Devil on the Moon

Doc Savage (Bantam) #50

by Kenneth Robeson (House Name), Lester Dent

A fiery red flash bursts through the silence of the night. A dying green man insists he's been held captive on the Moon! A small blue capsule conceals an unearthly medallion. Doc and Patricia Savage set out to piece together this weird puzzle in time to save the world from the devilish merchants of international war.

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

120 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published March 1, 1938

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

[Craig · Rating 5 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!

[Stormcrow Hayes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doc Savage is stabbed! When does Doc ever receive a serious injury? Hardly ever, but he's injured in this one. In fact, Renny is shot and things for once don't go according to plan.

Even though I'm hiding my review because of spoilers, I still won't give too much away. This was a really fun Doc adventure involving the entire crew, including cousin Patricia and the two pets, Chemistry and Habeus Corpus.

I never once believed that they would really visit the moon, but I was quite intrigued to see how it would all be faked. It's also fun to see how how little people knew of space travel in the 30s. For one, it's snowing on the moon. Secondly, one prisoner describes his journey to the moon as, "There had been a great roaring inside the rocket, and it was hot, as if heated by friction as it passed through space at terrific speed."

But that's part of the fun of any Doc book, finding out the explanation, scientific or otherwise, of the eerie or otherwise unexplainable events that begin the adventure.

[Duane Olds · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well here we are, the 50th Doc Savage adventure and not a bad one at that. Definitely a quick read. While reading I couldn't help but think that this first chapter, WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON! Is this what it's like to be on drugs?
I enjoy how these guys know how dangerous Doc and his men are so they stand there for a half hour explaining who they are and what they do.
Why is it when these bad guys (and Doc and his crew for that matter) write secret invisible messages they are always 30 pages long? Just a short sentence will do, jeeze, calm down Stephen King, vwe don't need your life story.
I get it, dead rabbits! Move on!


But as always, there were a few literary gems, like:-------------------------------------------------------

A ROARING sound was probably the first evidence of what was to come to be known as the mystery of the Devil on the Moon. (Sure, why not? That makes perfect sense)

"You disappeared two years ago!" The girl bit her lips. "But you look so--so much older." (Almost looks like you're two years older!)

"He tricked us!" Bob Thomas muttered. (you mean to tell me a dude pretending to be an alien lied to you? No!)

There was a smear of red on his forehead. (He must have spilt some strawberry jam)

"You won't tell me what is behind this thing?" "I won't tell you anything." (Then how about you tell the readers huh?)

"Fizzy-giggled," Behemoth explained. (Then proceed to not explain)

"You're getting my goat!" (And he hates being getted)

"Jealous? Or do you just like to razz guys?" (It's more of a hobby really)

He went into the next room and examined the man in the queer green suit (Hey! His mom made that for him!)

But Johnny was a prisoner, and maybe dead. (Come on man, 50 books in - NO ONE believes that)

"Remember the remarkable story you told me?" Doc asked. (You mean the one where I was naked at a Dairy Queen? Hell yeah I remember!)

"And the longer you know him, the more he'll astonish you." (You can stop sucking up, you got the job)

Attractive Pat gasped. (Damn but you're cute when you're Fizzy-giggled)

He got the second boat flaming. (See, at Doc Savage we flame broil our boats, not fry them)

The sub, of course, was equipped with manual local station controls. (Of course, Duh, everyone knows that)

Then screams of men afraid of death followed. (It was just another day at Ozzy Osbornes house)

That ended the conversation. (Because Doc had hung up)

Doc said quietly, "You are the Man on the Moon, so-called?" "Naturally," said the other. (Duh, you know any other moon men?)

But they had left him his socks, shorts and undershirt. (So doc is going around commando? Good luck getting that image out of your head)


This issue also gave us a few (insert your own joke here) lines:---------------------------------

"I still say it's queer," Renny rumbled.

"This hooker came in here half an hour or so ago,"

When he could no longer hold it, Doc tossed it upward.

Doc crossed the room, met three men, who took hold of him with enthusiasm.

And for the first time in a while we see the return of Superamalgamated, which was said 3 times. Holy cow came in with 6, but they both lost to Bob Thomas that charted at #1 with a count of 75.

50 down and God only knows how many more to go, Oh well, on to the next one...

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a while since I read my last Doc Savage, more than a year, as I've been diving into Shadows and Spiders, mostly because the last Docs were ones I had read way back when I was still a teen -- Quest of the Spider and The Mountain Monster -- and the novelty of reading new books had so much more allure than Doc Savage's adventures, especially since they were books I had read, such as Devil on the Moon.

However, coming back to these stories so many years later I am able to see them with an adult's eyes, with a writer's eyes, and see how well-written they are, even when they emphasize the tension you might find in a spy novel (since this one is about spies and an organization that could bear a resemblance to SPECTRE from Ian Fleming's James Bond novels if it had the action found in books like Thunderball or On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Lester Dent does realistic fiction as well as the fantastic found in the pulps. And while there aren't invisible robbers or lost civilizations, there is a devil on the moon here.

I used the cover for the Bantam reprint, which sports the remarkable cover depicting the classic pitchfork-wielding horned devil hovering over the iconic torn-shirt Doc, but I mainly read the revised text contained in the Sanctum reprint. This cover highlights the fantastic while the original pulp cover focuses on the intrigue and shows Doc questioning the character Lin Pretti with the assistance of Pat Savage. It doesn't grab you as much as the cover from the previous month -- the aforementioned The Mountain Monster from February 1938 -- which has Doc bound to a conveyor belt and pulled into an incinerator, or the action cover that follows in April 1938 with The Pirate's Ghost that shows Doc underwater above a treasure chest with a knife held in his mouth.

