Secret Agent X
Secret Agent X was the title of a American pulp magazine published by A. A. Wyn, and the name of the main character featured in the magazine. The magazine ran for 41 issues between February 1934 and March 1939.
The Secret Agent X stories were written by more than one author, but they all appeared under the "house name" of Brant House. The first Secret Agent X story, The Torture Trust was written by Paul Chadwick, who went on to write at least fifteen others. Later stories were produced by G. T. Fleming-Roberts, Emile C. Tepperman and Wayne Rogers. <http://www.geocities.com/pulp.master/secret-agent-x.txt>
In the stories, the true identity of Secret Agent X is never revealed. He is a master of disguise, known as "the man of a thousand faces", who adopts several different identities in each story. Although he is a dedicated crime-fighter working undercover for the U.S. government, this is unknown to the police who consider him an outlaw. His true role is known only to newspaper reporter Betty Dale and his mysterious Washington controller, K-9. Agent X come close to being undone once by a woman who could recognise him no matter what his disguise. She turned out to be blind and recognised his manner of walking.
Although ostensibly in the crime genre, the Secret Agent X stories were situated at the more far-fetched end of the spectrum, with a number of science fiction elements such as futuristic weapons and mad scientists. They were generally given highly sensational titles such as The Ambassador of Doom (May 1934), Servants of the Skull (November 1934), The Golden Ghoul (July 1935), Satan’s Syndicate (August 1937) and Curse of the Crimson Horde (September 1938).
[1] There were a number of similarities between Secret Agent X and other pulp heroes of the time such as The Shadow, the Green Lama and Operator No. 5. Authors such as Tepperman and Rogers produced stories for Operator No. 5 magazine as well as for Secret Agent X.
Beginning in 1996 Secret Agent X became the latest in a series of pulp heroes to be revived. In Tom Johnson's short story "Horror's Monster," published in Classic Pulp Fiction Stories Agent X's saga moved into the early days of World War II. Here he squared off against criminals who employed giant spiders to achieve their nefarious ends. Since publication of Johnson's tale, Stephen Payne has penned three novels starring the Secret Agent: The Freezing Fiends, Master of Madness, and Halo of Horror, all appearing under the aegis of Fading Shadows books. Halo of Horror has since been reprinted in a pulp facsimile format by Altus Press.[2] Altus Press has also published other Secret Agent X material: The Stolen Formula, [3] a rewrite of a Secret Agent X story written specifically for the Greek audience, and The Secret Agent X Companion, [4] a comprehensive history of the character by Tom Johnson and Will Murray. In addition, Wild Cat Books has issued two collections of novellas showcasing the Agent. And recently Stephen Payne has begun work on the fourth new Secret Agent X novel, The Resurrection Ring, which will reveal new facts about the origin of the Man of a Thousand Faces. <tty>
Issue: Title: Auth: Date: Vol: Reprint: 1 The Torture Trust PC 02/01/34 01/1 Corinth #1, Hanos 2 The Spectral Stranglers PC 03/01/34 01/2 3 The Death-Torch Terror PC 04/01/34 01/3 Corinth #5 4 The Ambassador of Doom PC 05/01/34 02/1 5 City of Living Dead PC 06/01/34 02/2 Corinth #4 6 Hand of Horror ET 08/01/34 02/3 7 Octopus of Crime PC 09/01/34 03/1 Corinth #6, Odyssey 8 The Hooded Hordes PC 10/01/34 03/2 Hanos 9 Servants of the Skull ET 11/01/34 03/3 Corinth #2 10 The Murder Monsters ET 12/01/34 04/1 Hanos 11 Sinister Scourge PC 01/01/35 04/2 Corinth #7, Hanos #9 12 Curse of the Waiting Death PC 02/01/35 04/3 13 Devils of Darkness PC 03/01/35 05/1 14 Talons of Terror ET 04/01/35 05/2 15 The Corpse Cavalcade GT 05/01/35 05/3 Hanos 16 The Golden Ghoul GT 07/01/35 06/1 17 The Monarch of Murder PC 08/01/35 06/2 18 Legion of the Living Dead PC 09/01/35 06/3 Hanos 19 Horde of the Damned PC 10/01/35 07/1 20 Ringmaster of Doom GT 11/01/35 07/2 Hanos 21 Kingdom of Blue Corpses ?? 12/01/35 07/3 22 Brand of the Metal Maiden GT 01/01/36 07/4 Pulp Classics #4 23 Dividends of Doom GT 02/01/36 08/1 Hanos 24 The Fear Merchants PC 03/01/36 08/2 Hanos 25 Faceless Fury GT 04/01/36 08/3 Hanos 26 Subterranean Scourge GT 06/01/36 08/4 27 The Doom Director GT 08/01/36 09/1 28 Horror's Handclasp GT 10/01/36 09/2 29 City of Madness GT 12/01/36 09/3 Hanos 30 Death's Frozen Formula GT 02/01/37 09/4 31 The Murder Brain GT 04/01/37 11/1 32 Slaves of the Scorpion GT 06/01/37 11/2 Hanos #10 33 Satan's Syndicate GT 08/01/37 11/3 34 The Assassin's League GT 10/01/37 11/4 35 Plague of the Golden Death WR 12/01/37 12/1 36 Curse of the Mandarin's Fan GT 02/01/38 12/2 Corinth #3 37 Claws of the Corpse Cult GT 04/01/38 12/3 Hanos 38 The Corpse that Murdered GT 06/01/38 12/4 Hanos 39 Curse of the Crimson Horde PC 09/01/38 13/1 Hanos 40 Corpse Contraband GT 12/01/38 13/2 Hanos 41 Yoke of the Crimson Coterie GT 03/01/39 13/3
Author Codes
- ET - Emile C Tepperman
- GT - GT Fleming-Roberts
- WR - Wayne Rogers
- PC - Paul Chadwick
See also
External links
- Page with some Secret Agent X cover scans
- Secret Agent X checklist
- Stephen Payne's Halo of Horror reissue
- Triple Detective #1, which contains The Stolen Formula
- Tom Johnson and Will Murray's The Secret Agent X Companion
- Download two Secret Agent X stories to read for free.
- Download a Secret Agent X story to read for free.
See also [ Pulp magazines ]
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