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Showcase Presents #93
Showcase Presents: Doc Savage, Vol. 1
Pulp fiction hero Doc Savage is back in this value-priced title collecting his 1970s black-and-white magazine adventures for the first time.
Originally published in 1975 by Marvel Comics, these tales include: • “The Doom on Thunder Island” • “Hell-Reapers at the Heart of Paradise” • “The Inferno Scheme” • “Ghost Pirates from The Beyond” • “The Sky Stealers” • “The Mayan Mutations”
448 pages, Paperback
First published July 12, 2011
3 people are currently reading
94 people want to read
About the author
Steve Englehart
1,395 books97 followersSee also John Harkness.
Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry.
He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one).
After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund.
And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane.
In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.
Steve Englehart went to Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut. After a stint in the Army, he moved to New York and began to write for Marvel Comics. That led to long runs on Captain America, The Hulk, The Avengers, Dr. Strange, and a dozen other titles. Midway through that period he moved to California (where he remains), and met and married his wife Terry.
He was finally hired away from Marvel by DC Comics, to be their lead writer and revamp their core characters (Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Flash, and Green Lantern). He did, but he also wrote a solo Batman series (immediately dubbed the "definitive" version) that later became Warner Brothers' first Batman film (the good one).
After that he left comics for a time, traveled in Europe for a year, wrote a novel (The Point Man™), and came back to design video games for Atari (E.T., Garfield). But he still liked comics, so he created Coyote™, which within its first year was rated one of America's ten best series. Other projects he owned (Scorpio Rose™, The Djinn™) were mixed with company series (Green Lantern [with Joe Staton], Silver Surfer, Fantastic Four). Meanwhile, he continued his game design for Activision, Electronic Arts, Sega, and Brøderbund.
And once he and Terry had their two sons, Alex and Eric, he naturally told them stories. Rustle's Christmas Adventure was first devised for them. He went on to add a run of mid-grade books to his bibliography, including the DNAgers™ adventure series, and Countdown to Flight, a biography of the Wright brothers selected by NASA as the basis for their school curriculum on the invention of the airplane.
In 1992 Steve was asked to co-create a comics pantheon called the Ultraverse. One of his contributions, The Night Man, became not only a successful comics series, but also a television show. That led to more Hollywood work, including animated series such as Street Fighter, GI Joe, and Team Atlantis for Disney.
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
September 23, 2017
Doc Savage is one of the very first superheroes, created in the '30s. He's stronger than any ten men and a genius. Curtis Magazine is a series of Doc Savage stories created in the 1970s, inspired by a Doc Savage movie.
First eight Curtis magazines are covered in this book. My favorite is #6, the Sky Stealers, in which Doc and his amazing five companions face the robotic Egyptian gods. I loved the Monk-Ham-the Egyptian goddess triangle. That issue gets 5 starts. The rest of them 2-3 for an average of around 3 starts.
First eight Curtis magazines are covered in this book. My favorite is #6, the Sky Stealers, in which Doc and his amazing five companions face the robotic Egyptian gods. I loved the Monk-Ham-the Egyptian goddess triangle. That issue gets 5 starts. The rest of them 2-3 for an average of around 3 starts.
March 30, 2014
Easily the best Doc Savage comic book compilation out there. This book reprints the black-and-white magazine that Marvel Comics published to capitalize on the George Pal movie.
These tales are all new adventures that feature Doc and his crew in some very well-written and pulpily believable stories. This is the closest the comics have gotten to recreating the fun and adventure of the Doc Savage pulp magazines. Highly recommended!
These tales are all new adventures that feature Doc and his crew in some very well-written and pulpily believable stories. This is the closest the comics have gotten to recreating the fun and adventure of the Doc Savage pulp magazines. Highly recommended!
May 2, 2022
Overwritten like so many comics of its time, at least it's better written than something from Stan Lee. The art is fantastic. The pulpy adventures are fun. But the overdone dialog and captions grow tiresome.
If you're a Doc Savage fan, you should find plenty to enjoy.
