History:
FLYING FLAME
Real Name: Benjamin Ruff
Identity/Class: Human (World
War 2 Era
Occupation: Pilot
Group Membership: Royal Air Force
Affiliations: Lt. Ambrose, Bill, Colonel Sydney Hall
Enemies: Black Ace (Friedrich Roth), William Langer, Nazis
Known Relatives: None
Place of Birth: Clarksville, Virginia, USA
Aliases: "Red"
Education: High school graduate
Base of Operations: Auxville Airdrome, France
First Appearance: Daring Mystery Comics I#6/4 (September, 1940)
Powers/Abilities: The Flying Flame was an expert pilot and marksman. He could strike a grounded one foot bullseye from over 100 feet in the air. He piloted the Flying Flame aircraft.
Height: 5'10"
Weight: 175 lbs.
Eyes: Blue
Hair: Red
History:
(Daring Mystery Comics I#6/4 (fb) - BTS) - The Flying Flame was an American pilot, Captain "Red" Ruff, who went to England to assist in the fight against Nazi Germany. His airplane was also called "the Flying Flame" and he became famous for his exploits against German pilots.
(Daring Mystery Comics I#6/4) - The Flying Flame was reassigned to Auxville Airdrome in France to assist them against the Germans. En route to France, Ruff saw a German submarine headed towards troop transports and shot off the submarine's periscope before it could attack the transports.
Arriving at Auxville Airdrome, Ruff learned from Colonel Sydney Hall how their bombers were being mysteriously destroyed and about the top German pilot the Black Ace. Ruff flew his plane behind enemy lines to investigate what was destroying the bombers but he was immediately captured by the Black Ace and other German soldiers. As they escorted Ruff to a cell they showed him the dynamo machine they were using to generate destructive ray blasts to destroy the bombers. Ruff escaped his cell by tearing out one of the stones in the wall. Ruff stopped to sabotage the dynamo then returned to his plane.
Back at Auxville, Ruff told Colonel Hall about the dynamo and escorted the bomber crew. When the dynamo weapon attempted to fire again, Ruff's sabotage caused it to short-circuit and explode. The Flying Flame then went after the Black Ace and shot him down. However, Ruff feared there might be spies at Auxville.
(Tough Kid Squad Comics I#1/7) - The Flying Flame saw Lt. Ambrose bail out of his plane after it succumbed to sabotage. Ambrose's parachute was caught on the craft but the Flying Flame shot the cords of the parachute to liberate him, then flew beneath Ambrose so he landed on the plane's wing. The Flying Flame flew Lt. Ambrose back to the Auxville base and told the colonel he suspected sabotage. The colonel authorized an investigation and Ruff soon overheard mechanic William Langer speaking German. Spying on Langer, he saw him sabotaging Ruff's own plane. When Ruff confronted Langer, Langer hurled a can of oil at Ruff then commandeered a bomber to escape the base. With his own plane compromised by Langer, ruff took another plane and caught up to Langer's bomber, then boarded the aircraft. Ruff fought Langer in the cockpit and hurled him out of the craft to his death. Ruff returned the stolen bomber to the base.
Comments: Created by Bill O'Connor and Ben Flinton.
There was almost 2 years between his appearances, suggesting the second appearance might have been something left in the backlog for a while. The 2nd story does seem to follow up immediately from the ending of the 1st story, where Ruff suggests there are spies on the base. Perhaps the sudden defeat of France caused Marvel to spike the 2nd story into the backlog.
Flying Flame received an OHOTMU entry in the Marvel Mystery Handbook.
This profile was completed on 11/24/2025 but its publication was delayed, as it was intended for the Appendix's 25th anniversary celebratory event.
Profile by Prime Eternal.
CLARIFICATIONS:
Flying Flame should not be confused with:
The Flying Flame was also the name of "Red" Ruff's personal aircraft. It was a specially modified Spitfire with a red paint job that featured twin tracer guns on its nose and a machine gun on each wing.
--Daring Mystery Comics I#6/4 (Tough Kid Squad Comics I#1/7
images: (without ads)
Marvel Mystery Handbook, Flying Flame entry (main)
Daring Mystery Comics I#6/4, page 4, panel 8 (face)
Daring Mystery Comics I#6/4, page 1, panel 2 (plane)
Appearances:
Daring Mystery Comics I#6/4 (September, 1940) - Bill O'Connor (writer),
Ben Flinton (artist), Joe Simon (editor)
Tough Kid Squad Comics I#1/7 (March, 1942) - unidentified writer,
unidentified artist, Stan Lee (editor)
First posted: 09/20/2026
Last updated:
11/24/2025
Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.
Non-Marvel
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