tag:docsavage.info,2007://4 2006-10-01T16:42:08Z A Doc Savage Website Movable Type 3.32 tag:docsavage.info,2006://4.359 2006-10-01T16:26:14Z 2006-10-01T16:42:08Z

Doc Savage made it to the radio three times 1934-35, 1943, and 1985. Below is a list of the episodes culled from numerous sources. 1934-35 episodes were 15 minutes each and were written by Lester Dent. Episode Date Title 1...

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com 1934-35 episodes were 15 minutes each and were written by Lester Dent. Episode Date Title 1 02/10/1934 The Red Death 2 02/17/1934 The Golden Legacy 3 02/24/1934 The Red Lake Quest 4 03/03/1934 The Sniper in The Sky 5 03/10/1934 The Evil Extortionists 6 03/17/1934 Black-Light Magic 7 03/24/1934 Radium Scramble 8 03/31/1934 Death Had Blue Hands 9 04/07/1934 The Sinister Sleep 10 04/14/1934 The Southern Star Mystery 11 04/21/1934 The Impossible Bullet 12 04/28/1934 The Too-talkative Parrot 13 05/05/1934 The Blue Angel 14 05/12/1934 The Green Ghost 15 05/19/1934 The Box of Fear 16 05/26/1934 The Phantom Terror 17 06/02/1934 Mantrap Mesa 18 06/09/1934 Fast Workers 19 06/16/1934 Needle in a Chinese Haystack 20 06/23/1934 Monk Called it Justice 21 06/30/1934 The White Haired Devil 22 07/07/1934 The Oilfield Ogres 23 07/14/1934 The Fainting Lady 24 07/21/1934 Poison Cargo 25 07/28/1934 Find Curley Morgan 26 08/04/1934 The Growing Wizard Episodes 27-52 were repeats of the 1934 episodes. The 1943 episodes were 30 minutes long. Episode Date Title 53 01/06/1943 Doc Savage 54 01/13/1943 Return From Death 55 01/20/1943 Note of Death 56 01/27/1943 Murder Charm 57 02/03/1943 Death Stalks The Morgue 58 02/10/1943 I'll Dance On Your Grave 59 02/17/1943 Murder Is a Business 60 02/24/1943 Living Evil 61 03/03/1943 Journey Into Oblivion 62 03/10/1943 Hour of Murder 63 03/17/1943 Pharaoh's Wisdom 64 03/24/1943 Society Amazonia 65 03/31/1943 Insect Menace 66 04/07/1943 Subway to Hell 67 04/14/1943 Monster of The Sea 68 04/21/1943 The Voice That Cried 'Kill!' 69 04/28/1943 Cult of Satan 70 05/05/1943 When Dead Men Walk 71 05/12/1943 The Screeching Ghost 72 05/19/1943 Ransom or Death 73 05/26/1943 Murder Man 74 06/02/1943 Miracle Maniac 75 06/09/1943 Skull Man Episodes 76-78 were repeats of selected 1943 episodes. The 1985 National Public Radio episodes were 30 minutes each. They were two series, Fear Cay (Episodes 79-85) and The Thousand-Headed Man (Episodes 86-91) Fear Cay 79 09/30/1985 Kidnapped 80 10/07/1985 The Hanging Man 81 10/14/1985 The Disappointing Parcel 82 10/21/1985 The Island of Death 83 10/28/1985 Terror Underground 84 11/04/1985 The Mysterious Weeds 85 11/11/1985 The Crawling Terror The Thousand-Headed Man 86 11/18/1985 The Black Stick 87 11/25/1985 Three Black Sticks 88 12/02/1985 Flight Into Fear 89 12/09/1985 Pagoda of The Hands 90 12/16/1985 The Accursed City 91 12/23/1985 The Deadly Treasure ]]> tag:docsavage.info,2006://4.73 2006-09-03T18:19:17Z 2006-09-08T15:48:25Z

These are a couple of rare items from Doc's long music career. The Doc Savage Six was Doc's Jazz combo from 1958 to 1964. The cassette was a 70s re-release of the most famous Savage Six album. This ticket...

