Bash Helmet. His History in Briefs

Introducing Bash Helmet. The gay hero who's coming down hard on criminals

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The world’s first gay superhero, Bash Helmet, was created in June 1941 by William 'Florrie' Mendelson while he was a young lieutenant stationed at an army base near Brighton, England. Each night, after lights out, Florrie loved to excite his privates by sneaking into their barracks and telling them fantastical stories in order to raise their morale.

His tales centred around the heroic Justin Nicely, an investigative hairdresser who possessed a magical helmet. When Justin rubbed it, he swelled to twice his size and his muscles grew firm and strong. Accessorising with a tasteful purple costume, Justin called himself Bash Helmet and took to the streets, coming down hard on criminals.

Left: Florrie Mendelson Right: Florrie Mendelson

Word of Bash Helmet's exploits spread throughout the army base and Florrie soon found himself giving oral recitations in the officers' mess. Colonel Neville Hawthorne, the camp commander, had connections to an American publishing house that was producing a comic called Tales to Excite.

Hawthorne radioed details of Bash's adventures to the publishers who then employed artists to draw them. Early sketches of Bash depicted the hero as aggressive, bulky and hirsute but the editors worried that readers would mistake him for a lesbian. So his appearance was refined.

Right: A rejected sketch of Bash Helmet

Originally, Florrie’s Bash was an Englishman from the fictional village of Uppham-cum-Hardy but the publishers took the decision to make Bash an American as they felt it would broaden his appeal.In October 1941, Bash Helmet was introduced to the world in Tales to Excite issue 27. The debut story explained how Justin first came across his helmet in Greece and then returned to the United States to fight crime.

Bash Helmet’s first appearance in Tales to Excite number 27

Bash Helmet. The gay superhero who's out ... to save the world. His History in Briefs: The 1940s Part II

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After his successful launch in Tales to Excite number 27, the following issues showed Bash Helmet getting to grips with the seedy underbelly of organised crime and grappling with gangsters.

The new hero proved a massive hit and copies of these comics were found under beds and in public toilets across the United States.

Reacting to the events taking place at Pearl Harbour in December, an editorial decision was taken to tell tales of Bash fighting the Nazis. As America's involvement in the war grew, so did the popularity of Bash Helmet - and so did the number of gay men enlisting into the army. Ever keen to swell its ranks and realising that this was a large section of men it hadn’t touched on before, the military used Bash in a recruitment campaign to encourage more gay men to join in the War Effort.

Soon there were whole squadrons comprised of homosexuals desperate to get their hands on a German Panzer. Some of Bash’s phrases from the comics were adopted as slogans by the squaddies, including,

“Watch your backs, Hunnies!”

and

“We’re out ... to save the World!”

The most popular enemy of Bash during the war-era comics was Diva Braun (right), a brutal lesbian Nazi from Titz in Germany who specialised in SS & M.

She and Bash had a number of confrontations over the years until her eventual demise at the hands of Hitler himself when she attempted to overthrow the Führer, kill all the males and rename the country ‘Hermany’.

Tales to Excite No. 32. March 1942. Featuring Bash Helmet, the Gay Superhero who's out ... to Save the World. And introducing Diva Braun, the Third Reich Dyke

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Bash Helmet. His History in Briefs: The 1950s Movie Serials

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With the war ending in 1945, sales of the action-based Tales to Excite saw a steady decline as the general public became less interested in stories about armies fighting.

In an effort to target a younger, more innocent market, Bash Helmet was dropped as the comic’s flagship character.

He was replaced with Squirt ‘n’ Spurt, the unlikely comedy pairing of a squid and a cheetah in the retitled ‘Tales for Kidz’.

Above: Squirt ‘n’ Spurt from the story: “Where There’s a Wildebeest, There’s a Way!”

Bash may have been ousted from the comic world but he was about to conquer a whole new frontier - the motion picture!

Having left the army with an honourable discharge, Florrie Mendelson was out for a late night drive in November 1950, when he backed into the head of RKY Studios, Walter Possum.

This chance encounter resulted in a huge release - the ten-part movie serial, Bash Helmet vs the Size Queen. In the story, Bash confronts the eponymous villainess who invades Earth from outer space using a size-changing ray gun to enlarge insects and shrink humans.

The success of the serial made a star of the actor playing Bash, former Olympic Flower Arranger, Rusty Clappe (right).

