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Doc Savage (Bantam) #59
The Yellow Cloud
THE THING FROM THE SKY
The navy's new ultra-secret super weapon vanished from the skies-pilot and plane eaten up by a yellow cloud a quarter of a mile long. The country's military safety hung in the balance until THE MAN OF BRONZE uncovered the deadliest spy apparatus ever.
The navy's new ultra-secret super weapon vanished from the skies-pilot and plane eaten up by a yellow cloud a quarter of a mile long. The country's military safety hung in the balance until THE MAN OF BRONZE uncovered the deadliest spy apparatus ever.
121 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1939
2 people are currently reading
92 people want to read
About the author
Kenneth Robeson
918 books134 followersKenneth 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 29, 2021
The Doc Savage books are short fast-paced books and I decided to read one that's been lying around the basement in order to reach my reading goal for this year (2021). I read "The Yellow Cloud," the 59th outing for the enigmatic Man of Bronze, published in 1939 (all of 121 pages!). In this one, the Navy has lost an ultra-secret aircraft, which was apparently eaten by a yellow cloud. Even worse, the plane was being flown by Colonel John "Rennie" Renwick, one of Doc's "co-adventurers." It's Doc to the rescue--with some but not all of his team with him this time. However, this is one adventure in which Doc is accompanied by his athletic sister, Patricia. She's able to do some fighting but still gets kidnapped and is in need of rescue by our hero. I enjoy the adventures that Doc Savage gets into, especially with the 1930s setting. This outing, however, is one of the weaker ones I've read. I suppose the earlier ones are among the best. I believe this one was written by Lester Dent ( 1904-1959) as "Kenneth Robeson." And I think Doc Savage fans would all agree that the Doc books written by Dent were the best!
February 26, 2016
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.
October 15, 2016
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!
April 18, 2016
The side effect of reading this series so much faster than I did originally is that weaknesses sometimes jump out at me. While this is a fun one, concerning a yellow cloud pursuing and swallowing experimental Army aircraft (the book opens with some finger-wagging about how antiquated our military is), it's too obvious that it's just a reworking of TERROR IN THE NAVY with a simpler plot. It does give a good bit of action to Pat Savage, and has one of the odder ethnic supporting characters (an Eskimo who speaks perfect English and is also a practical joker). Doc Savage-expert Bobb Cotter thinks it's ghost-written, though apparently the publisher's records don't say so.s
April 4, 2025
I finished my last Doc Savage adventure, The Submarine Mystery, which I downloaded to my e-library, so I thought that was it for Doc and his crew … but I found another site where I could continue adding more Doc Savage adventures to my collection. I still have plenty of room on my “cyber bookshelves,” so my collection of Doc Savage stories will no doubt increase. Since I try and read them in the general sequence of which they were published, The Yellow Cloud is next on the list, as it was published in February of 1939, seven months after The Submarine Mystery hit the newsstands.
The Yellow Cloud opens with Renny testing a secret Army plane with the code name X-Ship. The story was written in 1939 as Europe was in the midst of an arms race in case a future war was to break out … one did seven months later when the German dictator, Adolf Hitler invaded Poland in September of 1939.
We learn that Renny, a colonel in the Army Reserve, has been “asked” to test fly this new experimental airplane. He brings Monk and Ham with him to the North Carolina coast, probably to Kitty Hawk, the famous location where the Wright Brothers tested their experimental plane thirty-six years earlier. Anyway, as Renny was flying, a huge yellow cloud engulfed the plane; he and the plane soon vanished, but not before Renny made a few aerial photographs and dropped them overboard.
Another incident involving the mysterious yellow cloud occurred in Philadelphia later that day involving a female pilot named “Brick” Palmer, and her brother as his plane was commandeered by this mysterious yellow phenomenon; she gets away but her brother and his plane vanish. Monk and Ham are notified by the Army that she is in Philadelphia. They interview her and learn she wants Doc's help to find her brother. As Monk and Ham were conducting their interview, a group of thugs jumped them at the airport and ultimately kidnap Brick.
Utterly dejected, Ham and Monk return to headquarters where they are tricked into accompanying a small man with his group of thugs to an old steamer on the Hudson River; here they are almost killed by these bad guys who want the pictures of the yellow cloud that Renny took just before he and the experimental plane vanished in thin air. Of course, Doc arrived earlier at this dilapidated hideout, rescued his guys, and retrieved the pictures that the bad guys grabbed from Monk.