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com


These are a couple of rare items from Doc's long music career. The Doc Savage Six was Doc's Jazz combo from 1958 to 1964. The cassette was a 70s re-release of the most famous Savage Six album. This ticket was from the group's final concert. The "Special Suprise Guest" was actually Doc and the crew in the next incarnation of the band -- "Savage." I have a line on a rare Savage cassette.]]> tag:docsavage.info,2006://4.72 2006-08-29T04:57:44Z 2006-09-08T15:48:25Z

Doc Savage Info is making a big change. Look for something new before Doc's birthday... November 7th....

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com Doc Savage Info is making a big change. Look for something new before Doc's birthday... November 7th. tag:docsavage.info,2005://4.71 2005-11-11T22:55:21Z 2006-09-08T15:48:25Z

We could carry our discussion here.... All right...I agree this is by far the easiest, since we all have our own careers. So, I have heard from a few people already who are interested in co-writing an adventure. Let's get...

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com We could carry our discussion here.... All right...I agree this is by far the easiest, since we all have our own careers. So, I have heard from a few people already who are interested in co-writing an adventure. Let's get to it! What I need now is a suggested story. Anyone have a quirky event, villian, or death-machine they'd like to suggest? Or a title or anything else to spark the book. It doesn't matter to me. I can write on any topic (but let's not make it a stupid one; please think of it as a legitimate Doc adventure so let's make it as cool as possible). I can also create the topic myself, but thoguht it might be more fun if the group nominates some potential villians/tales and then we jump from there. That'd be more interactive and fun. But keep it original. Let's not just rehash and old tale or reuse old characters. Time to use your OWN imagination. Then I'll write the first chapter and post it here to see what happens next. I don't know how fast others writers write -- I myself am extremely fast and usually do chapters within an hour to a few hours. But, just to be nice, I'm sure we could allow a week per chapter. That'd be more than enough for a few pages. The main rules are this: 1) HONOR THE INTEGRITY OF DOC AND GANG, THEIR ERA AND MYTHOS. 2) WRITE A REAL ADVENTURE. CLIFFHANG EACH CHAPTER. 3) REMEMBER IT IS A TRUE STORY, WITH BEGINNING, MIDDLE, AND END. THIS MEANS YOU CANNOT ENDLESSLY INTRODUCE NEW CHARACTERS AND DEVICES. WORK WITH THE ESTABLISHED CAST AND PLOT. 4) IF IN DOUBT, DON'T. This means "I wonder if any will notice if I kill off Ham?" 5) BE ORIGINAL. DON'T BE AFRAID TO IMAGINE. CREATE NEW, VIBRANT CHARACTERS AND SCENES. DON'T REHASH THE OLD. 6) WRITE WELL. This isn't the time or place to louse up a tale with remedial grammar, spelling, etc. That'll just ruin the book for everyone. We're all readers. Let's do some justice to Doc and his fans. Everyone gets their name on the chapter they contribute. We'll post the finale novel here or out at Hidalgo or wherever is eventually decided as home. I think I should add that maybe in case things don't work out, as in no one finishes the tale and it is left hanging at Chapter Ten or something, maybe the core writers of the group like myself, Howard, Joe, Tom, etc., should agree to finish it. Maybe we'll be the "editorial advisory board" or some such, so we can tidy up the end mess. Sound good (or good enough for something I just pulled out of a magic hat)? Good. OK, I'm ready for suggestions. Anybody have a character, villain, place, color, event, or plot suggestion? Cheers, Thomas Fortenberry tag:docsavage.info,2005://4.70 2005-11-10T06:13:43Z 2006-09-08T15:48:24Z

Welcome to the temporary home for the Doc Savage Discussion Group. Please take a minute to make a comment to answer a couple of questions.... A) How many Doc novels do you want to discuss a month? 1, 2, or...

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com Welcome to the temporary home for the Doc Savage Discussion Group. Please take a minute to make a comment to answer a couple of questions.... A) How many Doc novels do you want to discuss a month? 1, 2, or 3? B) Are you interested in starting at a certain date and following them in order? C) Are you interested in reading from a sub-set of the novels? (Example: For November read any Donovan penned novel.) D) Is this site ok to make comments or would you prefer I setup an email list? I purpose we decide by Thursday and announce it to the group. To keep the newsgroup from getting confused I'll make a place for the discussion here (or set up a new group...depending on what everyone prefers...) tag:docsavage.info,2005://4.68 2005-10-13T04:23:29Z 2006-09-08T15:48:24Z

January 17, 2000: An interview with Will Murray...

