Peter Gunn again

 

Last week, we looked at the first of two stories in Four Color #1087 (April-June 1960).  Today, we'll examine the second story, also written by Paul S. Newman and drawn by Mike Sekowsky.

"The Purple Clue" is also a well-written detective tale. One the way to meet a potential client, Pete's car is run off the road by a purple car that then speeds away. Soon after, a paint factory burns to the ground--it's later discovered to be a professional arson job. Pete's client was to be the owner of that factory.

The owner has an old enemy--a man who did time for embezzeling from the company and had sworn vengence for being sent to the slammer. But he'd been a model prisoner before being recently parolled and there's no hard evidence against him for the arson job.

Pete goes to the suspect's home and, after an encounter with a mean-tempered dog, gets a look at the guy's car. It's green--not purple. And the suspect, though openly happy about the fire, claims innocence. Also, the job was done by a pro--and this guy is an embezzler, not a fire bug.

Pete, though, takes a sample of clay from a tire before leaving. A lot of legwork follows, in which Pete eventually discovers that the suspect had learned the tricks of the arson trade from a fellow prisoner while in jail.

Remembering the clay from the tire, Pete finds a clay-covered side road and evidence that purple paint was wiped from a car using solvent while parked there. Using a cat to lure away the dog from the suspect's garage, he finds a streak of purple paint under the hood that hadn't been washed off. The guy catches Pete and tries to get the drop on him, but it's not easy to get the drop on Peter Gunn.

So both stories are solidly written detective stories that flow along logically, with clues and plot twists that make sense. Without the jazz music and Craig Stevens' laid-back but still tough portrayal of Gunn, the comic inevitably feels a little different that the TV show. But either story would have fit into the TV show lineup with no trouble at all.

Next week, we'll leave the mean streets of L.A. and head to outer space, where we'll once again join the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise.

Peter Gunn

 

Peter Gunn ran for three seasons on TV, from 1958 to 1961. He came back for a feature film in 1967. The TV series was a well-written noir-ish private eye show, though its probably best remembered today for its magnificent opening music, written by Henry Mancini. 

Peter had one comic book appearance--in Dell's Four Color #1087 (April-June 1960). It had two 16-page original stories, each written by the stalwart Paul S. Newman and drawn by Mike Sekowsky. Today, we'll look at "Harmless Hobby." Next week, we'll look at the second tale from this issue.

The man with the "Harmless Hobby" is retired medical Dr. Clipp. He forges rare stamps, but does so just for fun. He has no intention of putting them on the market or cheating anyone.

Peter is commissioned by the Stamp Dealers Association to offer the good doctor a nice sum of money to stop making fake stamps. But Dr. Clipp declines the offer. It keeps him busy in his retirement and what harm does it do?

Well, poor Dr. Clipp is in a private eye story, so naturally there will be harm. He's kidnapped by thugs who want him to forge stamps for them to sell.

Peter heads for Dr. Clipp's home, hoping to find a clue. He runs into the cops there--they are responding to a call about a prowler. Peter and the cops briefly fight in the dark before they identify each other. Then they search the apartment for Clipp's engraving tools, figuring that's what the prowler was looking for. 

When they find nothing, they figure the prowler got away with the tools. Peter stays behind to search again, though, and eventually finds the tools hidden in a false book.

But the bad guys spot him coming out. They snatch Pete and bring him to their hideout (making him lie on the floor of the car so he can't see where they are going). They get the tools and the head of the gang realizes they don't need Pete. So he's taken to a remote location and dumped. They don't kill him, but he doesn't know where they are hiding anyways.

But Pete comes up with a plan and educating the readers on the details of stamp forging becomes necessary. The hardest part is matching the paper that was used on the original stamp, while also making it look properly aged. The best way to do this is buy less valuable stamps of lesser value and bleach those clean, using the paper to replicate the valuable stamp. Dr. Clipp had mentioned working on a valuable Swedish stamp. So the cops put the word out to the dealers to let them know if anyone is buying other stamps from that issue.

Paul S. Newman was a great writer. His story construction so far has been sound and he manages to fit in this information in just a few panels, so the potentially complicated exposition is clear and doesn't slow the story down at all.

Anyway, the plan works. A bad guy buys the stamps and is trailed back to the hideout. Peter and the cops save Dr. Clipp, who agrees to give up forging stamps and, in fact, takes a job with the Stamp Dealers Association to detect forgeries.

It really is a well-told detective story, moving along swifty, giving Pete a chance to throw punches at bad guys on several occassions, and unfolding plot points in a logical manner.

Next week, we'll see if Newman and Sekowski manage to succeed with the second Peter Gunn tale.