Dr Hermes Reviews - DOC SAVAGE

THE SUBMARINE MYSTERY (July 3, 2005) From June 1938, this is a pretty good Doc Savage adventure, brisk and well-written but without any really wild gadgetry, villainous schemes or memorable supporting characters. The bronze man himself seems to be having an off week. He has a tough time dealing with a crew of modern day pirates; they're well armed and organized, with a clever leader, but still Doc is on the defensive way too much of the time and keeps getting captured despite his best efforts. It's only toward the end that he shows the tactical planning and perceptiveness we expect from him. The best thing THE SUBMARINE MYSTERY has got going for it is that it offers us a glimpse of the human emotions under Doc's stoic poker-faced mask. After the first few stories, the man of bronze developed strict control of his voice and facial expression that usually gave away nothing of what he was thinking or feeling; to outsiders, he must have appeared to be a heartless robot who didn't react to any of the frightening and tragic events going on around him. This story is one of the times where his composure starts to crack. As he can't quite get a fix on the gang he's fighting and he knows Monk and Ham have been captured by the enemy, his nerves get raw. The bronze man is needled by the unhelpful sarcastic remarks of the woman in the case until "Doc's grip on his temper slipped. For the first time in his life he told a lady off. 'Shut up!' he said loudly. 'And sit down!'" Lester Dent adds an interesting aside that some of the scientists who raised Doc from infancy had made serious attempts to burn all human feelings out of him. Those 'experts' showed a real lack of understanding of psychology, if they thought a person could be turned into a strictly logical thinking machine without severe mental damage; such a person would be a psychopath and probably end up as a monster. "In one sense, all Doc Savage's training had been a flop. He still had his emotions. The things that pleased or excited other men still pleased or excited him." There's also a very dramatic moment when Doc, from hiding, witnesses a frail-looking boy about seven or eight years old and suffering from advanced pneumonia being dragged out and punished as an example to villagers. One the pirates raises a horsewhip and cracks it down on the boy's back but before he can swing it again, the hateful weapon is yanked from his grasp and the man drops with a gurgling noise. "His lower face would probably never look the same again, for Doc Savage had hit him hard enough to break the jaw in too many places for it to ever mend in a proper shape." Two more of the pirates get mauled senseless in a few seconds, and then "the bronze man got up, realizing for the first time that he had lost his temper." (If this was a scene in a movie, you know the audience would be cheering and whistling at this moment.) Yet, despite this stirring rescue, a minor comment from Dent suddenly reminds us what Doc Savage is really all about. Escaping from captivity in a castle filled with hundreds of murderous pirates, the bronze man's first thought is not how to get himself and his friends off that island immediately and call in the Navy to clean things up. No, he starts to search the area to see what he can do to help the people being oppressed. ("The inhabitants of the island interested him. Other peoples' misfortune was the bronze man's business...") Doc is not primarily a crimebusting vigilante but an humanitarian whose calling includes fighting crime as part of his goal. He spends much more time and resources helping unfortunates than he does combatting evil masterminds (although admittedly, the fighting makes more interesting stories). Aside from the insights into our boy's pysche, THE SUBMARINE MYSTERY is a perfectly good but minor pulp thriller. The puzzles introduced early on include a woman in armor and speaking 16th Century English being rescued from the sinking of an unexplainable duplicate of the submarine USS SWORDSFISH*, and everything is explained well enough. The true identity of the secret mastermind gets pinned on three or four people in a row, just to keep the reader guessing. There's also enough action and movement, but nothing really novel we haven't seen before. Only Monk and Ham participate this round and (frankly) for all they contribute they might as well have joined Johnny, Renny and Long Tom in their absence. (There is one remarkable moment at the very end, as Monk says, "Come on, Ham, let's proposition some of them snappy-looking officers on that battleship." What...? But no. It's completely innocent and dead butch. The two want to find some hunks to unload their girlfriends on, since the ladies are starting to get matrimonial ideas. Taken out of context, it's quite a line for Monk to deliver, though.) Ham gets one of his better scenes when a crook has the gall to criticize his clothes. "Tenth Avenue hand-me-downs," sneers the guy who calls himself Prince Albert.* "Those sack-makers haven't any right to call themselves tailors." Well. I thought Ham would burst a blood vessel in his head and die of an aneurysm on the spot. ("Ham turned purple, tried to say several things, and succeeded in sounding like a dog caught under a fence.") Some guys know how to get under your skin. After the first two-thirds of the story, Doc seems to snap out of it and start taking command of the situation. At one point, he does something totally inexplicable by surreptitiously gassing Monk, Ham and a tagalong without their knowing it and doing a recon. I always smile when Doc performs some little deed that seems either pointless or downright clumsy, because it always means he's figured things out and is setting everyone up for the big showdown. He's a bit late getting in gear this time out, but THE SUBMARINE MYSTERY is still good fun in the middle range of the books between THE SARGASSO OGRE and THE MEN WHO SMILED NO MORE. ________ *I will never know how Lester Dent resisted the temptation to have this guy arrested at the end of the book, just so Monk could say something like, "Now, he IS in the can."

