Blue Bolt is a

fictional Fiction is any creative work, chiefly any narrative work, portraying individuals, events, or places Place may refer to: Geography * Place (United States Census Bureau), defined as any concentration of population ** Census-designated place, ...

American comic book An American comic book is a thin periodical originating in the United States, on average 32 pages, containing comics. While the form originated in 1933, American comic books first gained popularity after the 1938 publication of ''Action Comics'' ...

superhero A superhero or superheroine is a stock character that typically possesses ''superpowers'', abilities beyond those of ordinary people, and fits the role of the hero, typically using his or her powers to help the world become a better place, ...

created by writer-artist

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the ...

in 1940, during the period fans and historians refer to as the

Golden Age of Comic Books The Golden Age of Comic Books describes an era of American comic books from 1938 to 1956. During this time, modern comic books were first published and rapidly increased in popularity. The superhero archetype was created and many well-known char ...

Publication history

Initially published by

Novelty Press Novelty Press (a.k.a. Premium Service Co., Inc.; a.k.a. Novelty Publications; a.k.a. Premier Group) was an American Golden Age comic-book publisher that operated from 1940 to 1949. It was the comic book imprint of Curtis Publishing Company, publi ...

, ''Blue Bolt Comics'', one of the earliest comic books titled after a single character, ran 101 issues, cover-dated June 1940 to August 1951. Its namesake hero was created by writer-artist

for

Funnies Inc. Funnies, Inc. was an American comic book packager of the late 1930s to 1940s period collectors and historians call the Golden Age of comic books, Golden Age of Comic Books. Founded by Lloyd Jacquet, it supplied the contents of early comics, includi ...

, one of the earliest comic-book "packagers" that produced outsourced comics on demand for publishers entering the fledgling medium. By the second issue, Simon had enlisted

Jack Kirby Jack Kirby (born Jacob Kurtzberg; August 28, 1917 – February 6, 1994) was an American comic book artist, writer and editor, widely regarded as one of the medium's major innovators and one of its most prolific and influential creators. He gr ...

as the series co-writer/artist, starting the first pairing of the future comic book legends who shortly thereafter created

Captain America Captain America is a superhero appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by cartoonists Joe Simon and Jack Kirby, the character First appearance, first appeared in ''#Golden Age, Captain America Comics'' #1 (cover ...

and other characters. As Simon recalled in a 1998

Comic-Con International San Diego Comic-Con International is a comic book convention and nonprofit multi-genre entertainment event held annually in San Diego, California since 1970. The name, as given on its website, is Comic-Con International: San Diego; but it is c ...

panel in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

: The two teamed until issue #10, turning over the book to successors including Dan Barry, Tom Gill, and

Mickey Spillane Frank Morrison Spillane (; March 9, 1918July 17, 2006), better known as Mickey Spillane, was an American crime novelist, whose stories often feature his signature detective character, Mike Hammer (character), Mike Hammer. More than 225 million c ...

(before Spillane's creation of the detective character

Mike Hammer Michael Hammer or Mike Hammer may refer to: *Michael Armand Hammer (1955–2022), American philanthropist and businessman *Michael Martin Hammer (1948–2008), engineer and author *Mike Hammer (character), a fictional hard boiled detective ** ''Mick ...

in novels). Other enduring features in ''Blue Bolt'' included ''

Dick Cole, The Wonder Boy ''The Adventures of Dick Cole'' was a 1940s comic book series, created by Bob Davis. It was published by Novelty Press, and later, Star Publications. Dick Cole is a heroic cadet at the fictional Farr Military Academy. The character was introduced ...

'', ''Sub-Zero Man'', ''Sgt. Spook'', ''Old Cap Hawkin's Tales'', ''White Rider and Super Horse'', ''Edison Bell'', ''Runaway Ronson'', ''Phantom Sub'', ''Krisko and Jasper'', ''Fearless Fellers'', and ''Rick Richards''. As the popularity of superheroes began to fade in the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

era, the character of Blue Bolt was transformed from a superhero into a plainclothes type of hero. In 1949, Novelty Press sold its assets, including Blue Bolt, to series cover artist

L. B. Cole Leonard Brandt Cole (August 28, 1918 – December 5, 1995) was a comic book artist, editor, and publisher who worked during the Golden Age of Comic Books, producing work in various genres. Cole was particularly known for his bold covers, featuring ...

due to the growing criticism over violence in comic books. Using his new assets, Cole began his own company,

Star Publications Star Publications, Inc. was a Golden Age American comic book publisher, operating during the years 1949–1954. Founded by artist/editor L.B. Cole and lawyer Gerhard Kramer,

Transition to horror title

By 1951, ''Blue Bolt Comics name had been changed to ''Blue Bolt Weird Tales of Terror'' and featured the type of horror covers epitomized by

EC Comics Entertaining Comics, more commonly known as EC Comics, was an American publisher of comic books, which specialized in horror fiction, crime fiction, satire, military fiction, dark fantasy, and science fiction from the 1940s through the mid-195 ...

. A couple of issues after the name change, the Blue Bolt was dropped in favor of horror stories. With issue #120 (published in 1953) the title was changed to ''Ghostly Weird Stories'', which published four more issues under that title before folding after issue #124 (September 1954).

Fictional character biography

After college

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

star Fred Parrish is struck by lightning during practice he boards a plane in order to seek help. This plane is struck by a second lightning bolt, causing the plane to crash. Finding himself underground, Parrish is found by a scientist named Bertoff who heals him using an experimental radium treatment. This treatment gives Parrish super powers. Using his powers and a lightning gun given to him by Bertoff, Parrish takes up the name the Blue Bolt and battles the underground forces of his arch-enemy, the evil Green Sorceress. After a year, the Blue Bolt discovers that

has started. He journeys back to the surface to fight against the

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

. After the war, Blue Bolt becomes a pilot for ''Glimpses'', the picture magazine, and works with daring photographer Snap Doodle.

Powers and abilities

After being struck by lightning twice and being healed via an experimental treatment, Fred Parrish gained the ability to project lightning bolts. He also possessed a lightning gun which could shoot lightning bolts.

References

External links

Grand Comics Database Project: Blue Bolt ComicsGrand Comics Database Project: Blue Bolt Weird Tales of TerrorA Simon&Kirby Blue Bolt story
{{GoldenAge Comics characters introduced in 1940 Characters created by Joe Simon Golden Age superheroes Novelty Press