I'm not sure when Dent wrote The Pirate's Ghost (novels were written, stockpiled, and released according to the publisher needs), but the Will Murray essay details how Devil on the Moon came after a break in Dent's writing the adventures, where the publisher used stockpiled novels to keep Doc appearing on newsstands each month. Murray's information about the pulp world, besides the revised text these reprints sometimes present, are one of the main selling points Sanctum brings to readers if you're fortunate to find them.

[Dennis · Rating 3 out of 5]

The really interesting thing about this book is that Doc Savage and his men are already involved in the caper from the get-go. Once again there is a pretty woman involved from the start. The action begins in Virginia, just outside of Washington, DC. The action shifts back to NYC before Doc and company are seized and sent into captivity on the moon. Or are they really on the moon?

Doc and his five intrepid men that form his gang are present. Also..,Pat is in the story. Awesome!!

A couple of problems for me in this reading. The author refers to the “navy yard police jail.” Did the author really not know that brig is the proper term of a naval jail? In Doc’s skyscraper office, the rooms have suddenly been renumbered. The 86th floor has been renumbered the 86th floor by adding the missing 13th floor which was previously not numbered. No reason is given for this renumbering. Finally, the author describes the relationship between Monk and Ham as being “perpetually unfriendly.” This just isn’t true. Their animosity towards each other has always been explained in as a way of passing the time. In actuality, they are the best of friends and have the deepest of respect for each other. This has been written so many times in previous novels. What is more perplexing is that the author happens to be Lester Dent.

This one was authored by Lester Dent and published March 1938.

[Shannon Cooke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean, it was okay I guess. Overwritten, underinteresting, full of unlikely scenarios and red herrings that only distract, Devil on the Moon is just a plodding, by-the-book entry in the Doc Savage series. While it lacks the casual racism of some of the other volumes I’ve read, it makes up for that in sexism. One of the female character’s has the last name of “Pretti” for goodness sake.

There are the trappings of a mini science fiction plot which were interesting in an academic sense. Also fascinating was the pre-WWII hesitance to name Germany as an aggressor. There are mentions made of the “ruler” of a “bellicose European power” but at no point are any specific countries ever named. To the modern eye, it looks remarkably silly, but I’m sure there was a reason at the time.

This is the last of the Doc Savage novels I own, and I’m sad that we’re ending on a low point. The previous one, The Sea Angel, was much better. I’ll probably take a break on these for a while, instead of getting another one.

[Keith B · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 for nostalgia. Definitely formulaic with obvious plot developments and "coincidences". One of the rare stories where Doc gets injured and overpowered, needing rescue (with justification of course).

[Frank · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Doc adventure read in the 70s

[Tim · Rating 3 out of 5]

The moon has always been exotic, even more so in 1938, when "Devil on the Moon" was published and man walking/bouncing upon it was 31 years in the future. And this Doc Savage adventure sure gets off to a colorful start, with a strange dying man dressed in green (with bolts at his collar that seemingly fastened a helmet) crash-landing a craft in the Virginia countryside and saying he's been held prisoner on the moon. There's also a mysterious blue capsule the man cuts out of his flesh. Off we go on another good Doc Savage tale.

The wind-up of this story doesn't match the set-up, but it's still a solid effort. So many of these Doc stories do a really fine job of getting hooks in us early, and this is no exception.

With 182 of these Doc Savage novels, when something a little out of the ordinary happens, it's a treat. Here, Doc doesn't appear — as himself, anyway — until more than a third of the way into the book. He's too busy having fun (as much as Doc can have fun) in disguise as a bulky gent named Behemoth as Doc and his aides investigate the villainous Man on the Moon and his organization. The lunar one's plot involves international intrigue and a for-hire group stirring up unrest in certain countries as World War II draws near.

"Devil on the Moon" has the bonus of Doc's lovely and excitement-loving cousin, Pat. Always a good thing.

Good stuff then; not great, but quite enjoyable. The plot, as mentioned, doesn't come up to its billing, but we do get Doc and company apparently prisoners on the moon, and that's pretty cool. A decent, dependable Doc Savage adventure ain't a bad thing.

[David Bonesteel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kenneth Robeson's classic pulp hero investigates the mystery behind the disappearences of important men who have reportedly been abducted by someone calling himself the Man on the Moon and imprisoned in a base on that satellite. His five assistants, each an expert at their specialty, join in, as does Doc's cousin, Pat. Muscular prose and plenty of action keep this one moving along nicely, but the central puzzle just isn't very interesting. And although this book was written well before the Apollo moon landings, I was shocked at the ignorance of probable lunar surface conditions by such an assemblage of supposedly great minds. Did we really know so little about the moon then?

[David B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kenneth Robeson's classic pulp hero investigates the mystery behind the disappearences of important men who have reportedly been abducted by someone calling himself the Man on the Moon and imprisoned in a base on that satellite. His five assistants, each an expert at their specialty, join in, as does Doc's cousin, Pat. Muscular prose and plenty of action keep this one moving along nicely, but the central puzzle just isn't very interesting. And although this book was written well before the Apollo moon landings, I was shocked at the ignorance of probable lunar surface conditions by such an assemblage of supposedly great minds. Did we really know so little about the moon then?

[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.

[Fraser Sherman · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 This is one of the novels that reads more like a non-series pulp thriller, with two-fisted heroes going up against a sinister international conspiracy. And as such, it mostly works, but the villains aren't memorable and the gimmick (secret base on the moon!) is more corny than cool (possibly it played better 80 years ago).

[Steven Vaughan-Nichols · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a better than average Doc Savage pulp adventure as Doc and the whole crew, including Pat Savage, face a real challenge for once.

[Ronald · Rating 4 out of 5]

read some time in 1993

[Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

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