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Doctor Death Vs. The Secret Twelve, Volume 1
For the first time, all five Doctor Death pulp adventures are collected in two volumes in this series authorized by the Ward estate. Volume 1 contains the first three stories from 1935: "12 Must Die," "The Gray Creatures" and "The Shriveling Murders." As a bonus, Harold Ward's treatment for a Doctor Death comic strip is included. All new introduction by pulp historian Will Murray.
- GenresHorror
488 pages, Paperback
First published July 3, 2009
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
September 12, 2009
I've finally been able to get a copy of the Altus Press edition of volume one of the collected Dr. Death novels. Today, I'm going to be talking about the first of them, "Twelve Must Die".
Doctor Death was originally a minor character in some pulp stories of the 1930's. The forward in this collection suggests that the publisher decided to give him his own magazine after the edition of All Detective magazine featuring a Dr. Death cover sold very well. The success of the story never transferred over to the larger format and the Dr. Death magazine was canceled after three issues. Vol. 1 of the Altus collection contains all three of these plus a pitch writer Harold Ward did for a Dr. Death comic strip.
In "12", Dr. Death is revealed to be Professor Rance Mandarian, a once highly respected university researcher who had gone insane. Recreated himself as Dr. Death, Mandarian has decided to wage war on human civilization. A master of the occult sciences, Dr. Death has discovered the means to create zombies and harness elementals, deadly spirits who can destroy anything in their path. At the beginning of the book, he issues a warning to the world: destroy the wheels of industry and return to living off the land or face his wrath. To make his position clear, he pronounces a death sentence on 12 leaders of science and industry. He then dares anyone to save them.
Opposing Dr. Death is The Secret Twelve, a council made-up of the leaders of society (and the underworld). Death's main adversary is Jimmy Holm, a privately wealthy police detective and Detective Inspector John Ricks, a hard-boiled copper from the old school.
The writing style is crisp and to the point. No long scenes of descriptive dialogue here! The pulp audience wanted entertainment in the way of action. We do get a detailed tour of Dr. Death's subterranean lair and it comes complete with the walking dead and stacks of bodies. Plot devices tend to be quick as well; when Jimmy Holm and Death's assistant Nina Ferrera fall in love it takes place over the course of two pages.
The next novel, "The Gray Creatures", has Dr. Death traveling to Egypt to find the lost tomb of Anubis, the ancient god of the dead. Death has learned of an amulet in the tomb which will enable him to raise the dead of Egypt and complete his conquest of the world. Of course, Nina gets kidnapped by the fiendish scientist right before his trip, forcing Jimmy Holm to head off in hot pursuit. This is the best novel of the three as Ward is able to build an effective sense of tension in the scenario as Death gets closer to his goal. And along the way we encounter a lost tribe of pyramid builders. Jimmy Holm thwarts Dr. Death in the last few pages of the novel, but the crafty old test tube cleaner manages to escape once again.
The final novel, "The Shriveling Murders", has it's name taken from Dr. Death's latest invention: a ray gun which sucks all the moisture out of a person's body, reducing them to a dead doll. Death has plans for his new toy and the means to carry it out. Although not quite as good as "Gray Creatures", it has numerous scenes which are wildly out of control. There's even a riot at an insane asylum where a herculean lunatic leads a mob of madmen against Death's army of the living dead.But Shriveling also has a voodoo cult scene which is embarrassingly racist. I'm glad Altus didn't censor it; future generations need to experience this sort of thing for comparison. Once again Nina is conveniently kidnapped and falls into Death's clutches (this being her main profession). Of course, Jimmy saves the day at the end, but Dr. Death escapes.
The collection has a nice introduction by pulp historian Will Murray. It concludes with a proposed daily comic strip script by Harold Ward. The script neatly distills the major plot devices of 12 Must Die down to the essentials.
All-in-all, an excellent collection with fine illustrations from the original magazines
Doctor Death was originally a minor character in some pulp stories of the 1930's. The forward in this collection suggests that the publisher decided to give him his own magazine after the edition of All Detective magazine featuring a Dr. Death cover sold very well. The success of the story never transferred over to the larger format and the Dr. Death magazine was canceled after three issues. Vol. 1 of the Altus collection contains all three of these plus a pitch writer Harold Ward did for a Dr. Death comic strip.
