With the fourth chapter of DC Comics’ 1990 story The Conflagration Man, the unique storytelling conjunction of the two great pulp crimefighters came to its conclusion. As it had done with each preceding chapter, it shifted from one ongoing series to the other, this time moving from Chapter 3 in The Shadow Strikes, to ChapterContinue reading “Doc Savage and The Shadow together – Part 4”
Tag Archives: Lester Dent
Doc Savage and The Shadow together – Part 1
Given that they were arguably the most popular fictional characters of their era, owned and produced by the same publisher, it’s strange that there were not more occasions when Doc Savage and The Shadow crossed paths. Certainly it is understandable in the sense that the primary writers of each, Lester Dent for Doc Savage andContinue reading “Doc Savage and The Shadow together – Part 1”
The Myth and Psychology of “Up From Earth’s Center” – Conclusion
At the end of Part 3 of this article, after exploring this story’s unique position as one of the final tales closing out the era of the hero pulps, as well as the narrative strangeness of the beginning and middle parts of the story itself, there was a portentous question remaining: was the Hell encounteredContinue reading “The Myth and Psychology of “Up From Earth’s Center” – Conclusion”
The Myth and Psychology of “Up From Earth’s Center” – Part 3
In Part 1 and Part 2 of this article, numerous qualities about the story that have built it up into pulp-mythic status were explored — qualities which had very little to do with the story itself. The fact that it was the final issue in the iconic Doc Savage series undoubtedly gave it extra weight,Continue reading “The Myth and Psychology of “Up From Earth’s Center” – Part 3″
The Myth and Psychology of “Up From Earth’s Center” – Part 2
In Part 1 of this article, I discussed some of the factors that built up the legend of this unique story. In a way, a perfect storm of literary weight had grown around it by the time it was discussed by Philip José Farmer in his 1973 book Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. Literary weightContinue reading “The Myth and Psychology of “Up From Earth’s Center” – Part 2″
The Myth and Psychology of “Up From Earth’s Center” – Part 1
As the last issue in the pulp run of Doc Savage magazine, its publication heralding the end of the hero pulps in 1949, the story Up From Earth’s Center has achieved something of mythic status. On the surface, its themes are worthy of that status — after 16 years of epic storytelling, the inference wasContinue reading “The Myth and Psychology of “Up From Earth’s Center” – Part 1″
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”
Review of the 1948 Doc Savage novel “I Died Yesterday”
Since I first heard of it in 1973 (it got a lot of attention in Philip José Farmer’s Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, which I acquired in that year) to 1988, when Doc Savage Omnibus #5 was released, the novel “I Died Yesterday” was one of my Doc holy grails. The mention by Farmer thatContinue reading “Review of the 1948 Doc Savage novel “I Died Yesterday””
Doc Talos 