Customer Reviews

The Strange Adventures Of The Purple Scar

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Here is yet another great pulp reprint volume from Altus Press.

This one focuses on the lesser known, and short-lived, pulp hero "The Purple Scar". This short-lived series was published in "Exciting Detective" as their cover feature (probably hoping to have another success like The Black Bat in "Black Book") by Thrilling. But it was not to be. After running for 3 successive issues in 41-42, the last story was published in 1943. It's uncertain what happened. Did audiences not like the series? Was the war affecting the availability of writers? Don't know.

All four stories appeared under the name of John S. Endicott. However, that's a house name and its uncertain who wrote it. In the forward by Will Murray, he puts forth his idea. The problem with many of the Thrilling characters is that many were heavily edited, so its hard to tell.

The Purple Scar is really Dr. Miles Murdock, a successful and well-known plastic surgeon. When his brother (a cop) is brutaly murdered, he dones a purple mask made from a mold of his face, to imitate the scarring on his face caused by acid. Using contacts he had made amoung the down trodden, he starts to work against criminals.

Reading the intro, we learn that apparently the plan was to call the character the "Purple Mask", which, when I read it, was a little puzzling. This is because first off, I assumed that the cover showed what the "Purple Scar" looked like in action: wearing a mask of his brother's face, with a purple scar on his cheek. With a name like the "Purple Mask" makes me think of a character like the "Crimson Mask": wearing a purple domino mask, or possibly a purple hood. But in reading the first story, I understood: the mask Doc Murdock makes is an all-purple mask, hence the possible name of the "Purple Mask".

The writting of these stories is different. Unlike the more action-driven pulp stories of the past, there is much more emotionalism (tho not of the over the top stylings of The Spider).

The Purple Scar also has a few assistants. In the first story, we met all 3: one is a police detective who is told his identity, and who accepts the Purple Scar's help; the second is his nurse, Dale Jordon, and the third is the Sticky-Fingered Kid, a reformed thief. Strangely, The Sticky Fingered Kid disappears after the second story, and in that one we learn that Doc and Dale will get married (not sure if they did so between stories 3 & 4), and her involvement pretty much disappears.

The stories are somewhat interesting. All deal with murder, but the underlying reasons are different. In the first, its a scheme to get a hold of valuable real estate, the second is revenge and also deals with a movie production company, the third with stolen gold (in a time in which private ownership of gold is illegal), and the fourth with a meat packing company and its ownership, as well as smuggling meat to foreigners. Overall, am a little surprised that the war had no impact on the stories.

Another thing that I found interesting is how the underworld is apparently scared of the Purple Scar, yet he never kills. So he's by and large not being chased by the police, tho he avoids them. He's treated more like a detective then a vigilante, usually bringing all the key players together at the end to expose the guilty party.

Overall this leads to a very different pulp hero.