Within the hero pulp genre was the genre of secret agents. The best known was Operator #5. Lesser known (I had never heard of this character) is the Red Finger, who appeared in 12 short stories in the back of Popular Publications’ Operator #5 pulps, from 1934-38.
Written by Arthur Leo Zagat, a lawyer turned pulp writer, the Red Finger is a mysterious costumed counter-spy who operated in the mid-1930s against various sinister foreign spies and saboteurs in pre-WWII America. While the counties these foreign spies worked for is never mentioned, it’s clear they are from Germany, Italy, Japan, and a few others (one appears to be Mexico).
The Red Finger is really Ford Duane, an unassuming man running a little used bookstore. He gets mysterious coded messages from his boss, the unknown and unseen “T“, and goes into action. The method of sending the messages changes with each story. All use the code phrase of “P.A.T” as identification.
He stops the spy or saboteur, usually killing them, though not always without danger to himself. When in action as the Red Finger, Duane dresses in a gray hat and a gray mask covering his lower face (nose and mouth), and wears black gloves with the trigger finger in blood red (hence his name).
The agency he works for is never named. These are not glamorous stories like James Bond, but ones of gritty urban adventure. When not in action, Ford is not hanging out with the rich and famous in casinos, but living a quite life in the used bookstore. As these are short stories (about 15 pages long) there are little distractions from any secondary characters. A female agent of the same organization is introduced in one story, and appears in a couple of others. It appears that Duane has fallen for her (she is referred to as “Flower”).
Altus Press has put out a complete collection of stories, “The Hand of Red Finger,” which is how I found out about the character. In the collection, along with the 12 original stories, we get the original illustrations as well. Plus, we have a new story by Tom Johnson which sorts of wraps up the character and series. And there is a nice intro and author bio by Will Murray.
I do have to take Johnson to task for his story. He makes the mistake of claiming that “P.A.T.” identifies the Red Finger’s boss. It doesn’t. And Johnson makes him a bit emotional in rescuing “Flower” from the bad guys, when he didn’t act that way in prior stories featuring her. Johnson has also used Ford and Flower in the origin story of his original New Pulp character, the Black Ghost. But you’ll have to read that story to find out how they are used.
So check out this overlooked early hero pulp.
