Most comics of the Golden Age were, as the saying goes, all in color for a dime. But Fawcett Comics can get it for you half-price! Your Major Spoilers Retro Review of Nickel Comics #1 awaits!

NICKEL COMICS #1

Writer: Bill Parker
Penciler: Ed Smalle/Sven Elven
Inker: Ed Smalle/Sven Elven
Colorist: Uncredited
Editor: Bill Parker
Publisher: Fawcett Comics
Cover Price: 5 Cents
Current Near-Mint Pricing: $4400.00
Release Date: May 3, 1940

Previously in Nickel Comics: One of the most successful comic book outfits of the Golden Age, Fawcett Comics was a division of Fawcett Publishing, which dates all the way back to 1919. Their success in the marketplace was mostly due to the adventures of Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family, but Fawcett had a respectable number of lesser-known stars. Spy Smasher made his way into movie theaters in 1942, and they also published comic adaptations of Captain Midnight (of Ovaltine fame) and Captain Video (an early television star). Of course, one of their most impressive achievements was an attempt to undercut the price of every other comic book by fifty percent!

We begin with orphan boy Jim Barr, whose heroic father was a policeman killed in the line of duty.
A brilliant young man, Jim is sure that he can cure the disease of crime with enough study, making it so no other dads have to give their lives to keep innocents safe from the criminal element. Sadly, the boy nicknamed Bullet is too small to make the police force, pushing him to become a forensic scientist. He also continues to work on his cure for crime, a serum that will… Uhh… It’s honestly not clear what he expects will happen, but anyone who reads comics knows what is about to happen.
The transformation of “Bullet” Barr into a towering Superman is a quick one, but he finds that his mind has expanded to equally superhuman heights. Using his new intellect, Jim quickly designs a helmet that allows him to control and regulate gravity, then leaps out a window!
In his defense, there was someone about to bust into the lab and discover the nascent hero before his crime-fighting career could even begin, but still… that’s a move that takes guts. It’s worth noting that the art of Ed Smalle is remarkably detailed and energetic, especially by the standards of the year 1940. Sure, proportion may not be his strong suit, but I could say that about a dozen modern artists as well. Dubbed Bulletman by the press, Barr continues confronting petty crime in the city. But when old family friend Sergeant Kent and his daughter, Susan, Bulletman faces his first masked foe: Blackmask!
But not that Black Mask, as seen on the big screen portrayed by Ewan McGregor. This Blackmask is the kingpin of local crime and will be his first recurring foe. Bulletman even takes the challenge of the local newspaper to produce a picture of his masked identity, leaving him puzzled when they don’t publish the image. It’s almost like someone at the newspaper has a vested interest in the gravity-bending hero.

The rest of the issue features the debut of the obscure Warlock The Wizard and the horrifying racism of the Jungle Twins’ adventure in something they claim is meant to be Africa. Still, it’s Bulletman that makes Nickel Comics #1 memorable, debuting not only the hero but his future sidekick (bet you can’t guess who!), making for 3.5 out of 5 stars overall and a comic book worth reading, if you can find it. The Nickel Comics experiment was short-lived, as Fawcett discovered that their distributors were unhappy with a comic that halved their profit margin, but by the end of the eight-issue run, he graduated to the full-size, full-price Master Comics, replacing the short-lived Master Man as cover feature there.

Of course, Master Man was a casualty of a lawsuit by National Periodical Publications, predicated on similarities to their character, Superman, a story that feels like a chilling omen, given what we know of Fawcett’s future.

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NICKEL COMICS #1

67%

67%

A Short-Lived Experiment

Bulletman's origin is a long walk for the proverbial short drink of water, but the concept is a cool one and the art is above-average for the era. It's a shame he's never had a really extended revamp.

• Writing

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• Art

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• Coloring

  7
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