I love lame rogue's galleries, like Aquaman's. But there's something special about the Golden Age, when you got 1,000 pages for a dime, and a character might appear in 3 or 4 different comics each month. Obviously the creators really had to stretch to come up with villains for all those stories.
So I shouldn't be too harsh when it comes to Bulletman's dire enemies. But still...
Come again?
OK, I can't say they're ripping anything off, because this predates DC's Riddler by six years. But couldn't they come up with a more creative title than the Riddle of Dr. Riddle? What else is he going to bring? Tacos?
Let's take a closer look at all the villains in Bulletman #50 (1942).
The lead story has Bulletman and Bulletgirl facing...
The Dude. Really. What's his gimmick?
Ah, dapperness as a personality defect. Loverly.
Next up, not a joke, not a hoax, not a hallucination:
Yes, they must battle a guy...who is fat.
Again, to be fair, this predates the Kingpin by 2+ decades, and the guy is a pretty nasty piece of work. Click on the following page if you want to see a full size nightmare inducer (he had come across two youths fighting over a sweater):
Ewww. It turns out the quarter was coated with a deadly contact poison. Here's a close-up of evil:
Look kids, comics!!
So Fat Bastard (I mean Fat Fiend) wasn't so lame...but couldn't they have come up with a better name??
Next up, the fellow called out on the cover:
He pretty much follow what would become the Riddler's motif--leaving riddles forecasting his next crimes. The big difference between this guy and Edward Nigma? This guy's a stone killer, killing his victims 80% of the time. Plus, the riddles aren't all that good (What has eighteen legs and catches flies in the same story as What has four wheels and flies? When is a door not a door?!? That was lame and cliche even back then...) Also, there's no evidence that this guy actually has a doctorate in Riddleology...
Last up...
Yup, another murdering bastard. The Murder Prophet's gimmick was that he forecast his crimes to a local paper so they could build their circulation by beating the other papers...then of course he tried to kill the owner and take over the powerful paper himself (PROTIP: not likely to happen in 2009).
You know, I'm not sure sure whether they ever declared what city Bulletman's adventures took place in, but man, it's a cesspool that makes Gotham City look like Metropolis. It seems like every villain--every one--is a vile murderer, leaving a trail of bodies before our heroes get involved. The stories in this one issue had 21 on-page murders, and "many others" off-screen. Let's see, 50 issues, 20 murders each, plus his adventures in Nickel Comics and Master Comics and America's Greatest Comics...this city should be pretty near de-populated by now!!
Maybe Bulletman's villains weren't so lame after all...a little bit of PR, a different costume and name...they could have been contenders.
So I shouldn't be too harsh when it comes to Bulletman's dire enemies. But still...
Come again?
OK, I can't say they're ripping anything off, because this predates DC's Riddler by six years. But couldn't they come up with a more creative title than the Riddle of Dr. Riddle? What else is he going to bring? Tacos?Let's take a closer look at all the villains in Bulletman #50 (1942).
The lead story has Bulletman and Bulletgirl facing...
The Dude. Really. What's his gimmick?
Ah, dapperness as a personality defect. Loverly.Next up, not a joke, not a hoax, not a hallucination:
Yes, they must battle a guy...who is fat.Again, to be fair, this predates the Kingpin by 2+ decades, and the guy is a pretty nasty piece of work. Click on the following page if you want to see a full size nightmare inducer (he had come across two youths fighting over a sweater):
Ewww. It turns out the quarter was coated with a deadly contact poison. Here's a close-up of evil:
Look kids, comics!!So Fat Bastard (I mean Fat Fiend) wasn't so lame...but couldn't they have come up with a better name??
Next up, the fellow called out on the cover:
He pretty much follow what would become the Riddler's motif--leaving riddles forecasting his next crimes. The big difference between this guy and Edward Nigma? This guy's a stone killer, killing his victims 80% of the time. Plus, the riddles aren't all that good (What has eighteen legs and catches flies in the same story as What has four wheels and flies? When is a door not a door?!? That was lame and cliche even back then...) Also, there's no evidence that this guy actually has a doctorate in Riddleology...Last up...
Yup, another murdering bastard. The Murder Prophet's gimmick was that he forecast his crimes to a local paper so they could build their circulation by beating the other papers...then of course he tried to kill the owner and take over the powerful paper himself (PROTIP: not likely to happen in 2009).You know, I'm not sure sure whether they ever declared what city Bulletman's adventures took place in, but man, it's a cesspool that makes Gotham City look like Metropolis. It seems like every villain--every one--is a vile murderer, leaving a trail of bodies before our heroes get involved. The stories in this one issue had 21 on-page murders, and "many others" off-screen. Let's see, 50 issues, 20 murders each, plus his adventures in Nickel Comics and Master Comics and America's Greatest Comics...this city should be pretty near de-populated by now!!
Maybe Bulletman's villains weren't so lame after all...a little bit of PR, a different costume and name...they could have been contenders.
2 comments:
Considering how grim the villainy of city was, it's oddly hilarious that it was patrolled by a couple wearing Flash Gordon uniforms and conical metal hats.
You forgot the Dude's main power.
The dude abides.
(I'm so sorry)
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