New Doc Savage Reprints
Well, perhaps not quite exactly "new"... Since late 2006 Nostalgia Ventures has been publishing titles in the classic Doc Savage series. Although I've got the old Bantam paperbacks I was curious to check these editions out. They're absolutely terrific, y'all. I can recommend them highly, regardless of whether you're a diehard fan or merely a dabbler.
The NV editions use the original cover art/interior illustrations from Street & Smith's Doc Savage Magazine (1933-49), with variant covers, for select titles, featuring the marvelous paintings from the Bantam paperback series. 17 volumes have been issued to date, which for the most part represent some of the best stories in the Doc canon. All but one of the books is a "double" containing two complete adventures; #15 features a trio of shorter tales from the late-'40s Cold War period. Doc Savage scholar/author Will Murray, among others, provides informative and entertaining "liner notes" — introductions, articles, essays, and photographs — for each book.
Printings are limited; some are already unavailable except on eBay and the like. Most can be found in certain brick and mortar stores and at various e-merchant sites. (Bud's Art Books is a good place to see all the NV Doc titles.) Further volumes are in the pipeline for release this summer and fall.
Apparently these books are selling well. As a fan, it's nice to know that in his 75th anniversary year, Doc Savage — the ultimate "Man of Tomorrow" — is still thrilling readers in the 21st Century. (Note: Nostaligia Ventures also publishes reprints of '30s pulp hero The Shadow.)
8 comments:
Good to see NV's excellent reprints are getting some love.
But The Spider is being reprinted by Girasol Collectables.
http://www.girasolcollectables.com/
Thanks for the correction, Mark! (I'll edit the page accordingly.)
Yes, I love these reprints. They're an exciting way to read the pulp stories more in their original format.
I had a full run of the original paperbacks, but they got lost over the years. With these reprints I can relive the thrills all over again.
I wish Hollywood would get moving on a real Doc Savage movie. Ron Eli was a great choice: the movie was a bad one.
Also The Spider is being collected by BAEN in huge trades.
Nice write up. So many pulp reprints (as well as OTR, Movie Serials, old horror and sci fi movies, etc) so little moolah. I just spent a considerable sum last week to fill in some holes (missing and better copies) of my Doc, The Shadow and The Avenger paperbacks (which I got rid of in college and have been occasionally picking up over the last 15 years when the mood strikes). No decent copies of The Spider. Also, picked up thirty back issues of The Bronze Gazette (I've heard of it but never laid eyes on the fanzine before). Also handled a number of Doc, Spider and a few other pulp titles that were too rich for my blood.
My buddy, Bobb Cotter (author of The Mexican Masked Wrestler and Monster Filmography; McFarland books) is finishing up proof reading his book, The Great Monster Magazines: A Critical Study of the Black and White Publications of the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s (McFarland; Spring/Summer 2008) and will begin a book for McFarland on Doc Savage. Before the decision to do the Will Murray Doc's in paperbacks there was plans for them to be done in pulp reproduction format with interior art by Bobb and cover art by Dave Stevens (who recently passed away).
Just order The Spider double number #7 from Bud's (as well as Ron Goulart's book on pulps, CHEAP THRILLS and HOT STUFF Harvey Comics Classics Vol 3. Looks like the April Doc and Shadow doubles are behind schedule.
The Doc movie seems stuck in development hell as does the new Shadow movie.
http://members.cox.net/comingattractions3/NostalgiaVentures.html
http://www.comicmix.com/news/2007/06/25/the-shadow-knows/
http://www.comicmix.com/news/2007/06/24/the-case-of-the-chemical-syndicate/
http://www.mcfarlandpub.com/
For those budget minded folks - I pick up the Shadow and Doc reprints at Borders and use my Borders card to get a discount.
I love all of the editions of these pulp heroes. I want to throw my two cents in for the "B-list" heroes (who nonetheless hold a place in my dark, pulp heart) THE PHANTOM DETECTIVE and THE BLACK BAT. (www.adventurehouse.com)
Right ho, old bean. Pip. Pip. And all that rot. I've yet to read any Black Bat (on my list) but had a couple of Phantom Detective paperback reprints as a kid (and when I use order stuff from the comic shop* I'd order High Adventure which occasionally carried a PD story). The red signal used to summon him to police headquarters was co-opted by the Bat-Man folks for the Bat Signal according to Jeff Rovin's Encyclopedia of Super Heroes.
Although I plan to subscribe to the DS/Shadow reprints at some point (I have to drive a half an hour to Borders and if gas is going to hit $8 a gallon, trips are going to be less frequent) I've used 20 to 40% coupons to buy my reprints (I'll buy the Doc w/coupon and wifey will purchase the Shadow w/coupon). They carry the Bama cover variants when NV does them so I'll buy my pulp cover from Bud's.
*I quit buying comics when my daughter started college several years ago and the budget shrank. No great loss as the art work started to really suck big time. I do miss Tom Strong and The Goon. Wish I could afford the overpriced Golden and Silver Age DC Archives editions reprints. Well at least when I win the powerball tonight I'll help the economy by employing several people to acquire the things I wish to own and finding a house er, maybe my own town to have a place to stash it all. :-)
Up until about a week ago many of the Doc Savage novels were available for the Amazon Kindle - then with no warning they were all gone. Amazon has yet to provide an explanation.
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