Unfortunately the critics weren’t so kind to the Swedish actress, Rüt Busch, who many felt was too manly for the role of Queen Domina, as this excerpt from a 1951 edition of Moviegoer Monthly demonstrates:

“Rusty Clappe is a revelation in the role of Bash Helmet, chewing the scenery whenever he appears. Unfortunately, Rüt Busch looks like she merely wants to munch on the carpet!”

Clappe went on to star in three other serials:

Bash Helmet and the Magic Ring (1953)

Bash Helmet and the Haunted Cottage (1956)

and

Bash Helmet and the Turkish Prison (1958).

Bash Helmet. The 1950s. Part II. Launch of The Helmeteers

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Above right: The Helmeteer membership certificate that every fan longed to get!

Above left: People are paying a fortune to get their hands on that helmet.

During the 1950s people flocked to watch the movie adventures of Rusty Clappe as Bash Helmet in Bash Helmet and the Magic Ring (1953); Bash Helmet and the Haunted Cottage (1956); and Bash Helmet and the Turkish Prison (1958) and, in a shrewd marketing ploy, RKY Studios set up a club for audience members to join - The Helmeteers.

This proved a hugely profitable move as thousands of fans sent off their fifty cents to the studio in exchange for a membership certificate, a signed letter from Bash and a plastic replica helmet.

Despite vast numbers of these items being produced, not many exist today. At an auction in the year 2008, an anonymous bidder paid a record $9,000 for a complete mint-condition Helmeteer club pack.

Throughout the 70s, gay men referenced the club in marches even though it had stopped running in 1961. The chant: “We’re here! We’re Queer! We’re like a Helmeteer!” became part of gay culture.

The Swinging Sixties and Bash is out ... on his own.

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Above: the cover to the first edition of Bash’s own comic

In 1962, the rights to Bash Helmet were purchased by a fledgling production company, Bona Ventures. Bona’s owner, Godfrey Pryce, planned on relaunching the character in his own comic and, in October of that year, Bash Helmet appeared in his own self-titled series.

Over its 24 year run, the comics introduced a whole new rogues’ gallery for the hero, including Hardwood the Lumberjack, motoring maniacs Drag Racer and Diesel Dyke, Mr Pride and the cockney criminal Polari Bear.

Hardwood the Lumberjack: still going strong in 1974's Issue 139

Issue 8 introduced the Bashmobile, a souped up 1950s Alfa Romeo,

which allowed our hero to cruise for action at high speeds.

Mr Pride did survive, at least until 1978 and Issue 192

Comic superhero Bash Helmet meets the Fiends of Dorothy ... and gets himself a sidekick

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In the 1960s some of the most enduring villains introduced to readers of the newly eponymous comic Bash Helmet, were the Fiends of Dorothy - perversions of the popular L. Frank Baum characters given a little twist so that they fit right in with the world of Bash Helmet.

The Fiends of Dorothy returned frequently
throughout the years to battle our hero

A surviving page from the 1979 story ‘Blowing a Gale!’

With comic sales at a steady high, Pryce passed editorial duties on to his partner, Pu Yao-Yun. As an eighteen year old Thai boy, Pu was more in touch with a younger audience, and the older editorial team members valued his enormous input. Bud Demsky, then Vice President at Bona Ventures, remembers one board meeting held at an executive sauna in New York:

“We were all loudly arguing about how to make the stories more interesting when Pu quietly entered the steam room.

He winked at us all and said coyly, “If any of you are interested, I like lots of different partners”.

“Then he popped out again. It was a very insightful comment and, the very next issue, Bash received his first sidekick.”

That character was Ginger Crawley, a red-haired orphan living on the streets of New York. Ginger had a penchant for tying all sorts of elaborate knots which he liked to test on himself. In issue 20, Bash finds Ginger bound to a tree in Central Park. Mistakenly believing the boy had been kidnapped, the hero attempts to rescue him until Ginger explains the situation. Bash, recognising that he could use the boy’s talents in a number of ways, takes him under his wing and christens his young partner Bondage Boy.

Bash's junior partner Bondage Boy
was the star of Issue 23 from August 1964

Bondage Boy manages to rope
someone into joining him

For the next ten issues the boy bonder roamed the city with Bash, tying up numerous villains, sometimes against their will. But in the real world there was a growing level of concern expressed about this new junior hero.