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com An interview with Will Murray]]> tag:docsavage.info,2005://4.67 2005-10-07T04:55:33Z 2006-09-08T15:48:24Z

Just how long did it take to publish a Doc Savage novel after the author submitted it to his editor?

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com Quickest Five we have the Slowest Five. They are the novels that languished the longest on the editor's desk. Quickest Five Days 43 The Polar Treasure 68 The Man of Bronze 71 The Land of Terror 85 The Roar Devil 87 Quest of the Spider Slowest Five Days 547 Mad Eyes 573 He Could Stop the World 574 The Magic Forest 608 The Rustling Death 688 The Motion Menace]]> tag:docsavage.info,2005://4.66 2005-10-07T04:03:14Z 2006-09-08T15:48:24Z

Doc Savage fans are a particular lot. Some have read the novels in the order they were published by Bantam. Some insist a better method is to read them in the order they were originally published. The latest "best order" is to read the novels in the order they were "submitted to Street and Smith." Guess who has that order for you?

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com Doc Savage fans are a particular lot. Some have read the novels in the order they were published by Bantam. Some insist a better method is to read them in the order they were originally published. The latest "best order" is to read the novels in the order they were "submitted to Street and Smith." Guess who has that order for you? Year # Mag Title 1932 001 The Man of Bronze 1933 002 The Land of Terror 003 Quest of the Spider 004 The Polar Treasure 005 Pirate of the Pacific 006 The Red Skull 007 The Lost Oasis 008 The Sargasso Ogre 009 The Czar of Fear 010 The Phantom City 011 Brand of the Werewolf 012 The Man Who Shook the Earth 013 Meteor Menace 014 The Monsters 015 The Mystery on the Snow 1934 016 The King Maker 017 The Thousand-Headed Man 018 The Squeaking Goblin 019 Fear Cay 020 Death in Silver 021 The Sea Magician 022 The Annihilist 023 The Mystic Mullah 024 Red Snow 025 Land of Always-Night 026 The Spook Legion 027 The Secret in the Sky 1935 028 Spook Hole 029 The Roar Devil 030 Quest of Qui 031 Cold Death 032 The Majii 033 Mystery Under the Sea 034 Murder Melody 035 The Fantastic lsland 036 Dust of Death 037 The Seven Agate Devils 038 Murder Mirage 039 The Midas Man 040 The Black Spot 041 The Men Who Smiled No More 042 The Metal Master 043 Haunted Ocean 044 The South Pole Terror 045 Land of Long Juju 046 The Vanisher 047 Mad Eyes 048 He Could Stop the World 049 The Terror in the Navy 050 The Derrick Devil 1936 051 The Mental Wizard 052 The Land of Fear 053 Resurrection Day 054 Repel 055 The Motion Menace 056 Ost 057 The Sea Angel 1937 058 Devil on the Moon 059 The Golden Peril 060 The Feathered Octopus 061 The Living Fire Menace 062 The Mountain Monster 063 The Pirate's Ghost 064 The Red Terrors 065 The Submarine Mystery 1938 066 The Giggling Ghosts 067 The Munitions Master 068 Fortress of Solitude 069 The Devil Genghis 070 The Green Death 071 Mad Mesa 072 The Yellow Cloud 073 Merchants of Disaster 074 The Freckled Shark 075 World's Fair Goblin 076 The Gold Ogre 1939 077 The Flaming Falcons 078 The Crimson Serpent 079 Hex 080 Poison Island 081 The Stone Man 082 The Angry Ghost 083 The Dagger in the Sky 084 The Other World 085 The Spotted Men 086 The Evil Gnome 087 The Boss of Terror 088 The Flying Goblin 1940 089 The Purple Dragon 090 Tunnel Terror 091 The Awful Egg 092 The Headless Men 093 The Awful Dynasty 094 Devils of the Deep 095 The Men Vanished 096 The Devil's Playground 097 Bequest of Evil 098 The All-White Elf 099 The Golden Man 100 The Pink Lady 101 The Magic Forest 102 The Mindless Monsters 103 The Rustling Death 104 The Green Eagle 105 Mystery Island 1941 106 Birds of Death 107 Peril in the North 108 The Invisible-Box Murders 109 Men of Fear 110 The Man Who Fell Up 111 The Too-Wise Owl 112 Pirate Isle 113 The Speaking Stone 1942 114 The Three Wild Men 115 The Fiery Menace 116 The Laugh of Death 117 They Died Twice 118 The Devil's Black Rock 119 The Time Terror 120 The Talking Devil 121 Waves of Death 122 The King of Terror 123 The Black, Black Witch 124 The Running Skeletons 125 Mystery on Happy Bones 1943 126 The Goblins 127 The Mental Monster 128 Hell Below 129 The Secret of the Su 130 The Spook of Grandpa Eben 131 The Whisker of Hercules 132 According to Plan of a One-Eyed Mystic 133 Death Had Yellow Eyes 134 The Derelict of Skull Shoal 135 The Three Devils 136 The Pharaoh's Ghost 1944 137 The Man Who Was Scared 138 The Shape of Terror 139 Weird Valley 140 Jin San 141 Satan Black 142 The Lost Giant 143 Violent Night 144 Strange Fish 145 The Ten-Ton Snakes 146 Cargo Unknown 147 Rock Sinister 148 The Terrible Stork 149 King Joe Cay 1945 150 The Wee Ones 151 Terror Takes 7 152 The Thing That Pursued 153 Trouble on Parade 154 The Screaming Man 155 Measures for a Coffin 156 Se-Pah-Poo 157 Terror and the Lonely Widow 158 Five Fathoms Dead 159 Death is a Round Black Spot 160 Colors for Murder 1946 161 Fire and Ice 162 Three Times a Corpse 163 The Exploding Lake 164 Death in Little Houses 165 The Devil Is Jones 166 The Disappearing Lady 167 Target for Death 168 Danger Lies East 169 The Death Lady 170 No Light to Die By 171 The Monkey Suit 1947 172 Let's Kill Ames 173 Once Over Lightly 174 I Died Yesterday 175 The Pure Evil 176 Terror Wears No Shoes 1948 177 The Angry Canary 178 The Swooning Lady 179 In Hell, Madonna 180 The Green Master 181 Return From Cormoral 1949 182 Up From Earth's Center tag:docsavage.info,2005://4.65 2005-09-26T02:16:33Z 2006-09-08T15:48:23Z

