I started to do this in the Edgar Rice Burroughs thread, as that is the target audience for this thread. Except . . . .no.

And we have some Doc Savage threads/discussions here and there. But this one is a fresh start because over the years I will be reading the original Doc Savage pulp novels in order of publication, and posting some thoughts, essays, and cover art.

I've read about 4 Doc Savage novels, of varying quality. They all have that awesome Indiana Jones, 1930's vibe. But they tend to be formulaic -- indeed, Lester Dent has said he followed a formula.

But what draws me in is the irresistible aesthetic, the sense that true 20th Century adventure entertainment got its indelible stamp from Doc Savage. We know that the pulp generation went on to become the SF writers, TV writers, movie writers, and comic book creators. And it seems the greats like Doc Savage affected them in the same way did Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, and others.

So I've started over and read the first one. Let it begin.

The first Doc Savage story was The Man of Bronze, publication date March 1933. The cover looked like this:



As many of you know, however, Doc Savage's image in pop culture was forever altered by the painted covers (painted over photos) of John Bama in the 1960's paperback reprints. When the first paperback came out in 1964 (also Man of Bronze, though they didn't always follow publication order), it looked like this, with the iconic widow's peak hair:

Although I do have a ragged copy of that Bantam paperback, I read it using a copy from the Nostalgia Ventures reprints. These books are great. They are the size of a comic trade, contain two novels per issue, and are loaded with essays before and after each story.

They are not following order of publication, but rather trying to editorially select them to appeal to new readers. They got to Man of Bronze in issue #14 back in February 2008. Most of the Nostalgia Venture books feature the original cover (of one of the two works, and both covers are in reduced size on the back), but ever so often they sell a "variant" cover with an iconic Bama cover. I have the Bama variant for #14 -- very similar to the Bantam paperback, with different text is all:



http://www.amazon.com/dp/1932806903/?tag=imwan-20

Here's the foreword they included with the Man of Bronze in Nostalgia version. It's an essay Lester Dent wrote in 1953.

I can't scan all of these, but from time to time if I see an interesting paragraph, I'll scan a page here and there. There's a four page essay in the middle of the book about the creation of the character, and how the first story is very "boy scout" in terms of violence, and the second one The Land of Terror, is off-the-charts violent. The Land of Terror is sort of a Savage Land type of island (probably capitalizing off of the buildup of the King Kong movie at the time), with dinosaurs eating people.

Finally, my thoughts on the first book. First, a non-spoilery synopsis.

We join Doc Savage as he returns to his New York skyscraper, and he is already an established world hero, with his five-man support team in place (Monk, Ham, Johnny, Renny, and Long Tom). Each of his five helpers is world-class in some talent. We can see the forerunner of many adventure teams, from Challengers of the Unknown to Fantastic Four. In fact, the back of the Nostalgia Ventures edition has a prominent quote by Stan Lee: "Doc Savage and his oddly assorted team might be considered the progenitors of today's Fantastic Four and many other teams of superheroes."

And this story is also is VERY Indiana Jones-ish. We learn right away that Mayans (yes, Mayans, they're supposed to be extinct) have killed Doc's father and are trying to kill Doc. The group travels to the fictitious country of "Hidalgo" in Central America, and learns that Doc's gather has left him some sort of estate there.

They fly in a hyrdoplane to a remote jungle, and encounter a lost world where Mayans have purposely kept themselves cut off from civilization. There is a giant golden pyramid in the middle of a deep depression that has never been reached by explorers. There are also bad factions and manipulators of the Mayan warriors, but their King (King Chaas) is loyal to Doc Savage because of the friendship with his father.

It seems there is a "Red Death" plague that periodically. . . well, plagues, the tribe. And there are bottomless pits. And secret entrances to the pyramid. And a "god" who wears a headress that looks like a cobra.

Can Doc survive long enough to discover what his father wanted him so badly to have? Will the Red Death kill him and his friends? Can he triumph over an evil faction of the Mayan's deadliest warriors?

Of course he can, he's Doc Savage.

