Just under two years after The Shadow appeared on magazine racks, Doc Savage became the third pulp character to get his own magazine.

The world met the Man of Bronze in a novel titled “The Man of Bronze,” March 1933.

Doc Savage was created by Street and Smith’s Henry W. Ralston, with help from editor John L. Nanovic, in order to capitalize on the surprise success of The Shadow magazine.

It was Lester Dent, though, who crafted the character into the superman that he became.

Dent, who wrote most of the adventures, described his hero – Clark “Doc” Savage Jr. – as a cross between “Sherlock Holmes with his deducting ability, Tarzan of the Apes with his towering physique and muscular ability, Craig Kennedy with his scientific knowledge, and Abraham Lincoln with his Christliness.”

Through 181 novels, the fight against evil was on. From a headquarters on the 86th floor of a towering Manhattan skyscraper, Doc, his five pals – Renny, Johnny, Long Tom, Ham and Monk – and occasionally his cousin Pat battled criminals the world over (and under) 12 times a year, from 1933 until early 1947; then the team’s exploits dropped to every two months until the final three quarterly issues in 1949.

Doc Savage is one of the few characters whose complete original pulp run has been reprinted in book form. Doc also appeared in a short-lived radio drama in the 1940s, a couple of serialized adventures on public radio and a 1975 movie.

Links

Doc Savage newsgroup

This is a great hangout for fans of the Man of Bronze. (If your internet service provider doesn’t offer access to this newsgroup, access it through Google Groups.)

The alt.pulp FAQ

Besides being a hypertext version of the newsgroup’s FAQ, it also summarizes Philip José Farmer’s Wold Newton Family, which Farmer proposed in his “biographical” book Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life. And it includes a link to a short section on Doc Savage.

The ultimate Doc Savage site

This is THE site for Doc Savage fans. Chris Kalb has blended style with substance to create a thoroughly delightful exploration of the legacy of the Man of Bronze – and you get your choice of classic pulp or Bantam versions of the site. Plus there are some wonderful premiums to download.

The official movie site 1
The official movie site 2
The official movie site 3
The official movie site 4 *

There may not be anything there yet, but these domain names – TheManOfBronze.com, ManOfBronze.com, DocSavageTheMovie.com and DocSavage-ManOfBronze.com – have been registered by Warner Bros. The first three in July 1999, about the same time word got out of a potential Doc Savage movie, and the fourth in 2002. It might be worth keeping an eye on the URLs in the event something develops.

Doc Savage convention

Learn all about the annual Doc Savage Conventions, sponsored by the Arizona Fans of Bronze. Rob Smalley’s page includes events, locations and maps to help you get there. There’s also information about previous gatherings.

Doc Savage Game Center

For the past few years, Glenn Horner has been host of the Doc Savage Jeopardy game at the annual Doc Con in Arizona. Here’s your chance to give the game a spin if you haven’t been able to attend. You will also find a Doc Savage Murder Mystery game and Doc stereograms at this site.

Trading in thoughts

Here’s a site that is a bit different from the others. Chuck Welch at the “Hidalgo Trading Company” offer fans an opportunity to share their thoughts about all aspects of Doc Savage. What’s there? A reading group; fan writing and art; a trading areas; info about the movie; and more fun stuff.

Lester Dent Museum

La Plata, Mo., the hometown of Doc Savage author Lester Dent, is setting up a museum dedicated to the pulp author. This Web site provides basic information about Dent, the town and the museum.

Doc Savage group map

Frappr is a Web site that maps the locations of members of a participating group. Here’s one that maps Doc Savage fans. Punch in your information and see other Doc fans in your area. Pretty nifty.

Doc in France

Here’s Alain Berguerand’s look at the various Doc Savage publications – paperbacks, magazines, comics – that have appeared in French. The site also is available in English.

Doc in Belgium

In addition to posting translations of Doc adventures, Christian Vanderhaegen’s site also includes an exchange bulletin board for fans and a bibliography of Doc’s adventures, with information on French language publications.

The dark side of Doc

In the Italian Web zine Delos Science Fiction, Massimo Pietroselli takes an in-depth look at the dark side of Doc: the Crime College and his upbringing. Those are two areas that often are not studied, but otherwise tarnish the Man of Bronze’s shine.

Doc Savage: Arch Enemy of Evil

Larry Widen has a rundown on his book Doc Savage: Arch Enemy of Evil, which was republished in 2006.

Supreme Adventurer

Rob Smalley’s site includes information on Doc’s skyscraper headquarters, the Hidalgo Trading Co., the Fortress of Solitude, the novels, the press kit from the 1975 movie and Doc Savage artists. The jewel here is Smalley’s correspondence with Bantam cover artist James Bama. He has scanned in the letters and also provides text of the letters.

