Yeah? I'm not jealous of a ghost. If there really is a Bulletman, why don't I ever see him? 
- — Jim Barr
Nickel Comics #4 is an issue of the series Nickel Comics (Volume 1) with a cover date of June, 1940. It was published on June 14, 1940.
Synopsis for Bulletman: "The Fight To Rescue Tanner"
Jim Barr at the last minute develops the forensic evidence that re-solves a cold case, and Bulletman the Modern Robin Hood of Crime saves an innocent man, Tanner, from the electric chair, in a tense race against time ending in a violent wall-busting electric-chair escape. Bulletman also exposes an impostor who has been posing as Mayor Scott. (Tanner the frame-up victim is a plastic surgeon who turned a mob boss into a lookalike of Mayor Scott.) Bulletman and the gangsters spend much of the day setting improbable and unworkable traps for each other, then he beats them all up and then gets frozen into a large coffin-shaped block of ice then busts out of that then rescues Tanner again, this time from getting cooked to death on a coal-furnace. Bulletman and his rescue-ee both dodge a tremendous hail of bullets in a really small room for a surprisingly long time, before leaving.
Appearing in Bulletman: "The Fight To Rescue Tanner"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Mayor Scott's impostor
Other Characters:
- Tanner
- Mayor Scott
Locations:
- New York City (not yet identified)
Items:
Synopsis for Red Gaucho: "Revolution In Santa Palos"
The Red Gaucho, a swashbuckling, sabre-packing, whip-wielding, witty charming laughing caped unmasked South American hero, stops a revolution led by bandits, in Santa Palos. The Gaucho rescues President Francia from a firing squad, and Francia rallies the populate to overthrow the overthrowers.
Appearing in Red Gaucho: "Revolution In Santa Palos"
Featured Characters:
- Red Gaucho (First appearance)
Antagonists:
- Punchez
- his troops
Other Characters:
- President Francia
- Rosita Francia
Locations:
Synopsis for Jungle Twins: "Shipboard Terror"
Bill finally tells his brother Steve about his heritage, and they travel to New York, where Steve fits in very poorly with civilized society.
Appearing in Jungle Twins: "Shipboard Terror"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
Antagonists:
- Sneed
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Synopsis for Cap't. Venture and the Planet Princess: "The Revival of Princess Zyra"
Captain Venture flies his space ship to Saturn, lands outside a beautiful city, explores it, and finds everybody inside it dead, skeletons. Venture is stalked by a hulking manlike Kasha. He finds a beautiful princess laid out in a glass casket, as if merely sleeping. That's when the brutish Kasha attacks him, knocking over the bier and shattering the casket, which awakens the princess, who has some questions. Meanwhile in the debris of the room's furniture, Venture spies a ray gun, and uses it to kill the creature. Introductions are made.
- Zyra's people migrated to Saturn from Earth, long ago. She was the last of the city's rulers, when a plague broke out and killed thousands of her people. Zyra's scientists put her in suspended animation and sealed her inside a germ-proof crystal case.
The indigenous savages are called "Kashas" and they steal Venture's space ship while he's busy inside the city. Venture and Zyra search the rocky, jagged countryside until they find it. The Kashas have of course set up an ambush, and as the two humans approach the ship, they are overpowered and captured. The Kashas' King, Kad, ordains that Princess Zyra shall marry him, and that the hideous Duchess Kam shall marry Captain Venture. Thus the Kasha race will become greater than ever.
Captain Venture spurns this proposal and is dragged off to the torture chamber, and set up in an escape-proof death-trap, and left unsupervised. He escapes, and adapts a torture device into a weapon, then searches for Zyra. She's still in the throne room, refusing to marry the King, and he's not taking it well. Captain Venture runs into the room and throws his weapon at King Kad, with deadly effect. Venture grabs a sword, finds their way back to his space ship, kills one last Kasha sentry, and takes off. The Captain and the Princess have left Saturn behind them, but the whole universe lies ahead.
Appearing in Cap't. Venture and the Planet Princess: "The Revival of Princess Zyra"
Featured Characters:
- Captain Venture (First appearance)
- Zyra the Planet Princess(First appearance)
Antagonists:
Locations:
- Saturn
- Zyra's native city
- Kashas' subterranean lair
Vehicles:
- Venture's Space Ship
Synopsis for Warlock the Wizard: "The Red Diamond"
Warlock the Wizard takes on Mr. Trenk, a kindly crippled old philanthropist, dba "the Trenk Foundation," who secretly is hypnotizing millionaires and getting them to write him into their wills then jump from high places. How? He has a red diamond, torn from a Hindu idol, whose rays throw a person into a hypnotic trance, even Warlock the Wizard. But Warlock uses his magical Golden Hand to spank spank the old fraud. Warlock gets captured by the bad guys with a knockout-gas-rigged taxicab, but they're too stupid to take away his Golden Hand, so one short fracas later, they're all busted.
Appearing in Warlock the Wizard: "The Red Diamond"
Featured Characters:
Supporting Characters:
- Hugin, Warlock's raven
Antagonists:
- Trenk
Other Characters:
Locations:
Items:
- the Golden Hand
- the Lamp of the Gods
Notes
- Bulletman has telescopic vision, and super-keen hearing.
- Susan Kent gets briefly kidnapped, for the 2nd time.
- At one point, Bulletman abducts a radio announcer right off the street, and flies him up to the scary-high clocktower, to provide broadcast commentary while he's forcibly extracting an "or-else" confession from the main bad guy. At another point, Bulletman has the right paperwork to free Tanner but STILL has to break into the prison and smash his way out of it, because of a telephone problem.
- Captain Venture is spelled "Cap't. Venture" on the splash panel. Next issue will also be like that. Later in the series, the title changes to a more conventional abbreviation for Captain. But for now, the spelling reflects that of the source material.
See Also