Parents feared that children would start to identify with the youngster and want to emulate him. Horrified at the thought of their kids dying their hair ginger, adults petitioned Bona to get rid of the character. Demsky succumbed to the mounting pressure and, in a controversial storyline during issue 30, Bondage Boy tragically perished while attempting a monkey’s fist.

The Turk's Head knot from

Samplers and Stitches,

a handbook of the embroiderer's art

by Mrs Archibald Christie, London 1920

The Monkey's Fist by Markus Bärlocher

Bash Helmet in the 1960s. The white heat of technology catches up with our gay comic superhero.

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In the spring of 1965, since America’s fascination with new technology was so prevalent, Bona Ventures decided that Bash should have a robot assistant. Issue 32 introduced Beeping Tom.

Primarily built as an observation and recording device, the android had a range of lenses that enabled him to see in a number of different ways. For instance, Tom could see in the dark (‘blackness-vision’) and even through clothing (‘x-rated vision’).

The aptly named Beeping Tom first appeared in Issue 32

The remarkable robot also had a dazzling array of plug-in electrical gadgets that Bash put to full use - sometimes when fighting crime. And when Tom wasn’t required for a mission, he would simply switch to a standby mode and wait for Bash to come and turn him on.

But a few months later, a powerful figure was to silence Beeping Tom once and for all!

By May 1966, Pu Yao-Yun had grown bored of his duties at Bona Ventures and was rarely seen outside of the executive washroom.

Bud Demsky and Godfrey Pryce held a meeting in which it was decided that they needed to extend their reach into the women’s arena. Neither man felt qualified to do this and so Demsky appointed Regina ‘Reggie’ Furburger as the new editor of Bash Helmet.

'Reggie' in her trademark coveralls

Reggie was Demsky’s former plumber and her remit was simple - increase the female readership.

On her very first day, Reggie called together the artists and writers and held up the latest issue of Bash Helmet which featured Beeping Tom on the cover.

She tore the comic in two before the startled staff and screamed,

“I am sick of electrical appliances - give me a real woman!”

And it was definitely a case of third time’s the charm when Bash was given his next sidekick - Flick Faster!

Bash Helmet Issue 50: Flick Faster takes the comic world by storm

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Flick Faster, the high-kicking, high-heeled heroine, took the comic world by storm with her debut in Issue 50. Her origin was simple but effective - Felicity Fisher was a young, hip English undergraduate working part time as a taxi driver in New York City to help make ends meet.

Feisty female phenomenon, Flick Faster

She had just picked up a pair of American All-Star Women’s Tennis Champions when her cab was struck by lightning.

The sudden surge of electricity transferred all of the tennis players’ strength, stamina, agility, accuracy and sexual orientations into Felicity who used her new-found powers to give women a hand wherever they wanted it.

Staff writer, Hernandez Pico is credited with creating her:

“We were all tasked with coming up with a new sidekick for Bash. I went home and spent a whole afternoon reading through my collection of ‘Tales to Excite’ that he appeared in. I really loved those strong wartime female adversaries - Diva Braun, Fifi Fingersnatch - they had great names and I wanted someone like that to be at Bash’s side.

Anyway, I had gotten through all of his early adventures with no ideas so I just carried on reading my old Tales for Kidz comics for my own amusement. Then I saw the answer to my prayers in the story “Veg Out!” where Spurt and Squirt go to watch a character called Flick the Bean at the Vegetable Olympics.

She was a runner bean taking part in the 400 metre sprint and there is a panel where Squirt is shouting out to her, “Go, Flick! Faster!” There was my name! The rest just fell into place.”

In order to tie Flick’s history in more closely to Bash’s, Pico wrote a flashback story showing a young Felicity sitting with her Aunt Phyllis with whom she lived in England. Phyllis reveals that, during the war, she had worked tirelessly as a Free FANY and personally helped Bash Helmet to resist any advances from the German soldiers. It was Phyllis who originally encouraged her niece to travel to New York to “try and get a glimpse of that magnificent Helmet.”

With her incredible powers and strong desire to finger female felons, it was not long before Flick Faster became an important part of the Bash Helmet mythos. Reggie was thrilled and her success was confirmed when market research at the time actually indicated that the number of girls reading Bash Helmet was greater than the number of boys.

In 1967, Flick was given her own spin off title but she still popped up for regular periods in Bash Helmet’s comic.