Doc Savage collectibles

Jim Gould’s Web site offers a glimpse at Doc Savage collectibles -- from Doc Savage club rings and cards to movie posters to various artists’ interpretations of Doc.

Doc Savage FAQ

Scottt Cranford’s site includes his Doc FAQ, as well as a profile of Doc, his modus operandi and his co-horts, Cranford and Will Murray’s Doc Savage bibliography, and paperback publication data.

Another Doc Savage FAQ

At Eclipse’s Web Warren, you’ll find a version of Cranford’s Doc Savage FAQ. You also will find Cranford and Murray’s Doc Savage bibliography here.

Weird Science-Fantasy: Doc Savage

William Thompson’s Weird Science-Fantasy pages include a section on Doc Savage with information about the pulp, Doc’s aides, a brief FAQ and details about the movie.

Readers’ comments

Another of Chuck Welch’s Hidalgo Trading Co. sites, this one let visitors comment about each of the Doc Savage adventures.

Doc Savage bibliography

Michael R. Brown’s index to Doc Savage, which used to be part of the SF-Lovers’ Web site, now resides at this Geocities site.

Another Doc Savage bibliography

Robert Finnan takes a different approach to the Doc Savage bibliography by basing his on the Bantam paperback order, with crossdating to the pulps and a brief back-cover description of each story. He also offers info on the Doc Savage radio programs.

Lester Dent’s pulp writing tips

Here’s an absolute treasure. It’s the “Lester Dent Pulp Master Fiction Plot.” It’s a mouthful, but it’s also a fascinating instruction sheet on how to write a pulp novel.

Lester Dent: Pulp Master from Missouri

Matt Heibert has posted on YouTube a two-minute preview of a documentary about Doc Savage author Lester Dent that he is producing. He hopes a longer version will be finished in fall 2007.

Q&A with Will Murray

The Denver Business Journal offers a questions-and-answers story with pulp historian and Doc Savage author Will Murray. Murray discusses Lester Dent, writing the Doc Savage paperbacks and the future of Doc Savage.

Doc at 70

Tim Lasiuta writes about Doc Savage’s 70th anniversary (1933-2003) for the Nostalgia League’s Web site. He discusses his discovery of Doc in his father’s bookshelf, the history of the pulp, its reprints and the artist who illustrated Doc.

Dr. Hermes’ reviews

Edward Felipe, aka Dr. Hermes, has reviewed numerous Doc Savage adventures. A warning: Reading a review before reading the book can spoil it for you. But after reading the book, check out the reviewers’ opinions.

Bronze Journal

M.D. Jackson and G.W. Thomas offer opinion and commentary on the Man of Bronze in their online zine, Savage: The Bronze Journal. Topics have include “Doc across the Genres” and “Copies in Bronze,” a look at Zarkon, Lord of the Unknown.

A rogue’s hero

Here’s a biography of Doc, along with .WAV files from the 1975 movie.

Doc links

Tomi Vaisala’s site features links to Doc Savage sites around the Web, as well as Doc-related items at his site.

Doc in the comics

Dave Schneider, with the help of Jeff Sines, Bill Mann and Liana Thompson, has put together a Doc Savage Comic Reader’s Resource, with a list, summaries and reviews of the Man of Bronze’s various comic appearances.

Dark Horse Comics

Dark Horse Comics may have back issues of its two-part tale of The Shadow vs. Doc Savage and a four-part Doc Savage: Curse of the Fire God series still available. Get the details here.

Doc Savage links

Jerry Sutton offers the Doc Savage code, video captures from the 1975 Doc Savage movie and a 40-second .WAV file of the movie theme.

The animated Doc

Micah Wright recounts his discovery of Doc Savage and explains his goal of creating an animated version of Doc.

Introducing Doc Savage

Clark Holloway’s Web page on Doc Savage republishes the introductions to the three Ideal Library editions from the 1930s, a pulp promotional piece about “Comrades in Arms” – Doc and the five companions – and the Doc Savage code. Plus there are interior illustrations of the team and a dashing Doc from the pulp cover “Quest of Qui.”

A Doc Savage history

Read about Doc Savage and his five aides at Wes Tumulka’s site. Tumulka also sketches the history of the magazine, reprints and comics.

Doc Savage quest

The “latest news” on the Doc Savage movie project is rather dated at the Doc Savage/Shadow Quest Web site.

Bronzdom

Here’s a fond look back at the 1970s and the thrill of Doc Savage. You’ll also see photos of the Web site’s author meeting Philip Jose Farmer and Boris Vallejo, as well as photos of numerous Doc collectibles.

