Reading Room: DOC SAVAGE "The Man of Bronze" Part 3

We Have Already Seen...

Adventurer Doc Savage and his five associates, having survived an assassination attempt by a gunman in Mayan ceremonial garb at their NYC headquarters, are proceeding to the Central American country of Hidalgo to investigate the suspicious death of Savage's explorer father.

As they come in for a landing at the Hidalgo airport...

Are Monk's buddies dead?

Did Ham's suit get wrinkled?

And, where's the Man of Bronze when you really need him?

Tune in Tomorrow
for both the Astounding Answers and This Titanic Tale's Cataclysmic Conclusion!

Same Blog Time!

Same Blog Feed!

Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Order...

Doc Savage

The Man of Bronze

Reading Room: DOC SAVAGE "The Man of Bronze" Part 2

When Last We Left Our Hero(s)...

Art by John and Sal Buscema

Learning of his father's death, adventurer Doc Savage returns to his headquarters in New York City, where he is greeted by his five associates, each an expert in a different science or discipline.
Suspecting foul play, they are about to read the elder Savage's personal papers to ascertain clues, when an assassination attempt is made on Doc.
The group (except for Ham, the lawyer, sent on another assignment) now goes in pursuit of the gunman...

To Be Continued, Tomorrow...

Same Blog Time!

Same Blog Feed!

Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Order...

Doc Savage

The Man of Bronze

Reading Room: DOC SAVAGE "The Man of Bronze" Part 1

In the early 1970s, bolstered by the success of Conan the Barbarian, both DC and Marvel attempted to relaunch other pulp characters who had successful paperback reprint series as comic book titles.
Hoping that the audiences for them would carry over as Conan's had, Marvel acquired the rights to Doc Savage, while DC snagged both The Shadow and The Avenger.
The Doc title lasted only eight issues from 1972-73, but the license remained in Marvel's hands when the George Pal movie came along and Marvel invoked their right to do a comic based on the movie.

Compare with page 7 below.

Since the flick was an adaptation of the novel The Man of Bronze, which Marvel had already used as the basis for the first two issues of their previous comic, it was decided to repackage that material as a double-sized one-shot to tie-in with the movie's release.
The art was modified to match the appearance of Doc in the movie, substituting an open-collared shirt for his Marvel-created blue vest and a buzz-cut for the James Bama/Bantam paperback "skullcap".
(I always wondered why Marvel didn't go with the torn-shirt look of the Bantam covers on the comics.
Maybe they didn't want people confusing Doc with their resident torn-shirt aficionado, Nick Fury.
Thankfully, they returned to the torn shirt "look" on the b/w magazine covers by Ken Barr.)
The original two-issue comic adaptation had updated the 1933 novel to the then-present 1970s.
The Giant-Size Doc Savage "re-mastering" modified the technology back to 1930s levels, except the adaptation's replacing of the Mayan assassin's elephant gun with a laser rifle, which remained!
They also re-did Monk's hair from the incorrect black-with-blue-highlights to the red color it had in the pulp stories (and the remainder of the Marvel run).

Without further adieu, Part 1 of Giant-Size Doc Savage begins now...

Tune in tomorrow
as Doc and his buddies go in pursuit of the assassin...

Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Order...

Doc Savage

The Man of Bronze

Behold the Bond Bunnies!

Here's James Bond 007 action...Bunny style!

Happy Easter!

Much MORE 30-Second Bunnies action HERE!

Video Fridays: The Man of Bronze IS the Man of Steel!

The recent Doc Savage posts have produced some of the biggest hit counts this blog has ever seen!
So, for this week's videos, we're going with The Man of Bronze and Ron Ely as two Clarks, one Bronze, one Steel!

First up, the original theatrical trailer...Have no fear! The Man of Bronze is HERE!

The two major fight scenes in the flick in one clip!

And a very special treat: Ron Ely as the Golden Age Superman!

 From The Adventures of Superboy third season finale; "The Road to Hell Part II"

Don't worry, the opening synopsis gives you all the background you need...

Coming soon: The Doc Savage stories from Marvel Two-in-One and Giant-Size Spider-Man, as well as the Giant-Size Doc Savage one-shot, none of which are included in DC's trade paperback reprint! PLUS: the not-reprinted text features and pin-ups from the various Marvel comics and b/w magazines!
PLUS:
The Shadow's Silver Age run from Archie Comics!
The COMPLETE Fox/Farrell Phantom Lady by Matt Baker!
The Green Hornet (Golden AND Silver Age)!
The SECOND Captain Marvel! (The one between DC's SHAZAM! and Marvel's Mar-Vell!)
Jet Dream and Her StuntGirl CounterSpies: the Complete Saga!
..and much MORE superhero(ine) stuff from 1938-1978!
Don't miss any of the fun!