"Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life" by Philip Jose Farmer. Garden City: Doubleday, 1973. 1st Ed.
Doc Savage is the golden crusader who fought crime in 181 adventures between 1933 and 1949 in pulp magazines. These famous stories by Lester Dent gave readers only glimpses of Doc Savage's amazing career. Philip Jose Farmer collected all the facts that shed light on Doc Savage and wrote this tongue-in-cheek biography of one of the great fictional heroes of the 20th century.
Included in the biography are Doc Savage's family background -- he is related to Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Sam Spade, James Bond, and Travis McGee -- his most devilish opponents including The Mystic Mullah and even where his offices were located -- the 86th floor of the Empire State Building.
Farmer lists a number of Doc's "inventions" that are in general use today, including radar, shark repellent, and supersonic dog whistles. He notes that Doc's anesthetic gas grenade, years before most people knew of the existence of such a weapon, helped capture King Kong.
The final section of the book has a chronological log of Doc's life, correlated in complete detail from all the stories. Together with other data and deductions, it presents an authoritative account of this remarkable character.
"Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life" by Philip Jose Farmer. Garden City: Doubleday, 1973. 1st Ed.
Doc Savage is the golden crusader who fought crime in 181 adventures between 1933 and 1949 in pulp magazines. These famous stories by Lester Dent gave readers only glimpses of Doc Savage's amazing career. Philip Jose Farmer collected all the facts that shed light on Doc Savage and wrote this tongue-in-cheek biography of one of the great fictional heroes of the 20th century.
Included in the biography are Doc Savage's family background -- he is related to Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, Sam Spade, James Bond, and Travis McGee -- his most devilish opponents including The Mystic Mullah and even where his offices were located -- the 86th floor of the Empire State Building.
Farmer lists a number of Doc's "inventions" that are in general use today, including radar, shark repellent, and supersonic dog whistles. He notes that Doc's anesthetic gas grenade, years before most people knew of the existence of such a weapon, helped capture King Kong.
The final section of the book has a chronological log of Doc's life, correlated in complete detail from all the stories. Together with other data and deductions, it presents an authoritative account of this remarkable character.