In Bona tradition, Reggie was quick to capitalise on this phenomena and a Flick Faster doll was brought out and became the year’s top selling toy.

Ironically, Flick Faster bucked trends once again as market research this time showed that more boys were purchasing the doll than girls!

It's the 1960s and lesbian superhero Flick Faster meets her nemesis

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Flash Fingers in action

The Flick Faster comic ran for 20 issues and had some of the most forward-thinking plots ever seen in comics. For instance, Flick’s nemesis was actually an evil clone of herself, although the process of cloning at the time was referred to as ‘chemical copying’.

In this storyline, an evil female scientist, Dr. Honey Pott, devised an insidious plan called Operation Snatch & Grab which allowed her to acquire some strands of Flick’s hair.

Placing these hairs in her ‘chromo-accelerator’, Pott grew an identical copy of Flick and fitted laser-firing technology in its fingertips. Calling her creation Flash Fingers, Pott programmed one simple mission into Flash’s blank mind - “ensure Flick Faster ends up in a box!”

Dying her hair black and donning an inverted version of Flick’s costume, Flash went on to plague the heroine right up until Flick’s final issue.

Flick grieves for her dead clone

That tearjerking story saw Flash finally get Flick right where she wants her but, just as she is about to kill her, Flash’s mental programming is overcome by the innate goodness in the genes she shares with Flick. Horrified at the evil woman she had become, Flash turns her fingers on herself. Flick cradles her deceased doppelganger and, in a fitting eulogy, states:

“All this time I guess I was deep inside her. It’s a tragedy that her brief life should be brought to a climax by her own fingers. At least ... at least she's smiling. Rest in peace my sister!”

Both Flash and Flick are referenced in Professor Iain R. Lattimer’s 2007 science textbook discussing the real possibilities of cloning a woman by the end of the century. Lattimer’s theories were radical and bold and his book became an international best seller, although this was mainly due to people thinking the title - Women Sharing the Same Cell - referred to girl-on-girl action in prison.

Flick Faster & the Mistress of the Mob

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This recovered page from one of only 20 issues of the eponymous Flick Faster comic has Flick doing what she does best - fingering a female felon

The 1960s. Gay superhero Bash Helmet grows big on the small screen

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All of the success that Reggie was having with Flick made Godfrey Pryce determined to get more exposure for his beloved Helmet. And so, before the end of the decade, Bash was to be realised in yet another medium - television!

Searching for a new Bash, Pryce tirelessly held auditions for up and coming actors day and night in the back of his limousine. The part eventually went to Dale Montgomery, who ironically was not an actor but had only turned up to wash the car.

Montgomery recalls the day in his autobiography, Filling the Helmet:

“I was aware of a very tall, smartly dressed gentleman standing behind me, staring as I lathered up my sponge.

He smelt heavily of cigarettes and I could see butts scattered around him. I had just begun to wash the car windscreen when he approached me and gently took hold of my squeegee.

He told me who he was and that he had a big part for me if I wanted it. I explained that I wasn’t a professional actor but he replied that he wanted a fresh newcomer.

He instructed me to carry on washing the car but, as I did, to try and feel Bash Helmet enter my body and fill me up from inside.

The technique really worked - by the time I was waxing his exhaust pipe, I could feel myself slipping into another person.”

On July 31st 1969, Bash Helmet burst into living rooms in glorious colour. The TV show told a slightly different origin from the comics (mainly due to budget constrictions) as Justin Nicely discovers the mystical helmet in the back of an old closet bequeathed to him by his uncle, Jack.

With it is a cryptic note that simply says,

“Use the helmet wisely for it shall take you up many dark paths! ”

Dale Montgomery as Justin, cradling his helmet as he ponders
the meaning of the note left by Jack Nicely

Click here to go on a journey through the history of Bash Helmet, the openly gay comic book superhero who debuted in 1941.

Here we get a brief glimpse of his origin, his foes and his faithful sidekicks - all set to a revamped version of the theme tune to his 60s TV show.

Swinging in the Sixties: Television stardom takes our gay superhero Bash Helmet up many dark paths

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The only known panel of Prince Albert.
It isn't clear whether he always appeared in black and white.

Bash was taken up many dark paths as he came upon a variety of colourful and quirky villains during the twenty episode television run, including the sewer dwelling Manhole; the mediaeval knight Sir Gaggalad; the half-man/half-pig Stinky Pinky; the hot-headed and hot-bodied Flamer; the royal rogue Prince Albert; the serpent-loving Snake Handler; and the plant-controlling Lady Garden.

