One of Thrilling’s last pulp hero is the bizarre Purple Scar.
This short-lived series was published in Exciting Detective as the cover feature. Thrilling was probably hoping to have another success like The Black Bat in Black Book Detective. But it was not to be.
After running for three successive appearances in 1941-42, 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 was a house name, and it’s uncertain who wrote it. In the forward of the complete collection from Altus Press, “The Strange Adventures of the Purple Scar,” pulp historian Will Murray puts forth his idea. Others have their own ideas. The problem with many of the Thrilling characters is that many were heavily edited, so it’s hard to tell.
The Purple Scar is really Dr. Miles Murdock, a successful and well-known plastic surgeon. When his brother (a cop) is brutally murdered, he dones a purple mask made from a mold of his murdered brother’s face, to imitate the scarring on his face caused by acid. Using contacts he had made among the down trodden, he starts to work against criminals.
Dr. Murdock is an unusual character. As well as being a plastic surgeon, he is also a master psychologist, sculptor and amateur detective, having studied criminology and crime fighting. He is also a master of jujitsu and la savate. Because I guess that’s what people do when they study to become plastic surgeons!
Reading the intro, we learn that the plan was to call the character the “Purple Mask,” which, when I read it, was a little puzzling. This is because I assumed that the first 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 (kind of a purple scratch, if you will). See above for this cover. 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 writing of these stories is different. Unlike the more action-driven pulp stories of the past, there is much more emotionalism (though 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 three: a police detective who is told his identity, and who accepts the Purple Scar’s help; his nurse, Dale Jordon; and the Sticky-Fingered Kid, a reformed thief. Strangely, the Sticky-Fingered Kid disappears after the second story. In that one we learn that Doc and Dale will get married (not sure if they did so between stories three and four), and her involvement pretty much disappears after that.
The stories are somewhat interesting. All deal with murder, but the underlying reasons are different. In the first, it’s a scheme to get a hold of valuable real estate; the second is revenge and 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, I am a little surprised that the war had no impact on the stories, though the last one had hints of this.
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, though he avoids them. He’s treated more like a detective than a vigilante, usually bringing all the key players together at the end to expose the guilty party. This seems the case for many of the Thrilling heroes.
Overall this leads to a very different, if sadly short-lived, pulp hero. I have heard that Airship 27 is working on a collection of new Purple Scar stories. Hopefully we will see them soon.
