Thread by @PulpLibrarian

Bullet! The comic everyone forgot. The comic that wasn't Action. The comic from the makers of the Beano.

As a card-carrying (and medalion-wearing) member of the Fireball Club let me make the case for re-evaluating Bullet comic. Come with me...

The history of British comics is like Game Of Thrones: and by 1976 Dundee publisher DC Thomson was King in the North, whilst London fancy-Dans IPC Media were Queen of the South. Thomson had Warlord, IPC had Battle. Other titles were available...

By the mid-70s both Thomson and IPC thought there was a market for comics that had more violence, drama, violence, attitude and violence. So in February 1976 they both launched their new titles: Action (IPC) and Bullet (Thomson).

Now at this point you're probably saying "Oh Action was brilliant: it was so violent, so shocking, it was debated in Parliament..." etc, etc.

But here's the thing...

If you were seven in 1976 you'd probably never seen Jaws, or Rollerball, or Dirty Harry or A Clockwork Orange - all influences on Action's comic strips. At least I hope you hadn't!

Action was basically violent '70s cinema in comic form.

But you probably had seen reruns of Department S, The Persuaders, maybe even James Bond. Your dad certainly had. He probably had a 'tache too.

Bullet was the comic for this audience. Bullet was suave. Bullet used driving gloves. Bullet drank G&T and smoked Lambert and Butler.

Bullet's lead character was Fireball: an orphaned nephew of Warlord's Lord Peter Flint. He knew martial arts and how to drive a car really fast. He roamed the world looking for trouble, and always found it. He could probably speak French!

Fireball was unquestionably based on Peter Wyngarde, the suave (but dated) hero of Department S. Fireball's nemesis was Catriona Klansberg - The Cat - and like any suave hero he always let her get away because he secretly fancied her.

Bullet readers could join the Fireball Club to get a secret decoder and their very own Fireball medallion. They could also win prizes such as wrist radios and pocket calculators that were not available to non-members.

Compared to Bullet, Action was mindless thuggery. Fireball didn't bash someone's head in with a bike chain like a yob; he karate kicked them in the face like a gentleman.

Fireball was Roxy Music to Action's Slade; Roger Moore to their Clint Eastwood. It was a whiff of style in a world of polyester. In short, it had its merits.

So let's hear it for Bullet. It outlasted Action and taught a generation that a gentleman always quips when he fights. Fireball - Twitter salutes YOU!

"It's a bit early for coffee. I'll have a scotch..."