Tom Barnett is looking for interest in a collection of articles Will Murray has written about Doc Savage. Will asked Tom to guage reader interest in the project.

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com Tom Barnett is looking for interest in a collection of articles Will Murray has written about Doc Savage. Will asked Tom to guage reader interest in the project. If you'd like to express interest or receive information when the collection is published email Tom at tomrbarnett@yahoo.com or leave your email as a comment here.]]> tag:docsavage.info,2005://4.64 2005-09-18T03:28:07Z 2006-09-08T15:48:23Z

He's written Bleeding Sun, but Duane Spurlock isn't one to rest on his laurels. The man has started publishing articles on adventure and western pulps on his site Pulprack.com. Catchy name, no?...

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com Pulprack.com. Catchy name, no?]]> tag:docsavage.info,2005://4.63 2005-09-10T21:11:29Z 2006-09-08T15:48:23Z

Want to recreate the feeling of reading a Doc Savage fresh off the newsstand? Read on...

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com A Day in Radio . "On September 21, 1939, WJSV, an AM radio station in Washington, D.C., recorded the entire 19 hours of its broadcast day." That means you can read the "latest" issue of Doc Savage magazine -- The Stone Man (October 1939 was on the stands by that date) with the "proper" background sounds. (Note: Those of you who procrastinate reading would be finishing Poison Island.) For other Background Sounds...]]> tag:docsavage.info,2005://4.61 2005-09-03T01:13:26Z 2006-09-08T15:48:23Z

Rick Lai's groundbreaking Complete Chronology of Bronze is now available on cd-rom.

