The Roar Devil

Doc Savage (Bantam) #88

by Kenneth Robeson (House Name), Lester Dent

WHO IS DOC SAVAGE?

To the world at large, Doc Savage is a strange, mysterious figure of glistening bronze skin and golden eyes. To his amazing co-adventurers - the five greatest brains ever assembled in one group - he is a man of superhuman strength and protean genius, whose life is dedicated to the destruction of evil-doers. To his fans he is one of the greatest adventure heroes of all time, whose fantastic exploits are unequalled for hair-raising thrills, breathtaking escapes and blood-curdling excitement.

UNNATURAL PHENOMENON

The Roar Devil - he shook the earth. He stopped all sound. He had a vast organization of desperate criminals at his command. Now the good citizens of Powertown were terrorized. At any moment the Roar Devil might strike again. They sent for the only person whose cunning and skill could defeat him - THE MAN OF BRONZE.

Genres: Adventure, Fiction, Pulp, Action, Mystery, Crime, Science Fiction

153 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1935

About the author

Kenneth Robeson was the house name used by Street and Smith Publications as the author of their popular character Doc Savage and later The Avenger. Though most Doc Savage stories were written by the author Lester Dent, there were many others who contributed to the series, including:

William G. Bogart
Evelyn Coulson
Harold A. Davis
Lawrence Donovan
Alan Hathway
W. Ryerson Johnson

Lester Dent is usually considered to be the creator of Doc Savage. In the 1990s Philip José Farmer wrote a new Doc Savage adventure, but it was published under his own name and not by Robeson. Will Murray has since taken up the pseudonym and continued writing Doc Savage books as Robeson.

All 24 of the original stories featuring The Avenger were written by Paul Ernst, using the Robeson house name. In order to encourage sales Kenneth Robeson was credited on the cover of The Avenger magazine as "the creator of Doc Savage" even though Lester Dent had nothing to do with The Avenger series. In the 1970s, when the series was extended with 12 additional novels, Ron Goulart was hired to become Robeson.

Reviews

[Tobin Elliott]

This one barely made an impression on me. It was just kind of there on the page. Things happened. Other things happened. Renny was there, then he mostly wasn't. Monk and Ham were there, then they mostly weren't.

The best part of this book was, as others have said, was the wild card, Retta Kenn. She was basically a ballsier Pat Savage who insulted Doc and didn't listen to him, didn't trust him, and messed with his plans. Lester Dent should have jettisoned some of the other five members of Doc's band that he obviously didn't enjoy using, and brought her in.

[Marilyn]

This is one of the rare books in ther series where you see Doc being bested for awhile.

[Keith B]

5 for nostalgia. One of the more elaborate DS stories but no better than the others. Doc is a little more vulnerable in this one and in today's world, the female protagonist would have garnered her own series. One of the more capable female characters encountered.

[Frank]

Read this Doc adventure in the 70s

[Devin Coryell]

3.25 / 5 Needed some polishing; it felt like I was reading a first draft.

[Dennis]

A mystery in the hills of New York State. Doc and his crew, minus Long Tom, who is on business, must solve the mystery of the quaking and soundkessbess that has plagued Piwertown.

[Jeff J.]

A pulp novel featuring Doc Savage. A sonic weapon wreaks havoc.

[Craig]

The first Doc Savage story appeared in 1933 and the series ran in pulp and later digest format into 1949. Bantam reprinted the entire series in paperback with wonderful, iconic covers starting in the 1960's. Doc was arguably the first great modern superhero with a rich background, continuity, and mythos. The characterizations were far richer than was common for the pulps; his five associates and their sometimes-auxiliary, Doc's cousin Pat, and the pets Chemistry and Habeas Corpus, all had very distinctive characteristics and their byplay was frequently more entertaining that the current adventure-of-the-month. The settings were also fascinating: Doc's Fortress of Solitude, the Hidalgo Trading Company (which served as a front for his armada of vehicles), and especially the mysterious 86th floor headquarters all became familiar haunts to the reader, and the far-flung adventures took the intrepid band to exotic and richly-described locations all over the world. The adventures were always fast-paced and exciting, from the early apocalyptic world-saving extravaganzas of the early days to the latter scientific-detective style shorter works of the post-World War Two years. There were always a few points that it was difficult to believe along the way, but there were always more ups than downs, and there was never, ever a dull moment. The Doc Savage books have always been my favorite entertainments... I was always, as Johnny would say, superamalgamated!

[Tim]

This 1935 Doc Savage adventure reads like a 1940 tale (they got less fantastic and more realistic as time went on). A baddie profits by creating quakes at a dam project. "The Roar Devil" is helped by an unusually spitfirey (?) and of course, beautiful, woman in the mix. She has some nice exchanges with Doc. Bantam reprinted most of the best early tales pretty quickly, so one suspects they thought this was pretty ordinary, too, to wait until #88 in the series to publish a 1935 adventure. Perfectly decent, then, but unspectacular.

[Fraser Sherman]

This book is a winner less for the plot than for the female of the issue, Retta Kenn, a wealthy woman with a taste for trouble who gets involved in Doc's fight against the title mastermind (who has a mysterious super-weapon that creates both devastating roars and absolute silence). Retta can hold her own against Doc's men in a fight, slip out of bonds, shoot and frustrates Doc to the point he actually loses his cool. A shame she never appears again.

[Little Timmy]

Of all the pulp era heroes few stand out above the crowd, Doc Savage is one of these. With his 5 aides and cousin he adventures across the world. Fighting weird menaces, master criminals and evil scientists Doc and the Fab 5 never let you down for a great read. These stories have all you need; fast paced action, weird mystery, and some humor as the aides spat with each other. My highest recommendation.

[bluetyson]

The Roar Devil by Kenneth Robeson

[Dale Rosso]

Enjoyable read in the Doc Savage series.

[Ronald]

read some time in 1980