DOC DOUBLE HEADER

I hadn't read an original Doc Savage novel since the summer of 2015 so I decided it was high time I did something about that. I've been re-reading the Bantam Doc reprints in numerical order over the last several years starting with MAN OF BRONZE, followed by THOUSAND HEADED MAN, METEOR MENACE and POLAR TREASURE. Next up, BRAND OF THE WEREWOLF, the 5th Bantam Doc paperback novel.

Gotta love the cover art by Mort Kuntsler. Unfortunately, no scene even remotely like this occurs anywhere in the book. There is simply no werewolf, real or otherwise (I'm talking Scooby-Doo here). There's only a literal brand (more like a dirty smudge) containing the facial features of a werewolf that is left behind at the scene of various murders. 

When Marvel Comics adapted BRAND OF THE WEREWOLF into a two-part comic book adaptation for their short lived 1970s DOC SAVAGE comic book series (issues #7 & 8), writers Gardner Fox and Tony Isabella and artists Ross Andru, Frank Springer, Rich Buckler, Tom Palmer and Jack Abel all opted to depict an actual werewolf character (like that seen above) in the story. The "werewolf", complete with green trousers, ala Marvel's Werewolf By Night character, was eventually revealed to be a man in a werewolf costume, so at least Marvel's version was a Scooby-Doo. 

BRAND OF THE WEREWOLF, first published in January 1934, is an important chapter in the Savage super-saga as it features the first appearance of Doc's fetching cousin (and only surviving kin), Patricia Savage. Pat, of course, would go on to share many adventures with her cousin Clark and his Fabulous Five but it's in BRAND that both the readers and Doc and his men meet her for the first time.

The story starts with Doc and his men aboard a train speeding through the Canadian wilderness. Their destination is his uncle's cabin on the wild and desolate Pacific coast where Doc and his aides hope to enjoy some well earned rest and relaxation by doing some fishing and hunting. This being a Doc Savage adventure, it's not long before things go wrong (there's a murder of a minor character in the first chapter alone). Doc is soon cast into a mystery involving some sinister Spaniards, the mysterious "brand of the werewolf" and an odd ivory carved cube that holds the secret of a long lost treasure. 

When Doc and his men finally reach Pat, they discover that her father has recently been killed, a victim of the "werewolf". Pat is aided by two Indian characters, both of whom (along with the Spanish villains), are all grotesque, un PC caricatures of real people. There's an obese Indian woman nicknamed "Tiny" and her no-good husband, tagged "Boat Face". 

Doc and his crew, along with Pat, face all sorts of danger before finally solving the mystery and discovering the final resting place of the fabulous lost treasure. 

BRAND OF THE WEREWOLF is a solid Doc adventure. It's a nice change of locale to have all of the action take place away from his New York City headquarters. All five of his aides are included: Monk, Ham, Renny, Long Tom and Johnny. The introduction of Pat Savage stands as an important part of the Doc Savage mythos.

If you look past the racial stereotypes and just know going in that there's no "werewolf", BRAND OF THE WEREWOLF is a great way to spend a late winter afternoon. 

I've also been reading over the last several years, some of the "All New Wild Adventures of Doc Savage". These are handsome trade paperbacks published by Altus Press, written by Will Murray and featuring spectacular cover art by Joe DeVito. I've thus far read THE DESERT DEMONS and THE FRIGHTENED FISH and, after finishing an original Doc in the form of BRAND, decided to read one of the newer Doc novels. 

HORROR IN GOLD was published in 2011 and it's a corker. Someone has developed a weapon that causes gold to explode and has begun wreaking havoc on the streets of New York City. First, two men, both of whom have gold teeth in their mouths, meet their deaths when their heads explode on a busy Manhattan street. A jewelry store collapses, a bank vault implodes, a plane is blown apart in the sky above New Jersey and the rear end of one of Doc's custom automobiles is vaporized. 

A masked villain calling himself (or is it herself), A. Alchemist, starts making demands. New York City becomes a ghost town as residents flee the city and business grinds to a halt. Doc, Monk, Ham and Long Tom (who has teeth made from a gold alloy, teeth which replace the pair he originally lost in, believe or not, BRAND OF THE WEREWOLF), race back and forth across the city from their 86th floor headquarters in an effort to discover the identity of the fiend and put a stop to the madness. They cross paths with an emaciated inventor and an obese attorney, both of whom have designs of their own on an improved version of the gold destroying device.

The chase finally leads to an Alaskan volcano where Doc and his men are joined by Renny and Long Tom, along with Monk's secretary, Lea Asher (who is captured by the bad guys). The full scope of the mad scheme is revealed and it's up to Doc to turn the tables and put a halt to the plan that could wreak financial havoc across the globe.

Kudos to author Murray who does a superlative job of channeling the spirit, writing and plotting style of the late Lester Dent into this page turner. The narrative starts out like a house on fire and I was turning the pages as fast as I could. But I must confess, the middle section of the book seemed a little padded and repetitious to me, with things merely running in place before moving the action to Alaska in the third act. It's a minor quibble as I nonetheless thoroughly enjoyed HORROR IN GOLD.