I’m continuing my look at Frederick C Davis’ pulp hero the Moon Man. In reality police detective Stephen Thatcher, the Moon Man stalked the night-darkened streets of fictional Great City (“Great City ya got here … it’d be a shame if something happened to it …”) clad in his black costume and his helmet made of one-way Argus glass. Armed with an automatic plus limitless courage and ingenuity the Moon Man captured or killed Great City’s most dangerous criminals (white collar and blue collar) and robbed them of their ill-gotten booty. He would then distribute that money to the city’s Great Depression-ravaged poor. ( “Great Depression ya got here … it’d be a shame if – ” oh, forget it!) All this made him hunted by both the crooks AND the cops. For more on the Moon Man and other neglected pulp heroes click here: https://glitternight.com/pulp-heroes/
10. CRIMSON SHACKLES – With the death of their leader Primus in the previous Moon Man story, the Red Six is now the Red Five, with their second in command, Secundus, the criminal organization’s new leader. The red-masked gang and their black-masked and blackmailed underlings, most of them pillars of the community with something to hide, pull off a daring robbery of Great City’s Van Ormond Museum.
In addition to looting the museum of all the valuable art and relics they could carry in this commando- style raid, the Red Five capture Stephen Thatcher when he and the rest of Great City’s police force give chase. Secundus reveals to Stephen that before Primus’ death he had stolen the evidence proving that Thatcher is really the Moon Man. Once again Stephen is forced to don his Moon Man costume and Argus glass helmet and pose as the field commander of the Red Five.
As the Moon Man and his assistant Angel conspire to once again foil the gang’s next caper from behind the scenes Secundus shows our hero he means business by exposing Stephen Thatcher’s dual identity to Continue reading