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Doc Savage Sanctum Editions #42
The Men Who Smiled No More / The Pink Lady
Thrill to the legendary pulp exploits of DC Comics' newest superstar as the Man of Bronze returns in two thrill-packed novels by Laurence Donovan and Lester Dent, writing as Kenneth Robeson. First, a brain-deadening epidemic lures Doc and his aides into a zombie trap as they become The Men Who Smiled No More. Then, in The Pink Lady, the arson death of a weirdly pigmented woman sets Doc Savage and his Iron Men on one of their strangest quests. This classic pulp reprint features the color pulp covers by Walter Baumhofer and Emery Clarke, Paul Orban's original interior illustrations, historical commentary by Will Murray, and a foreword by Tony Isabella.
128 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2010
29 people want to read
About the author
Kenneth Robeson
918 books134 followersKenneth 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 5, 2021
Double Doc in action. Up first, Doc has to fathom the secret of why normal people suddenly become emotionless killers - and it strikes his own aides, too. Then he has to uncover why a woman is completely pink - including her teeth and eyes - as two underworld gangs collide hunting a multi-million dollar secret. High adventure on Long Island in the Thirties. As fun as ever.
January 25, 2022
Not really much I can say about this book. I've been a die-hard fan of Doc Savage and his amazing crew for many, many years. These books are always a fun read!
January 5, 2025
The Men Who Smiled No More was only so-so. However The Pink Lady was great.
December 25, 2011
Halfway done, finishing the first half last night, The Men Who Smiled No More, penned by Laurence Donovan during one of his ghost writing efforts for Lester Dent.
I don't know whether I'm looking forward to reading his initial efforts with The Whisperer. Sanctum hasn't reprinted any of Alan Hathaway's books yet, but I know from reading Doc Savage that I didn't much care for many of his stories when I read them during my teens. I still find his prose jumpy, even now, when I'm approaching them more from the viewpoint of a writer than a reader.
The second half, The Pink Lady, is supposed to be one of Lester Dent's better stories from the early 1940s, so I'm going to try and knock it out this weekend during the holiday.
***
And now I've finished the volume. It's Christmas morning, and I'm set to dive back into A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge.
The Pink Lady was OK. Better than some of the other 1940s-era Docs I've read this past year. I don't necessarily think Dent was misfiring as much as dealing with the changing times. World War II had started in Europe, Pearl Harbor and the United States' entry into the conflict loomed on the horizon, and the Docs increasingly took on a tone of realism. Forgotten civilizations and megalomaniacs weren't the norm any longer. How could those compare against Adolf Hitler and the Nazi war machine? Doc couldn't troubleshoot that kind of situation, and his struggle with such a difficult menace definitely shows. One book I'm looking forward to re-reading in coming volumes, probably toward the end of 2012, is Violent Night, where Dent has Doc capture Hitler. I'm curious to see how it plays.
The other variable about these pulp reprints that I find interesting is how The Shadow seems to fare better than Doc across the breadth of his career. The Shadow (so far in my experiences) always dealt with villains with a lowercase "v" rather than those with a capital. Even the Voodoo Master, doubly capitalized ironically enough, as one of the earliest super villains The Shadow face, is a manageable adversary compared to some of the foes Doc tackled in his adventures. Of course, I've yet to read about the Wasp or Shiwan Khan. Time will tell.
I don't know whether I'm looking forward to reading his initial efforts with The Whisperer. Sanctum hasn't reprinted any of Alan Hathaway's books yet, but I know from reading Doc Savage that I didn't much care for many of his stories when I read them during my teens. I still find his prose jumpy, even now, when I'm approaching them more from the viewpoint of a writer than a reader.
The second half, The Pink Lady, is supposed to be one of Lester Dent's better stories from the early 1940s, so I'm going to try and knock it out this weekend during the holiday.
***
And now I've finished the volume. It's Christmas morning, and I'm set to dive back into A Deepness in the Sky by Vernor Vinge.
The Pink Lady was OK. Better than some of the other 1940s-era Docs I've read this past year. I don't necessarily think Dent was misfiring as much as dealing with the changing times. World War II had started in Europe, Pearl Harbor and the United States' entry into the conflict loomed on the horizon, and the Docs increasingly took on a tone of realism. Forgotten civilizations and megalomaniacs weren't the norm any longer. How could those compare against Adolf Hitler and the Nazi war machine? Doc couldn't troubleshoot that kind of situation, and his struggle with such a difficult menace definitely shows. One book I'm looking forward to re-reading in coming volumes, probably toward the end of 2012, is Violent Night, where Dent has Doc capture Hitler. I'm curious to see how it plays.
The other variable about these pulp reprints that I find interesting is how The Shadow seems to fare better than Doc across the breadth of his career. The Shadow (so far in my experiences) always dealt with villains with a lowercase "v" rather than those with a capital. Even the Voodoo Master, doubly capitalized ironically enough, as one of the earliest super villains The Shadow face, is a manageable adversary compared to some of the foes Doc tackled in his adventures. Of course, I've yet to read about the Wasp or Shiwan Khan. Time will tell.
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November 16, 2016read The Pink Lady some time in 2000
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews