First
Appearance: Speed#1 (IPC,
23rd February 1980)
Appearance checklist (not including reprints): Speed #1-31 (most issues dated, rather than numbered), Speed Annual 1981
Reprinted anywhere?: No
Starring: Bullet Slick
Other cast: Wiley, Mr. Hanson
Notable guest characters: None
Plot Summary: Once a rich thrillseeker obsessed with speed, following a dragster crash Cuthbert "Bullet" Slick was left in a wheelchair. Still seeking to prove himself Bullet issued a challenge to the public, offering £1,000,000 (1 million U.K. pounds) to anyone who could come up with a speed-related challenge that really thrilled him. When Bullet's disability prevented him personally attempting a given challenge, it usually fell upon Bullet's unfortunate assistant Wiley to risk life and limb instead.
Comments: Created by Eric Bradbury.
The £1,000,000 Challenge was an example of a "reader-participation" strip occasionally seen in British comics (see also Pow!'s Dare-A-Day Davy or Cor!!'s Rat Trap), where readers were encouraged to write in with ideas that could be incorporated into future installments of the strip for a small cash sum. Despite this strip's title, the actual amount of money given for any ideas that were used was a much more modest £5, plus an uncashable souvenir cheque for the million signed by Bullet himself.
The series appeared in all 31 weekly issues of Speed, plus the 1981 Annual. Ever hard to impress, Bullet only gave out the smaller £5 participation money until the final installment of the story.
First Posted: Circa 14/10/2019
Last updated: 28/05/2023
Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.
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