#Bulletman

[puppetwoman17]

I want to read more comics and fanfics about Cap/Billy being a respected member of the hero community.

But at the SAME TIME, I want to read something where his attempts to make friends is seen as too eager or boyish and he’s ostracized, so as he grows up he understands that he needs to dial it down. He begins backing off and letting people do their own thing. He doesn’t try to hang out with the younger hero teams, but makes it clear that he’s always there if they need him, because he’s a sweetie. He talks less with JL members, not significantly, but just so he’s not talking way more than he has to.

Everyone’s noticed. They are worried.

Billy grows up, gets reunited with his sister, connects more with his Whiz Radio coworkers, gets along with the Bromfields, meets and connects with other Fawcett heroes and finally gets his own apartment(with illegal means but shush I guarantee you someone else has done much worse). He’s getting his life together day by day and he’s more sure of himself.

Heavy on Fawcett heroes btw. They clock him being CC’s kid immediately. What do you mean the JL doesn’t like him? What’s their problem with our boy😡?

Little subtleties with other heroes… Because why is Cap not talking to me anymore? Why do I have to steer the conversation?

Did I do something wrong?

Did I fuck up?

Was I too mean?

He just wants to hang out. Isn’t that what being part of a team is?

He just wants to be friends like the rest of us are.

Cue young and older heroes alike trying their damn hardest to get Cap to join them for a game night or gossip session or joint mission where there doesn’t need to be a joint mission and Billy is just confuzzled.

He’s busy, sorry! (He’s cleaning up the radio station for a birthday party)

Something came up, you know how schedules can be. (Mary wants him to see his first opera. Billy is a yes man)

A friend of mine needs some help! Really sorry, I wish I could! (Ebenezer is about to die. He wants to watch the moment the light leaves his eyes. No, Mary, he doesn’t need therapy. No Freddy, he doesn’t need a hug right—fuck it, give him a hug)

Because even without knowing, the her community watched him grow up. And, like adult figures and parents in a child’s life, they miss the way things used to be. It confuses them, especially the younger heroes.

Oh, then an identity reveal happens and everything makes so much sense and they all feel so so so bad but Billy’s like “Hey, it’s no big deal! Everyone gets busy! And I’ve got lots of other friends to confide in!”

He says this with a smile on his face but it sounds like an insult. Now the JL and younger heroes are grappling with the fact that this whole time they’ve just been parental figures who miss when their kid was clingy🥺

…

…

…

LOL, TOO BAD. Freddy’s taking him to a game tonight. He’s got front row seats and extra cotton candy coupons! Suck on that!

[wonderjanga]

I’m a Big Fan!

Billy and Mary are both big fans of Bulletman and Bulletgirl. They even had action figures of them. This affected their interactions with the couple when they were in their Marvel forms.

Marvel: “It’s a pleasure to be working with you, Mister Bulletman Sir.” *shakes his hand*

Bulletman: *literally feeling like his arm is being nearly jostled out of its socket* “You too.”

So, yeah. Bulletman’s first impression of Captain Marvel was that the man was sort of overexcited. He honestly thought the man was pulling his leg.

Marvel: “I used to have your action figures when I was a kid.”

Bulletman: “You… did?” *thought they were the same age*

Okay, the other man was younger than himself. Bulletman would’ve thought the Captain had aged poorly if the man hadn’t looked so good.

Meanwhile, Mary is chilling with Bulletgirl because she can get away with it because she looks fourteen.

Mary: “Can I please have your autograph, Miss Bulletgirl Ma’am?” *holding out a piece of paper and a marker she magicked from somewhere*

Bulletgirl: “Of course!” *signs it with a smile*

Marvel: *longingly looking over, wanting an autograph too*

Bulletman: *narrows his eyes, wondering why Marvel’s looking at his wife like that*

Mary: *sees this look* “Can I have another one? Addressed to someone named Billy?” *magics another paper up*

Bulletgirl: “Sure.” *signs the next paper*

Billy gave her the biggest hug when she walked over to them.