So, we have another mystery involving another gang with another mastermind calling the shots. Renny is missing in action along with the X-Ship and Brick’s brother. Chapter V is titled, “Television Mix-Up;” since television was in its infancy back in 1939, this chapter probably has something to do with a secret Army program … we’ll learn shortly what this chapter is about and more importantly, how the story progresses. The Yellow Cloud is another mystery involving Doc and his crew as they attempt to learn what happened to Renny and the X-Ship, the whereabouts of the missing pilot and his sister, and how the strange phenomenon in The Yellow Cloud is responsible for these diabolical events.
Reading further, we learn Chapter V is concerned with this experimental electronic media; in fact, Doc gives the reader an explanation concerning the theory of “radio-television.” As we read along, it is obvious to anyone who has read several of these Doc Savage stories that The Yellow Cloud was not written by Lester Dent; it was written by Evelyn Coulson, who happened to be Lester Dent’s secretary. She was also a part-time author, primarily writing “love stories” for various magazines.
The Yellow Cloud is a mystery that keeps the reader wondering who the mastermind is and what is the motive behind all this “cloak and dagger” stuff. Of course, Doc solves the mystery behind the yellow cloud, explaining everything to his crew at the end of the story, including the identity of the mastermind. There is a pretty good plot twist in the story that is revealed and cleared up with Doc’s summation. Also, one of the characters didn’t seem like his old self, which made for another interesting twist and some interesting reading.
Finally, the story deals with the war clouds that are gathering on the horizon; The Yellow Cloud was a contemporary story written seven months before the beginning of World War II. Europe was continuously in the news as the Axis powers were in the midst of preparing for a future European war; Americans were informed of the news of the day by their favorite daily newspapers and by a fledgling medium known as broadcast journalism, with the most famous broadcast journalist being Edward R. Murrow of CBS Radio. So, the European situation was front page news, and those Americans who owned a radio were informed nightly over the airwaves as to the seriousness of the situation, “over there.”
As previously mentioned, Lester, or in this case, Ms. Coulson wrote a story geared to its contemporary reading audience that dealt with the news of the day and is worthy of its five-star rating. And as much as we would like to believe, things really haven’t changed that much politically in the 86 years since this story was published; as I write this review, there are two “hot wars” going on in the world … one in the Middle East, and one on the European Continent. And Europe is in the midst of another arms race against yet another European dictator, who is guilty of invading a sovereign nation. Not much has changed on the world scene in those 86 years except the names of the players.
The Yellow Cloud opens with Renny testing a secret Army plane with the code name X-Ship. The story was written in 1939 as Europe was in the midst of an arms race in case a future war was to break out … one did seven months later when the German dictator, Adolf Hitler invaded Poland in September of 1939.
We learn that Renny, a colonel in the Army Reserve, has been “asked” to test fly this new experimental airplane. He brings Monk and Ham with him to the North Carolina coast, probably to Kitty Hawk, the famous location where the Wright Brothers tested their experimental plane thirty-six years earlier. Anyway, as Renny was flying, a huge yellow cloud engulfed the plane; he and the plane soon vanished, but not before Renny made a few aerial photographs and dropped them overboard.
Another incident involving the mysterious yellow cloud occurred in Philadelphia later that day involving a female pilot named “Brick” Palmer, and her brother as his plane was commandeered by this mysterious yellow phenomenon; she gets away but her brother and his plane vanish. Monk and Ham are notified by the Army that she is in Philadelphia. They interview her and learn she wants Doc's help to find her brother. As Monk and Ham were conducting their interview, a group of thugs jumped them at the airport and ultimately kidnap Brick.
Utterly dejected, Ham and Monk return to headquarters where they are tricked into accompanying a small man with his group of thugs to an old steamer on the Hudson River; here they are almost killed by these bad guys who want the pictures of the yellow cloud that Renny took just before he and the experimental plane vanished in thin air. Of course, Doc arrived earlier at this dilapidated hideout, rescued his guys, and retrieved the pictures that the bad guys grabbed from Monk.
