Mad Eyes

Doc Savage (Bantam) #34

by Kenneth Robeson (House Name)

Suddenly the air was filled with a thousand glistening reptiles. Suddenly Doc Savage became the cruelest of mass murderers. Suddenly the world was threatened with extinction by the contamination of its water supply. In the space of twenty-four hours the Earth became a seething storm of agony as the menace of the slithering madness struck in all its fury!

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

128 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1937

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

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

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.

[Dennis · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was reading this story and enjoying it until the end. The last four chapters or so. The author slows down the action, becomes overly descriptive of the scenery and the action unnecessarily. The last four chapters really dragged. I was thinking how I couldn’t wait until I finished the book. Always a bad sign while involved with a read. Again, the author describes Habeus as an Australian hog. I can guess what author was wearing the Kenneth Robeson mask for this book.

All of Doc’s men are in this caper. Doc Savage is not involved in this book until the end chapters. All of the action takes place in NYC with the last five chapters located in New York State.

As anticipated, this book was authored by Lawrence Donovan. Not one of his better efforts. It was published May, 1937.

[Jeff Chase · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the 51st Doc Savage book - I’m reading them in the order they were originally published in the pulp magazine.

This has been the most disappointing. I almost doubt that it was written by the regular author. The only thing good about it was that the entire team worked together on this one, instead of one or more being absent.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uncharacteristically, I did not enjoy this Doc Savage story.

[Duane Olds · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know why but this one didn't do anything for me, in fact it was a chore to finish. It just seemed that if the bad guys had a 'fake' Doc then they could have wrecked more havoc faster to destroy him, his 5 associates and his name but instead they took their own sweet time. Yeah, thats a great idea, give the real doc savage time to fins you and stop your plan.

But even as har as this was to get through, it still gave us a few literary gems, like:-----
'Mad Eyes' (Dude, look out! Those eyes look pissed!)

“Grab ’em!” he shrieked. “That one’s got ten heads!” (and he only brought 9 hats! One of them is going to get sunburned!)

'He repeated a telephone order to have Doc Savage picked up as soon as he could be located.' (Or just bring him in, you don't have to pick him up, he's pretty heavy)

"He kept sayin' he was seein' somethin' like the maybes." (What? How's about you repeat that, but in English this time)

'Professor Spargrove stroked his mutton-chop whiskers.' (and whiskered his pork chops)

"My good gosh!" (Language!)

'Renny had an engineer's eye.' (Ewww! Give it back, that engineer might need them)

'The sucking tide of the East River touched it.' (dude, this East River Tide totally sucks)

"And you still think he's on the square?" (no, he's on the Roundabout)

'THIS Jonas Hydebottom was thoroughly a tough customer.' (that's why he loved to save at Walmart)

"I'll see you in hell before I give you a dime!" (OK, I guess I'll see you there... HEY! Wait a minute!)

You can also add in this (Insert your won joke here) line:---
"Then this Monk and Ham come along with their menagerie, and Ham beats it."

We were able to finally put a number on our Superamalgamated count, and that number was 8. In terms of a Holy cow count that was 11 and that stupid detective said 'Well, Well, Well' 18 times.

I'm wondering if i'm getting burnt out on these adventures seeing as how this is my 34th one in a row. Who knows...oh well, well, well...on to the next one.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

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!

[David Fackelman · Rating 1 out of 5]

Yeah, this one is bad. The style reminds me of my own writing from elementary school. I've read in some of the other reviews that this story was composed by a different ghost writer than Lester Dent. I don't know for sure but it sure seems likely. The sentence structure is short and choppy without feeling or color. I'm skipping this one which leaves me only 102 Doc Savage books left to go in my current collection...

[Tim · Rating 1 out of 5]

Ouch. Laurence Donovan strikes. Doc Savage's most imaginative yet god-awful part-time ghost writer turns in a convoluted, hideously written tale with an interesting central premise. As usual, Donovan sinks this baby in short, choppy sentences that destroy momentum, handles the main characters erratically and generally sabotages his good ideas.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 3 out of 5]

An unusual adventure in which Doc Savage barely appears during the first 50 pages, while his aides cope with suspicious cops, impossible thefts and insane people screaming about unspeakable monsters. Not bad at all.

[Keith B · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 for Nostalgia. A rambling story that could have done and went so much further than it did. Pretty confident I read this once only.