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com Complete Chronology of Bronze: This book is a heavily revised version of an earlier Doc Savage chronology that was published as The Bronze Age: An Alternate Doc Savage Chronology (Fading Shadows, 1992). At that time, the chronology consisted of the 181 novels originally published in the pulps and written by Lester Dent and other writers as well as three original paperback novels, Dent‘s The Red Spider, Philip Jose Farmer‘s Escape From Loki and Will Murray‘s Python Isle. During 1992-1993, six more novels were written by Will Murray were published. All of Mr. Murray‘s novels incorporated material found in the papers of Lester Dent. This material ranged from outlines to drafts of novels. All of the new novels are included in the second version of this chronology. The Complete Chronology of Bronze $10.00 plus $2.50 postage/handling (Foreign Orders please add an additional $5 P/H, US funds) Make checks out to; Paul McCall 5801 West Henry Street Indianapolis, IN 46241 (This is a scholarly examination of the Doc Savage novels and in no ways infringes upon the copyright of Conned Nast copyright holders of Doc Savage.)]]> tag:docsavage.info,2005://4.60 2005-09-03T00:36:37Z 2006-09-08T15:48:23Z

A review of the new chronology written by Jeff Deischer You can blame Phillip Jose Farmer for the spate of Doc Savage chronologies. Farmer proposed that the Doc Savage adventures were based on real events. He proceeded to list the...

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com A review of the new chronology written by Jeff Deischer You can blame Phillip Jose Farmer for the spate of Doc Savage chronologies. Farmer proposed that the Doc Savage adventures were based on real events. He proceeded to list the adventures in chronological order. His list wasn't the last word on the subject. As other's have disagreed with his decision to mark Doc's birthdate there have been other chronologies. The latest attempt to place the Doc novels in historical order is by a person DocSavage.Info readers recognize -- Jeff Deischer. He wrote the second Doc novel offered by the Hidalgo Trading Company -- The Stone Death. No matter his connection to this site I have to tell you I really enjoyed The Adventures of Doc Savage: A Definitive Chronology. A manuscript prepared by a Doc scholar, well-written, and thought-provoking. In his introduction Deischer offers the cornerstone to his chronology: the LPO. The Last Possible Occurance of each adventure is "the latest date that the last day of an adventure can occur." Deischer decided that it takes at least 60 days before an magazine cover date to write and prepare a novel for publication. This time includes the fact that the cover date of an issue is actually more than a week after the magazine appeared on the newsstands. Deischer notes that the issues were on the newsstands the third Friday of each month. Since he didn't want to find the exact date he makes an assumption the newsstand date is always the 15th of the month. I note this since I decided to list the actual release dates on DocSavage.Org and here. Deischer's second assumption is that the novels occured in manuscript submitted order unless internal evidence disputes that order. Deischer took the LPO and submitted order then looked at the novels to find weather data, known events, dates, days, and vegatation. With meticulous research and strong logic Deischer presents the Doc novels in "actual order of occurance." Whee Farmer simply listed the order and maybe a word or two about his reasoning Deischer offers paragraphs for each entry. The reader is offered not only clues deciding order but interesting trivia for each entry. After I finish each novel I plan to read the pertinent entry in Deischer's book. Also, look for the Deischer Number to be added to the Submitted Number, Publication Number, and Bantam Reprint Number for each entry on DocSavage.Org . You can email Jeff with comments at: ikonoklast61@juno.com To order the book write: Green Eagle Publishing 2900 Standiford Ave., 16B PBM 136 Modesto, CA 95350]]> tag:docsavage.info,2005://4.59 2005-09-02T16:05:06Z 2006-09-08T15:48:23Z

"Back in the day, before naked men in bodypaint with no genitalia took over the comics medium, there used to be comics about heroes who couldn't wield the power cosmic or defy the laws of physics on a regular basis. Some of 'em were kinda smart or strong, but that's it."

