Bullet Slick

Real Name: Cuthbert Slick

Identity/Class: Human technology user, British citizen

Occupation: Thrillseeker

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Wiley, Mr. Hanson

Enemies: "Nerveless" Nelson, Anvil McCabe, "Cannonball" Carter, Jeff "Tich" Bray;
   Arcona Beach rally rival drivers: "Iron" John MacDonald, Simon "the Bear" Alligan, "Shotgun" Kelly, Flinders, "Ape" Kowalski, "Mad" Paco;
   Challenge setters (not really enemies, but challengers; however he was pretty adversarial to most of them): Ginger Snow, David Carroll, Lee Fennell, Darren Weems, Martin Page, David Adams, Adam Carter, Simon Redfern, David McDonald, Gary Moon, Alan Wickers, Roger Caton, Orville Wray, David Brick, Barry Crowther, Marc Elsworth, Andrew Price, Mark Faulkner, Tim Stacey, Clifford Surtess, Paul Fitzsimmons, Donald Becker, David Christmas, Michael Parsons, Cass Ranson, Andrew Massey, Edward Magee, Robert Mann, Andrew White, Jim Badger

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: Cuth

Base of Operations: A townhouse in Mayfair, London, complete with its own basement workshop; also a penthouse at an unspecified location (the penthouse might be within the townhouse, if the lower floors are reserved for his staff)

First Appearance: "The £1,000,000 Challenge," Speed#1 (IPC, 23rd February 1980)

Powers/Abilities: Bullet Slick was of above average (he believed genius) intelligence and a skilled but somewhat slipshod design engineer; he came up with a variety of designs for speedy vehicles, including rocket-powered go-karts and skateboards, self-propelled skies, and a prototype dragster, all of which worked really well...until they failed disastrously.

Height: Unrevealed; for all but his first and final appearance he's stuck seated in a wheelchair, and in those two appearances we never see him standing next to anyone or anything with a confirmed height.
Weight: Unrevealed, but in good shape for his height, despite being confined to a wheelchair.
Eyes: Unrevealed (all his strips were in black and white)
Hair: Unrevealed (all his strips were in black and white)

Summary: Born into riches, "Bullet" Slick was able to indulge his love of speed with constant attempts to make a name for himself by breaking world speed records with devices of his own design. Sadly for him, he also kept failing, but this only spurred him on to greater and riskier attempts. Perhaps inevitably, it ended in disaster when his dragster literally came apart partway down the track. Losing the use of his legs, Bullet became bitter and caustic, but hung on to his desire for speed, and issued a challenge, offering a million pounds for anyone who could provide him with a satisfying speed-related challenge. Many suggestions were tried, but none succeeded in winning his approval until finally he took on a robot in a jet-propelled wheelchair joust (yes, you read that right). When the robot went berserk, Bullet sought to protect innocent bystanders, and acting on instinct overcame the paralysis in his legs to do so, regaining the ability to walk. Grateful for this, Bullet awarded his final challenger the million pound prize.

History:

Comments: Created by Eric Bradbury.

   Given he recovered so abruptly, it's clear that his inability to walk wasn't because he'd suffered permanent spinal damage, and the manner in which he recovered suggests that at least for the latter part of his time in the chair the paralysis was somewhat psychosomatic - strength of will alone is not enough to suddenly heal physical damage. Perhaps he was originally paralyzed because of bruised nerves which eventually healed, but by that point he'd convinced himself he was permanently paralyzed? It's also interesting that if, as stated, he'd been paralyzed for years, he still managed to have enough leg strength to walk, given that people who have been confined to beds or chairs for only a few months can find walking tricky. I guess he kept up enough physiotherapy to maintain his leg muscles.

Appearance checklist (not including reprints): Speed#1-31 (issues mostly unnumbered), Speed Annual 1981

CLARIFICATIONS:
Bullet Slick has no known connections to:

Wiley

  

Wiley was originally the manservant to Bullet Slick, then was drafted in as his assistant mechanic, helping build and maintain the speed-related gadgets he developed. When Bullet was left wheelchair-bound, Wiley became his assistant and general dogsbody.

  

--Speed#1-31, Speed Annual 1981

Mr. Hanson

  

Mr. Hanson was Bullet Slick's chief engineer, charged with building the vehicles and devices from designs sent in by readers.

  

--Speed#3 (8th March 1980), #4 (15th March 1980), #6 (29th March 1980), #10 (26th April 1980), #13 (7th May 1980), #14 (14th May 1980), #17 (19th July 1980), #18 (26th July 1980), #19 (2nd August 1980), #22 (23rd August 1980), #24 (6th September 1980), #28 (4th October 1980), #31 (25th October 1980)

First Posted: 04/10/2022
Last updated: 04/10/2022

Any Additions/Corrections? Please let me know.

Back to Speed

Back to UK Superheroes Main Page.

Home

All images and characters depicted on this site are copyright their respective holders, and are used for informational purposes only. No infringement is intended and copyrights remain at source.