I had a delight in store for me in the summer of 1962, when I turned 8.
I had missed the sold-out first Batman Annual, something I bitterly regretted, but I made sure to grab the second (“Batman and Robin in Their Most Thrilling Action Roles!”) and, that summer, the third (“Batman and Robin’s Most Fantastic Foes!”).
That one echoed the theme of the second Superman annual, which was my favorite. I wanted to see my heroes battling a variety of vividly colorful menaces, and here we had the Mad Hatter, the Joker (of course), Two-Face (of course), Mirror-Man (I wondered if he ever ran into the Flash’s foe Mirror Master), the Mental Giant of Gotham City (in a touching, well-crafted tale), the Gorilla Boss of Gotham City (Loving Charlton Comics’ giant ape Konga, I knew I’d love this too) and, from exactly a decade earlier, the Firefly!
I’ve had a soft spot for that story (The Human Firefly, Detective Comics 184, June 1952) ever since.
In Batman stories, experts who became disgruntled tended to stitch up a colorful disguise for themselves so they could pursue a criminal career built around the theme of their area of expertise. In other words, they were mirror-image reversals of the pair who would eventually catch them.
Here, embittered lighting effects technician Garfield Lynns attempts a robbery which is thwarted by Batman and Robin. But as they pursue him into a swamp, a simple firefly distracts the Dynamic Duo long enough for Lynns to escape.
“ ‘Ha!’ laughs Lynns. ‘So a simple little firefly saved me!.. Ha, ha! A real twist of fate! Perhaps that’s my lucky symbol . . . the firefly! For centuries that little fellow has baffled science! Like me, it is a lighting genius! And now — it saved my life! Ha! What an inspiration it has given me! Garfield Lynns is gone —
forever! But in his place is one they shall never forget! . . . One whom they shall know as the Firefly!’”
So that lightning bug parallels the inspirational bat that once came through Bruce Wayne’s window.
Readers observed that DC comic book characters tended to run into the kinds of things that fascinate children: ray guns, robots, sea serpents, apes (incessantly), even sentient tornados — and fireflies.
Lynns’ colorful costume includes its own “utility belt,” a waistband capable of generating various lighting effects and optical illusions. In the course of committing various spectacular crimes, he evades the Batmobile by creating an artificial electrical storm that blinds drivers and causes a traffic snarl.
The Firefly also traps the Dynamic Duo in the cellar of a lighthouse, exposing them to the blinding rays of a “cyclops light” intended to drive them mad, if not kill them. But, wrapping their capes around their eyes, Batman and Robin perform an acrobatic stunt to reach up to a lighting cable. Cutting it, they then employ it to send out an SOS through the lighthouse beacon.
After they’re rescued by police, the resourceful Batman and Robin use the Firefly’s own “cyclops light” to force down his helicopter, capturing Lynns and his gang.
Ed Herron’s story was made even better by Dick Sprang’s superlative art.
“Sprang brought to his panels a unique wit and dynamism capable of breathing life into the most farfetched story,” observed Will Jacobs and Gerard Jones in The Comic Book Heroes. “To that he added a caricaturist’s talent for giving all his miniature figures character and charm, and a miniaturist’s touch for the exquisitely detailed background.”
A second Firefly, Ted Carson, battled Batman, Robin, and Batwoman seven years later (The Menace of the Firefly!, Batman 126, Sept. 1959).
“Some characters who appeared only once in the 1950s but were destined for more appearances in later years include Deadshot from Batman 59 (Jun-July 1950), the Firefly (Garfield Lynn’s version) from Detective 184 (June 1952), Mr. Zero from Batman 121 (Feb. 1958), the Fox, the Shark and the Vulture from Detective 253 (March 1958), the Calendar Man from Detective 259 (Sept. 1958) and Dr. Double-X from Detective 261 (Nov. 1958),” wrote comics historian Pat Curley.
“Batman encountered False Face in Batman 113 (Feb. 1957). Although the character has not reappeared in the comics, he appeared in two episodes of the Batman TV show in the 1960s which was a rare case where the writers stuck to the comic book story fairly faithfully.”
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