The Radio Adventures Of Doc Savage!

The Radio Archives collection of The Adventures of Doc Savage is an eight-disk collection, and features two Doc Savage stories adapted for serial radio performance in the 1980's on public radio. The two stories adapted were The Thousand-Headed Man and Fear Cay. First up is the seven-episode saga of Fear Cay proved ideal listening for hurtling down the highways. 

Fear Cay was featured in the eleventh issue of the original Doc Savage run and offers up a cracking tale featuring Doc and all his five aides along with Pat Savage his cousin. These six find themselves confronting a gang of vicious thugs who are trying to get hold of a mysterious prize on a lost island in the Caribbean. There is also a strange old geezer who claims to be 131 years old, and who gets around quite quickly for someone of such age. There's plenty for all the aides to do with Monk, Ham, Renny, Johnny, and Long Tom all getting some decent exposure. The action is spread around well, despite the pacing being rather relentless.

The producers of this program drew pacing inspiration from the classic Republic serial The Adventures of Captain Marvel and it really works. There are some great fights and some ferocious gun play. The characterizations are crisp, and I had very little difficulty telling the players apart, despite there being a large cast of folks to keep track. The plot is classic Doc, with a battle raging in the streets of NYC before shifting to an exotic locale. There is weird mystery and plenty of raw pulp beats to suit any Doc fan.

I frankly didn't expect these to be as good as they are. Many of these later radio shows can be a bit bloodless, clear copies of an art form that once thrived but now is all but gone. This seems to be more than a mere copy, but a true revival done by real pros who are adept at the business of crafting radio drama. The quality made me very eager to dive into the second adaptation. 

That second adaptation is of one of Doc Savage's most famous stories for a host of reasons. This story is an exceedingly popular one, and it was chosen by Murray partially because it was also the story singled out by movie producers back in the 1960's for a proposed Doc Savage movie starring Chuck Conners. The project did not develop ultimately but did result in a Gold Key comics adaptation. I took a look at that comic here.

 

The story from 1937 pits Doc and his assistants against a gang of thugs seeking a mysterious treasure in far-off Asia. There they find a hidden ancient cult which seeks to keep its secrets with the sacrificial deaths of any who happen along. It's a whopping good story, with lots of chances for action and many opportunities for Doc to show off his physical skills.

The radio adaptation is pretty close to the original but does alter the last part of the story somewhat by adding Renny as a partner to Doc as he uncovers the mysteries of some distinctive temples. In the novel Doc prowls alone, but it was decided that giving Doc someone to converse with would make the discoveries seem more natural to the listener and less artificial. It works quite well for me as Renny is a favorite of mine and gets too little attention in the adventures. This adaptation is a bit shorter than "Fear Cay" and I think that helps the pacing a bit. There is no sense that the story lags even a little bit. If you haven't sampled these, I highly recommend them. They are first rate entertainments. There is also a disk with interviews of the creators of the radio dramas about how they came to be made. 

The was once upon a time a Doc Savage radio show way back when Doc was just getting started. It was produced in fifteen minutes episodes. They were broadcast across the nation in the piecemeal way that radio operated in at the time. Sadly, the recordings are lost, but the scripts have been preserved. They were gathered and published several years ago by Moonstone in Doc Savage - The Lost Radio Scripts of Lester Dent. The folks who did the radio show in the 80's briefly considered using some of these, but they found the length insufficient for their needs and I think the creators were anxious to adapt their favorite stories. These stories are curiosities in script form and better than not having them at all for Doc fans. 

For the record both this book and the cover of the radio plays feature artwork by Bob Larkin. Great stuff indeed!

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James Bama's Top Ten Doc Savage Covers!