So, we have another mystery involving another gang with another mastermind calling the shots. Renny is missing in action along with the X-Ship and Brick’s brother. Chapter V is titled, “Television Mix-Up;” since television was in its infancy back in 1939, this chapter probably has something to do with a secret Army program … we’ll learn shortly what this chapter is about and more importantly, how the story progresses. The Yellow Cloud is another mystery involving Doc and his crew as they attempt to learn what happened to Renny and the X-Ship, the whereabouts of the missing pilot and his sister, and how the strange phenomenon in The Yellow Cloud is responsible for these diabolical events.
Reading further, we learn Chapter V is concerned with this experimental electronic media; in fact, Doc gives the reader an explanation concerning the theory of “radio-television.” As we read along, it is obvious to anyone who has read several of these Doc Savage stories that The Yellow Cloud was not written by Lester Dent; it was written by Evelyn Coulson, who happened to be Lester Dent’s secretary. She was also a part-time author, primarily writing “love stories” for various magazines.
The Yellow Cloud is a mystery that keeps the reader wondering who the mastermind is and what is the motive behind all this “cloak and dagger” stuff. Of course, Doc solves the mystery behind the yellow cloud, explaining everything to his crew at the end of the story, including the identity of the mastermind. There is a pretty good plot twist in the story that is revealed and cleared up with Doc’s summation. Also, one of the characters didn’t seem like his old self, which made for another interesting twist and some interesting reading.
Finally, the story deals with the war clouds that are gathering on the horizon; The Yellow Cloud was a contemporary story written seven months before the beginning of World War II. Europe was continuously in the news as the Axis powers were in the midst of preparing for a future European war; Americans were informed of the news of the day by their favorite daily newspapers and by a fledgling medium known as broadcast journalism, with the most famous broadcast journalist being Edward R. Murrow of CBS Radio. So, the European situation was front page news, and those Americans who owned a radio were informed nightly over the airwaves as to the seriousness of the situation, “over there.”
As previously mentioned, Lester, or in this case, Ms. Coulson wrote a story geared to its contemporary reading audience that dealt with the news of the day and is worthy of its five-star rating. And as much as we would like to believe, things really haven’t changed that much politically in the 86 years since this story was published; as I write this review, there are two “hot wars” going on in the world … one in the Middle East, and one on the European Continent. And Europe is in the midst of another arms race against yet another European dictator, who is guilty of invading a sovereign nation. Not much has changed on the world scene in those 86 years except the names of the players.
September 19, 2009
Weak payoff of the mystery and reveal of the bad guy, but until that point and good, action packed read.
November 4, 2017
5 for Nostagia!!
May 9, 2024
Another day, another Doc Savage adventure
All these weird names, it's like this book was written by a middle schooler, or they were rejected characters from a James Bond movie.
All the sudden out of nowhere Monk decides to have plastic surgery? What the hell is going on?
You know, for a book about a yellow cloud they sure are beating around the bush and NOT LOOKING FOR A CLOUD
There sure were. Lots of short. Sentences in this.
But we were graced with some gems, like:----------
IT was too bad that nobody actually saw what happened to the new army X-ship on its test flight. (Yep, it was totally awesome, but you didn't see it happen so sucks to be you)
The army wasn't fooling that night. (The Army only fools on Thursday nights, and this being Tuesday so they weren't fooling)
Army, you better do something (Or this is going to be a short book)
So the army wasn't fooling. For once, actually, it wasn't. (We get it, the Army has no sense of humor, GET ON WITH IT!!)
The man who was associated with Doc Savage. (not to brag but me and doc are on a first name basis)
"Holy pups!" an army man said. (Watch the language!)
"A crunchy one. Kind of tinny." (It went great with milk as part of my complete breakfast!)
"Brick Palmer," the radio said.(And the morning wake up crew, 6-10 am, only on station S.A.V.A.G.E, all crunchy, tinny sounds with no commercials)
She straightened, looking foolish. (Unlike the Army, because they weren't fooling, for once)
She took out a handkerchief and began to choke it. (Tell your handkerchief friends what you saw here or you'll get the same!)
A State policeman arrived in a bad humor. (He wasn't fooled by the Army either)
"My name is Noe," the man said. "Heck Noe. A typical Eskimo name, as you may notice." (Heck Noe I didn't notice)
I do mineralogical research--look for mines--in the arctic." (So you play Minecraft in the cold?)
There was no sign of Heck Noe. (Oh Heck Noe he didn't just ghost us!)
