The Scarlet Seal

ThThe “Scarlet Seal” feature borrowed conventions from popular fictional Chinese characters of the day such as Charlie Chan, except that the lead character was Caucasian. The Seal’s adversary, Manchu Sing, from Smash #18 is also a ringer for Fu Manchu. The Scarlet Seal was depicted with pale yellow skin, a common convention for Asian characters in comics of the time. This feature sported great artwork, but the text slipped through “Quality control.” Early features have punctuation problems that require a double take. The alter ego “Barry Moore” is a play on the famous screen actor family, the Barrymores.

Before fighting crime, Barry Moore was a top character actor in the movies. After finishing the film Oriental Horror, Moore went to work for his father, Capt. Pat Moore, in the police department. Barry quickly took to solving crimes disguised as a Chinese-American called the Scarlet Seal, who always left a red circular stamp upon his adversaries. In the beginning, Moore thought nothing of hopping out of a cab and entering through the front door of his secret lab (a fake store front). (Smash Comics #16)

Moore’s fortune financed his capers, and procured props such as firecrackers and flash powder. He was also adept with jujutsu. 

The Scarlet Seal was successful in negotiating a resolution between two Chinese “tongs” (or secret organizations) to prevent a war between them. The war had been designed by a Fifth Columnist who was killed in the end by the Chinese, but the Scarlet Seal took the blame for the killing. (#18)

Some of the Seal’s adventures were dizzying 12-panel-per-page goose chases. In one, he invented a complex scheme to save his father’s job, which was on the line because the Captain had failed to catch the Scarlet Seal. (#22)

He took the law into his own hands to stop the murderous embalmer Morta, who was killing young women and posing them as lifelike sculptures. (#23) Just as his feature came to an end, the Scarlet Seal met love interest Judy Wilson while protecting her brother Henry from mobsters. (#24)

Notes

Manning de Villeneuve Lee’s byline appears only on the Scarlet Seal’s very first adventure. Lee was an accomplished fine artist and book illustrator who specialized in historical subjects—which showed in the fine rendering of his figures in Smash #16. Afterward, the Grand Comics Database falsely credits the feature to Harry Francis Campbell. The art does not resemble Campbell’s. The features were signed “Duane Byrd Monroe,” a pen name for which no references can be found.