Just in time for the 4TH OF JULY my tribute fancast to my home
country AMERICA with two of AMERICA'S finest PULP HEROES, DOC SAVAGE &
THE AVENGER.
They even had their own radio programs during the heyday of the Pulp
magazines in the '30's & '40's.
DOC SAVAGE radio shows are available on digitally remastered CD'S from
RADIO ARCHIVES.COM. Check 'em out if you like DOC SAVAGE, they're
pretty retro-cool!
I came to DOC SAVAGE when I started reading and collecting the BANTAM
paperbacks of DOC SAVAGE & THE AVENGER at second hand stores and
used book stores. I later tried to track down the original pulps but they were
scarcer than water on the SAHARA! Lol
I have almost all the DOC SAVAGE paperbacks and one recent reprint pulp
of DOC SAVAGE #1. I think I've got “EVERY” AVENGER paperback.
So since I started with the paperback DOC, with the widow's-peak skullcap
hair, I originally thought that was how he always looked. It wasn't till I
found out about how different he looked in the pulps, when I first saw one of
a friend's collection of original pulp mags (Lucky basterd!--lol), that I
knew the difference.
UP-TOP:
I “photo-maniped” the DOC SAVAGE paperback cover where he has the
normal copper-colored hair from an original JAMES BAMA painting he
did at the same time he did the skullcap bronze hair. It was never used
for the paperback cover.
I "maniped" this "THE AVENGER" cover, I think it looks better than the
original! lol
HERE IS THE ORIGINAL DOC SAVAGE PAPERBACK COVER.
I prefer the original normal-hair look like in the gosh-awful DOC SAVAGE
movie in the '70's that RON ELY (TARZAN) sported. RON ELY made a
fine DOC but the rest of the movie was simply horrid! GEORGE PAL must
of had LSD slipped into his coffee when he was making that moronic movie!
DOC SAVAGE & his five aides, HAM, MONK, JOHNNY, RENNY & LONG
TOM would travel anywhere to aid DOC in his war against powerful evil
people, dangerous phenomena, and strange entities.
DOC was created by HENRY R. RALSTON and editor JOHN L. NANOVIC
at STREET & SMITH Publishing but LESTER DENT wrote most of the
stories under the house pseudonym “KENNETH ROBESON.
THE AVENGER was credited to the same house name, KENNETH ROBESON
but a brilliant pulp writer by the name of PAUL ERNST was the
actual author of the stories.
THE AVENGER came right at the end of the Pulp Industry and was
derivative of both DOC and another STREET & SMITH hero, THE
SHADOW. But I, personally, really like the AVENGER because he fought
mostly against vile powerful people. He named his agency “JUSTICE INC.”
because he mostly fought for the underdog and the less fortunate who had
been screwed by powerful evil in high places.
THE AVENGER had a very short run but DOC & his crew enjoyed a very
long and prosperous run of many years. Unfortunately THE AVENGER got
caught at the end of the pulps and didn't catch on as well as others like
DOC SAVAGE & THE SHADOW.
THE AVENGER had his face and hair returned to normal in a later episode,
his hair was black again. A young man, COLE WILSON, who was very alike RICHARD
BENSON physically but opposite in his jovial attitude, accidentally
electrocuted Benson, returning him to normal. He became another of
BENSON'S associates. I didn't add him here because I prefer the strange white-
haired version of THE AVENGER and also this is the beginning of his story and
COLE wasn't there yet.
DOC SAVAGE has appeared in tons of different comics under diverse
publishers as companies bought the rights to DOC & his bunch. My favorite
was MARVEL but of course I'm a MARVEL MAN all the way! I wish
MARVEL hadn't lost the rights to DOC, there could have been a ton of
TEAM-UPS with MARVEL heroes. They did have DOC in the THING'S
TWO-IN-ONE team-up comic and GIANT SIZE SPIDERMAN. I love it!
The first comic book for THE AVENGER that I'm aware of was DC. It
started out pretty good but was soon canceled because of low sales.
My favorite fantasy mash-up of DOC SAVAGE would be with none other
than the MAN OF STEEL himself, SUPERMAN! Wouldn't that be
downright COOL! THE MAN OF BRONZE meets THE MAN OF STEEL!
DOC SAVAGE was a large influence in the creation of SUPERMAN.
My favorite fantasy mash-up for THE AVENGER would be with none
other than THE SHADOW! They actually did that one at DC in THE
SHADOW'S very own comic book. Now that's a keeper!
