BLAZE KENDALL

main image Real Name: Blaze Kendall

Identity/Class: Normal human

Occupation: Private pilot, stunt engineer and performer;
   formerly commercial airline pilot

Group Membership: Human Fly's support crew

Affiliations: Arnie Berman, Carl Braden, Daredevil (Matt Murdock), Alexandra Dreir, Andy Evans, Mal Evans, Frost, Ghost Rider (Johnny Blaze), Slick Gordon, Hopi tribe at Las Cruces (Ahote, Cha'tima, Nakwach, others), Human Fly (Rick Rojatt), Dr. Kaity (first name unrevealed), Ted Locke, Alex Marks, Margarita Mercado, Willie Silver (and the Silver Charity band), Spider-Man (Peter Parker), United Mine Workers of America (Joe Shields, Jr., Joe Shields, Sr., others), Chief Wheatly (first name unrevealed), White Tiger (Hector Ayala), Harmony Whyte

Enemies: Cyrus T. Barker, Mr. Carruthers, Copperhead (Arthur Reynolds) and his lackeys, David Dreir, Dukas (first name unrevealed), Mike Flynn, Larry (last name unrevealed), Maddox (first name unrevealed), Malik, Slade Mallory, Marion Martinet, Mercenary, Frank Sturgis and his thugs (Hankus, others)

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Mobile internationally

First Appearance: Human Fly I#1 (September, 1977)

Powers/Abilities: Blaze Kendall is a licensed, highly skilled pilot who is very adept in various forms of jet/propeller/rotor aircraft, including large passenger jets, small planes and helicopters, plus other flying craft. She is also a skilled driver and skier. Kendall is very fit and a quick thinker in emergencies.

Height: 5'6" (by approximation)
Weight: 130 lbs. (by approximation)
Eyes: Brown
Hair: Dark brown/black

History:

(Human Fly I#1 (fb)) - On her first flight as a co-pilot, Blaze Kendall was derided by the sexist male pilot, who suddenly had a heart attack and caused the passenger jet to nosedive. Kendall struggled to level the plane; although the wings broke off on impact at the airport, no lives were lost but she was hospitalized. Although lauded for her skill in saving the passengers and her body mended, her confidence was shattered until she was visited in hospital by Rick Rojatt. He inspired her on a road to recovery, choosing her as his pilot for his impending career as a charity-focused stuntman with a secret identity; she joined stunt-engineer Ted Locke as Rojatt's support crew.

(Human Fly I#12 (fb)) - Reporter Arnie Berman sought the  Human Fly's secret identity and hid in the plane piloted by Kendall for the stuntman's world-record parachute attempt. Upon seeing the Human Fly jump with a torn parachute strap, Berman (also secretly inspired by Rojatt's eyes) leapt after him with a spare parachute, much to the surprise of Kendall and Locke. Once all were safely on the ground, the Fly included Berman in his support crew.

(Human Fly I#1 (fb)) - At his premiere performance months later, the Human Fly (his identity as Rojatt kept secret), backed by his support crew, was criticized by the press as a glory-seeker. But an arriving press plane had been hijacked by the Mercenary, so the Human Fly and his crew leapt into action.

(Human Fly I#1) - Kendall skillfully piloted the jet-copter that lowered the Human Fly to the press plane, despite the adverse weather conditions. She and Locke watched as the Human Fly penetrated the plane and eliminated the hijackers with Spider-Man's help. The Human Fly and his crew were reunited on the ground.

(Human Fly I#2) - Kendall, Locke and Berman watched as the Human Fly completed another death-defying stunt for charity. The Fly credited his crew's teamwork. Investigative reporter Harmony Whyte, keen to uncover the stuntman's identity, followed them to Nevada to corrupt Cyrus Barker's "daredevil" race. Barker's lethal traps stopped all racers except Johnny Blaze (a.k.a. Ghost Rider) and "Alex Marks" (actually Rojatt impersonating the despondent champion so as to investigate Barker). The Human Fly's crew were shocked to see the surviving competitors limp back.