The plant-controlling Lady Garden

One particularly memorable episode sees Bash very nearly get married!

In “I Now Pronounce You Man & Strife!” the hero is placed under a trance with a kiss from the evil Lipnotist.

The villainess convinces him that they are due to get married and plans to have her henchmen rob the city while she keeps Bash busy at the church.

Fortunately Bash comes to his senses just as he is about to slip his ring onto her finger.

An uncensored recreation by the original artist shows how
Lipnotist's powers were compromised by the TV watershed

Bash Helmet in the 1970s. TV revives the Third Reich Dyke and Bash Helmet The Musical premieres

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Bash Helmet's 1960s television series was a ratings smash and the network commissioned a further 30 episodes that ran from 1970 to 1971.

The fans' favourite Third Reich Dyke,
Diva Braun, reappeared in the 1970s

This second season revived two adversaries from Bash’s past - Diva Braun (who, contrary to her comic book past, was not killed by Hitler but placed in suspended animation at the end of World War II and freed decades later to attack a present day America) and the Size Queen (now played by Hungarian drag artist, Agota Czoras).

A fan-favourite episode was 'Bareback to the Future' in which Bash is sent forward in time to a war-ravaged, apocalyptic America and meets himself as an old man. The actor portraying the aged hero was none other than Rusty Clappe, the original Bash Helmet from the1950s movies!

So far, everything Godfrey Pryce had produced had been very successful but the 1970s was to see Bona Ventures’ first commercial failure!

Pryce continually wanted to push the boundaries with Bash and decided that the time was right for an ambitious Broadway musical! In 1972 while at a party in San Francisco, he saw a pair of young men playing together on a piano.

Wes Humble frets while Bennie Langston
tickles his ivories

These musicians were Bennie Langston and Wes Humble and their party trick was to get people to shout out made-up song titles to which they would quickly compose tunes and improvise lyrics on the spot!

Pryce needed composers to write a score for his musical and he realised that these men could knock one out at an impressive speed.

He immediately propositioned them and, less than a year later, on 30th January 1973, Bash Helmet The Musical premiered at the Ambassador Theatre.

Bash Helmet The Musical. Calamity strikes on opening night.

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On 30th January 1973, Bash Helmet The Musical premiered at the Ambassador Theatre.

The story revolved around two young men coming to terms with their sexuality and falling in love. One of the men works in a comic book store and loves to regale customers with the comic book adventures of Bash Helmet and Flick Faster (which play out on the stage).

The story of Bash and Flick’s encounters with many of their popular villains interweaves with the story of the two young men right up until the climactic finale.

The two stories converge into a ‘Will they/won’t they?’ scenario i.e. will Bash and Flick escape the Death Trap / will the two men confess their love for each other?

The score was everything Bona Ventures' owner Godfrey Pryce wanted it to be - fresh, exciting, and passionate. Numbers included: We’re Out to Save the World; (I Find That) Hard to Swallow; Turn Your Back on Me; The Park After Dark; Everybody Loves Gays (These Days); I’m All in a Flap; Funk in My Space; and Goodbye Dr Jekyll - Hello Mr Pride.

The soulful ballad sung by Flick Faster - Pulling Back the Curtains - was an instant show stopper and has since been covered by many recording artists.

However, production costs for the musical were spiralling with the construction of elaborate sets that revolved and elevated. The finale of one number, A Load on My Shoulders, would leave the theatre having to re-upholster the front two rows of seats after every performance (the first three rows on a good night).

Concerned about the amount of money needed to stage the musical, Godfrey’s backers pulled out one by one. Undeterred, Pryce decided to go ahead, leaving Bona Ventures as the project’s sole producer.

Godfrey Pryce had posters put up all around New York
to promote his musical before the score was even finished!

On the opening night, the Ambassador housed the cream of America’s entertainers. Movers and shakers from the world of theatre, movies, television and radio had been personally invited by Pryce and they had all turned up, eager to watch such an innovative show.

Unfortunately, as the lights dimmed and the strains of the overture struck up, the tank containing the fluid for the Load on My Shoulders number cracked, resulting in the cast, the stage and the orchestra being covered in gunk.

