In his most exotic adventure, the Man of Bronze encounters the insane money lust of Senor Steel, president-dictator of Blanca Grande (a very unfortunate South American republic); decodes the awful secret of Matacumbe; and sinks — for what may be the last time — into the muddy horror of the primitive jungle.
Bama goes out with a bang for this adventure. For those of you keeping score, this was the last Bantam cover he did and it’s a good one. But what about the goings on between the covers? Unfortunately this one doesn’t measure up. The search for the stolen wealth of Blanca Grande is not terribly exciting but the rigged vault at the end has is more of a challenge for Doc. The book overall is not one of Doc’s better adventures though seeing him trying to conceal himself from the latest girl to fall for him was a hoot.
Actually, I don’t remember much about this adventure; only that it was somewhat below average (as most of the late Thirties adventures were). But I did make a large poster of the Bantam cover which has always blown me away.
Actually this is one of the better-written Docs. Dent had fun with this one. The Henry Peace character is worth the price of admission.
Easily in my Top 30 Docs.
For all you Doc fans who avoid Dent stories written in 1939 (an admittedly dismal year), give “The Freckled Shark” a try. It’s got a clever, fast-moving plot and a wonderful disguise gimmick that makes for a really fun read. What’s more, it’s one of those few and far between books in the canon where Doc is completely flustered by a woman.