Mary: “Cap, I got the auto- ACK-”

Marvel: *hugging the life out of her*

Bulletman: *watching in concern as she pats his back a bunch of times*

Mary: *using the pats to try and to signal he’s crushing her*

Now Bulletman is wondering if he has separation anxiety from his kid. She is his kid, right? Also he’s very concerned about Marvel looking at his wife like that. He didn’t know if he should be relieved or even more concerned when the man showed more interest in being around him. But then… The edits came. Edits of them. Together. They haunt his dreams. He wasn’t even sure Cap was aware of them. Speaking of Cap, he had built up a steady friendship with the man. He was actually a pretty chill guy if Bulletman ignored the times the man’s inner fanboy would rev up.

Bulletman and Marvel: *working together to fight a villain*

Marvel: “Gosh, this is just like-” *rattles off a random obscure fight that happened before Bulletman was well recognized*

Bulletman: *gets distracted* “How do you know that?”

Marvel: “Cause-”

Bulletman: *gets launched off into a wall because he was distracted*

Marvel: *i fucked up face*

So yeah. Cap can get caught up in it, but hey, the man’s still nice. Bulletman invited him to a barbecue. Cap brought his kids. Bulletman still doesn’t know if they’re actually his kids or not.

[splooosh]

FREE

Jerry Ordway

[dcdreamblog]

So I came across this ad in an old comic for a GI Joe "Bulletman" doll

And I know Bulletman (and Bulletgirl) are real, actual people/super-heroes from World War II and beyond.

So I'm thinking there has to be some kind of story here?

Well the explanation is pretty simple. Bulletman and Bulletgirl were WAY more popular than posterity remembers them as. And some Hasbro artist was obviously from Fawcett City or nearby Philadelphia

(The cover of a Bulletman war bond comic. It was the most successful war bond comic of the entire war) While Fawcett City, Pennsylvania where the duo hung their helmets was NOT wanting for heroes during the war or members of the Squadron to split the weight (for instance, Mr Scarlet and Pinky, the Spy Smasher and Ibis the Invincible all called the Thunderstorm City home) Bulletman and Bulletgirl were the city's most beloved protectors. The people of Fawcett City identified with them the same way the people of modern Metropolis do with Superman. This love made them one of the most personally popular duos of the war. While the JSA was more well known and respected as an institution, the individual members were less well known (with the obvious exceptions of The Flash and Green Lantern). Outside of the JSA's membership the only other heroes that come close to the gravity this pistol-like pair exerted on the entire country would be TNT and Dan the Dyna-Mite out of Washington DC but of course TNT was killed tragically early on in the war itself leaving Bulletman and Bulletgirl as the last pair standing. The best way to see this popularity in action is just to GO to Fawcett City, whose NBA team is still called the Fawcett City Bullets (basketball fans can either cheer or hiss in the notes, makes no difference to me). The city's main forensics lab, the Barr Criminal Science Unit is named after Bulletman and that's not counting every other thing in the city that's named after Barr. Including but not limited to, a street, a school library, two baseball diamonds, the University of Fawcett's criminal justice building AND the city's special cocktail the Blind Bullet. If you want a fun way to commit suicide you can neck one of them every time you see a bullet or a lightning bolt on something in the city's shopping district. Their memory is kept alive in the modern day by their daughter, soldier Deanna Barr who operates on a part time basis under the heroic name Windshear literally just using her mother's 80 year old costume.

[wanderingmind867]

Curiously young...that's one way to put having a child be the news anchor for your network. But I suppose the people of Earth-S are just used to this sort of thing by now. Also, it's kind of cute to see Billy still has dot eyes in the 70s. He almost looks like a comic strip character, or something (at least to me). (Justice League of America #136):

[chernobog13]

Bulletman was a late addition to the original 1/6th-scale G.I. Joe action figure line. Whether or not he was inspired by the 1940s Fawcett comic book superhero Bulletman is open to debate. However, the similarities are there, and the comic book character was in limbo at the time (1975), so Hasbro probably thought no one would object.

Bulletman was aided in the comic books by his girlfriend (eventually wife) Bulletgirl, who had the same powers. Looks like someone went ahead and created a Bulletgirl action figure to keep Bulletman company. The Bulletgirl base body is made from a Cy Girls/Cool Girl 1/6th-scale body, the silver arms are from the Cy Girls figure CG-0 (which was all metallic silver), and the leggings and boots are from a Cy Girls Ebony figure.

[tzigone]

How would you have the characters *change* over time?

