Gold Nuggets: Bulletman...the Original Head-Banger.

The Obscure Adventures of Comics' Greatest Generation!

Could there anything cooler
than having the ability to fly?

Of course not.  Well, unless you count having the ability to fly while crashing through stuff head-first!

Such was the life of Jim Barr, who developed the amazing Gravity Regulator Helmet to fight crime as Bulletman!  Realizing the importance of a couple having shared interests, Jim made a Gravity Regulator Helmet for his girlfriend Susan, who became his partner Bulletgirl (and later his wife). Heck, he even made a helmet for his dog (as...you guessed it...Bulletdog).

Published by Fawcett Comics, Bulletman was second only to Captain Marvel in popularity, who was even outselling Superman at one point..so obviously kids of the 1940's appreciated the intrinsic coolness of flying through stuff head-first while wearing canary yellow tights.

In Bulletman #5 (1942), Jim and Susan encountered the skeezy Dr. Riddle.  Much like the the Riddler of Batman fame, Dr. Riddle enjoyed leaving cryptic riddles for victims and pursuers alike.  After multiple pages of riddles, traps, narrow escapes and cat-and-mouse pursuit, Bulletman finally turned the tables on Dr. Riddle and offered him a riddle of his own...

Ahh...nothing like the smell of due process in the morning, hmm?

Note to my fellow Children of the 70's:  The Golden Age Bulletman should in no way be confused with Bulletman, the Human Bullet of the G.I. Joe Super Adventure Team....despite having the same name, bright red tunic and the cool ability to fly through stuff head-first.

Comments

[suedenim]

The (or "a") Human Bullet was also a recurring character on The Tick, the animated series.

http://wwwuser.cs.rose-hulman.edu/~stinerkt/tickdocs/shbull.html

[Keelan Parham]

Bulletman from GI Joe was one of my all time favorite toys. The silver on mine's helmet kept flaking off, and he had these really weird hand positions, if I remember right. Couldn't hold anything. Buthe had these cool red rubbery boots, though.

Anybody out there also remember Big Jim? He had this band you could put on his bicep that he'd burst off when you made him flex. He was by himself for awhile, but later he had a superteam called the "Wild P.A.C.K.", I believe. There were also villains for that line.

[Mark Engblom]

suedenim-

I wasn't aware of the Bulletman in the Tick comic. Thanks for the link!

Keelan-

Hey, I had a Big Jim...complete with busting bicep band and (if I remember correctly) come kind of big machete blade he could use with his karate-chopping action (using a button on his back). I still remember the odd, rubbery material the arms were made of.

A friend of mine had Bulletman, though the helmet was lost almost immediately in some outdoor adventure of ours. Remember those HUGE G.I. Joe helicopters? Geez, a kid practically needed a forklift to hoist the darn thing! At some point, somebody realized these things didn't have to be 14" tall and came out with the tiny G.I. Joe line the next generation is more familiar with.

[felgekarp]

I used to have a Bulletman as well, left his helmet in front of the fire one day and it ended up looking like a helmet would if you'd gone head first into a wall at high speed, I've also got an Intruder as seen in the last picture.

[Mark Engblom]

I wonder if any Bulletman helmets survived the 70's? Sounds like those things were tough to keep intact (or keep track of).

Yeah, another friend of mine had the Intruder...who we'd team up with Bulletman to fight the Six Million Dollar Man and Maskatron.