The theatre had to be closed down and its repair costs meant that Pryce could no longer afford to put the musical on. He took the project’s closure and resultant money-loss very badly, assuming full responsibility for the failure and its huge impact on Bona Ventures.

One evening, after downing a whole bottle of Campari, Pryce stumbled to his office, unlocked the top drawer of his desk and pulled out a small revolver. Then he pulled out the passport which the revolver was lying on, put back the revolver and went to live in Thailand with Pu Yao-Yun and his twelve brothers.

Bash Helmet in the 1970s. The TV revival continues in Cartoon form

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Despite its calamitous first night staging, ironically, over the years Bash Helmet the Musical has since been performed in off-broadway theatres and by amateur dramatic groups across the United States and the United Kingdom (albeit with A Load on My Shoulders removed) to extremely positive critical reviews.

With Godfrey Pryce gone, the reins of Bona Ventures were taken up by VP, Bud Demsky who believed that Bash Helmet still had a loyal television following.

However, Bona’s current financial status meant that a third, live-action season was out of the question so the studio produced a series of fifteen 20-minute animated adventures. Dale Montgomery continued to voice his character but the cartoon dared to do something for the first time in Bash’s 30 year history - alter his costume!

Lady Garden gets the upper hand in the animated
TV episode, “Uphill Gardening”. Note Bash Helmet's new chest insignia.

Bud Demsky had constantly debated with Godfrey Pryce about Bash’s shirt. Pryce liked it left blank while Demsky wanted to plaster something glistening over his chest. Now with total control over the character, Demsky was free to insert an insignia - a bold, stylised silver helmet.

And the following decade would see even greater changes ahead for Bash’s appearance!

The 1980s. Gay superhero Bash Helmet faces his most fearsome foe

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During the 1980s, Bash helmet was to face his most fearsome foe, someone who could break him and ridicule him in a way that none of his enemies had been able to previously.

In the decade of excess Bash Helmet sported some 'memorable' looks

And that someone was the Acting President of Bona Ventures, Bud Demsky!

In the 1980s shoulderpads were in

This was the decade of excess - shoulder pads were in and hair was BIG, and Demsky was keen that Bash should be totally modernised to reflect the fashions of the times.

Under this directive, Bash Helmet sported some of his more ‘memorable’ looks!

The changes did not go down well with the fans and sales began to drop. Each year, with each new look, fewer comics were bought.

In November 1986, with issue 290, Bash Helmet was cancelled. Unlike his predecessor, Godfrey Pryce, Bud Demsky refused to take responsibility for Bona Venture’s worsening financial situation and would not resign.

However, after a board meeting, he was summarily fired.

Even Flick Faster was not safe from being fiddled with

It was then that Demsky decided to follow in Pryce’s footsteps and he left the United States aboard a Navy ship, the USS Fruitpicker, in order to start a new life in Thailand.

However Demsky never reached his destination. One moonlit night, over a romantic candle-lit dinner, he fell head over heels in love with the entire complement of C-deck and lives there to this day.

Many believe that the final nail in Bash Helmet’s coffin was when the tip of

his helmet actually flipped open to allow his enormous hair to flow freely!

But Demsky is still bitter at the way he was dealt with by his colleagues at Bona:

“People often complained about my two-fisted approach to delicate areas but I was the one who ended up getting the elbow - trust me, that was harder to take!”

Bash Helmet - Cocked and Loaded

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The original cover picture from
Bash Helmet - Cocked and Loaded

During the first half of the 1990s, Bona Ventures gained financial stability by concentrating on the production of specialist, niche magazines but not a day went by without the offices receiving letters from fans of Bash Helmet, begging for his resurrection.

The company was now headed by Chip Furburger, the son of former editor, Reggie.

Chip’s mother had secured him a job as an intern at Bona Ventures years earlier and he had steadily worked his way to the top.

Chip had never known his father (since Reggie had used a sperm donor and a turkey baster) and growing up as a basted child meant that he yearned for a strong male role model all his life.

As an adult, he decided that Bash was as good a role model for kids as any real man and so, in 1996, Chip had Bona’s editors dust off the hero and give him another outing.

Bash Helmet - Cocked and Loaded! was a four-issue mini series that updated Bash considerably, pandering to the public’s current love of heroes with big guns.

Spitroast demonstrates one of
the reasons he acquired his name.

The adventure pitted Bash against a new, more suitably violent villain - Spitroast, who could get a man dangerously hot using only his mouth.

