The Golden Man / Peril in the North

Doc Savage (Bantam) #117, 118

by Kenneth Robeson (House Name)

The Golden Man
A golden man rises miraculously from the sea with the power to peer into the future and challenge the Man of Bronze. Doc Savage and his crew follow the mystery man’s fabulous trail from South America to New York where they uncover his Dark Sanctuary — and come face to face with an evil cult of blackmail and murder!

Peril in the North
250 people are abandoned in the Arctic wilderness at the mercy of a murderous madman. Only Doc Savage can prevent wholesale slaughter on ice. Following a gun-and bomb-blasting battle on the New York docks, The Man Of Bronze and his crew race northward to smash a sinister plot-and to expose the cruel secret of a bloodthirsty foreign dictator!

Genres: Science Fiction

210 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published December 1, 1984

About the author

Kenneth Robeson was the house name used by Street and Smith Publications as the author of their popular character Doc Savage and later The Avenger. Though most Doc Savage stories were written by the author Lester Dent, there were many others who contributed to the series, including:

William G. Bogart
Evelyn Coulson
Harold A. Davis
Lawrence Donovan
Alan Hathway
W. Ryerson Johnson

Lester Dent is usually considered to be the creator of Doc Savage. In the 1990s Philip José Farmer wrote a new Doc Savage adventure, but it was published under his own name and not by Robeson. Will Murray has since taken up the pseudonym and continued writing Doc Savage books as Robeson.

All 24 of the original stories featuring The Avenger were written by Paul Ernst, using the Robeson house name. In order to encourage sales Kenneth Robeson was credited on the cover of The Avenger magazine as "the creator of Doc Savage" even though Lester Dent had nothing to do with The Avenger series. In the 1970s, when the series was extended with 12 additional novels, Ron Goulart was hired to become Robeson.

Reviews

[Stormcrow Hayes · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not as big a fan of Doc's later adventures, but these were both fine. Of the two, I enjoyed the latter more as some of the mystery elements of The Golden Man weren't really explained very well.

The Golden Man - A man is dragged from the sea who seems to know all about everyone he meets and can predict events before they happen. Focus is on Monk and Ham for the first part, which is fun, but ultimately, the truth of The Golden Man is too pat and doesn't really explain how he would know some of the information he knew.

Peril in the North - This one was more fun, though just as far fetched. It involves a blue dog (not really), a man named Bench Logan, a deposed dictator and the lives of 250 mysterious people hanging in the balance. Even though his entire crew including Pat show up at various times, it still feels very Doc centric in a way. It was also nice to see a scene in which Pat shows up and saves Doc (instead of the other way around). Fun and colorful adventure that mostly takes place in the tristate area until the end when we head (where else?) north!

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first Doc Savage story appeared in 1933 and the series ran in pulp and later digest format into 1949. Bantam reprinted the entire series in paperback with wonderful, iconic covers starting in the 1960's. Doc was arguably the first great modern superhero with a rich background, continuity, and mythos. The characterizations were far richer than was common for the pulps; his five associates and their sometimes-auxiliary, Doc's cousin Pat, and the pets Chemistry and Habeas Corpus, all had very distinctive characteristics and their byplay was frequently more entertaining that the current adventure-of-the-month. The settings were also fascinating: Doc's Fortress of Solitude, the Hidalgo Trading Company (which served as a front for his armada of vehicles), and especially the mysterious 86th floor headquarters all became familiar haunts to the reader, and the far-flung adventures took the intrepid band to exotic and richly-described locations all over the world. The adventures were always fast-paced and exciting, from the early apocalyptic world-saving extravaganzas of the early days to the latter scientific-detective style shorter works of the post-World War Two years. There were always a few points that it was difficult to believe along the way, but there were always more ups than downs, and there was never, ever a dull moment. The Doc Savage books have always been my favorite entertainments... I was always, as Johnny would say, superamalgamated!

[Little Timmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Of all the pulp era heroes few stand out above the crowd, Doc Savage is one of these. With his 5 aides and cousin he adventures across the world. Fighting weird menaces, master criminals and evil scientists Doc and the Fab 5 never let you down for a great read. These stories have all you need; fast paced action, weird mystery, and some humor as the aides spat with each other. My highest recommendation.

[Ronald]

read The Golden man some time in 1984