Number 10

Number 9

Number 8

Number 7

Number 6

Number 5

Number 4

Number 3

Number 2

Number 1

Sanctum Books, Anthony Tollin and the gang featured an interview with James Bama in one of those tasty reprints they treated us to some years ago. Of course. James Bama is the artist who elevated Doc's reputation with a new generation of readers in the 60's and 70's with his stunning covers for the Bantam reprints. The core of that interview (conducted by Brian M.Kane) was Bama's picks from among his awesome sixty-two covers for his top ten. Above you see the results with volume thirty-two's "Dust of Death" winning the number one slot. Among the comments Bama added was that the number two cover "World's Fair Goblin" was his chance to do a King Kong cover. These aren't necessarily the same covers I'd have picked. But it's interesting to read what the artist himself thinks about the work. He says now he was sad to leave the gig since Bantam left him alone to design the covers which were he said almost exclusively symbolic to help elevate Doc's mythic status.

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Doc Savage - His Apocalyptic Life!

Doc Savage - His Apocalyptic Life is the sequel of sorts to Philip Jose Farmer's Tarzan Alive - A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke. The latter work told the life story (up to a point) of the great King of the Jungle popularized by Edgar Rice Burroughs in his extensive series of novels. Lord Greystoke though is only one member of an illustrious family dubbed by Farmer and other modern researchers as the "Wold Newton Family". These are descendants of a curious band of folks who happened to be present in Wold Newton when a meteor dropped and bathed them all in a special ionized radiation which seemed by inference to have a profound effect on their progeny. And Farmer tells the story of Lord Greystoke, the epitome of the savage feral human and in this later work focusing on the crime-fighter Doc Savage he does likewise for the epitome of the modern technological man. 

The subtitle refers to Farmer's opinion that the threats to mankind which required Doc Savage's intervention were of such earth-shaking quality as to earn the term "apocalyptic". Doc Savage is no less than a supremely trained superman who saves the planet on a nigh regular basis -- monthly in fact as revealed by Street and Smith's publication schedule for the popular pulp hero. Farmer spends a good deal of time in the early chapters connecting Savage to the work of writers like William S. Burroughs and Henry Miller, suggesting that the works of these writers share in many respects Savage's apocalyptic framework. The details of Doc's life are explored and a timeline is suggested, one which is often at odds with the sequence of the novels. Then Farmer explores the life and times of Savage's "biographer" Lester Dent who with a few other pulp mavens detailed the stunning events in Savage's life adding in necessary fictional elements where necessary. 

Then Farmer goes to extensive lengths to talk geography and architecture, specifically the location and layout of Doc's skyscaper headquarters in the Empire State Building. It is revealed by Doc had played a seminal part in its construction allowing for his future offices and even an elaborate tube system for quick transportation to the Hidalgo Trading Company, a false business where many of Doc's amazing machines reside. Farmer is meticulous in his examination of the location referring constantly to the "super sagas" for information on how the sites changed over time. Tarzan is a man who is ideal when reduced to his most basic needing only his father's knife to cleave his way to success. Doc Savage in contrast is a man of technological marvels which enhance his own ideal physical gifts. Tarzan and Doc are two sides of a coin, superior in their ways but always perhaps best understood in contrast. As it turns out they are also cousins. 

Also identified as a member of the elaborate Wold Newton clan is Monk Mayfair, Doc's ape-like associate who just so happens to be a famed chemist as well. His rough exterior is contrasted in the tales by his best mate and rival Ham Brooks a dapper lawyer. These two are the primary agents of Doc's "Fabulous Five" but are joined by Renny Renwick an engineer of renown, Long Tom Roberts an electronics wizard, and Johnny Littlejohn an archeologist and geologist of note. These five men are loyal to Doc and often hungry for the adventure they find by association with him. Farmer dedicates a chapter to each of the five men, plucking the "true" from the fictional. Getting special treatment is Doc's cousin Patricia Savage who shares many of Doc's singular physical gifts. One gets the feeling that PJF has a crush on Pat, or at the very least he implies that Doc might. 

