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Peter the Brazen. Peter the Brazen was created by “Loring Brent,” the pseudonym of George F. Worts (Dr. Dill, Gillian Hazeltine, Singapore Sammy), and appeared in twenty stories and serials in The Argosy from 1918 to 1935, beginning with “Princess of Static” (The Argosy, Oct. 5, 1918); several of the stories were collected in Peter the Brazen (1919).

Peter Moore, a.k.a. the Brass Man, a.k.a. Peter the Brazen, is a radio operator for a ship (which ship varies from story to story). His hearing is incredible and is almost beyond human potential. He has set every record there is to set in the south Pacific, made supervisor, and then was transferred to one of the best jobs in his field, on the Latonia on the China run. But Peter rarely stays at the radio set for long--adventure and his Yellow Peril enemies await. Peter's first opponent is the Gray Dragon, a Chinese Emperor of Crime who rules from Len Yang, a walled city about 50 miles from Chungking. The Grey Dragon collects beautiful women from around the world, always against their will. Peter rescues a woman from the Dragon’s stronghold and kills him. Peter’s second enemy is the sinister Fong-Chi-Ah, who lusts after a golden cat necklace. Peter eventually kills him during a shootout at the Indian border.

In later stories Peter pursues a woman into Vietnam–she keeps getting involved in businesses she shouldn't, with tongs and opium shippers and the evil Sultan of Sakala, and it keeps falling to Pete to rescue her. And then there are tangles with the Blue Scorpion, the "absolute master of China," and then Zarlo, the Filipino "Master Magician" and murderous user of hypnotism and black magic.

Peter is tall, muscular, well-tanned, and handsome, with blue eyes and curly blond hair.

* I'm including the Peter the Brazen stories in the Best of the Encyclopedia list because they are enjoyable reading. George F. Worts, whose career as a writer spanned nearly fifty years, was a competent professional who knew how to write entertaining High Pulp adventure, and that's what the Peter the Brazen stories are: entertaining High Pulp adventures aimed squarely at the reader's sense of wonder and their brain's pleasure center. Although they aren't well-written classics of the pulp medium, the Peter the Brazen stories are very enjoyable reading (if you can get past the racism, I mean) and the perfect accompaniment to a comfortable chair, a roaring fire, and a full belly. 

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