Secret Agent X
| Secret Agent X | |
|---|---|
| Publisher | Ace Magazines |
| First appearance | Secret Agent X #1 (February 1934) |
| Created by | Paul Chadwick |
| In story information | |
| Real name | Unknown |
| Supporting characters | Betty Dale Jim Hobart Harvey Bates Thaddeus Penny |
| Secret Agent X | |
| Publisher | Ace Magazines |
| Genre | Crime, Spy, Adventure, Weird Menace, Science Fiction |
| Publication date | February 1934 – March 1939 |
| Number of issues | 41 |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Paul Chadwick, Emile C Tepperman, G.T. Fleming-Roberts, Wayne Rogers |
Secret Agent X was the title of a U.S. pulp magazine published by A. A. Wyn's Ace Magazines, 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, d. 1971, who went on to write at least fifteen others. Later stories were produced by G. T. Fleming-Roberts (born George Thomas Roberts, 1910-1968), Emile C. Tepperman (1899-1951) and Wayne Rogers (pen name of Archibald Bittner (1897-1966).
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.
Originally X was bank-rolled by an anonymous group of millionaires who made any amount of money he might need available. He maintained a number of identities and had bank-rolled a failing detective business into a thriving business where alongside their usual work, they did work for him, gathering news reports, getting information, leg work, guarding people, etc. They did not know his real identity. Later X became more of a mysterious government figure. His weapon of choice was a gas gun which quickly rendered people unconscious for a short time without any side effects.
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). [2] 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.
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