Adam Graham's Blog: Christians and Superheroes - Posts Tagged "pulp-reprint"

Resurrection Day / Repel by Lester Dent

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


This book collects two short Doc Savage Novels published in 1936 and 1937, "Resurrection Day" and "Repel."

In Resurrection Day, Doc has discovered a chemical that can resurrect the dead, but he can only do it once. The evil criminal genius General Ino has in mind a historical figure in mind who he would like to see resurrect (and what evil criminal genius worth his salt doesn't.) and a battle of wits is on that will end up with Doc and Ino matching wits in the dessert.

In Repel, a volcano explodes and Doc goes running along with the criminal minature genius Cadwiller Olden, a figure who Doc was bound to tangle with sooner or later. He and his international cabal were after Repel, a dangerous new element.

Overall, having read several of Will Murray's newer Doc Savage novels, I have to say that I like these and in fact, prefer them. The shorter fiction form works for Doc and really makes the stories pacier and more exciting with less capture and release. Yes, they're pulp adventure stories with all the flaws of that genre, but if you like that sort of story, these really are top notch for what they are.

Of the two, I liked Resurrection Day better. Doc is determined to use his one shot at resurrection to bring back someone who will benefit humanity but Ino's greed gets in the way, and it's unspoken message shows how the evil in men's can lay waste the best intentions of science. It also happened over a much shorter time, so it had very little lag in it.

Repel had an added sense of mystery as well as an intriguing villain in Cadwiller Olden, yet Olden had some big inconsistencies with Doc Savage and his men. He ordered Doc's men executed in one case and so Doc had to rescue them in order for them to live. Doc failed to rescue them, and they still live with Olden keeping them alive to be killed at another time for no reason he states or actually makes any sense. At the start of the book, he has the gall to want Doc captured alive to work for him and then he wants him dead. This is just of a few points where I thought Repel could have used an extra edit. However, my enjoyment of the story wasn't ruined, but Resurrection Day was a better story overall.

One thing that's great about the novels is it also includes reprints of the original pulp illustrations which are really a treat to see. The book also includes an introduction by Comic Book great Peter David, and two enlightening commentaries by Will Murray.

These extras make the book a treasure for fans of Pulp Fiction despite a few rough spots in the stories. Overall, a very compelling volume.



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