I seem to be stuck in the Seventies.
Come On and Fight!
2 days ago
Monday, April 01, 2013
Doc Savage: Skull Island - Will Murray
To Will Murray: You had me at "Doc Savage meets King
Kong."
Seriously, that pairing of two of the most iconic characters in adventure fiction is irresistible. The set-up is great, with Doc, Monk, and Ham arriving back in New York City right after Kong has taken his plunge off the Empire State Building. When they go to see the body and Doc says, "I know this creature," . . . well, maybe it didn't send quite as much of a shiver through me as "They were the footprints, Mr. Holmes, of a gigantic hound!", but it's still a great line.
From there we're off to a flashback that reveals not just how Doc first met King Kong in the days soon after he returns from World War I, it also lets us get to know Doc's father Clark Savage Sr., who is a rather shadowy figure in the original novels, plus Doc's grandfather, the sea captain Stormalong Savage (a great name if there ever was one).
Once Doc and his dad, sailing on the ship Orion (the same schooner on which Doc was born) reach Skull Island in search of old Stormalong, the action is almost non-stop. Headhunters, dinosaurs, and Kong himself provide formidable obstacles for the Savages. This story takes place before Doc adopted his no-killing policy, like the first few novels in the pulp series, so the violence is pretty graphic. But there are quieter, more poignant moments, too, that are very effective.
One of the most appealing things about this novel for long-time Doc Savage fans such as myself is seeing the early, developmental stages of things that will figure prominently in the series later on, such as Doc's superfirer machine pistols and some casual mentions of Doc's uncle Alex Savage, whose daughter Pat becomes a major supporting character. There are also hints of much more Savage family history to be uncovered later on, as well as an explanation of how Doc's father came up with the idea of training him to be an adventurer. (It's not one that I would have suspected.)
If you've never read Doc Savage before, SKULL ISLAND would make a good starting point, although it is considerably different from the other novels in the series. If you're a long-time fan like me, it's even better. Will Murray's done a spectacular job here, the cover by Joe DeVito is breathtaking, and SKULL ISLAND gets the highest recommendation from me. It's currently available in e-book and trade paperback editions, with a limited edition hardcover on the way.
Seriously, that pairing of two of the most iconic characters in adventure fiction is irresistible. The set-up is great, with Doc, Monk, and Ham arriving back in New York City right after Kong has taken his plunge off the Empire State Building. When they go to see the body and Doc says, "I know this creature," . . . well, maybe it didn't send quite as much of a shiver through me as "They were the footprints, Mr. Holmes, of a gigantic hound!", but it's still a great line.
From there we're off to a flashback that reveals not just how Doc first met King Kong in the days soon after he returns from World War I, it also lets us get to know Doc's father Clark Savage Sr., who is a rather shadowy figure in the original novels, plus Doc's grandfather, the sea captain Stormalong Savage (a great name if there ever was one).
Once Doc and his dad, sailing on the ship Orion (the same schooner on which Doc was born) reach Skull Island in search of old Stormalong, the action is almost non-stop. Headhunters, dinosaurs, and Kong himself provide formidable obstacles for the Savages. This story takes place before Doc adopted his no-killing policy, like the first few novels in the pulp series, so the violence is pretty graphic. But there are quieter, more poignant moments, too, that are very effective.
One of the most appealing things about this novel for long-time Doc Savage fans such as myself is seeing the early, developmental stages of things that will figure prominently in the series later on, such as Doc's superfirer machine pistols and some casual mentions of Doc's uncle Alex Savage, whose daughter Pat becomes a major supporting character. There are also hints of much more Savage family history to be uncovered later on, as well as an explanation of how Doc's father came up with the idea of training him to be an adventurer. (It's not one that I would have suspected.)
If you've never read Doc Savage before, SKULL ISLAND would make a good starting point, although it is considerably different from the other novels in the series. If you're a long-time fan like me, it's even better. Will Murray's done a spectacular job here, the cover by Joe DeVito is breathtaking, and SKULL ISLAND gets the highest recommendation from me. It's currently available in e-book and trade paperback editions, with a limited edition hardcover on the way.
Sunday, March 31, 2013
Music I Like: Sister Goldenhair - America
My favorite song by America is "A Horse With No Name", which I've posted before. But I like this one a lot, too.
Sunday Morning Bonus Pulp: Ten Detective Aces, June 1935
Nice early cover by Rafael DeSoto on this issue of TEN DETECTIVE ACES, which includes stories by Frederick C. Davis (a Moon Man yarn), Paul Chadwick (creator of Secret Agent X), T.W. Ford, W.T. Ballard, Emile C. Tepperman, and Joe Archibald. TEN DETECTIVE ACES was a pretty good pulp, from everything I've seen about it.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Music I Like: Someday We'll Know - New Radicals
One of only two songs by the group New Radicals, and the one I like best.