(Human Fly I#3 (fb)) - The Human Fly's crew watched as he escaped a pool of sharks as a stunt. Doubting the stuntman's overall motives, Whyte clashed with Kendall. The Fly's crew helped him with his costume as state governor David Dreir sought the Human Fly's help to rescue his polio-stricken daughter Alexandra, kidnapped by munitions rival Marion Martinet. As the crew watched on, the Human Fly agreed to help.

(Human Fly I#3) - The Human Fly climbed the cliff face to Martinet's fortress while Kendall and Locke circled high above in a Locke-designed twin-propeller plane with vertical take-off and landing capability.

(Human Fly I#4) - Martinet and Dreir's feud escalated as they engaged each other with their mechanized forces. The Human Fly radioed for Kendall to fly down and retrieve him after which he stopped the hostilities and rescued Alexandra. Kendall and Locke landed the plane. The Human Fly carried the terrified girl toward his crew to get the girl to hospital.

(Human Fly I#5 (fb)) - The Human Fly performed a high-wire stunt between skyscrapers for disabled schoolchildren in Quebec when disgruntled, former stuntman Malik attacked, intending to kill all there with fire. Kendall spotted him from the other building, and the Human Fly barely escaped the cut wire.

(Human Fly I#5) - Kendall tried to land a rescue helicopter on the towering inferno, but the fire's updraft made it impossible. As the Human Fly climbed the skyscraper's safe side, Kendall and Locke watched on from the helicopter, flying close to distract Malik from seeing the Human Fly. Eventually, Malik's threat was stopped, and Kendall's piloting aided the children's escape.

(Human Fly I#6) - The Human Fly's crew joined him in a charity tour of Funland Amusement Park for children of handicapped parents. The crew were surprised that the Human Fly suddenly went missing and discovered him fighting local criminal Slade Mallory. The crew's teamwork helped the Human Fly stop Mallory and his stolen car smuggling operation under the haunted house ride.

(Human Fly I#7) -  In Vermont, the Human Fly's crew readied his rocket-powered snowmobile for his next charity-driven stunt. Meanwhile, reporter Whyte became more sympathetic to the Human Fly's cause. Soon after, the crew beheld the Human Fly successful stunt over a ravine, only to see him rush down into a snowy gorge on foot to rescue unconscious Mal Evans and his blind son, Andy, from a bear. Kendall and Locke rushed to help on a basic snowmobile. With the bear driven off, Kendall carefully took Mal Evans up the slope to receive first aid.

(Human Fly I#8) - The Human Fly's crew watched his jet-powered skateboard stunt at New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art. The crew joined the tour for disadvantaged children through the museum led by curator Margarita Mercado, but Kendall clashed again with reporter Whyte who still sought the Human Fly's secret identity to keep her job. Museum cops firing at falsely accused White Tiger for a murder committed by museum thief Copperhead saw the Human Fly and his crew protect the children. Instead, the rescue bid caught them in Copperhead's heist of a giant urn into a flooded subway.

(Human Fly I#9) - The Human Fly and his crew helped move those trapped into the giant urn, and the flood waters carried the floating artifact down the subway construction zone to an exit point in Central Park. Copperhead's waiting gunsels were overpowered by the Human Fly and Daredevil, coincidentally nearby. The crew also saw Copperhead defeated with White Tiger's help; the children and crew were then helped down from the giant urn.

(Human Fly I#10) - The Human Fly's crew watched him perform a spectacular dive stunt for a mine worker union fundraiser. Afterward, the Fly noted thuggish enforcer Maddox (employed by corrupt mine owner Dukas) leave with TNT and followed him with his support team. Kendall, Locke and Berman couldn't stop Maddox from trapping the Human Fly and two miners inside. Dukas arrived, and his ruffians threatened to kill the Human Fly's crew, but Kendall kept him talking while secretly broadcasting his nefarious plans over CB radio. The unionized miners responded and overwhelmed Dukas. The Human Fly's crew were reunited with the stuntman, who had emerged safely.