When working with a story where the characters age over a decade or three, it becomes important to think how the characters change over time. Especially younger characters who haven't reached adulthood yet. But even the adults. Especially since I'm starting in 1940, and the time period in question has so much change. And change that we're far enough away from now to see in hindsight - when it happens gradually, people don't always realize it as it happens.

Some of these are moral or political issues where it might be tempting for every hero to have the "right" (whatever author believes is best) opinion from the start. And some might well do so. But all of them on every issue? Unions, communism, civil rights, interstates, redlining, gender roles, juvenile delinquency, divorce, the Korean War, beatniks, protests, Vietnam, etc. And there's something to be said for heroes who get exposed to new information and change their minds or who change as the world changes. Now, not everyone has to think about big issues everyday - most are busy living their lives and fighting supervillains. But Billy's job as a journalist does demand that he do so, IMO, and I think Alan's connection to intelligence work and spycraft means he should think about espionage and external political aspects.

Then there are the societal changes that have less moral weight to them - some that are frivolous and some that seem so, but have actual import. What are opinions on whether television rots the brain, rock and roll, on the casualization of fashion for men (in the immediate post-war era), suburbanization, change in dating culture, earlier marriage ages, shift to more white collar word throughout the 1950s? I'm not really sure most would really think about any of those, but some might. Maybe they aren't putting moral weight to to men wearing sweaters instead of suits - but how many follow that trend v. keeping the old ways. Who listens to big band v doo wop v mainstream pop...especially as the last of the old really fades from popularity in the 60s? How do they feel about their daughters wearing miniskirts (I guess Mary really can't complain) and their sons growing beards and wearing their hair long in college? Or changed sexual mores(for women, anyway)? By the 70s, of course, everyone's settled into the new aesthetic, even if they don't al prefer it.

[cosmicmordecai]

That one time Billy Batson was written to date a woman whose the daughter of a superhero in his Captain Marvel form & said superhero dad (Bulletman) had him kidnapped as punishment but the narrative acted like he should be denounced for being overprotective?

All because she was a “babe” and he hit puberty so he couldn’t help himself. 🙄

[thebestcomicbookpanels]

Bulletman in the Case of the Christmas Crimes

[cgbcomics]

[puppetwoman17]

“Billy’s favorite hero is SUPERMAN!”

“Wrong! It’s Wonder Woman!”

“You’re both wrong! His favorite hero is John Constantine!”

All of you are wrong because his favorite heroes are the bullet couple. Him and Mary had action figures of those two, and when you have ACTION FIGURES, you know you’ve passed the point of no return.

Billy geeks out about these two, and then does the same with Windshear(the bullets’ daughter) when she shows up. Being friends with them is one of the coolest things to happen to him.

Also they care for them right back. I wish I got to see a few moments with the twins and Bulletgirl(she’s dead in PoS), but her daughter’s worry for them was also so sweet.

[gijoe-forever]

[all-action-all-picture]

1976 ad for Hasbro's Bulletman, The Human Bullet (who also got a Palitoy release in the UK). Sounds as if they couldn't decide which of the two names to call him so they just called him both.

There was also a DC Comics Bulletman character. He looked similar to this but was unrelated.

Atomic Man also got a UK release around 1977, although they dropped the 'Mike Power' name.

The 'Eagle-Eyes' were invented by a Hasbro employee named James A. King.

[billybatsonmylove]

he's on my hit-list

The Power of SHAZAM! Issue #34

[wanderingmind867]

DC should have been forced to write about characters they bought, honestly. To my mind (which, albeit, isn't thinking too hard about it right now) that's the only thing that makes sense. You're going to buy Fawcett and Quality and Charlton? Fine, then you better use their characters! They should have been forced to keep writing Captain Marvel/Shazam, Bulletman, Ibis the Invincible, Plastic Man, Phantom Lady, Human Bomb, Judo Master, The Question, etc. These characters had potential, yet they mostly got relegated to the rank of C or D listers nowadays. Which really tells me DC isn't treating them well! If you don't want to use your characters DC, then you never should have bought them! I'm sure some indie publishers would be dying to do Ibis the Invincible or Bulletman or Spy-Smasher stories! I'm sure they would!

[chernobog13]

MERRY CHRISTMAS!