In one of the most masterly of Doc Savage adventures, the Man of Bronze is jailed! But all the prison bars in the world could not hold Doc when he was on his way to dispelling the madness in the desert that changes people into other identities!
Hidalgo Trading Co – Chuck Welch – Flearun
Site (c) Chuck Welch | Doc Savage is (TM) Conde Nast
This one is run-of-the-mill Doc but seeing Doc in jail makes it noteworthy. Usually local and state authorities bend over backwards to help Doc and the gang so to see the tables turned is a refreshing change of pace. The mystery itself was not so interesting which makes this one average over all.
Magnificent, first-rate Doc adventure, one of the tops of the series. Well plotted and written by Dent with a compelling bizarre introductory mystery that unfolds into an even more complex plot, to which Dent perhaps owes a slight debt to Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Lost Special”.
This is one of the few really good Dent-written Doc stories that you’ll find after 1938. Even though there is no world-threatening gadget in play, the story is quite interesting and the villain’s plan is very unique. Seeing Doc in prison is fun and the bad guys meet a wonderfully violent end. Well-written, well-plotted, well worth your time.
I really enjoyed Mad Mesa. This is a very interesting story with plenty of twists and turns, lots of action, good characters, and fast pacing. I love the cover design as well.
Excellent yarn! This is exactly the type of story which makes 1939 one of my favourite Doc years. I read it 28 years ago, and even on a recent re-read it still stacks up. Incidently, the portrait on the pulp cover looks remarkably like Lee J. Cobb – I know it was the custom to model pulp and comic characters after popular actors of the time back in the ’30s and ’40s, so maybe this resemblance is not coincidental. Rating for the story? Definitely 4 out of 5!