In "12", Dr. Death is revealed to be Professor Rance Mandarian, a once highly respected university researcher who had gone insane. Recreated himself as Dr. Death, Mandarian has decided to wage war on human civilization. A master of the occult sciences, Dr. Death has discovered the means to create zombies and harness elementals, deadly spirits who can destroy anything in their path. At the beginning of the book, he issues a warning to the world: destroy the wheels of industry and return to living off the land or face his wrath. To make his position clear, he pronounces a death sentence on 12 leaders of science and industry. He then dares anyone to save them.
Opposing Dr. Death is The Secret Twelve, a council made-up of the leaders of society (and the underworld). Death's main adversary is Jimmy Holm, a privately wealthy police detective and Detective Inspector John Ricks, a hard-boiled copper from the old school.
The writing style is crisp and to the point. No long scenes of descriptive dialogue here! The pulp audience wanted entertainment in the way of action. We do get a detailed tour of Dr. Death's subterranean lair and it comes complete with the walking dead and stacks of bodies. Plot devices tend to be quick as well; when Jimmy Holm and Death's assistant Nina Ferrera fall in love it takes place over the course of two pages.
The next novel, "The Gray Creatures", has Dr. Death traveling to Egypt to find the lost tomb of Anubis, the ancient god of the dead. Death has learned of an amulet in the tomb which will enable him to raise the dead of Egypt and complete his conquest of the world. Of course, Nina gets kidnapped by the fiendish scientist right before his trip, forcing Jimmy Holm to head off in hot pursuit. This is the best novel of the three as Ward is able to build an effective sense of tension in the scenario as Death gets closer to his goal. And along the way we encounter a lost tribe of pyramid builders. Jimmy Holm thwarts Dr. Death in the last few pages of the novel, but the crafty old test tube cleaner manages to escape once again.
The final novel, "The Shriveling Murders", has it's name taken from Dr. Death's latest invention: a ray gun which sucks all the moisture out of a person's body, reducing them to a dead doll. Death has plans for his new toy and the means to carry it out. Although not quite as good as "Gray Creatures", it has numerous scenes which are wildly out of control. There's even a riot at an insane asylum where a herculean lunatic leads a mob of madmen against Death's army of the living dead.But Shriveling also has a voodoo cult scene which is embarrassingly racist. I'm glad Altus didn't censor it; future generations need to experience this sort of thing for comparison. Once again Nina is conveniently kidnapped and falls into Death's clutches (this being her main profession). Of course, Jimmy saves the day at the end, but Dr. Death escapes.
The collection has a nice introduction by pulp historian Will Murray. It concludes with a proposed daily comic strip script by Harold Ward. The script neatly distills the major plot devices of 12 Must Die down to the essentials.
All-in-all, an excellent collection with fine illustrations from the original magazines
February 1, 2013
"God's plan has gone amuck. Satan and I have formed an alliance. Together we will rule the world... Through my efforts, the earth will be restored to its original state. Man will dwell upon it again in primitive simplicity. And I— I, Rance Mandarin, alias Doctor Death, will be hailed as the savior of mankind— second only to Ahrimanes himself!"
Yes, even by the hair-raising standards of 1930s pulp-magazine fiction, the tales of Doctor Death are pretty wild stuff. Looking for a twist on the "hero pulp" craze that began with the Shadow and Doc Savage -- titles where the monthly, novel-length tales all revolved around a single recurring character -- Dell Magazines cooked up Doctor Death in 1935 as a title centered on a supervillain, hoping perhaps to recreate the success of Fu Manchu.
It didn't work. The mag only ran for three issues, all written by Harold Ward, but those three stories are jam-packed with a bizarre mixture of gore, occult horror and square-jawed police action, all delivered at a breathless pace.
As indicated by the quote above, Doctor Rance Mandarin is a brilliant but insane scientist/occultist who believes that all scientific progress (except his own) must be undone, and that God and/or Satan has chosen him as the instrument of destruction. He calls upon a terrifying array of dark magic: zombies, elemental demons, black masses, metempsychosis (soul transference), mesmerism and more in his relentless war against progress, as well as a growing pile of electric-powered superweapons: death rays, antigravity airplanes and the like. The bodies pile up fast in these stories, as Doctor Death unleashes an orgy of graphic violence against the world.