THE GIGGLING GHOSTS (Aug 9, 2001) From July 1938, this is fast-moving and enjoyable, although definitely a minor case for Doc and the boys. Instead of a huge threat to the peace of the world, we have here a small group of crooks scheming to buy land in New Jersey by frightening people into selling their homes. There's a bit of history here. In December 1937, the Lincoln Tunnel had been opened to traffic from midtown Manhattan, and land in New Jersey (which previously was low valued) suddenly became much more desirable. So the idea of greedy real estate developers trying to find a way to force homeowners out was not unlikely. Of course, instead of threats and force, the villains here fake an earth tremor which has supposedly released dangerous gas into the area. This unknown gas causes uncontrollable giggling and eventual death, so evacuation is necessary and all seems to be going according to plan-- until the meddling bronze man and his five friends stick their noses in. Bah! For once, the deception is obvious to the readers from the start (we see the crooks sneaking into the museum and colleges where there are seismographs, to make fake readings of an earthquake), and the 'ghosts' of the title are just thugs planting the gas. But as Doc and the five investigate. events move quickly and inventively enough to keep the story interesting. My only reservation is that literally as soon as Doc rescues Monk and Ham, the crooks capture Renny, Long Tom and Johnny! Come on, these crooks should not be that hard to handle. There is a great scene where Doc is trying to find a way to attack a penthouse stronghold of the crooks, and he decides to land his autogyro right on the roof. (He lowers three people tied up with his cord over the edge of a building, seeming to take it for granted he can do this.) The Man of Bronze is in good form for the most part, taking time to work in the Jersey hospitals where the gas victims are being treated. He does pull one of his rather mean charades on two crooks, trapping them in a submerged diving bell which begins to leak, in a subterfuge to frighten information out of them. It does work, and although truth serum hypnosis would have done the trick, readers would quickly have become disinterested as Doc loaded that scopolamine syringe once again. Ham gets to do some valuable work in this story. For a change, his legal ability is put to good use as he staffs and runs Doc's relief agency. This buys homes from fleeing owners at a fair price and sells them back without a profit once the emergency is over. We also learn that Ham has a law firm of his own which is set up to function while he's out adventuring. That would make a cool short story. Ham's staff at the Brooks Agency would be hard at work dealing with all the consequences of Doc's war on crime. "Another lawsuit from the Blue Wizard's attorney." Probably Ham himself only appeared as needed in difficult cases or to make executive decisions. Some attorney named Mason would run the firm on a day to day basis... There is some understated humour here as Johnny throws a yelling fit against a rival geologist who thinks the earthquake was genuine (it didn't register on Doc's seismograph). Johnny dislikes reporters because of the way they describe his appearance but reporters like his big words, because they add colorful detail to a story. And I absolutely loved the moment where Johnny gets to tongue-tied trying to sum up the mystery. Long Tom chimes in, "It's got us superamalgamated," and Doc replies slyly, "It would superamalgamate anybody." Every now and then you get the feeling these guys are actually life-long friends. Also of historic interest is a scene set at the World's Fair, still under construction but with much already completed. Nine months later, the story of THE WORLD'S FAIR GOBLIN could easily have taken place before the official opening (references to crowds could be editorial insertions), despite Philip Jose Farmer's dismissal of that story as 'fictional'. Monk and Ham panic a bit here as they think a mechanical dinosaur is real (of course a few years earlier they had been running for their lives from genuine dinosaurs, so their reaction is understandable.) The cover to the original pulp magazine shows Doc casually hanging over the roof of a city building, holding a slim redhead with one arm. Our hero has a distinctly upper-class collegiate look, wearing a sleeveless red sweater over a white polo shirt. It's executed well enough, but I have to wonder why the pulp covers so often chose a minor moment from the story to illustrate. (But then, considering how well the magazine sold in its day, they knew what they were doing.) James Bama's painting for the Bantam paperback is one of his best. Against a murky background featuring three vague ghost-like shapes (with white eyespots), the figure of Doc stands out vividly. He's wearing an authentic-looking gas mask and he's in an unusually belligerent pose-- the clenched fists look like they're a second away from swinging. Outstanding work.

