Writer – Bill Mantlo
Artist – Frank Robbins
Inker – Rod Santiago
Colours – Francoise Mouly
Letters – Jun Cristi

For the first time in a while, The Human Fly has a day off and instead of taking some time to himself, he and his comrades arrange to take the children of disabled parents throughout the city to the fair for a day of fun and games. It is a charitable event that puts a smile upon everybody’s faces, especially those of the kids and it makes it all worthwhile. While having a great time himself, the Fly notices something out of sorts at one of the stalls as the carny who runs it seems very suspicious and so it is that a day off that was supposed to be about the kids has now become about a criminal enterprise located right beneath their very feet. Bill Mantlo and Frank Robbins take The Human Fly on a journey through the Tunnel of Fear where he discovers a stolen car ring. Getting to this point involved avoiding a couple of gunmen, but that does not mean they were out for the count as they return with bullets flying, alerting all of the other criminals as well to the Fly’s presence. All-out action takes place immediately as The Human Fly must now avoid a plethora of bad guys all with one single goal in mind – that being the death of the costumed stuntman. With exceptional artwork from Frank Robbins accompanying a script by Bill Mantlo, the book ends up being quite exciting, being in fact one of the best issues in the series thus far. With a simple premise featuring regular, run-of-the-mill criminals which are more in line with the Fly who is not a superhero, simply a man albeit an extraordinary one. It is having more realistic stories like this one, as realistic as it could be, that will make this book stand out from the pack should it continue along this particular path. With a little additional story involving reporter Harmony White who no longer believes in her story of exposing The Human Fly and an ending that turns out to be a happy one, this was a great issue from start to finish.

4 out of 5