 This is the SF Productions Podcast Network. Before the Man of Steel, there was the Man of Bronze. From the Pop Culture Bunker, I'm Mindy. And I'm Mark. You can check out our audio podcast, How I Got My Wife to Read Comics on iTunes, or on our website, SFPodcastNetwork.com. Coronavirus notwithstanding, the movie industry is at peak superhero, and they are frantically looking for any remaining properties not already in development. Sony recently announced plans to develop a Doc Savage TV series. So who's Doc Savage? Well, we have to start with the Pulps. Early magazines that ran from the end of the 19th century into the late 50s, they came out of the dime novels, adventure stories going back to the Civil War. The term dime novels and Pulps were often interchangeable. Pulps featured short stories and novellas that tended to be lurid and sensational, enjoyed by the newly literate masses. Pulp referred to the poor quality of the paper used. You could actually see chunks of wood pulp in it. Much of the creative talent involved would help to establish the comic book industry, as well as the popularity of genre such as sci-fi, mystery, western, romance, etc. One of the largest publishers was Street and Smith, formed in 1855. They became a giant, both by the creation of ongoing popular characters and through acquisitions. They actually bought out the publisher of astounding stories during the Great Depression, The Sci-Fi Pioneer. One of their most popular characters was The Shadow. Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of men? And they wanted to replicate that success with the new character. Harry W. Ralston and John L. Nunovich came up with the concept and Pulp writer Lester Dent was brought in at a rate of $500 per story to bring Savage to life in a long series of novels, 181 in all. Dent was quite the adventurer in his own right, using the funds from his writing to become a pilot, mountain climber, and world traveler. Unfortunately, he was listed with the pseudonym Kenneth Robeson in the novels. He later said it was just a job and had no illusions of it being high art, churning out reams of sellable crap. Clark Doc Savage Jr. was the son of an adventurer who brought together a team of scientists to turn junior into the perfect human specimen. From Wikipedia, his abilities are genius level intellect, peak physical and mental conditioning, skilled scientist, surgeon, inventor, detective, athlete, martial artist, photographic memory, and master of disguise. Sounds like a certain dark night? Well, Doc first appeared in 1933. Doc dedicates his life to writing wrongs and helping the world, running his operation out of a secret headquarters on the 86th floor of the Empire State Building, as well as an arctic fortress of solitude coined before a certain man of steel did so, all funded from the proceeds of a Mayan goldmine given to him by natives in his first adventure. He's assisted by the Five Men. Colonel John Renwick, a.k.a. Renny, a huge man and an accomplished engineer who put his this through door panels as a hobby. William Harper Little John, a.k.a. Johnny, a geologist and archaeologist with a magnifying glass over one eye that was damaged in World War I. He's fond of big words with the catchphrase I'll be super amalgamated! Major Thomas J. Roberts, also known as Long Tom, a frail electrical engineer who got his nickname after he used an old cannon in a World War I French battle. Brigadier General Theodore Marley Brooks, a.k.a. Ham, a lauded attorney who carried a sword cane. The nickname came out of a prank played by his friend and constant bickering partner Colonel Andrew Blodget Mayfair, a.k.a. Monk, a short troll-like man with simian features and an expert chemist. His nickname came from one of Ham's pranks. Doc was referred to as a giant of a man with a bronze complexion, hence the man of bronze, with close cropped hair and a widow's peak. The stories are laden with super technology, all invented by the group, some of which has become commonplace today. Night vision goggles, automatic weapons, non-lethal weaponry. There was also a delicate brain operation performed by Doc himself used to cure criminal tendencies. Doc refused to kill if possible and became a patriotic figure, especially during World War II. So, basically, Superman meets Batman meets Sherlock Holmes with James Bond-esque gadgets and a team a la The Avengers. Why hasn't this been dramatized already? Well, it has. There were radio series in 1934 and 1943 with a set of episodes created in 1985 by NPR. Street and Smith got into comic books during the Golden Age, including Shadow and Doc Savage titles. For some reason, Doc was turned into an actual superhero with a hypnotic mystic ruby and a blue hood looking little like the pulp character. Gold Key published a single new comic in 1966 which was tied to a film that never materialized, which was to star Chuck Connors. Marvel adapted four stories in the 70s with a special based on the 1975 film. More on that in a moment. DC ran a regular series in the late 80s, I have copies of them, mostly written by Mark W. Barr as well as a crossover with mainstream DC characters. Millennium and Dark Horse also did Doc series in the 90s with Dynamite taking a shot in the 2010s. Films have been discussed over time. The 1967 Chuck Connors vehicle fell apart due to rights issues. A version written by Philip Jose Farmer involving a crossover with Sherlock Holmes never made it. A 1999 adaptation starring Arnold Schwarzenegger was scrapped when he ran for and won the Governor of California. Both Chris Helmsworth and The Rock were considered for films in the 2010s. But only once did a Savage film actually make it to the screen. Producer and director George Powell hired former Tarzan Ron Ealy for Doc Savage The Man of Bronze. Unfortunately, it was a flop. The blame was split between funding issues. The film changed studios during production and they cut costs. And Powell's decision to go with High Camp a la the 60s Batman TV series. A second film was already in production when the first film came out and then it was scrapped. Then there were the paperback versions of the original novels published from the 60s to the 90s. This is where we discovered Doc. You can easily spot the logo. Philip Jose Farmer and Will Murray began writing news stories when dense novels were exhausted. So now we will hopefully see the new Sony series maybe on a streaming service. It's being co-produced with Condé Nast who is the successor to Street and Smith. Lots of material in these old pulp novels. Oh, absolutely. I think they could do well to check it out although they will have to be updated a little bit about the sexism and racism. But you could mine the pulps for years and years and years. Yes. And if you want to check those out you can but you can also check out our audio podcast How I Got My Wife Tweet Comics on iTunes or on our website sfpodcastnetwork.com From the Pop Culture Bunker, I'm Mindy. And I'm Mark. Thanks for watching. I'll be super amalgamated!