THE MUNITIONS MASTER (July 4, 2004) From August 1938, THE MUNITIONS MASTER is a wild rollercoaster ride of a story. Written by Harold A. Davis, it's best enjoyed if you crank your suspension of disbelief up as far as it will go. If you can accept that Doc has a 'radioactive telescope' , can disguise himself and another person to look like each other (in less than a minute) or that he carries in his vest chemicals which (from the ground) can start a rainstorm, then you're in for a lot of fun and excitement. This is as far over the top as a Doc novel gets. The villain is called the Munitions Master because he intends to supply advanced weapons to different countries as soon as he gets World war II underway, a few years early. Carloff Traniv stands six feet four, an impressive mastermind with hard eyes under thick brows, and curly black hair. He seems to be very much an evil counterpart to Doc Savage. For one thing, he has a troop of brainwashed zombie soldiers who have undergone a surgical operation which destroyed their free will. (Remind you of the Crime College?) Traniv also is a top inventive genius who comes up with small radio-controlled 'flying machine guns', aerial torpedoes, a paste which ignites on a radio signal, an artificial larnyx which imitates voices, a thermite powder released behind a plane which destroys any pursuers flying into it and much more. For once, Doc is up against an opponent with gadgets just as neat. Carloff Traniv could have carried his own series, as Fu Manchu did, trying to take over the world in each book. And Traniv is likely to be guilty of more mass murder than any fiend in the entire Doc saga. I lost count, but he sinks the U.S.S. Georgia, killing all hands; he sinks a Japanese destoyer, murders uncounted numbers of Chinese troops, and mutilates hundreds of marching French soldiers by making their legs melt off, then does the same to the Guard in front of Buckingham Palace. And THEN he cripples three regiments of Mexican regulars with the mysterious flaming amputations. That's the highest body count of any villain Doc encounters. The nations of the world are within a few hours of full scale war as Traniv's atrocities (which he blames on the captive Doc) have the fleets sailing out and the bombers on their way. He even kidnaps and assassinates an unnamed 'Dictator' who resembles Hitler, just to stir things up more. The book is quick and lively but it's difficult to read it without saying "Oh, come ON!" every few pages. The cover of the Bantam reprint shows Doc encased in a thin shell of ice, complete with icicles hanging off his arms. Traniv captures the bronze man by vacuum freezing him (much like instant coffee). Not only does being trapped in an airless casing of ice not kill him outright, but Doc is able to respond to the sudden chilling blast by lowering his body temperature and breathing enough to survive-- then later raising his body heat in an induced fever that melts the ice. Yoga masters wish they knew that little technique. I do love the way Davis treats Chemistry as the sixth aide. My pet theory that this peculiar ape-like creature is actually a near-human hominid gets a lot of support in Davis' stories. Chemistry fights with his fists, understands English better than a dog or horse, and is even captured twice (tied up and kept a prisoner just like Monk and Ham). It's interesting that Doc is prepared to take a measure that will kill hundreds of men, reluctantly but unavoidably, to prevent a global conflict that would mean the deaths of millions. At the same time, when he operates to restore free will to the zombie soldiers, he is visibly happy. "The work of a surgeon was one of the things he did that he enjoyed most." Like THE GREEN DEATH and THE MOUNTAIN MONSTER, this book is more outlandish and far-fetched than Lester Dent's writing, but it's a good change of pace. Certainly no one involved with Doc Savage's magazine intended for readers to take the adventures too seriously.