DOC SAVAGE:
DOC SAVAGE was raised by his father to be a super-human! His father
had top scientists, doctors, engineers, etc. teach his son CLARK SAVAGE
JR., from a young age, to possess knowledge and training to make him an
expert in almost everything and anything. He was scientifically trained by
scientists and physical trainers to be powerfully and amazingly strong
and athletic! He was also highly trained in most of the known martial arts
of his time, he was a formidable foe in hand-to-hand combat. He and his
guys reside on the 89th floor of the EMPIRE STATE building. DOC & his
crew employ many futuristic weapons and gear that CLARK invented
such as hand-held machine pistols (like UZIS), extremely fast vehicles and a
gyro-copter. DOC always wore a bullet-proof vest that carried all his various
special weapons such as transparent mini knockout gas pellets, etc. But he
rarely carried a gun because he didn't believe in taking a life, not even
hardened vile criminals.
LESTER DENT described DOC (CLARK SAVAGE JR.) as a cross between
“SHERLOCK HOLMES with his deducing ability, TARZAN Of The Apes
with his towering physique and muscular ability, CRAIG KENNEDY with
his scientific knowledge, and ABRAHAM LINCOLN with his Christliness.”
He was accompanied by his five aides and friends from the war who were
top men in their own fields of endeavor and sometimes his tall, beautiful,
also-bronze cousin PAT SAVAGE.
The guys often would fall over themselves for the slightest bit of attention
from the gorgeous PAT, who owned her own high-class New York beauty
salon.
DOC'S CREW:
“HAM”: BRIGADIER GENERAL THEODORE MARLEY BROOKS.
With a masters degree from HAVARD he's an extraordinary lawyer,
extremely successful! Very handsome and with a waspish physique he's
never without his slim walking cane that conceals a very deadly sleek blade
which he is very adept with.
“MONK”: LT. COLONEL ANDREW BLODGETT MAYFAIR. Barely
over 5-feet tall but powerfully-built and muscular he is a real load and a
savage fighter (pardon the pun). He's a world renowned chemist.
“JOHNNY”: WILLIAM HARPER LITTLEJOHN. A tall “bag-of-bones”,
he's the world's greatest expert on geology and archeology.
“RENNY”: COLONEL JOHN RENWICK. Engineering genius, a giant of
a man who loves to pound his massive fists through doors!
“LONG TOM”: MAJOR THOMAS J. ROBERTS. Pale of hair & complexion
he's the smaller and weaker looking of the bunch but his looks are deceiving.
He's a hell of a scrapper and a very good fighter. He's a master with
electricity.
THE AVENGER:
RICHARD HENRY BENSON was an extremely knowledgeable man. He was
an adventurer and inventor who amassed himself a great fortune by the time
he was in his 30's.
Powerful criminals boarded his passenger plane while he and his wife,
ALICIA and his precious little daughter ALICE, were traveling by plane.
They took his wife and child and killed them and knocked RICHARD
BENSON out of the plane.
He survived the fall somehow but when he awoke in the hospital his hair had
turned white and his skin was as white as a corpse. He found that he could now
manipulate his dead-like skin into any face he liked. He used this to disguise
himself when on a case, to look like other people he was impersonating. He also
had a small pistol he designed himself that he could nick people in the head
with and knock them unconscious. He had a small throwing knife he also
designed. He nicknamed them MIKE & IKE. He is pinpoint accurate with
both these weapons that he keeps strapped to each thigh.
THE AVENGER'S ASSOCIATES WHO FORM “JUSTICE INC.”:
“NELLIE”: NELLIE GRAY. The”EMMA PEEL” of her day, a beautiful
blonde petite China doll-looking young woman who is actually an expert in
several Asian martial arts. Her archeologist father was killed by criminals for
the buried AZTEC gold he had found. After BENSON'S JUSTICE INC. solved
her father's murder the treasure became the equivalent of DOC SAVAGE'S
horde of inexhaustible MAYAN gold.
“SMITTY”: ALGERNON HEATHCOATE SMITH. A giant of a man (6'9”)
with incredible strength, SMITTY looks slow and mentally diminished but is
actually a genius with electronics. He was framed and spent a year in prison
for a crime he didn't commit and initially attacked BENSON believing he
was out to arrest him.
“MAC”: FERGUS McMURDIE. He's a stereotypical dour redheaded
SCOTSMAN who's a gifted pharmacist & chemist. His family was killed
by racketeers leaving him embittered, vengeful and indifferent in the face
of death.
“JOSH”: JOSHUAH NEWTON.
ROSABEL”: ROSABEL NEWTON. They are an AFRICAN AMERICAN couple whose
employers were killed by criminals. JOSH & ROSABEL are graduates of
TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE (now UNIVERSITY) and often go undercover as
domestic servants but they are treated in THE AVENGER stories as
intelligent people of good character, against-type of the usual
racial stereotypes that most of the other publications depicted. PAUL
ERNST was way ahead of his time in writing realistic AFRICAN AMERICAN
and other "minority" characters.
