{"id":19641,"date":"2025-05-12T10:00:21","date_gmt":"2025-05-12T14:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/?p=19641"},"modified":"2025-10-10T14:41:54","modified_gmt":"2025-10-10T18:41:54","slug":"ed-race-the-masked-marksman-v3","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/2025\/05\/12\/ed-race-the-masked-marksman-v3\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Ed Race: The Masked Marksman,’ Vol. 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

Here we have the third collection of the Ed Race<\/a><\/strong> series that ran in the back of The Spider<\/a><\/em> pulp from Popular Publications<\/a>. Also known as The Masked Marksman<\/strong>, this series ran for 55 stories from 1934 to 1943.<\/p>\n

\"Ed<\/a>Ed Race, The Masked Marksman<\/em>, Vol. 3, by Steeger Books<\/a> under their Popular Publications imprint, reprints the next seven stories. I think we’ll need about five or six more volumes. The cover, like the first, is AI-generated, and I think is an improvement over the prior two, being a little more action oriented and seems similar to a circus poster.<\/p>\n

Emile C. Tepperman<\/a><\/strong> wrote these stories. He also worked on other pulp heroes like Operator #5<\/a><\/strong>, The Phantom Detective<\/a><\/strong>, The Spider<\/a><\/strong>, and Secret Agent X<\/a><\/strong>, as well as the Suicide Squad<\/a><\/strong> of the FBI. Tepperman may be most noted for doing the Purple Invasion<\/a> series in Operator #5<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Most pulp-hero<\/a> fans may not be aware that pulp magazines always run multiple stories, even in the character pulps. This means that The Shadow<\/a><\/em>, Doc Savage<\/a><\/em>, The Spider<\/a><\/em>, et al, ran other stories in addition to the lead novel of the hero, and often these included series of other characters. I’ve posted on them, and I hope more of these backup series can be reprinted.<\/p>\n

So who is Ed Race? Well, we learn that he\u2019s a traveling vaudeville performer, doing a routine as a \u201cgun juggler\u201d known as The Masked Marksman using six .45 revolvers. But he has multiple state P.I. licenses (at least a dozen), so when he\u2019s 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. In these stories, Leon Partages<\/strong>, who runs the chain of theaters that Ed appears in, either appears or is mentioned in most stories and the hotel detective Halloran<\/strong>, appears twice. He appeared in several past stories.<\/p>\n

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\u2019s 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. There is almost always a girl involved. Usually, the stories are set in New York, but others are set in other towns in unidentified states. This time we get three stories set in South Florida, where I\u2019m located.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverture to Doom\u201d starts with Ed at the restaurant at his hotel in New York observing the other patrons. He notes one girl who is targeted by a couple of toughs. When he comes to her rescue, they claim to be deputies from Georgia, yet don\u2019t show badges or a warrant. The girl gets away and Ed is arrested for interfering. Can he get to what is really going on?<\/p>\n

We next find Ed in Florida for several stories starting with \u201cDeath Between the Acts,\u201d where he is in Palm Beach and heads down to Miami Beach to help a friend at the dog racing track in a matter of life and death. Along the way, he sees a girl jump out of a racing car and helps out, but she disappears. Getting to the track he finds out what is going on, but things then go sideways with a kidnapping. Can he figure out what is going on and help the girl and others?<\/p>\n

Still in Florida, Ed is on the train heading to Miami after performing in Daytona Beach in \u201cBad Actors Die Young!\u201d His boss wants him to buy a racehorse, but on the train, he runs into a girl in trouble. Then she sticks him up and takes the money to buy the horse, leaving the train in West Palm Beach. But Ed takes a plane to get ahead of her. What is going on?<\/p>\n

We find Ed in Miami Beach in \u201cMurder on the Programme\u201d after gambling has been legalized in the state, with slot machines everywhere. (Florida legalized them between 1935 and \u201937 only.) Ed has a strange encounter with a young girl and decides to follow her. But when a couple of toughs get him to stop following her, he knows something is up. He figures out who she is, and how this relates to the local gambling. Soon everything comes to a head in more ways than one.<\/p>\n

Back in New York for \u201cDeath Steals the Act,\u201d Ed gets contacted by Leon Partages\u2019 partner, John Delaney<\/strong> for help in a matter of life and death. But when he goes to find him, he has apparently disappeared. Contacting Partages, Ed learns there is a coming proxy fight over who will run the Partages theaters, as a group of racketeers hold the proxies on 45 percent of the stock, and Leon needs Delaney\u2019s shares to keep control. But where is Delaney? Can Ed put a stop to this and find Delaney, dead or alive?<\/p>\n

However, \u201cDeath Goes on the Road,\u201d takes Ed again to the town of Carroltown in Pennsylvania. But before he gets to the theater he is approached by a young lady. She tries to pay him off in regards to a possible sale of the Partages theater. But he rejects it, only to have two toughs approach him. Then someone from a car attacks them with a Tommy gun, killing two innocent people before Ed kills the shooters. What is going on and who is behind it all?<\/p>\n

Finally, in \u201cDeath at the Matinee,\u201d Ed is with his boss, Leon Partrages, and a young FBI agent watching a new vaudeville act of two brothers. After the tryout, the FBI agent spots an elderly lady who is the mother of a wanted, violent criminal known as Teddy “Slicer”<\/strong> as he likes to slice people up with his Tommy gun. While he tracks the mother, Ed goes meets his boss at the FBI. When they don\u2019t hear from the agent, Ed goes looking for him, to find not only the mother\u2019s hotel room but a young woman in shock and the agent dead. Will Ed be able to find this killer before more murders?<\/p>\n

It’s another great collection of stories. These are all inventive stories that avoid being repetitive. I look forward to the next collection.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Here we have the third collection of the Ed Race series that ran in the back of The Spider pulp from Popular Publications. Also known as The Masked Marksman, this series ran for 55 stories from 1934 to 1943. Ed Race, The Masked Marksman, Vol. 3, by Steeger Books under their Popular Publications imprint, reprints […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":20002,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_has_post_settings":[],"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"The Pulp Super-Fan looks at 'Ed Race: The Masked Marksman,' Vol. 3.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[1,135,14],"tags":[1671,1903,52,939],"hashtags":[],"class_list":["post-19641","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pulps","category-reprints","category-review","tag-ed-race","tag-emile-tepperman","tag-popular-publications","tag-steeger-books"],"pp_statuses_selecting_workflow":false,"pp_workflow_action":"current","pp_status_selection":"publish","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/files\/2025\/02\/masked-marksman-vol-3-featured.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3eLo8-56N","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19641","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19641"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19641\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":20015,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19641\/revisions\/20015"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/20002"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19641"},{"taxonomy":"hashtags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thepulp.net\/pulpsuperfan\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/hashtags?post=19641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}