Operator No. 5
| Operator #5 | |
|---|---|
Cover of issue #26, Death's Ragged Army, which began the Purple Invasion story arc. ©Argosy Communications
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| Publisher | Popular Publications |
| First appearance | Operator #5 #1 (April 1934) |
| Created by | Frederick C. Davis |
| In story information | |
| Real name | Jimmy Christopher |
| Supporting characters | Diane Elliot Tim Donovan Nan Christopher John Christopher Chief of Intelligence Z-7 "Slips" McGuire |
| Operator #5 Secret Service Operator #5 |
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| Publisher | Popular Publications |
| Schedule | Monthly (#1-25) Bi-monthly (#26-#48) |
| Genre | Spy |
| Publication date | April 1934 – December 1939 |
| Number of issues | 48 |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) |
"Curtis Steele" (Housename)
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| Editor(s) | Rogers Terrill with Henry Sperry |
"Curtis Steele" (Housename)
Operator #5 was a pulp hero that appeared in his own ten cent pulp magazine. It was soon renamed Secret Service Operator #5 and was published by Popular Publications between 1934 and 1939.
Within the world of the series, America was still beset by the Great Depression; Jimmy Christopher was a secret agent, codenamed "Operator No. 5," for United States Intelligence, and starred in a number of fast paced stories revolving around America's enemies who pledged war, death, and bloody destruction against the nation. The enemies were many, but often from countries with fictional names. The colour themes of the enemy nations probably come from War Plan Red where America considered a war against Britain and other countries some years earlier.
Christopher often bore two trademarks: a skull ring (with a tiny capsule of a deadly poison gas inside which could kill a large auditorium full of people) and a rapier which was kept curled inside his belt. He was aided by a number of people in the various wars: Diane Elliot, his girlfriend; Tim Donovan, who quickly grew from a youngster who Christopher had saved from great poverty to a two-fisted young man; Nan Christopher, his twin sister; John Christopher, his father who was a retired operative known as Q-6 who after his last case ended up with a bullet near his heart; Washington Chief of Intelligence Z-7; and friend "Slips" McGuire, among many others, some of whom gave their lives for America.
The magazine ran for 48 issues, from April 1934 to November 1939. One final story was written but never published. Stories were all credited to "Curtis Steele", which was a house name for writers Frederick C. Davis (#1-20), Emile C. Tepperman (#21-39), and Wayne Rogers (#40-48). Like other such pulps of the day, there were short backup stories by other authors.
Davis left because he got fed up with the publisher's demand of trying to think up a new evil super-power attacking America every issue. Tepperman solved this by writing 13 interconnected novels (starting with #26) that make up The Purple Invasion, a series in which the Purple Empire (an unnamed European power which is a thinly veiled Nazi Germany) conquers the United States after conquering the rest of the world. Jimmy Christopher led the insurgency against them. The saga is often looked upon as the War and Peace of pulps. The entire Purple Invasion sequence was reprinted in the 1990s by Pulp Review/High Adventure.
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