THE SPOOK LEGION

[Dave]

CLASSIC DOC SAVAGE stuff....

Things I hadn't remembered.......

1. There are only Monk and Ham in this story. Most of the early
classic DOC's have all five aides.

2. The pig is there, but he's not really that annoying; in this one
he is genuine comic relief.

3. Everyone remembers DOC and Monk being invisible, but i was
surprised that it was so late in the story -- not until chapter 13

4. The opening -- a classic Lester Dent puzzle piece

5. The bad guys are really actually organized in this one. Liked the
idea of them using sign language to communicate, when visible.

6. The totally unlikely villian -- come on

SPOILER ALERT

an Italian chiroprator with a secret underground lab beneath a skunk
farm somewhwre in the swamps of jersey.

7. DOC is clueless as to the process. We're used to DOC taking one
look at a scientific device and divining its use, but he not a clue to
the whole invisibility thing

8, The ending a holdover from the earliest days of DOC, whereby the
bad guys meet their doom via their own doing


9. he's referred to as "the invisiblre bronze giant"

10. There's th eclassic pulp cover, DOC on the running board with
Monk driving, and I can't really see where it was actually in the
story (mebbe I read too fast)

Dave

[Kent Allard]

Post by Dave
CLASSIC DOC SAVAGE stuff....
Things I hadn't remembered.......
1. There are only Monk and Ham in this story. Most of the early
classic DOC's have all five aides.

My first Doc. Some friend's of my mom had taken all the reject books from a
closed library, and I was told to take some books from the piles to thin them
out. I grabbed a bunch, as instructed, but I think the Spook Legion was the only
one I read. (In my youth I was astonished to think I was reading an adult book
when Monk comments on the fact that he, Ham and Doc are walking around naked in
New York City.)

My next Doc Novel came a few years later when Scholastic came out with a movie
version of The Man of Bronze.

Soon after I started to find other Bantams in bookstores that my parents would
let us venture into... Still, fond memories of my first supersaga.

BTW my memory is vague but one thing that impressed me was that Ham and Monk
were almost acting like professionals at the airport in the opening sequences
(when I didn't know anything about the series and thought that the series was
set in the present day).

Ramble off...

[Dave]

On Mar 14, 9:49 pm, Kent Allard one thing that impressed me was that
Ham and Monk

Post by Kent Allard
were almost acting like professionals at the airport in the opening sequences
(when I didn't know anything about the series and thought that the series was
set in the present day).

I recall the same thing when I sarted reading DOC SAVAGE -- I'd think
it was in the present day, and then they'd be talking about running
boards... Can't remember how long it was until I figured out these
were reprints from the 30s

dave

[Anim8rFSK]

In article

Post by Dave
On Mar 14, 9:49 pm, Kent Allard one thing that impressed me was that
Ham and Monk

Post by Kent Allard
were almost acting like professionals at the airport in the opening sequences
(when I didn't know anything about the series and thought that the series was
set in the present day).

I recall the same thing when I sarted reading DOC SAVAGE -- I'd think
it was in the present day, and then they'd be talking about running
boards... Can't remember how long it was until I figured out these
were reprints from the 30s
dave

That's three of us; took me awhile to realize it wasn't present day, and
then I checked the publication dates, and it was right there in the
front cover. :)

[Dave]

I made the discovery with DOC SAVAGE, and that helped me figure out
that THE HARDY BOYS had been revised and updated. I couldn't figure
out why in some adventures the were obviously in the present day,
while in others they drove "roadsters", listened to radio programs,
carried pistols, and encountered "darkies" and other extinct ethnic
groups. Then I discovered the wonders and brought the code of the
copyright page.

This is now my sole criteria for buying western paperbacks -- a
copyright notice that in a minimum of 50 years old (akthough I did
have good luck with a TV Olson novel from 1964 last month)

Dave

[Anim8rFSK]

In article

Post by Dave
I made the discovery with DOC SAVAGE, and that helped me figure out
that THE HARDY BOYS had been revised and updated. I couldn't figure
out why in some adventures the were obviously in the present day,
while in others they drove "roadsters", listened to radio programs,
carried pistols, and encountered "darkies" and other extinct ethnic
groups. Then I discovered the wonders and brought the code of the
copyright page.

Called each other 'chum' . . .

Post by Dave
This is now my sole criteria for buying western paperbacks -- a
copyright notice that in a minimum of 50 years old (akthough I did
have good luck with a TV Olson novel from 1964 last month)
Dave