No, I dont think these speculations are feasible, although they are interesting. Doc is described as bronze rather than golden because his skin LOOKS bronze, not golden. Theyre not the same. And he never refers to himself that way, it`s the newspapers and the underworld who call him that. (His bronze skin is explained as being the permanent result of tropical exposure, but more likely he was half Mayan…which would explain why those people entrusted him with unlimited gold.)
As for the dislike of guns and providing mercy anesthetic bullets to his crew, the man IS a doctor. He`s a surgeon with a Hippocratic oath. In the first few stories, he did indeed lose his temper when his father and favorite teacher had been killed and he went on a rampage that left bodies all over the place. But shortly afterwards, he resolved never to take human life unless absolutely necessary to save innocents.
(Guns also would have made things too easy to suit him. He loved elaborate ruses and bizarre gadgets he invented himself, just to give himself more of a challenge. If he carried a pair of .45s like the Shadow, his adventures would have been over in about twenty minutes.)
Docs most commonly used weapon was a harmless anesthetic gas he carried in small glass spheres. It lost its potency one minute after exposure to the air, so all he had to do was hold his breath while the thugs keeled over. If a doctor had to fight armed criminals, doesnt this seem like the most ethical approach?
Not that Doc didnt have a dark side. One of the scariest concepts in pulp fiction was his Crime College. Crooks he captured were taken to a secret institution in upstate New York, where he performed involuntary brain surgery on his prisoners. He removed their memories, re-educated them with useful skills and false identities and often had them working for him. It must have given the five aides the creeps to have guys on the payroll who had been trying to kill them not long ago but the graduates werent aware of it.
The whole idea is unsettling.
I think Doc’s refusal to deliberately take a human life is similar to Batman’s–once you do it, you’re no better than the criminals you’re fighting. Doc discovers it pretty quickly after the first two novels; thereafter, he keeps his oath well.
You could also argue that is one of the reason that Doc keeps the Five around him; he knows that they are willing to kill for him. Doc has probably convinced himself that this absolves him of any associated guilt.
Another explanation for Doc’s waning abilities could be simply attributed to old age. Most sources agree that Doc was born sometime around the turn of the century, so by the Second WW, he would be in his mid-40’s. That would mean he’s spent several decades involved in an extremely strenuous and punishing career of crime fighting. Even taking into consideration his incredible stamina, he’s got to show some signs of physical deteriation (unless the story of his anti-aging drug is true).
Farmer (again) posits that Doc’s “fall to human levels” is a result of his struggle between his urge to fight evil, and his natural urges to be a man. Thanks to his father’s scientific program, Doc had no real childhood. His experiences through the years, and exposure to the Five’s more normal lifestyle must have made him realize that he was less than complete.
carnivorousplant, I don’t think you’re giving the Five enough credit. The novels certainly show that they are the leaders in their field; Monk and Renny are often shown involved in very large projects in their field, and Ham is pretty rich from his law career. They all were heavily decorated for their service during WWI (I believe Ham rose to the rank of Brigadier), and were involved in some pretty hairy adventures before they met Doc. I know it’s not strictly canon, but Farmer’s Savage novel “Escape From Loki” gives some background on the team and how they met Doc in a WWI prison camp.
You know, posting on this page really makes me regret giving away my Doc Savage Bantam novels when I was a kid. What the hell was I thinking?!?!?
I had several of the Bantam editions too… lost in a fire.
If I had the greenlight for a Doc Savage movie, I think I’d go all CGI, just because the characters (especially Doc) have such specific physical descriptions, and it would be hard to find actors who fit them. Also, to recreate 1930’s New York (along with things like Doc’s private Zeppelin) you’d need a lot of special effects anyway.
I think the CGI idea is a great one - make NYC of the 30s all art deco and bustling.
And it would be a mistake, I think, to make Doc the dark figure he would be if they treated the canon as they did Batman. Despite my rather tongue-in-cheek amateur psychoanalysis of Doc, the appeal of the novels is their air of breathless innocence - good guys always win, only bad people die, a new gadget is always cool, and you hung out with your buds 24/7. It appeals back to the time of early adolescence, before girls cloud the picture.
Unlimited gadgets, unlimited time to play with them, all the money in the world - Paradise to the twelve to fourteen year old still living in my head somewhere. Even if he is wearing a tie nowadays.
dr. hermes: I reread “Derelict of Skull Shoal” Monday night, and I must say your premise makes much more sense now.
It seems like Doc did get a pretty good shot on the noggin, much worse that I had remembered. I noticed on the reread that, aside from knocking out Jolly Rogers at the end and barely putting away Woll, Doc relied on brains & bullshit, not his amazing physical abilities.
BTW people, Doc was an excellent shot with firearms. Check out the final chapters of “The Pirate’s Ghost.”