April 1939
GHOST OF THUNDER ISLE
Angelica Tremaine reflects on recent events and their
outcome for her older brother Winston and her ex-fiancé Tommy Bolt. When
Angelica is murdered, her old friend Nellie Gray speaks to Officer Reagan and
Detective Cardona about the crime. Angelica’s current fiancé, Peter Russell, is
the grandson of a man who saved a Mexican girl from a band of murderers who
were on the run from the law when he was 18 or 19. The elder Russell married
the girl and used the reward money to start his own ranch; Peter was named
after him. Angelica’s murder is part of a string of deaths of people connected
to Winston Tremaine; another of the victims is James Tripp, whose brother
Wiggens Winston knew. The mad Tommy Bolt targeted the Tremaine siblings from a
base on Thunder Island, but Winston’s friend Clark came to their rescue. Smitty
remembers a physiobiologist from Harvard named Geresten who experimented on lab
animals by introducing electrical stimulation to certain gland centers,
altering them physically; Bolt used this same process on humans, including
Wiggens Tripp, making them animal-like. It is mentioned that actor Bruce Baxter
got his start as an extra in films made in Chelsea.
Short story by John Allen Small in The Avenger:
Roaring Heart of the Crucible, Nancy Holder and Joe Gentile, eds., Moonstone
Books, 2013. This story serves as a sequel to the Doc Savage comic story “The
Doom on Thunder Isle” (Doc Savage Magazine #1, Marvel Comics, August
1975; reprinted in DC Showcase Presents Doc Savage, DC Comics, 2011),
which is the source of Angelica Tremaine, her brother Winston, Tommy Bolt,
Wiggens Tripp, Thunder Island, and Dr. Geresten. Officer Reagan is a member of
the family of New York police officers named Reagan featured in the television
series Blue Bloods; his nephew is Henry Reagan, a retired police
commissioner in the 21st century. Detective Joe Cardona is from the
Shadow novels. Peter Russell is the grandson of Peter Russell and Monja from
Small’s story “Rite of Passage” (Days Gone By: Legends and Tales of Sipokni
West, Ethan Books, 2007.) Bruce Baxter is from Peter Jackson’s 2005 remake
of King Kong; Small reconciled several different Kong stories in his
tour-de-force essay “The
Beast” (Glimmerglass: The Creative Writer’s Annual, Volume 1, John Allen
Small, ed., 2009.)
Interesting that it is a sequel to one of Doc Savage's comic adaptions and not the original pulp novels. Unless Small wrote the comic story.
ReplyDeleteNope, the comic story was written by Doug Moench.
ReplyDeleteJohn's a friend of mine (he's been at two of the four FarmerCons I've attended, and is a great guy), and I know that he considers Marvel's black-and-white magazine the best comic version of Doc Savage that's been published, so it's not entirely surprising to me, anyways.
ReplyDeleteI don't really know much about Doc Savage comics. I'm much more familiar with the original pulp novels. So to me that's what I think of when I think of Doc. I know there was one that everyone hated.
ReplyDeleteOn another subject, this links Blue Bloods which is just one of many shows about the NYPD in the CU. There's the various Law & Order franchises, NYPD Blue, among others. I recently found out that one those gay love mangas is set in the fictional 27th precinct as Law and Order. I've never read it since well it's a gay love manga.
(The action manga Black Lagoon also mentions the 27th precinct.)
Well, I had posted a previous response, but it hasn't shown up. (The same thing happened with the Xena/Ash crossover.)
ReplyDeleteI'm not really familiar with any of the Doc Savage comic adaptions. I'm mostly familiar with the original pulp novels. So that is what I think of when I think of Doc. I know there was one comic in the 80s or 90s that everyone hates.
My bad; I have to approve all comments on here, and I never got around to those too. Sorry.
ReplyDeleteIt's okay. At least I don't have to read spambots when I come to this site.
ReplyDelete