DOC SAVAGE'S MOVIE FANCAST--
(With this cast line-up any good director could make an excellent and very
“fun” film! I believe that DOC & THE AVENGER casts should be a quite
younger and sexy, both DOC & THE AVENGER were in their '30's when
they began their adventures. It would lead to a more exciting film!)
DOC SAVAGE: MAN OF BRONZE:
DOC SAVAGE is listed at 6'7” so I like a very tall actor for the role.
ALEXANDER SKARSGARD is 6'4”, ripped & blonde, Perfect for DOC.
ALEXANDER SKARSGARD-- TRUE BLOOD.
DOC SAVAGE (CLARK SAVAGE JR.): ALEXANDER SKARSGARD
Here is the JAMES BAMA painting depicting DOC with his normal hair.
This is the way I think he should look in a movie except with more sandy-
colored hair, not “COPPER” red.
RACHEL is a tall (5'10”) sandy-haired actress who is beautiful & built,
who better to play the tall statuesque PAT SAVAGE?!
PAT SAVAGE (PATRICIA SAVAGE): RACHEL NICHOLS
SCOTT CAAN is a powerfully-built 5'5' actor who has the physique and
personality that is totally fitting for the role of MONK. If you've seen him on
the new HAWAII 5-0 series you would see what I mean! He's a short LOAD!
MONK (LT. COLONEL ANDREW BLODGETT MAYFAIR): SCOTT CAAN
ALEX & SCOTT are doing quite a good schtick of HAM & MONK, the
bickering pals of DOC, as McGARRETT & DANO, with their humorous petty
arguments while McGARRET crazily drives DANO'S new Camaro, chasing
bad guys around HAWAII. Poor DANO! LOL
But it's obvious here that ALEX looks very dapper and “waspish” in an ivy-
league suit! He would make a fine and fitting handsome 30'S Harvard lawyer,
HAM.
HAM (BRIGADIER GENERAL THEODORE MARLEY BROOKS): ALEX
O'LOUGHLIN
CHRISTOPHER “IS” a tall (6'4”) bag of bones and a very fine actor. He
plays JACK THE RIPPER “&” BIGFOOT on SYFY'S SANCTUARY and a
VAMPIRE in the final TWILIGHT movies, a very versatile actor.
JOHNNY (WILLIAM HARPER LITTLEJOHN): CHRISTOPHER HEYERDAHL
CHRIS has worn the pit helmet and khakis before, he's a shoe-in as JOHNNY!
RENNIE is a giant square-jawed young engineer. ARMIE looks exactly
like this illustration and at 6'5” I think he's perfect for the role! He's
a big strapping guy with large hands, just like RENNIE!
RENNY (JOHN RENWICK): ARMIE HAMMER
ALAN TUDYK is a pale-haired, pale-skinned, slim, more average-sized guy
who's used to playing techno-savvy guys, ideal for LONG TOM.
LONG TOM (MAJOR THOMAS J. ROBERTS): ALAN TUDYK
THE AVENGER'S MOVIE FANCAST
(This cast would make a very memorable, entertaining AVENGER movie!)
THE AVENGER: JUSTICE INC.
BEN FOSTER IS 5'9” (average-sized) but he's pretty ripped-up in a
lot of his movies. He's the spitting image of RICHARD HENRY BENSON,
a powerful muscular man of average size (5'8”). I would have him able to
somewhat make facial expressions but still able to manipulate his facial
flesh to any other face he was impersonating (Not exactly like his
totally paralyzed face in the original stories.).
THE AVENGER (RICHARD HENRY BENSON): BEN FOSTER
NELLI GRAY is a little pretty woman with beautiful blonde hair whose
looks completely hide her powerful and dangerous body and mind.
KRISTEN BELL....DU-U-UH!!! lol
NELLIE (NELLIE GRAY): KRISTEN BELL
KEVIN DURAND looks just like this illustration here....another DUH!
He's the very image of gigantic powerful less-intelligent-looking SMITTY.
SMITTY (ALGERNON HEATHCOAT SMITH): KEVIN DURAND
KEVIN McKIDD looks uncannily like this illustration of MAC” and
KEVIN is an extremely talented BRITISH actor!
MAC (FERGUS McMURDIE): KEVIN McKIDD
ZOE resembles this illustration and is immensely talented. I just love her
so I chose her here. She would do “JUSTICE” to this role! It's actually a
very difficult character to perform. She would own this!
ROSABEL (ROSABEL NEWTON): ZOE SALDANA
CHIWETEL has the look the stories describe for JOSH, “a lackadaisical-
appearing fellow who harbors a whipcord brilliant mind behind his sleepy
eyes.” He's a master at going undercover and no one ever suspects him in
the slightest.
JOSH (JOSH NEWTON): CHIWETEL EJIOFOR