The first two parts of this article were in chronological order, exploring the characterization and presentation of Princess Monja in the 1972 Marvel Doc Savage comic, and the 1987 DC comics series. Monja would next appear in the 90’s, when Millennium, a smaller but very ambitious comics company, acquired the Doc Savage rights. Millennium’s seriesContinue reading “Paris and Pistols: Princess Monja in the Doc Savage comics – Part 3 of 4”
Author Archives: R. Paul Sardanas
Talos Fan Fiction Contest Entry #7 – 1950
Note from Doc Talos author/contest judge R. Paul Sardanas: New Yorker Joe S. Stuart, master of the vignette, gives us a charming glance at the “Year After The Hero Pulps Died”, from the point of view of the heroes. And who among us here in 2021 wouldn’t faint dead away to see a bundle ofContinue reading “Talos Fan Fiction Contest Entry #7 – 1950”
Courage and Tragedy: Princess Monja in the Doc Savage comics – Part 2 of 4
After the briefest of appearances in the Marvel comics adaptation of The Man of Bronze in 1972, Monja would not appear in the comics again until 1987. And that appearance was very odd indeed. DC Comics had acquired the rights to do Doc Savage, and based on the success of Howard Chaykin’s revisionist modern TheContinue reading “Courage and Tragedy: Princess Monja in the Doc Savage comics – Part 2 of 4”
Rare Orchid: Princess Monja in the Doc Savage comics – Part 1 of 4
My first sight of Monja, the lovely (if romantically ill-fated) Mayan princess of the Valley of the Vanished, came on the cover of the 1972 comic Doc Savage #2, with art by Jim Steranko. Of course the woman behind Doc is not named, but who else could it be? And it was certainly a dynamicContinue reading “Rare Orchid: Princess Monja in the Doc Savage comics – Part 1 of 4”
1976 Norma Dent Interview by David Anthony Kraft – and a sad farewell to DAK
Author, publisher, critic and interviewer David Anthony Kraft passed away a couple of weeks ago, on May 19, from complications of COVID-19. Probably not a household name among Doc fans, he authored numerous comics for Marvel in the 1970’s, and went on to found the periodical Comics Interview. I didn’t have a personal relationship withContinue reading “1976 Norma Dent Interview by David Anthony Kraft – and a sad farewell to DAK”
Talos Fan Fiction Contest Entry #6 – Esperanza
Note from Doc Talos author/contest judge R. Paul Sardanas: Grace Ximenez is something of a celebrity in adventurous corners of the internet — she has, for the past ten years or so, run a highly successful adult fantasy/peril forum, which is filled not only with roleplayers, but writers, artists, and filmmakers. She has authored independentContinue reading “Talos Fan Fiction Contest Entry #6 – Esperanza”
Talos Fan Fiction Contest Entry #5 – Silver Legacy
Note from Doc Talos author/contest judge R. Paul Sardanas: Atom Mudman Bezecny’s story is an ambitious weaving of elements from across a spectrum of Doc Savage works. She blends the pulp and comic worlds, and infuses them with a powerful explicit tone of eros/thanatos in the style of A Feast Unknown. The result is aContinue reading “Talos Fan Fiction Contest Entry #5 – Silver Legacy”
Transformations from the world of “A Feast Unknown”, Part 1
The Doc Talos books are in many ways a pastiche of a pastiche. To explore facets of pulp heroism and adventure that would never be allowed in canonical or mainstream works featuring Doc Savage or Tarzan, author Philip José Farmer, for his 1969 novel A Feast Unknown, shifted to doppelgangers of those iconic characters, DocContinue reading “Transformations from the world of “A Feast Unknown”, Part 1″
The Thousand-Headed Man (almost) on film
Much has certainly been written about the Doc Savage film that never was. In brief, the story was that producers Mark Goodson & Bill Todman, interested in capitalizing on the success of the James Bond films, acquired the rights to Doc Savage from Conde Nast in 1966, and went into pre-production on a film, toContinue reading “The Thousand-Headed Man (almost) on film”
The strange days of Doc Savage, Science Detective
For a brief period before Doc Savage magazine ended its run in 1949 (and the hero pulps as a genre essentially disappeared), the magazine changed its title, adding “Science Detective” after Doc’s name. That decision was reversed just before the end, with an attempted return to style and appearance of the 1930’s pulps, but itContinue reading “The strange days of Doc Savage, Science Detective”
Doc Talos 