Susan Barr[1], née Kent, is Bulletgirl, using a Gravity Regulator Helmet like her husband and crimefighting partner, Bulletman.
History
Susan Kent was born the daughter of police officer Sgt. Kent (who was promoted to lieutenant in 1943). As an adult, she became romantically involved with forensic scientist Jim Barr, and soon discovered that he was also the costumed hero known as Bulletman. Barr created a second Gravity Regulator Helmet and gave it to Susan whereupon she became his sidekick Bulletgirl. Susan and Jim shared in many adventures together throughout the 1940s. Susan occasionally teamed-up with other empowered heroes such as Captain Marvel and his sister Mary Marvel.
As Bulletman and Bulletgirl, the two made a formidable fighting team and were often known as the "Flying Detectives". The two would go on to fight such villains as the Black Rat, the Black Spider, Doctor Riddle, the Murder Prophet, the Weeper and his son and several gangs of Nazi saboteurs. The duo would eventually add Bulletboy and Bulletdog to the Bullet Family.
Bulletgirl was still an active super-hero in 1953 when she and Bulletman were trapped in Dr. Sivana's Suspendium globe, to be held in suspended animation until released in 1973.
Bulletgirl and Bulletman later became members of Shazam's Squadron of Justice and fought against menaces such as the savage King Kull. The duo remained active until the events of the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
Paraphernalia
Equipment
- Gravity Regulator Helmet: Bulletgirl wore cone-shaped anti-gravity helmets, which provided her with the following abilties:
- Flight: The helmets enabled Bulletman and Bulletgirl to defy gravity, and were capable of directional flight at super-sonic velocities.
- Deflection: The helmets created invisible electromagnetic fields, which prevented approaching obstacles from striking Bulletman or Bulletgirl while in flight.
Notes
- This version of Bulletgirl, including all history and corresponding appearances, was erased from existence following the collapse of the original Multiverse in the 1985–86 Crisis on Infinite Earths event and later restored following the rebirth of the infinite Multiverse during the Dark Crisis of 2022-2023. Even though other versions of the character may have appeared, this information does not apply to those versions.
- Bulletman and Bulletgirl were Fawcett Comics' second most popular characters after Captain Marvel and the Marvel Family.
- Susan Kent was created by writer Bill Parker and artist John Smalle, and turned into Bulletgirl by artist Al Carreno, for Fawcett Publications. In 1953, National Periodical Publications settled a long-running lawsuit against Fawcett citing that the character of Captain Marvel bore too much of a resemblance to their own character, Superman. After settling the case (by agreeing to no longer publish Captain Marvel), Fawcett discontinued publication of their entire comic book line and Bulletgirl lapsed into obscurity. In 1972, DC Comics licensed many of the Fawcett characters, including Bulletgirl, and established that they existed on the fictional parallel world known as Earth-S. The Fawcett characters made several appearances throughout various Silver Age DC titles including Shazam, World's Finest Comics and Justice League of America. In 1991, DC bought the Fawcett characters (including Bulletgirl) outright. However, most of the Bulletman & Bulletgirl stories lapsed into public domain prior to the said acquisition, which would later allow AC Comics to reprint their Golden Age adventures.
- Although Susan Kent debuted in the first Bulletman story in Nickel Comics #1 (May 1940), she did not become Bulletgirl until Master Comics #13 (April 1941).
- Bulletgirl's last Golden Age adventure was published in 1949.[2] However, we know she continued her super-hero career beyond that, because she was still active in 1953 when she was trapped in the Suspendium globe.[3]
- It is unclear when Susan Kent married Jim Barr. They were not married in their last Golden Age appearance in Master Comics #106, and their marriage was first revealed in Justice League of America #135.
- Bulletgirl's first DC-published appearance was in Justice League of America #135.
Related
- 75 Appearances of Susan Kent (Earth-S)
- 18 Images featuring Susan Kent (Earth-S)
- 1 Quotations by or about Susan Kent (Earth-S)
- Character Gallery: Susan Kent (Earth-S)
Footnotes
- ↑ Married name revealed in World's Finest #255
- ↑ Master Comics #106
- ↑ World's Finest #254