Doc Savage - His Apocalyptic Life is a grandly entertaining book for Doc Savage fans or for fans of the Wold Newton Family itself. We get not only what has been described but chronologies of the "super sagas" and expansive family trees to show the connections among the many disparate personalities in the Wold Newton Family. In the Altus edition which I read this time we are treated to a forward titled "Book of Magic" by Win Scott Eckert in which he details how he came across this tome and how it became a linchpin work for his imagination. I identify with much of what Eckert describes as I was discovering many of these same works at the same time such as The Rocketeer by Dave Stevens which treats the reader to some unofficial Doc Savage action. 

When I first read this book by Farmer I'd read only a smattering of the "super sagas" but thanks to Anthony Tollin's reprint program from a few years back I now have read them all. Armed with that detailed knowledge this book by Philip Jose Farmer is even more enjoyable. 

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Doc Savage - The Doom On Thunder Island!

I kick off a final plunge into Marvel Comics and their adaptation of the classic pulp hero Doc Savage to comics form. After the unsuccessful run of eight color comic issues back in the early 70's, Marvel took another crack at the character trying to take advantage of the buzz around the George Pal movie adaptation of the character. They reprinted the first two issues of their Man of Bronze adaptation in a one-shot giant-size comic, and they launched a new Black and White magazine series. 

The first issue of Doc Savage the magazine sports a cover by Roger Kastel which is based on the artwork from the George Pal movie poster. Inside the front cover there's a great photo of Ron Ely who played Doc standing next to a print of classic "Man of Bronze" James Bama pose. 

Following the table of contents there's an editorial from Marv Wolfman about the magazine and the character's history at Marvel called "An Editorial in Bronze". The facing page features an outstanding poster shot of Doc and his Fab Five by John Buscema and Tony DeZuniga. This team also produces the artwork for the sweeping epic of a story save for two full-page shots by John Romita. The writer is Doug Moench and this tale appears to be an original. 

The story titled "The Doom on Thunder Isle" begin with the startling destruction of a NYC skyscraper by a lightning bolt. Cut to the Fab Five waiting for Doc to finish his two-hour training and we're off to the races. With the expanded page count they take time here to show us Doc's training as well as expanding on the feud between Monk Mayfair and Ham Brooks. A woman named Angelica Tremaine shows up to seek help on behalf of her brother Winston Tremaine an architect, and the pair had just escaped being killed in the destruction detailed on the first page. She presents Doc with a complex coded message from her brother, then they find an eavesdropper named Thomas J. Bolt who claims to have only Angelica's safety at heart. Suddenly costumed men break through the windows and a battle ensues. The villains use powerful and mysterious guns that throw electrical bolts. When they are defeated the villains kill themselves leaving Doc with only the coded message to decipher. He and his men set about to do just that and Moench really indulges himself here giving us a long and complex code that they spend several pages unwinding. They determine there is danger to Tremaine at a place called the Velvet Room and Doc hops aboard his auto-gyro and heads to that location. He finds the masked villains have already been there and abducted Tremaine but he discovers a hidden message. Then a witness comes forward but is immediately killed by more masked men who Doc then gives chase to. 

Again he gets into the auto-gyro and follows he culprits who have disappeared into a strange moving cloud. He finds a zeppelin hidden in the cloud but before he can do anything but put a tracer on the airship, doors open and giant version of the electric gun juts out and destroys the Velvet Room. There then follows another section in the story where some mysterious clues are deciphered, a statue located and a paper found within it that points to the location of a distant Pacific island. Doc and his team board their own zeppelin the Amberjack but this time underneath attached magnetically is the submarine Hell-Diver. The team pursues the zeppelin but then Doc perpetrates a ruse by luring the enemy zeppelin to fire on the Amberjack and simultaneously releasing the Hell-Diver into the sea just masking their true means of following the tracer. Johnny stays behind to pilot the Amberjack. 

