The Czar of Fear / World's Fair Goblin

Doc Savage: Double Features #9, 74

by Kenneth Robeson (House Name), Lester Dent, William G. Bogart

A Doc Savage Adventure

Genres: Pulp

128 pages, Paperback

First published April 15, 2008

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

[Steve · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first offering is one of the earliest Doc Savage outings, and didn't hold up as well as my original read of it. What did stand out were the descriptions of the Depression and the shenanigans of the businessmen. Which ties into the current political/economic climate we're seeing in the world today, primarily in the United States.

The second half of the double volume shows the hand of ghost William G. Bogart. This was the editor's first outing as Street & Smith's Kenneth Robeson. It stands up well. It was easy to tell way back when someone was ghosting Lester Dent; those stories always just a little bit off. The story's pacing lets you skip past the inconsistencies of a story forced into a cookie-cutter scenario that isn't organic. "Let's put Doc Savage at the New York World's Fair! And the McGuffin will have something to do with science!"

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

These two Doc Savage adventures come from opposite ends of the Great Depression. In the first, from early in the series, Doc and his aides work to free a small town from the oppression of the mysterious Green Bell, who is planning an economic takeover of the town. Savage creator Lester Dent writes with his usual fast pace and quirky style. It's a fun story, more low-key than many of Savage's other stories. The subplot where he becomes a murder suspect is a nice change from Savage's usual infallibility. But the frequent references to Doc brainwashing criminals at his Crime College are still creepy. And is it really necessary to remind us twice that there's no room in Doc's mission for women or romance?

The World's Fair Goblin, ghost-written by William Bogart, is a more typical Savage adventure. The prose is a bit less ornate, but the plot is every bit as twisty and larger-than-life. Bogart does a great job at capturing the fractious relationship between Doc aides Ham and Monk, and at creating a vivid portrait of the World's Fair.

In addition to the stories, the book includes the usual background article from Will Murray providing historical context. Another great repackaging of stories from the golden age of pulp.

[Robert Ricci · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two of the best Doc tales in this edition.