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| Doc by Artist James Bama |
It’s a shame some of the classic
pulp heroes of the past have fallen into obscurity. The old Doc Savage novel reissues in the 1970s (with those wonderful James Bama covers) hit me at
exactly the right age for permanent imprinting: 11 or 12. I thrilled to the
exploits of Dr. Clark Savage, Jr., the perfect man with skin bronzed by the tropical sun, and his
five inseparable aides. Doc was a genius; a surgeon, inventor, detective,
martial arts expert and bodybuilder. I was never sure why he needed his aides,
but loved the antics of Monk the chemist, his irascible companion and foil Ham,
a lawyer I can’t remember setting foot in a courtroom, Johnny, an
archaeologist/geologist, Renny, a two-fisted architect and builder and Long
Tom, an electrical engineer. Together, these six heroes fought secret
societies, found lost civilizations and saved hundreds of damsels in distress.
They made the crazy 1930s a safe place for fellow New Yorkers and the world.
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| Doc Savage Movie Cast |
In
the mid’70s, Marvel Comics, through their Curtis magazine imprint, released
eight issues of a classic Doc Savage black & white magazine. Dynamite
recently collected all eight issues in a beautifully designed, long-lasting
hardcover that really elevates the material. The first issue coincides with the
1975 Doc Savage movie starring Ron Ely. It was plain from the articles in the
first issue the Doc movie was meant to start a major franchise, but that never
happened. The movie was mediocre and part of an era where every super hero
vehicle was camp, because the Batman TV show was camp. Producers couldn’t
imagine taking this stuff seriously, and it was another 14 years or so, with
the 1989 Batman theatrical movie, before anyone could.
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| Doc Savage Magazine #3 |
The stories in this
collection are gems. Doug Moench is the writer for all eight issues, and it’s
plain he grew up with and loved Doc Savage. There are no adaptations of Lester
Dent’s original novels, Moench sticks with original stories, paced and created
for the comic medium. They’re wonderful. Moench perfectly captures the “voices”
of Monk, Ham, Renny, Johnny, Long Tom and Doc himself. Even Doc’s equally
perfect cousin Pat Savage is featured in a few of the stories, and Moench does
her justice as a female adventurer. Moench puts Doc and the crew through their
paces, flying to exotic locales, fighting megalomaniacs and monsters, solving
mysteries and punching bad guys in the face. It’s everything you can ask of a
pulp hero.
What’s more, all of the original supplemental material is included,
including editorials, articles on Doc and his aides, interviews about the
movie, ads and lots of other stuff. The original magazines were obviously a labor
of love, as is this collection.
Alas, the magazine only lasted eight issues,
and even though the cover says “Volume 1,” this will probably be the only such compilation.
Personally, I would welcome new or reprinted Doc Savage tales in any medium. This
one was a blast to read, and was reminiscent of both the 1930s when the stories
are set and the 1970s when they were written. A beautiful collection.
Rating:
***** out of 5 stars
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