Mighty Comics

Mighty Comics Group, sometimes referred to as Archie Adventure Series and Radio Comics, refer to the attempt(s) by Archie Comics to revamp and publish superhero (and non-Archie) comics in the mid-1960s. There were basically two phases to this attempt, and they would try again in the 1980s under the name of Red Circle Comics.

Phase 1: Archie Adventure Series, 1959-65

In 1959, Archie Comics hired Joe Simon and Jack Kirby (of Captain America fame) to create new superheroes under their Archie Adventure Series line. They started off with a new Shield, Lancelot Strong. DC Comics viewed the character as too similar to Superman, and it was cancelled after two issues.^{[citation needed]}

Kirby & Simon developed a new character, the Fly, which they produced for the first four issues, after which they were replaced by other creators. This title was soon joined by The Jaguar. By mid-1965, the titles were all cancelled.

Only two other titles were published under the Archie Adventure Series, one was the satire title Tales Calculated to Drive you Bats, the last issue of which changed to science-fiction/horror, and the other the short-lived Jughead's Fantasy.

Their Shadow comic (published because Belmont Books, connected to Archie, was publishing new Shadow material), was a kind of bridge between the Archie Adventure Series and the later Radio Comics/Mighty Comics Group material.

Titles

Main article: List of Archie Comics imprint publications#Archie Adventure Series

(also, backup stories in several Archie titles: Pep Comics, Laugh Comics, etc.)

Characters

• The Fly
• Flygirl
• The Jaguar
• Lancelot Strong: Shield

Phase 2: Radio Comics/Mighty Comics Group 1965-67

IN 1965, with the new popularity of Marvel Comics, Archie hired Superman creator Jerry Siegel to create a new line of comics which would Marvel stories. It started off with the Shadow title being fairly straight, like the Fly and Jaguar, but after the second issue, writer Siegel had turned the Shadow into a camp hero, as he would with the rest of the line. There were plans on creating a title (also written by Siegel) starring Steel Sterling, but it never came out. Work for this title was used as backup material in Fly-Man

Although the indicia for these titles indicated the publisher as Radio Comics (and references in the comics referred to them as such), the covers said nothing until January 1966, when they proclaimed them part of the Mighty Comics Group (a possible attempt to capitalize on the popularity of "Marvel Comics Group"?).^{[citation needed]}

Archie published several other titles under the Radio Comics imprint, including some of their "Madhouse Glads" titles, "Archie as Pureheart the Powerful/Captain Pureheart" and "Jughead as Captain Hero".

Archie's Belmont Books would reprint material from this period as High Camp Superheroes (#B50-695) in April 1966.

Titles

Main article: List of Archie Comics imprint publications#Radio Comics/Mighty Comics Group

Characters

• Black Hood
• Bob Phantom
• Captain Flag
• Dusty
• Firefly
• The Fly (later called Fly-Man)
• Flygirl
• The Fox
• Inferno
• The Jaguar
• Pow Girl
• Roy, the Super Boy
• The Shadow
• The Wizard
• The Web (son of original Web)

Later "Phases"

Red Circle Comics

In the early 1980s, Archie tried using their superheroes again under the Red Circle Comics line.

Spectrum Comics

Archie would try again with their heroes under the Spectrum Comics line, but after seeing the proposals killed the line in July 1989 just weeks before the first releases were scheduled to go to press.^[1] (Further details available on the Mighty Crusaders site.)

Impact Comics

In the Early 90s rival DC Comics licensed the characters for their brief Impact Comics imprint, but the line failed due to poor sales and internal conflicts.

Archie's Weird Mysteries

The Mighty Crusaders made two appearances in the "Archie's Weird Mysteries" comic (original stories based on the animated series of the same name).

Influence

Alan Moore's The Watchmen was initially an idea he had for the Mighty Comics characters. He would change this to Charlton Comics characters which had been acquired by DC, and, eventually, make them original characters

Trade paperback collections

Recently, Archie Comics has reprinted some of this work in trade paperback collections under the Red Circle Productions name.

• The Fly (reprints first 4 issues of The Fly done by Simon and Kirby)
• Mighty Crusaders (reprints Fly-Man #31, #32 and #33 and Mighty Crusaders #1)

References

1. ^ "Archie Comics Scraps Spectrum Comics Imprint," The Comics Journal #131 (Sept. 1989), pp. 5-7.

External links

• Archie(MLJ) Superhero entry at International Catalogue of Superheroes
• Archie(MLJ) entry at Toonopedia
• Mighty Crusaders site