I first discovered Doc Savage in 1974, through the reprint series presented in paperback by Bantam Books. Doc was the creation of Lester Dent (writing under the house name of Kenneth Robeson), one of the most prolific pulp writers of the 1930s and 40s, and was rivaled only by the mysterious Shadow in sheer popularity. A physical and mental marvel, raised from infancy for his task of aiding and serving humanity, Clark Savage Jr., more familiarly known as "Doc," was an unrivaled surgeon and inventor, a perfectly developed physical specimen, an expert in virtually every field of human endeavor, and even a noted concert violinist. With the help of his five aides - Andrew Blodgett "Monk" Mayfair, Theodore Marley "Ham" Brooks, John "Renny" Renwick, William Harper "Johnny" Littlejohn, and Thomas J. "Long Tom" Roberts - Doc traveled the world righting wrongs, helping the oppressed, and punishing the guilty.
More super than Superman, more accomplished than Batman, smarter than Indiana Jones, more dashing than James Bond, Doc served as inspiration for all those iconic characters and more. His adventures were fast-paced and exciting, ranging from lost jungles to the depths of the ocean to the far-flung Polar regions and beyond. Wherever action and adventure presented itself, Doc and his "Fabulous Five" were there. In the days of the Bantam reprints, it was a thrill to anticipate the publication of the next "supersaga," much as it must have been for the original readers during the Great Depression.
Now, modern readers can experience that same sense of excitement, as Sanctum Books (in cooperation with Nostalgia Ventures up until recently), is reissuing these classic tales of adventure, two stories at a time, in attractive trade paperback editions. Edited and spearheaded by Anthony Tollin, each volume contains a pair of Doc adventures, along with commentary by Tollin ( a long-time pulp historian, whose Shadow Scrapbook is required reading for any fan) and historian/author Will Murray that provides valuable insights into the tales presented.
I've read all of the 182 Doc supersagas presented by Bantam (181 is the official count, but Bantam also published The Red Spider, a novel written by Dent but never released during the official run of the pulps), but I'm enjoying this new series for several reasons. First, of course, is the commentary. Tollin and Murray have access to archives and documents that provide fresh insights into these classic tales, and the information they provide is always worthwhile. Like DVD commentary tracks, these supplemental features provide invaluable information that makes the stories even more entertaining.
Second, Murray and Doc-fan Scott Cranford have, in many cases, restored material that was edited out of the original versions, creating a sort of "Director's Cut" of the stories he reprints. In the recent volume, for example, nearly 7,000 words of Dent's original text, cut by editor John L. Nanovic's assistant Morris Ogden Jones in order to make room for a supplemental short story, have been restored. That's a fair chunk of original material - most of Dent's Doc novels ran about 60,000 words - that has never before seen the light of day. Even to a confirmed fan like myself, there's always something new to discover in this wonderful series.
Third is the presentation. Tollin includes copious original illustrations, giving the book the feel of the pulp from which it comes. Many of the volumes sport two covers, a choice of either the original Walter L. Baumhofer cover from the pulp, or the James Bama cover from the Bantam reprints. Either version is a winner.
This latest volume in the Doc Savage series presents Mystery Under the Sea (originally published in February, 1936) and its sequel, The Red Terrors (originally published in September, 1938). Both deal with lost underwater cities and civilizations, and both are filled with the rollicking action that Doc was known for. Although the quality of the Doc novels suffered somewhat during the later part of the run (especially when the full-sized pulp became a digest during World War II and beyond), these two stories are from Doc's prime period, when Dent was at the peak of his writing powers. Everything you could want in a Doc adventure is here: a baffling mystery, a heinous villain, an exotic locale, deathtraps aplenty, solid pacing, and more. Doc's stories rarely had sequels - one could argue that The Devil Ghengis is a sequel to The Fortress of Solitude, as both feature the villainous John Sunlight, the only one of Doc's adversary's ever to make a return appearance - making this volume particularly noteworthy.
Dent devloped an outline, a "master plot," as he called it, that he used throughout most of his career, one that, he said, was guaranteed to result in a sale to an editor. "The business of building stories," he said, "seems not much different than the building of anything else." If this is true, then Dent was, surely, a master architect, as his stories, like the best buildings, have stood the test of time. The use of this outline is clearly seen in these two stories, as Dent piles exciting event upon exciting event, all driving towards a tremendous climax. Rather than feeling formulaic, however, Dent keeps his stories fresh by presenting his material in new and different ways. Even with two stories as thematically similar as Mystery and Terrors, you never get the feeling he's rehashing old ground or recycling old material. And that, of course, is why Dent was one of the premiere pulp writers of his age.
If you're a fan of pulp literature, or if you've never heard of Doc but have enjoyed movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark, you owe it to yourself to check out this outstanding reprint series. At $12.95 per volume, this is easily one of the best values around. Tollin and company are also publishing similar reprints of The Shadow - another series I'm following avidly - with other pulp characters in the works for 2009. Available at your local comic or bookshop, these are enthusiastically recommended to anyone who enjoys a good, exciting story.
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