Master Comics #7
☆ Be the first to review + Add to your collection — Join freeMaster Comics #7 (October 1940) marks a genuine turning point in Fawcett's publishing history: it is the first issue in which Bulletman — already proven as the lead feature of the short-lived Nickel Comics — took over as the cover star of a reorganized Master Comics, giving the character a permanent monthly flagship that would run for decades. The issue also inaugurated the full merger of Slam-Bang Comics into Master Comics, consolidating Fawcett's anthology lineup and producing a leaner, more focused periodical that went on to become one of the publisher's best-selling titles. Bulletman's arrival as cover feature is significant because it brought Fawcett's second-most-popular superhero — after Captain Marvel himself — into the title that would later also house Captain Marvel Jr., making Master Comics a cornerstone of the entire Fawcett universe.
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Bulletman was conceived by writer Bill Parker and artist Jon Smalle for Nickel Comics #1 (May 1940), a half-price, twice-monthly experiment that ultimately failed to generate sufficient newsstand profit despite strong reader interest in the character. Recognizing Bulletman's appeal, Fawcett's editors — under executive editor Ralph Daigh — transferred the strip to Master Comics and simultaneously folded the canceled Slam-Bang Comics into the title beginning with issue #7, retooling Master Comics from a large tabloid format into a standard-sized monthly anthology. The cover for issue #7 was drawn by Pete Costanza, with interior Bulletman art by Edwin J. Smalle Jr., and the issue also absorbed Slam-Bang features such as Jungle King and War Bird, while concluding the run of Mark Swift and the Time Retarder.
Trivia · 8 facts
- Cover dated October 1940, published by Fawcett Publications; executive editor Ralph Daigh.
- First issue of Master Comics to feature Bulletman (Jim Barr) as the cover star, with a 9-page lead story titled 'The Revenge of Mara Myle.'
- Marks the formal merger of the canceled Slam-Bang Comics into Master Comics, as acknowledged on the covers of issues #7–9 and in the indicia of issue #8.
- First Master Comics appearances of Jungle King and War Bird, both transferred directly from Slam-Bang Comics #7.
- Final appearance of Mark Swift and the Time Retarder, a feature that had run across Slam-Bang Comics #1–7 before concluding here.
- Cover art by Pete Costanza; interior Bulletman art penciled and inked by Edwin J. Smalle Jr.
- Bulletman (Jim Barr) was created by writer Bill Parker and artist Jon Smalle — the same Bill Parker who co-created Captain Marvel — making him the work of one of Fawcett's most important creative talents.
- Bulletman would remain the cover feature of Master Comics until issue #22, after which Captain Marvel Jr. (debuting in issue #22) displaced him as the title's lead character beginning with issue #23.
Cast · 2 characters
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Full plot ⚠ may contain spoilers
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The Cantrell Gang has blown up a safe, and while tracking them, Buck is ambushed, captured, and taken to their cabin hold out.
Plot details indexed by the Grand Comics Database (CC BY-SA).
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