The others suspected his main interest in life was his childish, practical jokes. (Glad someone is fooling because the Army sure isn't)
Three dollars and thirty cents' worth of haul, to be exact. (Don't spend it all in one place)
The machine pistol hooted again. There were more yells. More terror in the yells. (plus more hoots to boot)
The machine pistol gobbled. (Which is it? Gobble or hoot? It's obviously a bird noise, are you sure it didn't quack too?)
"That's Boots! The worst of Vikkers' men!" (He's so much worse that they named him after Dora the explorer's monkey side kick)
Van Blair struck on head and shoulders and was stunned. (He was stunned at how fast Head and Shoulders got rid of his tough dandruff)
Probably no army ever went into battle with more enthusiasm for it. (And that's no fooling)
Doc and his group hunted industriously. (ELMER FUDD VOICE: Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting industriously)
IT also gave us a few (insert your own joke here) lines, like:-------------
"Get the girl and beat it!" he shouted, and added some profanity.
Ham jerked up straight.
"There's that guy with the riding-boot hide!" Monk ejaculated.
Pat ejaculated gleefully.
And he chewed up half of a rubber imitation wiener.
Monk bellowed as he came.
Heck Noe ejaculated
For those who still care, Holy Cow was said 5 times and no Supermalgamated was uttered.
Oh well, on to the next one.
All these weird names, it's like this book was written by a middle schooler, or they were rejected characters from a James Bond movie.
All the sudden out of nowhere Monk decides to have plastic surgery? What the hell is going on?
You know, for a book about a yellow cloud they sure are beating around the bush and NOT LOOKING FOR A CLOUD
There sure were. Lots of short. Sentences in this.
But we were graced with some gems, like:----------
IT was too bad that nobody actually saw what happened to the new army X-ship on its test flight. (Yep, it was totally awesome, but you didn't see it happen so sucks to be you)
The army wasn't fooling that night. (The Army only fools on Thursday nights, and this being Tuesday so they weren't fooling)
Army, you better do something (Or this is going to be a short book)
So the army wasn't fooling. For once, actually, it wasn't. (We get it, the Army has no sense of humor, GET ON WITH IT!!)
The man who was associated with Doc Savage. (not to brag but me and doc are on a first name basis)
"Holy pups!" an army man said. (Watch the language!)
"A crunchy one. Kind of tinny." (It went great with milk as part of my complete breakfast!)
"Brick Palmer," the radio said.(And the morning wake up crew, 6-10 am, only on station S.A.V.A.G.E, all crunchy, tinny sounds with no commercials)
She straightened, looking foolish. (Unlike the Army, because they weren't fooling, for once)
She took out a handkerchief and began to choke it. (Tell your handkerchief friends what you saw here or you'll get the same!)
A State policeman arrived in a bad humor. (He wasn't fooled by the Army either)
"My name is Noe," the man said. "Heck Noe. A typical Eskimo name, as you may notice." (Heck Noe I didn't notice)
I do mineralogical research--look for mines--in the arctic." (So you play Minecraft in the cold?)
There was no sign of Heck Noe. (Oh Heck Noe he didn't just ghost us!)
The others suspected his main interest in life was his childish, practical jokes. (Glad someone is fooling because the Army sure isn't)
Three dollars and thirty cents' worth of haul, to be exact. (Don't spend it all in one place)
The machine pistol hooted again. There were more yells. More terror in the yells. (plus more hoots to boot)
The machine pistol gobbled. (Which is it? Gobble or hoot? It's obviously a bird noise, are you sure it didn't quack too?)
"That's Boots! The worst of Vikkers' men!" (He's so much worse that they named him after Dora the explorer's monkey side kick)
Van Blair struck on head and shoulders and was stunned. (He was stunned at how fast Head and Shoulders got rid of his tough dandruff)
Probably no army ever went into battle with more enthusiasm for it. (And that's no fooling)
Doc and his group hunted industriously. (ELMER FUDD VOICE: Be vewy vewy quiet, I'm hunting industriously)
IT also gave us a few (insert your own joke here) lines, like:-------------
"Get the girl and beat it!" he shouted, and added some profanity.
Ham jerked up straight.
"There's that guy with the riding-boot hide!" Monk ejaculated.
Pat ejaculated gleefully.
And he chewed up half of a rubber imitation wiener.
Monk bellowed as he came.
Heck Noe ejaculated
For those who still care, Holy Cow was said 5 times and no Supermalgamated was uttered.
Oh well, on to the next one.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2023
The story begins in North Carolina before moving to New York City with a flight into the Atlantic briefly. They end up in Western Canada.
