Site icon The Thrilling Detective Web Site

Speed Savage (aka “White Mask”)

kevinburtonsmith

Created by Tedd Steele
Other pseudonyms include Ted Stelle, T.A. Steele, Theodore Steele, David Benedict, Jack Benedict, David Forrest, Gerald Laing, Jack Romaine
(1922-??)

SPEED SAVAGE, who appeared regularly in the Canadian-published Triumph Comics in the 1940s, was many things.  

A “brilliant young criminologist.” A private detective. But mostly he saw duty as the mysterious  WHITE MASK, a costumed crimefighter.

Mind you, the “costume” was I— at least at first — nothing special. Strictly off the rack, it was a homemade job consisting of a trench coat, fedora, cape and a simple Lone Ranger-style mask. Later on, he donned a more traditional, skin-tight onesie (all the better to show off his amazingly powerful physique), complete with twin holsters, cowl, gloves, boots and trunks. He may have looked like just another musclebound super-doofus in his new duds, but White Mask, we were assured, was “hated and feared by those who deal in crime.”

But, like I said, he was many things, depending on the requirements of the story. Over the course of a couple of dozen stories, he went undercover as a championship athlete, a race car driver, an Olympic-class skier, and a motorboat racing champ. Whatever it took.

From his home base in Toronto (and yes, it’s actually addressed as such), he regularly took on assorted supervillains, notably Black Raven and The Mole, and even went toe-to-toe one time with Adolph Hitler, always accompanied by his assistant, the lovely Veronica “Ronnie” Lone.

So, yeah… a “private eye,” according to the stories themselves.

But come on!

This was almost total super-hero malarkey. Did he ever have an actual client? Still, he must have been popular back in the days of the Canadian Whites.

Looking for a real, non-spandex Canadian private eye from the forties? Try Nels Grant.

* * * * *

Triumph Comics was published by Bell Features, a Toronto-based comic book publisher. It was one of those so-called Canadian Whites that appeared in the early forties, when the government deemed American comics  “non-essential” imports under war-time restrictions, and a whole new, home-grown industry was born. They were called “Whites” because most of them had colour covers but black and white interiors, due to printing costs. The Whites only lasted about six years — after the war, the restrictions were lifted, and American comics once more flooded the market.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Writer and artist Tedd Steele born on April Fool’s day in 1922, and by the ripe old age of 19, had made his professional debut as an artist, with the  cover of the Canadian pulp, Uncanny Tales No. 5. From there it was off to the comics, riding the wave of the “Canadian Whites.” His earliest job for Toronto publisher Bell Features was taking over the popular Dixon of the Mounted feature, before moving on to his first original creation, Pvt. Stuffin Joke Comics # 1, although his most significant creation was Speed Savage, which made its debut Triumph Comics #7. Tedd Steele’s last comic work was the last Savage story in Triumph Comics #31 in 1946. About the same time, he began writing short fillers and working as an editor for some of the detective and western pulps by Export Publishing, and when they began publishing paperbacks, Steele became an author. Among his books were Artists, Models and Murder (featuring private eye Steve Black),  Trail of Vengeance, Pagans and Torch of Violence, published under assorted pseudonyms over the years, such as David or Jack Benedict, David Forrest, or Jack Romaine. Sadly, he never did any art for these books, although he did return to art in the fifties, working in advertising and as a freelance artist and writer in Toronto until the eighties.

Torch of Violence (1949),  by the way, holds a secure place in Canadian literature as the first novel to feature the word “shit”.

COMICS

Respectfully submitted by Kevin Burton Smith.

Exit mobile version