THE RED TERRORS (June 2, 2001) First, a SPOILER ALERT. If you haven't read this book and want to be surprised when you do, this review will give away the plot so be advised. From September 1938, THE RED TERRORS is an odd entry in the Doc Savage series. This was in the period when Harold A. Davis was writing THE LIVING FIRE MENACE, THE GREEN DEATH, THE MOUNTAIN MONSTER and THE MUNITIONS MASTER. I have a slight suspicion that Davis did the first draft of this book and Lester Dent had to do a major rewrite. It has the confident, smooth flow of Dent's work but details seem strangely wrong. It is odd when Renny, Johnny and Long Tom walk on stage with no introduction, not even their full names or occupations, which Dent always mentioned. The playful arguing between Monk and Ham has an off feel to it, too. As for why Philip Jose Farmer classified this book as spurious, a re-reading shows no clear reason. It's a lost race tale (certainly not new for Doc) and the breathing pills were used in MYSTERY UNDER THE SEA previously. The pseudo science is a bit more far fetched than usual but not that much. Doc himself says the situation is "highly extraordinary but not impossible." The actual villain is Doctor Collendar, a heartless plastic surgeon who has gotten rich from giving criminals new faces and removing their fingerprints. He is pulled overboard from an ocean liner but a mysterious 'red thing' and presumed dead but he turns up unharmed two months later in New York City, scuffling with another red creature. Checking the doctor's wrecked office, Doc and the boys find a piece of hide torn off by a thrown typewriter and the skin is red. With that, the hunt is on. Following the trail of the captured Renny and Long Tom, our heroes end up in a diving tank descending into the south Atlantic. Here they find one of the strangest lost cities Doc and the boys ever encounter. Inside the mouth of an ancient volcanic crater is a huge pocket of strange blue gas heavier than the sea water above it and living here is a colony of people descended from the ancient Egyptians. They get oxygen from pills of a strange chemical they have devised, which also allows the surface people to survive in the thick gas. Details of their way of life are thown in with some inventiveness. The priests wear protective coverall garments of red metallic mesh, with fins which apparently work like the wings of a manta ray. These were the creatures abducting Doctor Collendar--because of a diptheria epidemic, they need him to supply them with the antitoxin. But being the kind of ruthless opportunist he is, Collendar collects a crew of thugs and an arsenal of underwater torpedoes in a plan to loot the underwater city. Doc, Monk and Ham are (as often happens) caught between two warring groups. There are a number of unique incidents here, which may indicate the writing of Davis. but nothing to clinch it. For one thing, the narrative takes place over a long period of time. Doc spends nine weeks undercover, doing research on oysters and starfish. Then when Renny and Long Tom are snatched, Doc searches for them for almost four weeks with no result. It's unusual for an aide to be to seriously injured the way that Johnny has an arm and both legs broken. He hangs around headquarters in a wheelchair and seems to think he can still function on a long ocean-based adventure. When a girl starts to faint, both Monk and Ham lunge for her; they collide accidentally with each other and she thumps to the floor anyway. The strangest moment occurs when Monk and Ham awaken in strange blue gas after they expect to be drowned. They both are convinced they've died and neither was ready. The two apologize to each other, saying they never meant half the things they said to each other. But in less than a minute, the insults and fussing start up again. The style of Lester Dent shows when he describes Doc obtaining a phone number by listening to the clicks of the dial being turned and compares it to the way a trained telegraph operator counts dots. I like the way Doc's amazing feats are compared to more well-known abilities; it makes them a bit more believable. Dent says elsewhere that Doc climbing the outside of a skyscraper is 'the human fly art' and many people could do it if they weren't afraid of falling. One detail which troubles me for some reason is that Doc's ocean going 200-foot yacht is crewed by graduates of his crime college. I know, I know...he's giving useful employment to people who otherwise would be in prison or executed but this is just plain creepy. How can you chat with someone who tried to kill you a year ago without having it make the situation awkward, especially if you're trusting them to operate your diving tank? This has a nightmarish undertone to it. It's like Doc is creating his own labor force of vicious thugs who have been brainwashed into being loyal servants. Even if Doc has faith in his technique, I'm sure the five aides were uncomfortable dealing with these resurrected men.