(Science Comics 001, 1940)
The Purple Gang, a bunch of guys in a gang who all wear purple suits and are getting up to no end of crime in whatever skyline-heavy city the Eagle calls home New York City, are a perfect opponent for a super-hero’s first adventure: organized enough to pose a challenge but not so tough that thy can’t really be stunted on to show how cool the Eagle is.
They also quite noticeably do not all have purple suits on – of the six or seven Purple Gang members shown on panel, only one even comes close and his suit is more of a dark blue. And since the purple suit thing is mentioned not once but twice in the course of the story I must assume that the colourist simply did not give a care.