‘Ed Race, The Masked Marksman,’ Vol. 1

Most pulp-hero fans may not be aware that pulp magazines always run multiple stories, even with the character pulps. This means that The Shadow, Doc Savage, The Spider, et al, ran other stories in addition to the lead novel of the hero, and often this included series of other characters.

Only recently have some of these other series been reprinted like The Red Finger and Ravenwood. Another is Ed Race, or The Masked Marksman, from Steeger Books.

The Ed Race series ran in the back of The Spider from September 1934 to October 1943 for over 55 stories, all written by Emile C. Tepperman. He shared the back of The Spider with several other series. Tepperman also did work on other pulp heroes like Operator #5, The Phantom Detective, The Spider, and Secret Agent X. Tepperman may be most noted for doing the “Purple War” series in Operator #5.

This volume reprints the first eight stories, so I think we’ll need about six more volumes. I have no idea where the cover art came from.

So who is Ed Race? Well, we learn that he’s a traveling vaudeville actor, doing a routine as a “gun juggler” known as “The Masked Marksman” using six loaded .45 pistols. But he has multi-state P.I. licenses (at least a dozen), so when he’s bored, he solves crimes. Traveling around the country means he can deal with crimes wherever he is. And as each story is pretty short, there are no other continuing characters, though some characters make return appearances.

Each story is short, about 20 pages. So while there is a mystery behind what is happening, matters need to be wrapped up quickly. Sometimes it’s because Ed will need to get to a performance or head out to another city. So the mystery is solved not by careful thought or gathering clues but by furious action and gunplay.

The first story, “Amateur Night-For Killers” starts off with a bang. Ed arrives in a town to perform, but he’s been asked to meet with a judge. He is picked up by a chauffeur in a car, but once he’s in he finds the doors have no latched and steel plates come down over the windows. Thankfully he has a carry-on bag with a small torch and he burns a hole in the steel, gets out, and forces the driver to stop.

But it’s revealed that the chauffeur is really a police lieutenant. He gets away to the judge’s house just as he’s murdered. He is grabbed and accused as the killer, and things look bad when a police inspector arrives. The inspector informs Ed of the issue. A corrupt politician has taken over the police, as police commissioner, with some cops working for him. An innocent man is being railroaded for a crime the corrupt politician has committed. Can Ed clean up the town and exposed the true villains?

In the second story, “Cue for a Corpse,” Ed finds a dead body in a trunk delivered to his dressing room that should have gone to a doctor in the town. When someone comes for it and pulls a gun on Ed, he knocks him out and locks him up to go do his act. When he returns, he finds the man shot and the trunk gone. Can he figure out the reasons for this?

The third story, “The Death Juggler,” has Ed in New York to do his performance. But he is also there as a star witness for a gangland trial, which makes him a target. Will he be able to appear or will criminals get him? Not helped is a problem involving the daughter of the gunsmith, Ma Gibson, whom he relies on.

The fourth story, “Death’s Spotlight,” Ed is still in New York but has finished his last performance and will be leaving soon. But he witnesses a strange thing: a man crosses a street to a woman, when a car accidentally on purpose hits him. Two men jump out to help the man, but the police send them and the man to the hospital. And the woman claims to be the man’s wife, but the police don’t believe her. A policeman that Ed knows from the previous story tells Ed that the two men shot the cop taking them to the hospital and disappeared. And will Ed help them before he heads out? What is going on?

The fifth story, “Billed for Death,” has Ed arriving in a small town at the request of his boss on the vaudeville circuit to help the local theater owner for some reason. The action starts right off as after chasing a pickpocket off the train, the pickpocket is killed by an automatic rifle clearly meant for Ed! Then arriving at the theater he meets the owner, but also two gunmen that try to kill him! Someone has kidnapped the theater owner’s niece, wanting a ransom. Can Ed help him out?

The sixth story, “Death’s Booking Agent,” Ed comes to town to perform at the theater of a friend, but there is something strange going on. Ed is pulled from his hotel room by two gunmen and taken to a roadhouse. His friend is there handcuffed to a bed with a dead girl! What is going on and why is Ed there?

The seventh story, “Death Takes an Encore,” finds Ed back in New York to meet his boss Jack Landor, mentioned in a prior story. But instead, Ed is accused of murdering him, which he couldn’t have, as he was on a train at the same time. Landor was killed via the letter Ed has sent him, somehow. Can he expose the real murderer? While none of the cops from his prior time in New York show up, Ma Gibson does re-appear.

And in the eighth story, “Murder in the Spotlight,” Ed is waiting for a new engagement and is expecting a visit from a theater owner. But before he arrives, Ed is given an envelope with $5,000 in it and a note not to take the job. When the theater owner arrives, he indicates he is also being shaken down for protection. Can Ed get to the bottom of things?

These are all fun, fast stories. Having the main character move around gives variety to the stories and situations. I look forward to the next volumes and would love to see more of the various pulp hero backup series reprinted.