If you're a Doc Savage fan, you should find plenty to enjoy.
January 10, 2022
Fun, pulp entertainment.
It was nice to see longer stories. The only downsides are the lack of colour and the mediocre paper quality used.
It was nice to see longer stories. The only downsides are the lack of colour and the mediocre paper quality used.
December 5, 2023
Surprisingly great given what a travesty the concurrent 70s comic book Marvel issued.
October 1, 2011
So, Doc Savage, once a mainstay of pulp adventures, got a short-lived magazine-format comic series in the 1970s. This is a complete reprint of those eight issues, originally in black-and-white, so no lose of color, though that didn't stop the occasional printing error, like the two pages I found out of order.
Anyway, this was decent. The art was gorgeous, and the stories were creative enough, even with a strong 70s pseudo-science feel. But there was a downside to it. One was the overly wordy prose that accompanied the stories, probably necessary to capture the pulp feel, but still too much. The other was the title character himself. The guy had no flaws, and was good at everything. Yes, he had his five aides, who don't even have a cool team nickname for themselves a la the Hong Kong Cavaliers, but when you have a guy who is so good at everything why you need a chemist, lawyer, archeologist, electrician, and engineer is beyond me. An origin of some kind might have helped, like how he found these five guys and why they work for him. Only one, Monk, seems to have much personality of his own, and it may be fitting he was the only one to also get a solo story, since the promised stories for the other four were lost to the magazine's cancellation.
Anyway, this was decent. The art was gorgeous, and the stories were creative enough, even with a strong 70s pseudo-science feel. But there was a downside to it. One was the overly wordy prose that accompanied the stories, probably necessary to capture the pulp feel, but still too much. The other was the title character himself. The guy had no flaws, and was good at everything. Yes, he had his five aides, who don't even have a cool team nickname for themselves a la the Hong Kong Cavaliers, but when you have a guy who is so good at everything why you need a chemist, lawyer, archeologist, electrician, and engineer is beyond me. An origin of some kind might have helped, like how he found these five guys and why they work for him. Only one, Monk, seems to have much personality of his own, and it may be fitting he was the only one to also get a solo story, since the promised stories for the other four were lost to the magazine's cancellation.
June 11, 2013
This book collects 1-8 of the Curtis Comic stories that were published in the mid-70s. Each issue follows the adventures of the legendary Doc Savage and his team of five assistants as they battle monsters and madmen in issue after issue.
The stories manage to evoke a great period feel. The writing is mostly servicable rather than brilliant. Doc remains the inscrutable and brilliant man of bronze. Of his five aids, Ham and Monk remain the most dominant as their "friendly" ribbing goes a level above the Human Torch and the Thing's. I guess bystanders should be thankful that one of them doesn't have the power to throw flames. The writing is usually helped by the length (around 50-60 plus pages)which allows the stories to be more complex than your average comic book.
However, what makes this collection a winner is the art. It's very powerful and fun to look at it. There are some great Splash pages as well as a few nice pin-ups of the Doc and his men. Like all Showcase Presents volumes, this one is black and white but the difference is these were intended to be in black and white.
The bottom line is that the book offers some good pulp adventures plus a chance to see Doc Savage in a visual medium.
The stories manage to evoke a great period feel. The writing is mostly servicable rather than brilliant. Doc remains the inscrutable and brilliant man of bronze. Of his five aids, Ham and Monk remain the most dominant as their "friendly" ribbing goes a level above the Human Torch and the Thing's. I guess bystanders should be thankful that one of them doesn't have the power to throw flames. The writing is usually helped by the length (around 50-60 plus pages)which allows the stories to be more complex than your average comic book.
However, what makes this collection a winner is the art. It's very powerful and fun to look at it. There are some great Splash pages as well as a few nice pin-ups of the Doc and his men. Like all Showcase Presents volumes, this one is black and white but the difference is these were intended to be in black and white.
The bottom line is that the book offers some good pulp adventures plus a chance to see Doc Savage in a visual medium.