Doc and his remaining men follow the zeppelin to the island and then slip on shore. The encounter many weird things including a tiger which glows with a blue light. The find more of the masked villains and another battle breaks out. Eventually among other things Doc is pitted in battle against the tiger but wins. He fought to save what he thought was a man but finds a man-beast who runs away. Doc then enters a great ziggurat which is in the center of the island and finds Angelica Tremaine threatened by the masked leader of the villains and her brother about to undergo some treatment. The villain is soon revealed to be Thomas Bolt, and it turns out that using his skills with electricity he's the mastermind behind the electric weapons as well as the mutated men who have been transformed into various man-beast combinations. These manlings are pitted against Doc and his men within an electric fence, but the man-beast that Doc had saved earlier reveals that he's actually Wiggens Tripp a rival architect they'd at first believed might be the villain. Tripp leads the manlings against the villains who have transformed and tortured them while the villain Bolt attempts to escape in the zeppelin. But the explosions resulting from the manling uprising capture the zeppelin and crashes into the pyramid headquarters destroying everyone presumably save for Doc, his men, and the Tremaines. The story ends with Tremaine regretting he'd thought ill of Tripp as the team sail home on the Amberjack. 

Following that sweeping tale, there are two interviews with George Pal about the Doc Savage movie, in which he talks about the movie and the projected sequel tentatively titled "Doc Savage, Enemy of Evil". Pal relates how he came by the Doc Savage project and seems confident there will be sequels. Alas we all know now that was not to be. All in all a really solid Doc Savage adventure. Moench might get a bit overwhelmed with the codes, slowing down the story, and the ending seems a bit underwhelming given the set-up, but it's certainly got that sprawling pulp feel. The artwork is solid, even excellent in places and frankly the B&W format suits this material very well. 

More to come. 

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Doc Savage - The Brand Of The Werewolf!

Today I conclude my review of Marvel's original Doc Savage comics run. Doc Savage #7 begins an adaptation of Kenneth (Lester Dent) Robeson's Brand of the Werewolf. The first part is titled "Brand of the Werewolf" and is written by Tony Isabella and drawn by Ross Andru with Frank Springer on inks. The cover is by Rich Buckler. 

The story begins in Canada as we watch a man seemingly transform into a werewolf, who then attacks a car containing Alex Savage, Doc's uncle and Pat Savage's father. Next, we cut to Doc's skyscraper headquarters, and he is getting a call from Pat telling him of the tragic murder of her father. Doc along with Monk, Ham, and Renny head off to Canada. They end up taking a train on which they meet Senor Corto Ovega, his daughter, and a man named El Rabannos. There is an attack on Doc's train compartment using gas. After rescuing his team, Doc then finds the same gas used in the compartment of the Ovjeas. Then the train comes to an abrubt halt because the tracks are blocked by timber, and the Ovejas and El Rabannos leave the train headed into the woods. Doc has his men follow them while he helps get the train tracks cleared. He quickly is under attack by thugs, but dispatches them quickly. Meanwhile Pat and her Indian servants Tiny and her husband Boatface hear howling. Pat goes to search but returns and finds her servants unconscious. She knows what the attackers wanted, a cube with a strange brand of a werewolf. Boatface sees where this is hidden and soon steals it and takes it into the woods for a clandestine meeting with the Werewolf rejects Boatface's attempts to raise the price and who attacks and kills him. Doc and his men get back together in time to see a mysterious plane leaving a remote hanger, one they'd seen from the train. They find Alex Savage's grave and the body of Boatface along with the peculiar clues of pine bark and a ptarmigan feather. Doc heads out across the trail of the killers but finds the trail stops at a ravine with a single rope across it. He takes a balancing pole and starts across when a sniper shoots him, causing him to fall. 

Doc Savage #8 concludes the story and the series run. The story is titled "Werewolf's Lair!" and is written by Tony Isabella and drawn by Rich Buckler. The inks are by both Tom Palmer and Jack Abel who alternate throughout the story. The cover is another Buckler effort inked by Klaus Janson. 