Johnny is in S America for this adventure but the rest of the crew is with Doc for this one. Pat Savage shows up unexpectedly, putting Doc and his men in a tight predicament so that she can bargain to be in on her he action.
This was a fairly enjoyable caper. There were some obvious inaccuracies which took away from the enjoyment for me. Also, the whole reveal felt to much of a stretch. There is, of course, a pretty woman in this. I did enjoy her end story.
The author is Lester Dent and was published February 1939.
Johnny is in S America for this adventure but the rest of the crew is with Doc for this one. Pat Savage shows up unexpectedly, putting Doc and his men in a tight predicament so that she can bargain to be in on her he action.
This was a fairly enjoyable caper. There were some obvious inaccuracies which took away from the enjoyment for me. Also, the whole reveal felt to much of a stretch. There is, of course, a pretty woman in this. I did enjoy her end story.
The author is Lester Dent and was published February 1939.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 10, 2015
Singled out for criticism in Philip Jose Farmer's "biography" of Doc Savage ("Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life"), "The Yellow Cloud" in its first half seems unworthy of being called "ridiculous and badly written" by that writer. By novel's end, one sees Farmer's general point but might question his wording.
Ultimately, "The Yellow Cloud" is among the weakest Doc Savage novels written by Lester Dent in the 1930s. It still has some good moments and solid action, though, and is certainly superior to the vast majority of Doc tales not Dent-penned.
In this one, Doc aide Renny Renwick is flying an experimental government plane when it disappears, apparently seized by a swift-moving yellow cloud. (Changed from green late in the editing process, resulting in the line "yellow as a pond frog" from Renny). From there, things click along decently, though a few scenes, including one in an abandoned schoolhouse, seem unusually protracted. Then we have the oddness of the homely Monk, in mid-adventure, seriously wanting plastic surgery from a doctor in Pat Savage's beauty establishment. (Yeah, Doc's lovely cousin Pat is along for this escapade).
Long Tom does a lot of fretting over his television device picking up strange video of aircraft being seized. This tale being published in early 1939, it's interesting how the characters react to new visual media (Long Tom's device sometimes called a "televisor" here).
Yeah, things start to bog down, and Doc intentionally allows a couple of dudes involved in the case, likely bad guys, to hang around forever as he slowly solves it. Solve it he does, but the mystery's resolution is a distinct letdown, and the big villain's identity a complete head-scratcher. What the ... ?
"The Yellow Cloud" is not so much badly written, as Farmer said, as poorly thought-out and plotted (OK, some of it is ridiculous). Dent writes OK, but the concept seems rushed. Worthwhile then, and not quite the steaming pile pinch-hitting "Kenneth Robeson" Laurence Donovan almost always produced, but mediocre at best.
Ultimately, "The Yellow Cloud" is among the weakest Doc Savage novels written by Lester Dent in the 1930s. It still has some good moments and solid action, though, and is certainly superior to the vast majority of Doc tales not Dent-penned.
In this one, Doc aide Renny Renwick is flying an experimental government plane when it disappears, apparently seized by a swift-moving yellow cloud. (Changed from green late in the editing process, resulting in the line "yellow as a pond frog" from Renny). From there, things click along decently, though a few scenes, including one in an abandoned schoolhouse, seem unusually protracted. Then we have the oddness of the homely Monk, in mid-adventure, seriously wanting plastic surgery from a doctor in Pat Savage's beauty establishment. (Yeah, Doc's lovely cousin Pat is along for this escapade).
Long Tom does a lot of fretting over his television device picking up strange video of aircraft being seized. This tale being published in early 1939, it's interesting how the characters react to new visual media (Long Tom's device sometimes called a "televisor" here).
Yeah, things start to bog down, and Doc intentionally allows a couple of dudes involved in the case, likely bad guys, to hang around forever as he slowly solves it. Solve it he does, but the mystery's resolution is a distinct letdown, and the big villain's identity a complete head-scratcher. What the ... ?
"The Yellow Cloud" is not so much badly written, as Farmer said, as poorly thought-out and plotted (OK, some of it is ridiculous). Dent writes OK, but the concept seems rushed. Worthwhile then, and not quite the steaming pile pinch-hitting "Kenneth Robeson" Laurence Donovan almost always produced, but mediocre at best.
May 25, 2016
read some time in 1988
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