The mini-series sold incredibly well and reignited interest in Bash Helmet.

So much so that, in 1998, a number of fan groups banded together and arranged a convention in San Francisco called simply, ‘THE BASH’.

People gathered from across the world to dress up as their favourite characters and buy and sell Bash memorabilia.

Bash Helmet into the 21st Century

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After THE BASH 2003, Florrie Mendelson

cruises a San Francisco park,

“for old time’s sake”

THE BASH is soon to hold its 13th successive convention and the number of people attending will be into the thousands.

Previous special guest speakers have included Godfrey Pryce (who had to be secretly smuggled out of and back into Thailand), Rusty Clappe and, in 2003, the 84 year old Florrie Mendelson!

This year it is hoped that Dale Montgomery will address the excited crowds.

With such a renewed swell of interest in Bash Helmet, rumours are rife that Hollywood is gearing up to greenlight a big budget movie.

Whether this happens or not, only time will tell.

Ironically, the characters who replaced Bash in Tales to Excite all those years ago have already made the leap to the big-budget motion picture with 2004’s Squirt & Spurt in Vegas.

“Look, Spurt, it’s Celine Dion! Oh, wait...no...it’s just a cuttlefish!”
A classic moment from ‘Squirt & Spurt in Vegas’.

But one thing is certain - there is no shortage of producers, screenwriters, directors and actors who were touched by Bash Helmet at some point in their lives.

And whoever gets the job of portraying the hero on the silver screen should feel honoured to be handling such a plum role!

Becoming Bash Helmet Part V. Our pumped up mortal hero begins his fight against crime.

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As soon as he touched the magical helmet it was as if it had come alive. Never before had so much blood coursed through the veins of Justin Nicely. Never before had he felt so pumped up.

Gaiety deity Zhoosh saw the hero growing before his very eyes and dubbed his swollen form Bash Helmet.

Zhoosh immediately called upon Bash to unfetter the power of his helmet. But Bash was more interested in the fight against felony.

Click to view

Becoming Bash Helmet Part IV. Poof! The transformation begins.

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After kneeling at the feet of gaiety deity Zhoosh and receiving his blessing, Justin Nicely was all a-quiver as he approached and then unwrapped the magical helmet for the very first time.

His transformation into Bash Helmet was soon within his eager grasp. One moment he had his hands on its shuddering shimmering silver shape. Then, Poof!

This strip reproduced from Bash Helmet's first appearance in Tales to Excite number 27.

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Becoming Bash Helmet Part III. Justin Nicely meets the god Zhoosh - the gaiety deity

2010-11-26T12:41:00.000-08:00

This reprinted panel from Tales to Excite 27 - famously Bash Helmet's first issue - reveals what happened after Justin Nicely, having declined a local invitation to indulge in some beach ball play, opted instead to explore some back passages of Greece, including the mysterious 'haunted' cave of Mount Olymprist.

Here it was that he encountered Zhoosh, the gaiety deity who introduced Justin to his wondrous helmet.

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Becoming Bash Helmet Part II. Justin Nicely is tempted by Mount Olymprist

2010-11-16T06:47:00.000-08:00

The emergence of Bash Helmet - as Justin Nicely dubbed himself when he first stepped out with his purple get-up - saw a new hero come down hard on villains.

In no time at all, Bash creator Florrie Mendelson was summoned to provide the commissioned staff with Bash Helmet's adventures orally as news of the hero travelled swiftly across the barracks to the officers' mess.

This is where camp commander Colonel Neville Hawthorne took a hand and introduced Bash Helmet to the publishers of the American comic 'Tales to Excite'.

His first issue climaxed when Justin first came across his magical helmet in Greece. These reprinted panels from the original Tales to Excite 27:

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Becoming Bash Helmet Part I. Justin Nicely resists ball play in Greece to explore some old back passages.

2010-11-13T04:44:00.000-08:00

William 'Florrie' Mendelson was a wet-behind-the-ears army lieutenant based at the seaside town - now a city - of Brighton in the English county of Sussex, who used to spend the short June nights of 1941 exciting his privates by reciting the adventures of the world’s first gay superhero. Nothing did more during those testing days to raise their morale.

Florrie's stories began with the investigative hairdresser, Justin Nicely, whose muscles thickened and hardened when his helmet doubled in size as it was rubbed and he magically became ... Bash Helmet.

Thus begins the story of the origins of Bash.

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