(Human Fly I#11 (fb)) - The Human Fly's crew followed the stuntman to his next death-defying stunt: jumping 26 buses on a rocket-powered motorbike in Montreal, Canada. But Whyte, following her editor's demands, again harassed the stuntman, to the chagrin of the Fly and his crew. But the stunt failed, and the Human Fly crashed. Kendall lashed out at Whyte as the stuntman was stretchered away.

(Human Fly I#11) - Recovered but rattled from the crash, the Human Fly and his crew traveled to St. Louis for a new stunt alongside music band Silver Charity. The stuntman's crew watched him ride his bike over the St. Louis Arch, the feat inspiring others (also resulting in Whyte quitting her reporter role) and renewed the stuntman's faith in himself. Band frontman Willie Silver was electrocuted by his criminal road manager, Mike Flynn, who sought insurance money. Silver's dead body was cradled by the Fly's crew while the stuntman led the band in an inspiring song.

(Human Fly I#12) - Kendall joined Locke and Berman in inspecting the Human Fly's latest charity stunt: a rocket-powered chair. Safely completed, the Human Fly welcomed Whyte to his team now that she too had newfound self-confidence inspired by the stuntman, although Kendall still initially doubted her.

(Human Fly I#13) - The Human Fly's next stunt to ski America's tallest mountain, Mt. Whitney, required the use of oxygen helmets. Kendall helped with the filming using a special camera, despite a near fall. But interference from Whyte's former editor Carl Braden almost cost lives. Later, the Human Fly and crew visited an apologetic Braden in hospital, and resulted in Braden offering a Whyte her job back.

(Human Fly I#14) - The Human Fly's next stunt was in an international airship race across America and involved walking a tightrope between a drone blimp and one piloted by Kendall. However, two mute orphan children had secretly hidden in the drone to escape their harsh institution and unwittingly caused the drone to veer perilously toward the city. Seeing the danger, Kendall broke her blimp free and steered it away while the stuntman prevented the other blimp from hitting the Empire State Building.

(Human Fly I#15) - The Human Fly's troupe visited Locke's disabled wartime buddy Slick Gordon at Potomac Hospital for veterans. Panicked, the hospital's corrupt administrators attacked and locked up the Human Fly and his crew, thinking they were investigators, but the quartet escaped. Meanwhile, Slick and disgruntled veteran took over the Washington Monument at gunpoint to force an investigation into the hospital, but Larry intended to detonate the monument instead. However, the Human Fly stopped the violent plot, and he and his crew met Slick later at a decent hospital.

(Human Fly I#16) - Kendall piloted a small seaplane as the Human Fly inspected Niagara Falls for a ski stunt to raise funds for nearby Candus Hospital. Soon after, Kendall drove to drop off donated toys to the hospital but was kidnapped by criminal Carruthers' men, who wanted to stop the stunt to prevent raising new hospital funds so that it would close and they could turn it into a smuggling operation. She was rescued by the Human Fly and Locke. The stunt went ahead with Kendall flying the seaplane towing the Human Fly on skis to the Niagara Falls' edge.

(Human Fly I#17) - Kendall parked the "Fly Van" at a New Jersey state fair. She later flew the helicopter with an attached net to catch the Human Fly, who would be shot from a giant cannon. But a decoy was first fired so that bank thieves would be caught, Kendall deliberately missing so that the decoy would be fried on high tension electrical wires. Once the crooks were nabbed, the Human Fly followed through with a successful attempt.