The story picks up with Doc grabbing the rope across the ravine to save his life but then a second shot sends him falling out of sight. The gunman is quite pleased and goes back to camp to encounter the Werewolf. Pat and Tiny have been captured by the thugs but Pat tries to escape with Tiny. They are recaptured when suddenly Doc appears and battles thier captors. The three head off into the woods while Doc explains to Pat what's been going on and explains how a nearly invisible wire had saved his life at the ravine. The trio encounter the Werewolf but Doc quickly dispatches the "monster" revealing him to be a man in an elaborate costume, but more men arrive and they flee. The trio meet up with Monk, Ham, and Renny at Pat's cabin and suddenly Senorita Cere Oveja shows up. She explains that she and her father are descended from Alfredo Leon, a 17th century pirate called "The Werewolf". He apparently had a treasure that he'd hidden in the region and the cube was the only means to discover it. Doc has him men go and find the cube hidden in a ptarmigan nest as he'd suspected by Boatface. Then quickly it's revealed that the cube unfolds to make a map showing the location of the treasure. Then the Werewolf and his gang return, use gas to capture Doc and the team and take to a mine that held the treasure. Doc wakes up tied and it's revealed that El Rabannos is behind the gang. But Doc and his men had been faking and a fight erupts in which the Werewolf and the gang are subdued including the Ovejos who turn out to be part of the scheme. Doc and his men are just able to save the Ovejos and the treasure before the mine collapse killing the remainder of the gang. The story ends with Pat vowing to join Doc's team and the treasure headed to do good works. The story closes with a quote from Doc's Code and that ends the initial run of Marvel's Doc Savage. 

 It's announced in the letters page of this issue (for the record the letters page is titled "What's Up Doc?") that the series is being cancelled due to poor sales. Apparently, the series was being retooled a bit with Tony Isabella scheduled to continue as the regular writer while apparently Rich Buckler was coming on as the new regular artist. Whatever the case, the last issue is a jumbled affair showing that it was produced with a great deal of speed. It's unfortunate that the series goes out on such a low note. Also, I never knew it, but the original pulp tale doesn't have any werewolf in it at all, but for the more visual comics medium a man in a costume looking much like Jack Russel's Werewolf by Night was thought necessary. I don't disagree, as the lack of any werewolf (real or fake) in the pulp was a disappointment for me. Both the original pulp and the Bantam novel covers even show one, but alas not to be. 

Walter Baumhoffer

James Bama

But Doc Savage wasn't quite done at Marvel. Next up are visits with the Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and the Ever Lovin' Blue-Eyed Thing!

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Doc Savage - The Monsters!

I continue with my review of Marvel's adaptations of Kenneth (Lester Dent) Robeson's Doc Savage novels. Doc Savage #5 begins a two-part adaptation of The Monsters. The title of this story is "The Monsters" and it's adapted by Steve Englehart, scripted by Gardner F. Fox and features artwork by Ross Andru and Tom Palmer. 

The tale begins with a trapper named Bruno Hen under attack by mysterious creatures against which his shotgun is no good. Carl McBride, another trapper finds Hen dying and fulfills his dying request that he take Hen's money and hire Doc Savage to avenger him. Next we see McBride aboard a Ford Tri-Moter heading to NYC and talking up his plan to a beautiful blonde who fills him in on Doc and his aides and how they don't necessarily take jobs for money. There's a mysterious ad in the newspaper saying "The Monsters Are Coming". McBride gets to Doc's skyscraper but when he steps off the elevator a thug guns him down and would have done likewise for Doc Savage but for bulletproof glass. Doc takes the case and orders Monk and Ham to follow the killer, develops clues to Michigan, then reports to the location where Monk and Ham have followed the gunman. It's a giant walled-in estate but a grappling hook later Doc is skipping across the unusual electrical fencing that sits on top of the walled estate from corner to corner. Slipping into the mansion he comes under attack while Monk and Ham work their way toward him. 