Writing Update, 3/30
I never got around to posting yesterday, but it was a good solid day with 23 pages written. Today was a little better with 24. The thing of it is, I need to hit that pace nearly every day for the next five weeks in order to get everything done that I'm supposed to. Because of a couple of extra books I was asked to take on, my deadlines got rearranged and I'm now going by drop-dead dates, which is when the production department has to have the manuscripts. But it makes life interesting and keeps me out of trouble, I suppose.
Now Available: A Ranger Named Rowdy - James J. Griffin
< "A Ranger Named Rowdy", the first of a new series of Western short stories by James J. Griffin featuring Texas Ranger Tim Bannon, is now available on Amazon. Those of you who have read and enjoyed Jim's earlier stories and novels about the Texas Rangers will definitely want to pick up this one. It's another action-packed yarn and makes excellent use of the Texas setting.
Saturday Morning Western Pulp: Thrilling Ranch Stories, August 1935
THRILLING RANCH STORIES was the Thrilling Group's answer to RANCH ROMANCES, and as was the case with that venerable pulp (the longest-running of all), THRILLING RANCH STORIES featured plenty of shoot-em-up action to go along with what editors referred to as "woman interest". As usual, the girl on this cover is in the middle of the gunsmoke along with the stalwart hero. Nice line-up of authors, too: Lee Bond, W. Ryerson Johnson, Gunnison Steele (Bennie Gardner), L.P. Holmes, and the house-names Jackson Cole and Sam Brant, who could've been just about anybody, possibly even somebody else who had another story in this issue. I don't think I've ever read an issue of THRILLING RANCH STORIES, but I should probably remedy that.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Forgotten Books: Monsters: A Celebration of the Classics from Universal Studios - Roy Milano, et al.
As I've mentioned before, I was a regular viewer of NIGHTMARE,
the Saturday night monster movie showcase on Channel 11, the only independent
TV station in our area when I was a kid. (As proof of how ancient I am, we got
four TV stations back then . . . five on a good day when the extremely
low-powered "educational TV" station in Dallas, Channel 13, could get
a fuzzy signal all the way to our little town on the other side of Fort Worth.)
Anyway, that's how I discovered the classic Universal monster movies. And boy, did they scare me. But I watched 'em anyway and developed a real fondness for them.
MONSTERS: A CELEBRATION OF THE CLASSICS FROM UNIVERSAL STUDIOS is a coffee table book about that very subject that came out back in 2006. I missed it entirely and didn't know it existed until I recently came across a copy at the library. It starts with the silent version of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA starring Lon Chaney Sr. and has sections covering Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man (my favorite movie monster!), and The Creature From the Black Lagoon. There's also a section about the series of movies in which Abbott and Costello ran into many of those supernatural creatures, and of course I'm a big A&C fan, too.
As you might expect, there are a lot of photographs in this book: stills from the movies, publicity pictures, movie posters, behind the scenes stuff, etc., all of them interesting. But there's also quite a bit of informative text in each section by Roy Milano, as well as essays by descendants of Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff, as well as directors Stephen Sommers and John Landis, make-up artist Rick Baker, and others.
MONSTERS is a fascinating book, and it's really rekindled my interest in watching some of these movies again. Or in rare cases for the first time, as there are some that I've never seen. Will I find the time to get around to them? Who knows? But if you're a monster movie fan and missed this book like I did, it's worth seeking out.
Anyway, that's how I discovered the classic Universal monster movies. And boy, did they scare me. But I watched 'em anyway and developed a real fondness for them.
MONSTERS: A CELEBRATION OF THE CLASSICS FROM UNIVERSAL STUDIOS is a coffee table book about that very subject that came out back in 2006. I missed it entirely and didn't know it existed until I recently came across a copy at the library. It starts with the silent version of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA starring Lon Chaney Sr. and has sections covering Dracula, Frankenstein's Monster, the Bride of Frankenstein, The Mummy, The Invisible Man, The Wolf Man (my favorite movie monster!), and The Creature From the Black Lagoon. There's also a section about the series of movies in which Abbott and Costello ran into many of those supernatural creatures, and of course I'm a big A&C fan, too.
As you might expect, there are a lot of photographs in this book: stills from the movies, publicity pictures, movie posters, behind the scenes stuff, etc., all of them interesting. But there's also quite a bit of informative text in each section by Roy Milano, as well as essays by descendants of Lon Chaney, Bela Lugosi, and Boris Karloff, as well as directors Stephen Sommers and John Landis, make-up artist Rick Baker, and others.
MONSTERS is a fascinating book, and it's really rekindled my interest in watching some of these movies again. Or in rare cases for the first time, as there are some that I've never seen. Will I find the time to get around to them? Who knows? But if you're a monster movie fan and missed this book like I did, it's worth seeking out.
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