Bullet (comic book)

Infobox comic book title
title = Bullet


caption = The 2nd issue of Bullet included a free gift - a survival guide.
schedule = Weekly
format=
ongoing =Y
publisher = D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd
date = 1976 – 1978 (merged with "Warlord")
issues = 147
main_char_team = Fireball
writers =
artists =
pencillers =
inkers =
colorists =
creative_team_month =
creative_team_year =
creators =
subcat=DC Thomson Comics
sort=Bullet

Bullet was a comic book published weekly in the UK during the 1970s.

First published in February 1976 by D.C. Thomson for 7p, it focussed upon adventure, action, revenge, science fiction, war and sport. It was a popular comic for boys throughout its publication.

The main character was a moustached, multi-talented, highly trained secret agent, aptly named Fireball. His parents had died in a mysterious car crash when he was a young child and he was the nephew of Lord Peter Flint, a wartime hero (aka ""). Fireball had been trained by his uncle (since childhood) in the arts of shooting, martial arts, sports and survival - this was as well as the usual reading and writing skills. The full Fireball story was secret but could be acquired by joining the "Fireball club" which gave you the story enclosed in a red, plastic wallet. This story was used as the plain text for a One-time pad for encrypting/decrypting secret messages which often appeared in Bullet's central pages as a sequence of random numbers. You also received a Fireball pendant for joining. Fireball's original pendant (which he always wore) saved his life on one occasion - it shielded him from a long range sniper's bullet. Fireball's arch enemy was Catriona Klansberg (aka "The Cat"). Fireball had a soft spot for her - he had a habit of letting her slip away after he had just thwarted her evil plan.

In December 1978 the comic merged into the longer running "Warlord" comic.

Notable stories

"Fireball": Bullet always included weekly stories about Fireball getting into various scrapes, going on dangerous missions, saving the world and generally kicking the backsides of the baddies - he was always able to maintain a sense of humour throughout the most death-defying situations.

Some of the other stories included:

*Twisty: Twisty Lunnon was a fantastic footballer, with an attitude, who also raced pigeons in his spare time and sometimes had brushes with the law. He started off playing as an apprentice with 4th division Sleethorpe United. He had a crooked left foot (caused by a car crash) which allowed him to bend the ball with astonishing accuracy.
*Smasher: a 50 foot tall, virtually indestructible robot which destroyed cities. It was controlled from a secret command bubble by Doctor Doom, an evil genius who planned to take over the world. Bullet ran several series for this story - they had to nuke it at the end.
*Wonder Mann: H.E. Mann had been raised by computers to become a world beating sportsman. A small radio/T.V "eye" linked Mann to Professor Wilkie and his assistant Tom Brace who were able to give remote assistance. He was seemingly unbeatable at every sport.
*Midge: Sixteen year old "Midge" Miller worked for Callaghan's the builders who were erecting a prefabricated shed at Marrow's shipyard. Midge started off as a 7 stone weakling and was bullied by his macho co-workers. However, in his spare time he took up a bodybuilding course at the S.W.I.S.H., the Shipyard Workers Indoor Sports Hall and at the end of the story became a hunk to be reckoned with.
*Three Men in a Jeep: A 2nd world war story set in Northern France during 1944. Three men escaped from a military prison and started fighting their own war. They stole a jeep and then went around killing "huns", blowing things up and causing mayhem.
*Vic's Vengence: Vic Mason swore to avenge his father, killed opposing the Dean brothers, leaders of a vicious gang terrorising the East End of London. Patch Burns, a scrap dealer and ex-policeman (with an eye patch) became Vic's ally - he mentored him, helped train him and gave staying alive tips.
*A Tale of Terror from Solomon Knight: A different scary story every week. Solomon Knight would introduce the story and then tell us what the story was all about at the end of it, sometimes leaving certain disturbing aspects open to the reader's imagination.
*Werewolf: When ex-detective Dave Barry inherits an old house, he gains the power to change into a werewolf whenever the moon shines. Using this power, he fights an endless war against crime.
*Ginger: Tim Brady was a fugitive on the run from his bullying step-father who had attempted to drown Ginger, his oddly-coloured greyhound. Tim saved the dog's life and the once weakly pup developed into a potential champion. Several unsavory people (including the step-father himself) realised Ginger's worth and attempted to get him from Tim using unscrupulous means.
*Strike Force 2000: Fighting a constant war against a Revolutionary Organisation of Anarchy and Terror (R.O.A.T) are the three men of Strike Force 2000. They flew through the sky using jet propulsion systems strapped to their backs, carried machine guns and had a radio/tv "eye" link with a secret computer base.

Other Items

*Fireball Calling: The comic always had a 2 page spread entitled Fireball Calling - it contained reader's letters (often followed by a reply from Fireball), trivia, the encrypted passwords/messages and competitions. Reader's would get a fireball t-shirt for getting a letter printed.
*Sport's profiles: Often there would be a footballers fact file and/or information about veteran or sports cars etc.

References

* [http://www.26pigs.com/bullet/index.html Bullet on 26pigs.com]
* [http://www.26pigs.com/bullet/bibliography.html Bullet cover shots on 26pigs.com]
* [http://members.tripod.com/britishcomics/comics.html Issue dates of British comics]

External links

* [http://www.dcthomson.co.uk/ DC Thomson home page]