Once inside he finds the same blonde who had spoken to McBride, and she reveals herself to be Jean Morris a lion tamer with a special talent for speaking Swahili. Just then a gigantic head breaks through the floor of the mansion and just as quickly disappears, seemingly inside a truck that rushes away from the building. Jean Morris likewise disappears. Doc then goes into the basement and finds Griswold Rock, the owner of the estate who claims he was abducted by criminal genius named Pere Teston. Doc orders Renny to track the truck which Doc has tagged with ultra-violet markers. Renny does, but has his plane shot down. Doc shows up to find the abandoned truck with Renny captive inside. Hearing the ticking of a bomb, he saves Renny but before he can penetrate the mystery in the back of the truck it explodes leaving Doc and his aides to watch a plane escape into the distance.

Doc Savage #6 finishes this story with a story titled "Where Giants Walk!". It's written by Gardner F. Fox, and drawn by the team of Ross Andru and Frank Giacoia. I like Giacoia, but there is a definite loss of atmosphere and mood with the loss of Palmer. 

The story begins dramatically with a giant hand rising out of a lake and grabbing Doc's plane. Doc and his aides have followed the clues to Michigan and they find themselves fighting off many giants. Doc finds Bruno Hen's cabin then is shot at. He chases the gunman and finds his body in a sand bog. They find a note on his body and follow the clues to a deserted mill where they find Griswold Rock who claims he got a telegram from Doc to show up there. The team then go to a hotel to regroup and get word from Renny about the giant who died in the truck. Renny is supposed to come meet Doc, Monk, and Ham, but next morning they get word he has crashed his plane. Rushing out to assist him, Doc and his team come under attack which they repel with their superfirers. Renny shows up later and he and Doc use the Auto-Gyro to head back to town while Monk chases the hoods. Doc finds Ham having suffered an attack and Griswold Rock missing. Monk returns and the team takes the Auto-Gyro to find the ultimate hideout of the criminals only to be waylaid by another plane with Jean Morris inside. The attack results in both planes going into the lake where two giants appear armored with plates of steel. 

Doc and his team along with Morris are captured by the giants and taken to the criminal gang who are hiding underneath a tarpaulin made to look like an island from the air, and then who put them into a deep pit. Doc escapes the pit, finds evidence that can be of use to him in the criminal lab and then returns to captivity. Next morning he tells the giant monsters, criminals in fact who have been changed as part of a criminal scheme, that they cannot be changed back. This causes a riot between the giants and the normal-sized gang and they battle one another. Meanwhile Doc finds the Pere Teston, not a criminal and saves him. One of the giants releases poisonous chlorine into the air but Doc and his team are safe in makeshift air pockets. When they emerge they find everyone in the gang, monster and hood, dead along with their real leader Griswold Rock. This is a pretty decent adaptation of the plot-heavy tale. Thankfully the whole business of some of the monsterous giants being African Mongoloids has been dropped. It's a curious detail from the original story and would've been out of place in this modernized version. Though that then does make Jean Morris's presence pointless. But in the press of the action, that detail doesn't matter all that much. Gardner Fox as the writer certainly gives this tale a real pulp connection, though I have to confess his script didn't seem as tight as Englehart's had been.

Walter Baumhoffer

James Bama

More next time as Doc and his team confront meet up with Werewolves! 

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Doc Savage - The Thousand Headed Man!

This Gold Key comic book story starring Doc Savage by Leo Dorfman and Jack Sparling an adaptation of the vintage pulp The Thousand-Headed Man by Kenneth (Lester Dent) Robeson, one of the early Doc pulp stories. 

The one-shot comic seen at the top of this post was produced by Gold Key in 1966 in conjunction with a planned-but-not-produced film featuring Chuck Connors as Doc. 

The cover is by James Bama. It's a close-up of a full painting he created for the second of the very successful Doc Savage paperbacks from Bantam Books. 

