What was the fabulous treasure Velma Crale had discovered in the South Pole? And why was Cheaters Slagg willing to kill to keep her from talking? The Man of Bronze and his five aides give chase all the way to the bottom of the world — and are nearly sunburned to death!
This was the first Doc saga I ever read, so of course it holds a special place in my heart.
The story is just rip-roaring. Bonus points for the unintentional humor of the villian’s weapon, which creates a hole in the ozone layer! Egads!
This was the second Doc I had ever read in its pulp form. Hated the pulp cover; loved the Pfeiffer cover. The adventure is quite good, but what struck me as odd was that somehow Dent knew of the hole in the ozone layer (it is also crucial to the mystery in the story). But this means that in 1936 people already knew that there was a hole in the ozone layer. It also means that we, in this generation, didn’t create it. It was already there in the 1930s. This is a rousing adventure, and as far as I know, the only one to take place in Antarctica.
This one was really frustrating. Dent was deep into his Doc “formula” when he wrote it
not the first doc i have ever read ..but the first doc i ever bought..
I remember thinking this is so cool to get a Doc when it was first released from bantam..
I love this story.
It has one of my favorite covers.
Which has believe it or not alot a effect on how the story is pictured in my mind..
Everything is in the dark and cold in this one.Which seems normal and right..But some of the later docs with the bama covers effect my whole vision on a story…The red terrors .is a good example i hate the cover..But i remember enjoying the story somewhat.
Ok i am rambling.
I have read the south pole terror 3 times..And there are a ton of docs i have never read so go figure..lol
This one coulda been a contender! But the “payoff” at the end was a letdown. And using the gadget to thin the ozone layer is almost redundant – surely a coincidence.
Doc shows himself to be a great marksman in this one (several times).
The ending of the book is mean-spirited (not to mention out of character) with Ham knocking Monk out with a cloth-covered monkey wrench to “get even” for his use of the double-tails trick coin.
Maybe ol’ Les was getting back at the literary creations he was not able to escape from…
This was the first Doc Savage I ever read. I read it in seventh grade,age about 12. As someone wrote here, this is rather a formulaic story. Good. I learned almost everything I needed to know about Doc and the famous five. It had everything; Habeus Corpus and Chemistry, Ham’s sword cane, Renny knocking out door panels with his fists, Doc’s stature only being realized when he stood in a dororframe or beside someone due to his perfectly proportioned body, the Dirigible, etc. The only thing missing seemed to be Pat.
Had it been less formulaic, I may not have read any other Doc Savage books. I would have missed out on a lot.
I remember how excited I got reading about Doc being “killed” and the ambulance men carrying his “de-capitated” body out of the skyscraper past the five. I talked this up to my friends, telling them how great these characters were.I have read it twice more in the more than thirty years since and love it as much now.