Arrayed against this tide of evil are millionaire/psychic/occultist/detective Jimmy Holm of the NYPD (yes, you read that right), his tenacious, bull-necked boss Inspector Ricks, and the beautiful Nina Ferrera, who is both Holm's love interest and Dr. Death's niece. They are backed by the "Secret Twelve," a shadowy council led by the President of the United States himself. But is this enough against an enemy who can raise the dead, summon monsters, or move his own soul into the body of any man he chooses? Of course not. And yet Holm beats him time and again.
So let's be honest: these stories are not very well written. Aside from the nonstop carnage and weird terror, it's middle of the road pulp-mill fare. Mass murder, macabre horror, weird torture, and chases through dank caverns fill every chapter. And that's a problem: certain phrases and scenarios repeat so often the stories seem to be on autopilot after a while. And this ebook edition from Altus Press has an annoying number of small typographical errors (and one large one late in the third novel, where about a page's worth of material appears one chapter too early).
But despite the flaws, this is ghoulishly entertaining stuff... up to a point. The first novel (Twelve Must Die) is mildly diverting. The second (The Gray Creatures) is actually pretty good, adding new levels of Lovecraftian horror and a spirit of high adventure via a voyage to Egypt and search for a lost tomb. But the third (The Shriveling Murders) is just a gruesome mess, cobbled together from two barely-related plots and rushing from one bloated, putrid action scene to the next. And with a hefty dollop of racism tossed in to make it even worse. By the end of The Shriveling Murders, Doctor Death has definitely worn out his welcome. My three star rating is made largely on the basis of The Gray Creatures and as an acknowledgment of Doctor Death's unique place in pulp lore.
Yes, even by the hair-raising standards of 1930s pulp-magazine fiction, the tales of Doctor Death are pretty wild stuff. Looking for a twist on the "hero pulp" craze that began with the Shadow and Doc Savage -- titles where the monthly, novel-length tales all revolved around a single recurring character -- Dell Magazines cooked up Doctor Death in 1935 as a title centered on a supervillain, hoping perhaps to recreate the success of Fu Manchu.
It didn't work. The mag only ran for three issues, all written by Harold Ward, but those three stories are jam-packed with a bizarre mixture of gore, occult horror and square-jawed police action, all delivered at a breathless pace.
As indicated by the quote above, Doctor Rance Mandarin is a brilliant but insane scientist/occultist who believes that all scientific progress (except his own) must be undone, and that God and/or Satan has chosen him as the instrument of destruction. He calls upon a terrifying array of dark magic: zombies, elemental demons, black masses, metempsychosis (soul transference), mesmerism and more in his relentless war against progress, as well as a growing pile of electric-powered superweapons: death rays, antigravity airplanes and the like. The bodies pile up fast in these stories, as Doctor Death unleashes an orgy of graphic violence against the world.
Arrayed against this tide of evil are millionaire/psychic/occultist/detective Jimmy Holm of the NYPD (yes, you read that right), his tenacious, bull-necked boss Inspector Ricks, and the beautiful Nina Ferrera, who is both Holm's love interest and Dr. Death's niece. They are backed by the "Secret Twelve," a shadowy council led by the President of the United States himself. But is this enough against an enemy who can raise the dead, summon monsters, or move his own soul into the body of any man he chooses? Of course not. And yet Holm beats him time and again.
So let's be honest: these stories are not very well written. Aside from the nonstop carnage and weird terror, it's middle of the road pulp-mill fare. Mass murder, macabre horror, weird torture, and chases through dank caverns fill every chapter. And that's a problem: certain phrases and scenarios repeat so often the stories seem to be on autopilot after a while. And this ebook edition from Altus Press has an annoying number of small typographical errors (and one large one late in the third novel, where about a page's worth of material appears one chapter too early).
But despite the flaws, this is ghoulishly entertaining stuff... up to a point. The first novel (Twelve Must Die) is mildly diverting. The second (The Gray Creatures) is actually pretty good, adding new levels of Lovecraftian horror and a spirit of high adventure via a voyage to Egypt and search for a lost tomb. But the third (The Shriveling Murders) is just a gruesome mess, cobbled together from two barely-related plots and rushing from one bloated, putrid action scene to the next. And with a hefty dollop of racism tossed in to make it even worse. By the end of The Shriveling Murders, Doctor Death has definitely worn out his welcome. My three star rating is made largely on the basis of The Gray Creatures and as an acknowledgment of Doctor Death's unique place in pulp lore.
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