PURPLE RIDER
“The Purple Rider” first appeared in Three Aces, 3-8, September 1944 at the same time that “Commander Steel”, “Dr. Destine” and “Red Rover” first appeared in Grand Slam Comics.
Jack Calder conceived this character after reading Zane Grey’s Riders of the Purple Sage.
The story, as told by a hermit, begins with father and adult son driving across the desert in an old Ford. They came from back East. The mother had died and so the father sold the farm, bought a pure bred racing horse and called his son home from college so they could move west and start a new life, not the old west but the west of the early twentieth century.. While the Ford is stopped to cool down two outlaws try to steal the horse and in the process kill the father and leave the son to die. He is found by the hermit telling the story and saved. He goes after the outlaws and his horse, “Pard” finds the horse captures the outlaws and hands them over to the sheriff. When asked what his name is, he replies call me “The Purple Rider” and rides “off into the twilight of the purple desert” shouting “Scramble Pard, Tally-Ho-o-o”.
MEDIUM:
PERIODICAL GRAPHIC ANTHOLOGY: All published by Anglo-American Publishing Ltd.
Content serial:
Three Aces..:. “The Purple Rider…”. Contributors unidentified:…. Black & white. |
3-8, September 1944: “Meet The Dynamic Purple Rider”: 3-16.
3-11, December 1944: “…in The Movie Menace”: 17-30. 4-1, February 1945: “…and the Headless Horseman”: 19-32. 4-2, March 1945: “… in Twin Trouble”: 2-10. 4-5, June 1945: “… in Gangster’s Holiday”: 3-16. Apparently no issue for July. |
Grand Slam/ Three Aces Comics…: “Purple Rider ….”Contributors unidentified:…. Colour. |
IV-45, August, 1945: “… Mets a Lady Badman”: 11-20
IV-46, September 1946: “… Raids Badman’s Bastille”: 1-10. IV-48, November 1945: No story. .IV-49, December 1945: No story V-50, January 1946: “…”: 23-32. |
Grand Slam,V-51, February 1946: “The Purple Rider : The Troubadour.” Contributors unidentified: 12-21. Colour. A single appearance in Grand Slam.
Three Aces…: “The Purple Rider …” Contributors unidentified. Colour. |
V-51, February 1946: “…”: 12-21. This story is different from the one in Grand Slam.
V-52, May/June 1946: “ … Meets The Purple Kid”: 2-15. V-53, July/August 1946 “… The Lady Badman Rides Again”:: 2-15. |
Cover front:
Three Aces…: Illustrator Unidentified. Two colour. | ||
3-8, September 1944.
3-11, December 1944. |
4-1, February 1945.
4-2, March 1945. |
4-5, June 1945. |
Grand Slam/Three Aces…:Illus., Unidentified. Full colour | |
IV-45, August 1945. | IV-46, September 1945. |
Three Aces…: Illus., Unidentified. Full colour | |
V-52, May/June 1946. | V-53, July/August 1946. |
SOURCE:
Interview:
Telephone with Ed Furness, Nov. 27, 1985.
GALLERY:
“Purple Rider.” Three Aces, 3-8, September 1944.
Three Aces Comics, 3-8, September 1944: 4
Three Aces Comics, 3-8, September 1944: 5
Three Aces, V-52, May/June 1946: Front cover.
Three Aces Comic, V-53, July/August 1946: 2
Three Aces Comic, V-53, July/August 1946: 15.