, “…because he’s real!” could cause some legal issues with kids copying whatever the Human Fly would do? Did that make sense?

    Those British puppets were part of a show called Spitting Image; a political satire puppet show! They were popular enough that Genesis used them in their music video, Land of Confusion, like you mentioned. I really enjoyed whenever we (Canadians) could get Spitting Image on TV. The parents would laugh at the humour and the kids would laugh at the ridiculous puppets.

    This was highly enjoyable, gentlemen! Keep up the great work!

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