September 28, 2011
Reading this was nostalgia trip, having got some of the issues when it was news stand distribution was the norm. What was unusual was the long story lengths with one or two articles.
Again this was another attempt to bring some of the pulp characters into the comics fold. Marvel did try a colour 32pp comic, but again it didn't make double figures. The Marvel B&W line had some intriguing characters but again used a lot of pulps and more 'adult' themes to get round the Comic Code.
Each story usually has Doc and focuses on the antagonise between Ham and Monk. Renny got the spot light in one story, but only briefly. The art is patch at times and there are some interesting pin ups from some up and coming artists. Having read only 2 Doc Savage novellas, I am never sure how they stand up.
It was Philip Jose Farmer use of Doc Caliban and his Wold Newton series that pique my interested as well as the Ron Ely film; which I am still waiting for the sequel.
I would like to see the old B&W format brought back some time and for Doc Savage to be brought up to date and be successful again.
Again this was another attempt to bring some of the pulp characters into the comics fold. Marvel did try a colour 32pp comic, but again it didn't make double figures. The Marvel B&W line had some intriguing characters but again used a lot of pulps and more 'adult' themes to get round the Comic Code.
Each story usually has Doc and focuses on the antagonise between Ham and Monk. Renny got the spot light in one story, but only briefly. The art is patch at times and there are some interesting pin ups from some up and coming artists. Having read only 2 Doc Savage novellas, I am never sure how they stand up.
It was Philip Jose Farmer use of Doc Caliban and his Wold Newton series that pique my interested as well as the Ron Ely film; which I am still waiting for the sequel.
I would like to see the old B&W format brought back some time and for Doc Savage to be brought up to date and be successful again.
June 12, 2016
Back in the 1970s, newsstand distribution was still the primary source of comic books. To reach a slightly older audience, though, publishers would want to be put in the magazine section. To save cost, these magazines would be in black and white. So it was that DC Comics tried Doc Savage in this format.
This volume reprints all eight issues of the magazine, and the fact that it was originally b&w works in fhe reprint's favor. Doug Moench has a good time channeling Kenneth Robeson, and the art is lovingly done. However, the word balloons show that the lettering was slipshod, with entire words being left out of sentences.
For more comic book reviews, see http://www.skjam.com/category/comic-b...
Though the series is set in the 1930s, there's a definite Seventies vibe to the psuedo-science, with pyramid power and ancient astronauts and other such outmoded story devices. No doubt a current series will seem as quaint in forty years.
This volume reprints all eight issues of the magazine, and the fact that it was originally b&w works in fhe reprint's favor. Doug Moench has a good time channeling Kenneth Robeson, and the art is lovingly done. However, the word balloons show that the lettering was slipshod, with entire words being left out of sentences.
For more comic book reviews, see http://www.skjam.com/category/comic-b...
Though the series is set in the 1930s, there's a definite Seventies vibe to the psuedo-science, with pyramid power and ancient astronauts and other such outmoded story devices. No doubt a current series will seem as quaint in forty years.
April 19, 2015
So, these stories were originally published in a marvel magazine, but DC got the reprint rights when then got the comic rights to Doc and co.
So, the best Doc Savage comics DC ever published were the ones marvel did...?
Fun stories, very faithful to the pulp style. Lots of action, mystery and cool, larger than life bad guys.
sad as it reminds you how many bad Doc Savage comics DC has done and makes me wish somebody would reprint marvel's color comics and the couple stories where Doc teamed up with Marvel heroes.
So, the best Doc Savage comics DC ever published were the ones marvel did...?
Fun stories, very faithful to the pulp style. Lots of action, mystery and cool, larger than life bad guys.
sad as it reminds you how many bad Doc Savage comics DC has done and makes me wish somebody would reprint marvel's color comics and the couple stories where Doc teamed up with Marvel heroes.
October 26, 2024
These are some good stories, but they are not at all like the original pulps. Still, they are fun to read.
August 27, 2012
Reminder to self: do not acquire any more Showcase TPB's. The paper is headache inducing.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews