January 1962: Brainiac By Any Other Name

An alien invader who shrinks and collects your civilization? That would be Brainiac, right?

Well, no, it’s Grq, at least in the Archie Adventure universe of 1962.

When the Fly and Fly Girl ran into the planet-shrinker in The Test Tube Flies! (Adventures of the Fly 17, Jan. 1962), they were, ironically, reduced to the size of insects. But nevertheless, eventually they taught Grq just how formidable insects can be.

Robert Bernstein, a writer who worked for both DC and Archie, was well familiar with Superman’s exploits, and clearly used Otto Binder’s The Super-Duel in Space! (Action Comics 242, July 1958) as his inspiration. 

But then, DC Comics was perfectly capable of copying their own stories, as in The Alien Who Doomed Robin! (World’s Finest 110, June 1960). In that tale, written by Jerry Coleman, Superman, Batman and Robin fought to stop a green, tentacled alien from shrinking and stealing buildings to use as exhibits on an asteroid amusement park.

“The Fly stories largely consisted of our hero doing battle with various menaces: giant robots, alien invaders, prehistoric monsters and gangs of crooks were favorite opponents,” recalled comics historian Michael E. Grost. “In this way, his stories resembled those of the Green Lantern, who also spent much of his time fighting monstrous menaces from outer space and other dimensions.”

“The Fly was a superhero who had the powers of insects,” Grost noted. “He could fly, glow like a firefly, employ the immense strength of an ant, weave silk cocoons and bind his enemies, etc. He could also command hordes of insects to do his bidding.”

“John Rosenberger, most of whose comics work was in the romance genre, became the regular illustrator,” noted comics historian Don Markstein. “He delivered dependable, routine work until 1964, when the title ended. Along the way, only one more notable thing happened — in the 14th issue, the Fly picked up a female counterpart, Fly Girl, who was in reality actress Kim Brand.”