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com http://www.adventurestrips.com -- the company will only use email addresses collected in this manner to send one email, on the date of site launch, to remind those who have asked for such a reminder. Sample artwork suitable for web and print reproduction available here: http://www.adventurestrips.com/pr.php OFFICIAL LAUNCH DATE: Monday, September 16, 2002. The schedule is: MONDAY: SORCERER OF FORTUNE by Mike W. Barr & Dario Carrasco JAZZ AGE by Ted Slampyak TUESDAY: ATHENA VOLTAIRE by Paul Daly & Steve Bryant GRAVEDIGGER by Christopher Mills & Rick Burchett WEDNESDAY: RED KELSO by Gary Chaloner PERILS ON PLANET X by Christopher Mills & Jonathan Plante THURSDAY: TERRANAUTS by Paul Daly & Don Secrease TABULA RASA by James Chambers & Richard Clark FRIDAY: GIBSON DENT by Brian Meredith & Jesse Moore ASTOUNDING SPACE THRILLS by Steve Conley SATURDAY: RIP & TERI by T Campbell & John Waltrip THE HAUNTED HORSEMAN by Dick Ayers SUNDAY: MR. JIGSAW by Ron Fortier & Gary Kato CAPTAIN LUCK by Dan Davis]]> tag:docsavage.info,2005://4.58 2005-09-02T15:33:57Z 2006-09-08T15:48:23Z

Jeff Deischer offers and original interpretation of the events surrounding the birth of the Man of Bronze.