The story is a solid Doc adventure with a mix of urban and jungle action. There's a neat mystery concerning three keys and some ancient treasure and there are villains galore. The mystery begins in London but winds its way in complex form to Cambodia where an ancient cult of cobra worshippers who use versions of the cobra venom to create mists that make folks unconscious. The London part of the story seems pretty much intact, though the notion of the keys is changed substantially in the comics story. They are just keys, but in the pulp original I think they are sticks which function as keys. The mystery here is in what they are composed of which is the same as the pulp. The Cambodian element of the story is very compressed, and I'll have to say the pacing of the story isn't completely successful. The first part seems neatly done, but they have to really run through the more exotic aspects of the story. A plane explosion is relegated to a single panel, and alas isn't at all threatening. 

Jack Sparling isn't a favorite of mine, though he does his typical journeyman job here. I can follow the story most of the time without fail, though the sheer number of Doc's aides seems a bit of a problem for him at times. Doc himself looks like the Bama painted version, but when rendered by Sparling here he looks like a very old man instead of the hard-bitten adventurer that Bama presents. It's nice that Sparling stayed close to the source material, but it doesn't completely work. All in all, this is a fun and diverting comic. Not a completely successful adaptation, but it's unclear if they were adapting the pulp or perhaps a screen treatment, so I'll not condemn the producers here for those flaws necessarily.

The Thousand-Headed Man was also picked by producers as a stirring radio by Will Murray and others in 1985. 

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Have No Fear! Doc Savage Is Here!

I'll be honest with you all. This month began all about Tarzan of the Apes and before I was finished planning it out it was clear it was going to be all about Doc Savage. And since that turned out to be the case, I thought now is as good a time as any to dedicate this month's posts to James Bama. Bama was the man who made Savage popular all over again in the 1960's. His covers for the Bantam reprints of the vintage pulp adventures of Street and Smith's "Man of Bronze" functioned much like Frank Frazetta's cover work for Tarzan of the Apes and Conan the Barbarian. It took what might've been presented to a new audience as some fussy relics and instead transformed them into intoxicating images of high adventure and super science. James Bama took a man perfectly designed by pulp smiths of the 1930's and super-charged him with a post-modern physique and head like nothing seen before or since. Sometimes I had a hard time reconciling the Doc of the covers with the Doc in the stories, but it didn't make me enjoy those covers any less. 

The detour down Clark Savage lane came about when I got fascinated all over again with the Philip Farmer's Wold-Newton family line. In his robust imagination, Tarzan and  Doc Savage and countless other breathtaking heroes and heroines were all part of a shared universe and in many cases related by blood. And to top it all off Farmer demanded that we understand that these seemingly fictional creations were really versions of dynamic men and women who actually lived. albiet under other names. I want to take another gander at works like Tarzan Alive - A Definitive Biography of Lord Greystoke and Doc Savage - His Apocalyptic Life again and other works as well such as the Secrets of the Nine series which recently was turned from a trilogy to a tetralogy thanks to Win Scott Eckert. 

That doesn't mean there won't be some Tarzan adventures such as those Dark Horse tales which were given the stamp of approval by Farmer himself in which the Lord of the Jungle matches muscles and wits with the Phantom of the Opera, Mr. Hyde and Frankenstein's Creature. 

But the majority of the weekly posts will be some revised and updated reviews of Marvel's delightful and timely runs of Doc Savage from the 1970's. These comics were my first introduction to Doc save for a few random paperbacks and it's been over a decade since I took a good look at them. DC was kind enough a decade ago to bring out the Marvel stories in some handsome and handy paperback volumes which saves wear and tear on my originals. 

And just as a counter to all this Doc Savage focus I want to wrap up my reviews of Dark Horse's reprints of the venerable Turok Son of Stone. So expect to see installments of "Sundays of Stone" return all through this month. 

 

All that and maybe a bit more even. Hold onto your hat, it's going to get exciting! Thanks you for all the thrills Mr. Bama! 

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