have no fear

[adelaidesean]

Recently I've been giving Doctor Who* credit for my atheism, when it might in fact have been a comic book character I completely forgot about--until spotting this article on that other Doctor entirely, the Man of Bronze.

I read Doc Savage when I was younger, but my memories of him had very nearly submerged forever. Certain philosophies and lessons must've stuck, though. From Wikipedia:

A keynote of Doc's adventures is that no matter how fantastic the monster or menace, there was always a rational scientific explanation at the end. A giant mountain-walking spider was revealed as a blimp, a scorching death came from super-charged electric batteries, a "sea angel" was a mechanical construct towed behind a submarine, Navy ships sunk by a mysterious compelling force were actually sabotaged, and so on.

Awesome! And I love his oath:

Let me strive every moment of my life to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it. Let me think of the right and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice. Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage. Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do. Let me do right to all, and wrong no man.

I'd change "of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates" to "of my fellow humans" to avoid a slight nationalistic tone. Still, words we could all live by.

I'd use this as argument that comic books and TV can be good for you, but some might disagree.

* I used to credit Robert Anton Wilson and Frank Zappa with this, but Who definitely came before them.

Comments

Doc Savage wasn't entirely a great role model...

[jack-ryder.livejournal.com]

... he did lobotomise many of the criminals he caught.

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

I loved Doc Savage. he taught me that 2 out of every 24 hours should be devoted to physical exercise.

Re: Doc Savage wasn't entirely a great role model...

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

I'm not saying he was perfect...

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

You mean he was serious?? I'm behind about a million hours.

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

Mostly I kinda manage one...

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

It's a good thing to aim for. I'm off to have one right now, in fact, while the sun is shining...

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

I too went for a lunchtime walk in the sun

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

Lovely! Were you listening to anything? My music du jour will probably be Peter Gabriel too.

[catsparx.livejournal.com]

Just the gentle ambiance of this tiny seaside town. I save the poddy to drown out the bogans on the evening train home

[crankynick.livejournal.com]

I still have a couple of the old Doc Savage hardbacks around the house - used to love them.

I think Scooby Doo had an impact on the development of people's childhood rationality also - ghosts, monster, and supernatural uglies of all persuasions all pretty much turned out to be real estate developers in a costume.

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

That's true about Scooby Doo. And the Three Investigators--the first one, at least. I better start crediting them, too.

[crankynick.livejournal.com]

I so wanted to live in a junkyard (and have Alfred Hitchcock as a mate) after reading those books. (Still do, really).

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

God, yes. Who wouldn't?

I've been reading up about the series since my last post. Fascinating that's it's so popular in Germany. They're still writing new ones. That's a gig I'd LOVE to have.

[crankynick.livejournal.com]

Wonder if Hitchcock is still in them, and they're pretending he's still alive?

Zombie Hitchcock would be awesome, but hardly in keeping with the spirit of the series.

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

After Hitch died, the estate asked for too much money for his name to be used any more, so all "his" introductions were taken out. They were actually written by the authors, of course, but I still liked to pretend.

How long until someone makes Zombie Psycho, do you think?

have no fear

[(Anonymous)]

Doc Savage a comic book character? He was a pulp fiction character appearing in serial magazine format. Did you read him in comics rather than the short pulp novels? Like the Republic movie serials the fantastic criminal menaces who the heroes and heroines fought in fifteen chapter serial stories, were never supernatural (despite using death-rays, invisibility, robots, and a variety of deadly chemicals to pursue their nefarious aims). The fantastic was always grounded in the rational explanation, even if rational was stretched into what was out-and-out plain science-fictional. I wasn't aware that Doc Savage comics were available here in Oz. I picked up some omnibus collections of a number of the original Street & Smith pulp novels years ago. These were the Bantam Books reprints. I loved the roccoco titles. True pulp fiction has its majesties and guilty pleasures. So was it comics or pulp novels?

best,

Jeff

Re: have no fear

[seanwilliams.livejournal.com]

The novels. I can't remember which titles, though, and I've been racking my brains!