Chuck Welch http://chuckwelch.com "you were born on the tiny schooner Orion in the shallow cove at the north end of Andros Island" . . . Doc was floored, figuratively . . . by the fact that this golden man knew the exact place of his birth. It was astounding. Doc himself had known of no living man who had those facts. His five aides did not know. It was in no written record. Later, the Golden Man reveals himself to be "Paul Hest . . .chief of intelligence for . . . an unnamed nation" which seems to be Great Britain*. The Golden Man was sent to prevent "another nation"--Germany--from framing his country for a U-boat attack, turning the U.S. against her nominal ally. This is as much as we are told about Doc's birth in the entire series, as it is related in The Golden Man (which occurred Autumn 1940). The "Andros Island" mentioned by the Golden Man is not specified whether it is the one in the Caribbean Sea or the one in the Mediterranean Sea, but given Doc's father's interest in Central America--he made at least two trips there around 1910, according to The Man of Bronze and They Died Twice--the island is likely located in the Caribbean Sea. The question remains, how did Hest come by this information? What Doc believes about the availability of the information about his birth cannot literally be true. Hest got it, somehow. Because Doc is a thorough individual, we can infer that Doc knows for fact that there are no eyewitnesses to his birth still alive, and that there are no official records pertaining to his birth in existence. This leaves us with three indirect methods of getting this information: an eyewitness told someone of Doc's birth, and that confidante was contacted; an eyewitness left an unofficial written account of Doc's birth, such as a diary, and this was discovered by someone and it came into Hest's hands; or a confidante of an eyewitness left an unofficial written account of Doc's birth, and it came into Hest's hands. The Golden Man later explains: Paul Hest smiled faintly. "The intelligence departments of most leading nations know things that apparently no one could know. I happen to have a prodigious memory--or did I say that? Anyhow, that accounts for me knowing your men, knowing you, knowing about your friend who was to be killed in Vienna" While it may be easy enough to believe that British Intelligence found a source of information about Doc, it is not so easy to understand why this particular man, the head of British Intelligence, would have information about Doc's birth. In fact, Doc Savage has an association with British Intelligence predating his own career which began with The Man of Bronze (Autumn 1931). He possesses a commission with Scotland Yard, gained while working with the British Secret Service, "some years" prior to The Thousand-headed Man (Summer 1933). The Sea Magician (Autumn 1933) states Doc has "an honorary inspector's commission with Scotland Yard". It is likely that he was thoroughly investigated before being given this commission. But it is equally likely Doc was investigated because of his growing disreputation over the years. He is framed, on average, once a year, for some horrendous crime, not against merely an individual, but against entire nations. Doc Savage is impersonated half dozen times over a ten year period. Probably the intelligence service of every civilized nation on earth has a thick file on Doc Savage, the Man of Bronze. The story of Clark Savage, Jr., better known to the world as Doc Savage, begins at the turn of the twentieth century. The Golden Man does not reveal what year Doc was born in, but there are clues throughout the novels. Cargo Unknown states that Doc was born about "twenty years" prior to The Man of Bronze, suggesting a date around 1911. But, according to They Died Twice (Summer 1941), young Clark "is already known as Doc Savage" by 1911, and therefore was at least a few years old. Doc was probably born between 1906 and 1910, then. This range is confirmed by a statement in Devil on the Moon (Winter 1936), which reveals that Doc is "young". He is probably no older at that time than half the life expectancy for his generation, then, or thirty-two years old, placing his birthyear no earlier than 1904. At the beginning of Peril in the North (Spring 1941), Doc's friends attempt to throw him a birthday party. It is near midnight, and it is not explained why they wait until this hour to do so. According to my chronology of the series, this puts Doc's birthday in very late May (it is chilly, but the "midnight sun" is visible near Greenland, placing this adventure between May 25 and July 25). Although Doc apparently forgets that it is his birthday, he may, subconsciously, be feeling sentimental over the fact. Later in the adventure, one of Doc's assistants, Monk Mayfair, makes a speech about being willing to sacrifice his life in order to save others that brings tears to Doc's eyes, the only such time recorded in the entire series, which covers nearly two decades. Doc's nationality is never referred to in the series, so we may assume he is American by birth. Since he was born abroad, outside United States borders, at least one of his parents must have had American citizenship prior to his birth. The only relatives of Doc's mentioned in the series, other than his parents, are his "uncle" Alex Savage and "cousin" Patricia, Alex's daughter, though Doc's exact relationship to them is a point of contention, as Pat's relation to Doc fluctuates throughout the series. They are probably close cousins--Doc's father and Alex being first cousins--as later accounts suggest. Alex Savage settled in western Canada circa 1890, as related in Brand of the Werewolf (Autumn 1932), and one of Pat's grandfathers travelled the "northwest" (whether this is the American northwest or the continental northwest is unclear) and "fought Indians", according to I Died Yesterday (Spring 1947). However, the original story idea for Brand of the Werewolf states that Alex and Pat live in the Pacific Northwest, in the U. S. This at least suggests that the Savage family is American. At the time of Doc's birth, Doc's father, Clark Savage, Sr., is a wealthy man: "He had amassed a tremendous fortune", "early in life", according to The Man of Bronze. Of Doc's mother, nothing is known, not even her name. But not long after Doc's birth, something happens. Something awful. The Man Who Was Scared (Summer 1943) states: Doc's father, about the time Doc was born, evidently received some sort of shock which completely warped his outlook--made him devote the rest of his days to raising a son who would follow the career of righting wrongs and punishing criminals who seemed to be outside the law. Doc never knew what happened to his father to give him such an idea. But this is not entirely true. Doc himself writes in a public statement, in No Light to Die By (Winter 1946): My father, victimized by criminals, imagined he could turn me into a sort of modern Galahad who would sally out against all wrongdoers who were outside the law, and who would aid the oppressed. My father, before his death, outlined a stringent course of training in which I was placed in the hands of a series of scientists, criminologists, physical culture experts, psychiatrists--I won't bore you with an endless list of these experts, but they had me in their hands from the time I was fourteen months old until I was twenty years old--so that I might be fitted for this career of righting wrongs and punishing evildoers. That Doc's father did not push him to be a lawyer (criminal prosecutor) or a policeman but rather the ultimate Nemesis of evil, as Doc is often referred to as throughout the series, suggests that the circumstances of this crime were somewhat fantastic, like Doc's own adventures. Cargo Unknown (Summer 1944) adds, Doc had never known his mother; she had died when he was less than a year old. The elder Savage had died about the time Doc's unusual training had been finished . . . just prior to The Man of Bronze (Autumn 1931). The text does not state that Doc's mother died in childbirth, and in fact implies that she did not, so we may take it that she did not. So: Doc's mother dies when he is less than a year old. Doc's father victimized is by criminals. Young Doc's training begins when he is fourteen months old. Could the thing that warped Doc's father be the murder of his wife by men beyond the reach of the law? * Note: I realize this identification is controversial, and fortunately not central to the deduction of Doc's birthday. Briefly, my reason for making this identification is that Great Britain, who, at first glance appears to be behind the sub attacks, had more to lose by the ruse than Germany. ]]>