Doc Savage: International Hero

This British Web site gives a bio of the Man of Bronze and links to information about his aides, including the non-pulp aides Shoshanna, Bo and Ivanovitch — oh, and his son, Chip.

Doc in relief

Sculptor Shawn Nagle displays and sells a variety of statues, including one of Doc Savage, at his Web site.

Doc Savage Web-Quarters

Marcus Tee uses excerpts from the novels to provide information about Doc’s headquarters, weapons, gadgets, autos, aircraft and aides. He also has several downloadable BMP images.

Lester Dent’s papers

Lester Dent’s personal papers now reside in the Univerity of Missouri’s Western Historical Manuscript Collection in Columbia, Mo. This provides a brief bio of Dent, details on when the papers were donated and an inventory of the collection.

Doc inspired

Speaking of Doc-inspired projects, Red Kelso is a 1930s adventurer created by Gary Chaloner. Chaloner provides profiles of the characters and a timeline.

Trading Docs

Liz Degn offers a list of Doc Savage titles she needs or is willing to trade.

Who’s got them all?

Here’s a site for fans who have collected all the Doc Savage paperbacks or pulps. The fans have added comments about their collections.

Pulp, paperback, comics covers and more

Chris Kalb’s Doc Savage site includes several vintage pulp covers, covers from the Bantam paperbacks, Doc Savage comics from the 1941, 1944 and 1945, and comics covers, other Doc Savage books, advertisements and much, much more.

More Doc covers

In addition to letting visitors comment about the Doc Savage stories, this site includes thumbnail images of each cover.

Man of Bronze photo-novel

Chris Wike has put together a “photo-novel” of the 1975 movie Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze by making screen captures from the widescreen laserdisc and grouping them in chapters. Re-live the movie scene by scene. It’s graphic intensive so expect it to load slowly if you have a slow-speed Internet connection.

Doc Savage pulp cover

Chris Ragaisis’ collection of pulp and paperback covers includes a Doc Savage pulp cover in addition to those from The Shadow and The Spider.

The model Doc

Take a look at Paul Rocconi’s resin model of Doc Savage, as well as scans of several other models of his.

Doc’s adventures in French

Christian Vanderhaegen is posting French translations of Doc Savage adventures on his site. His plan is to post novels which previously have not been published in French. There also is an exchange bulletin board for fans, a bibliography of Doc’s adventures and information about the Italian reprints of Doc Savage.

The Bronze sagas

Mark Eidemiller tells two new stories of Doc Savage: “Bronze Refined as Silver,” “More Precious Than Gold” and “Bronze Avengers.”

Dave’s Doc adventure

Dave Taggart gives a try at being Kenneth Robeson with “The Steel Hammer,” which he is serializing on his Web site. Taggart also writes about collecting Doc Savage items.

A bronzed Schwarzenegger

Now that Arnold Schwarzenegger is governor of California, who knows what the status of a Doc Savage movie is. But just a few years ago, talk of a movie was booming, and Arnold was at the center of discussions. Here’s a quick rundown of sites where you can read more:

• Ain’t It Cool News, a Web site devoted to film, offers a hint at what might be expected from a Doc Savage movie. Another article refers to a SciFi.com interview where Schwarzenegger says the script for the Doc Savage movie is finished and waiting to be filmed. An earlier article recapped mentions of the Doc Savage film in the Los Angeles Times and Cinescape. A previous AICN article offers the site’s take on the early talk of the movie. You’ll also find reader reaction at the bottom of each article.
• Sci Fi Wire, the Sci Fi Channel’s news branch, talks with Schwarzenegger about the status of the project as of April 14, 2000.
• Schwarzenegger.com: What better place to visit than Arnold Schwarzenegger’s own Web site and this “Up-to-the-Minute” news items from October 2000. More recently, there’s a mention of the Doc project in the June 2000 “Up-to-the-Minute” news that negotiations on the film project are continuing, and in “Ask Arnold” item from January-March 2001 — it says the Austrian Oak was planning to film Collateral Damage, then Terminator 3, then either Doc Savage or True Lies 2.
• Daily Variety: The 86th Floor provides a copy of the Daily Variety’s July 1999 article on the proposed movie.

Doc’s radio adventures

At one time, this site had an extensive collection of The Shadow, Doc Savage and more radio programs in MP3 format. Now you’ll find a discussion area focusing on old time radio programs.

Doc on the air

Chris Kalb’s 86th Floor site takes a look at the various incarnations of Doc Savage on the radio. Sample scripts and soundbites are among the jewels found here.