(Human Fly I#18) - The Human Fly and his troupe drove to the Hopi Indian reservation in New Mexico for a booked stunt. Almost there, they helped an angry Hopi boy, Nakwach, with his dead grandfather (a village elder), killed by a swerving car, and took them to Las Cruces pueblo. They found they weren't welcome by the Hopi people and were accused by Nakwach's cousin Cha'tima as clownish performers in league with the mostly drunk Hopi Tribal Council corroborating with white businessmen seeking to profit from an otherwise sacred Pueblo Carnival. The white organizer, Frank Sturgis, revealed that the tribal council would still be financially liable if he didn't perform. Sturgis sent his thugs after the Human Fly and, ready for a fight, they surrounded the stuntman, his crew, Cha'tima and Nakwach.

(Human Fly I#19) - The Human Fly and friends overcame their attackers. Nakwach and Cha'tima invited the Human Fly and his troupe to the home of their uncle and elder Ahote for sanctuary. Ahote introduced the respectful newcomers to their legends and beliefs, including racial unity and opposing greed, and Ahote devised a plan with the Human Fly for the stunt. The next day, with preparations in place, the crew watched the stuntman ride his rocket cycle along a highwire above a gorge. Cha'tima secretly projected stock footage of Hopi myths onto the mist to make it appear as if the Human Fly was being welcomed by Hopi gods. Inspired, the Hopi guard stopped Sturgis and his thugs while the Human Fly and his crew joined the Hopi festival.

Comments: Created by Bill Mantlo & Lee Elias.

    Even though Marvel no longer holds the Human Fly character trademark, it would be great to see support characters like Kendall and the other crew at least cameo elsewhere in the Marvel universe, perhaps with Stark or their own startup company.

    This profile was completed 04/20/2021, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 20th anniversary 's celebratory event.

Profile by Grendel Prime.

CLARIFICATIONS :
Blaze Kendall has no known connections to:

images: (without ads)
Human Fly I#6, p12, pan6 (main image)
Human Fly I#1, p5, pan7 (headshot, commercial pilot)
Human Fly I#1, p6, pan2 (bandaged)
Human Fly I#17, p16, pan5 (piloting helicopter)
Human Fly I#13, p14, pan6 (oxygen suit with camera)

Appearances:
Human Fly I#1 (September, 1977) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Lee Elias (pencils & inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Human Fly I#2 (October,1977) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Carmine Infantino (pencils), Dan Green (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Human Fly I#3 (November, 1977) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Lee Elias (pencils), Don Perlin (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Human Fly I#4 (December, 1977) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Lee Elias (pencils), Rod Santiago (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Human Fly I#5 (January, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Frank Robbins (pencils), Rod Santiago (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Human Fly I#6 (February, 1977) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Frank Robbins (pencils), Rod A. Santiago (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Human Fly I#7 (March, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Lee Elias (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Human Fly I#8 (April, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Frank Robbins (pencils), New York Tribe (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Human Fly I#9 (May, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Frank Robbins (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Human Fly I#10 (June, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Lee Elias (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Human Fly I#11 (July, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Lee Elias (pencils), Mike Esposito (inks), Archie Goodwin (editor)
Human Fly I#12 (August, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Lee Elias (pencils), F. Springer (inks), Jim Shooter (editor)
Human Fly I#13 (September, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Frank Robbins (pencils), F. Springer (inks), Bob Hall (editor)
Human Fly I#14 (October, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Frank Robbins (pencils), Steve Leialoha (inks), Bob Hall (editor)
Human Fly I#15 (November, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Lee Elias (pencils), Ricardo Villamonte (inks), Bob Hall (editor)
Human Fly I#16 (December, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Bob Lubbers (pencils), Ricardo Villamonte (inks), Bob Hall (editor)
Human Fly I#17 (January, 1979) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Bob Lubbers (pencils), Don Perlin (inks), Bob Hall (editor)
Human Fly I#18 (February, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Lee Elias (pencils), Ricardo Villamonte (inks), M.J. Duffy (editor)
Human Fly I#19 (March, 1978) - Bill Mantlo (writer), Lee Elias (pencils), Ricardo Villamonte (inks), Allen Milgrom (editor)

First posted: 09/03/2021
Last updated: 08/31/2021

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

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