Critique of Man of Bronze:

The books are filled with action, movement, travel. Very little motion is wasted on feelings, characterization, etc. And truth told, this is not great writing. I read in a mode of quick absorption, more interested in the adventurous aesthetic and swashbuckling and battle. Doc is portrayed as almost unbeatable -- he "exercises" two hours every day for physical perfection. He does mental training to stay sharp. He's incredibly fast an strong -- like Steve Rogers the super-solider or something. And he has every sort of cool gadget and vehicle there is. Lester Dent tried to keep up with the new developments in technology, and have them appear in a Doc Savage novel. It's amazing how prescient these books are, how well they hold up in the "MacGuyver" sense.

All in all, I enjoyed the "Indiana Jones" vibe from this one. I love lost Mayan tribes, hidden pyramids and treasure, etc. Basically, if a hydroplane is landing on water, I'm there.

I like Jonny Quest, and now I can see the inspiration easily. Doc Savage is like Dr. Quest and Race Bannon combined into one person, and Doc's ensemble are the ones we identify with as mere mortals. In Jonny Quest, it's an adolescent boy. In Doc Savage, Monk and Ham bicker with each other like Ben Grimm and Johnny Storm.

I'll comment more on the abilities and contributions of Doc's five assistants, but I don't want to overload yet.

I've read the original Doc Savage novel in Bantam paperback format, the two stories where he fights that guy who breaks into the Fortress of Solitude, and some of Farmer's His Apocolyptic Life... I just think the character and stories are boring.

There's never any suspense or doubt that Doc will easily lay the smackdown on his enemies and he's got all the personality of a department store mannequin. His five sidekicks all seem like they're secretly gay for him, with the interaction between the ape-looking guy and the cane-sword guy is painfully tedious and unfunny... and the lack of romance makes Savage seem like a sexless Vulcan.

Everytime I look at a James Bama Doc, it gets my pulp juices going... but every time I read a Doc Savage yarn, I felt like I was going into a coma.

Thanks.

Nice feature, Jay.

Too negative, Jay? Sorry if I'm bringing you down here.

Hanzo the Killjoy.

It's fine, I've been bored by much about the ones I've read.

But I'm bored by a lot of things I read, including comic books.

What fascinates me is isolating "what is it about this that is so cool?"

And it's cool, all right. I've started Land of Terror, and it is indeed (as reputed) much more violent and gross. This is supposed to be a sort of "Skull Island" story, and I'm up for it.

The Land of Terror was published in April of 1933. It was a stroke of luck to be released while King Kong was popular (premiered March 2, 1933), but it had to have been written months before. So kudos to Lester Dent, for coming up with "Thunder Island" before he saw "Skull Island" on the big screen.

And here's a short excerpt from the Will Murray essay that precedes the story:



Is it wrong that I sort wish we could read it the Lester Dent way?

Note that the Bantam cover is not a John Bama. It was either Lou Feck or Doug Rosa.

Let me know if Land of Terror is good -- I read through a lot of the reviews and I liked the sound of the dinosaurs and shit.

I already have it, since I have the Nostalgia Ventures "two-pack" with Man of Bronze and that novel.

I can remember the paperback reprints with two adventures per volume. I only ever read one of these volumes. Both stories were rather violent for my taste, so I didn't sample any others.

Boy, The Land of Terror is much more violent and cynical. Doc is killing guys right and left, like Arnold in Commando or something. Some friend of his gets dissolved by a mysterious chemical (only an arm remains), and before we've barely begun, Doc has killed five guys. (In each case, it's part of a scuffle. I don't mean he's stalking them and killing them like a serial killer).

On an impulse buy, I picked up this new Moonstone title today, "The Spider." Moonstone is dedicated to all things pulp, retro, and cool.

Anyway, I only bought it because the art looked appealing in a rough way, and the two-color coloring was interesting. But I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it. The writing is blunt and pulpy. I'll probably pick up another issue.

If you replaced Doc's team with superheroes in the same roles, here's what it could look like --

CHEMIST: "Monk" Mayfair replaced by "The Beast" McCoy

ATTORNEY: "Ham" Brooks replaced by "Daredevil" Murdock

CONSTRUCTION ENGINEER: "Renny" Renwick replaced by uhhh... construction? "Mr. Terrific" Holt?

ELECTRICAL ENGINEER: "Long Tom" Roberts replaced by "Iron Man" Stark

ARCHAEOLOGIST: "Johnny" Littlejohn replaced by "Hawkman" Hall

Obviously, no Reed Richards because it would negate the need for Doc himself.

That's pretty dead-on. But I'd have to insert Indiana Jones as the archaeologist.