The thing called MAXIMUS was eight feet tall and matted with hair. It ran amok among the sophisticated, scientific marvels of the fair, striking stark, cringing fear into the sightseers. The Man of Bronze battles the brilliant brain that controls the monster — an evil genius capable of creating an army of huge horrors.
This one was a long time coming for me but boy was it worth it! It’s hard to find these days for some reason but it is more than worth the effort it might take to track down. This is my all-time favorite Doc! In fact, reading it, I saw the new Doc movie if they ever decide to make it. The whole adventure takes place at the 1939 World’s Fair and having a Doc adventure set at an actual historical event just adds to the fun. Lots of action and the plot ties into the theme of the Fair which was The World Of Tomorrow. I read it right after finishing E.L. Doctorow’s World’s Fair which is a wonderful novel that gives the reader a glimpse into the what the world was like in ’39 when Doc was in his prime. I can’t recommend World’s Fair Goblin enough! The best!
HELLO AND I’M GLAD I STUMBLED ONTO YOU GUYS!
IS IT POSSIBLE TO TALK ABOUT THESE STORIES WITHOUT BEING CON SUMED WITH NOSTALGIA? WORLDS FAIR GOBLIN WAS THE FIRST DOC BOOK I READ, I PICKED IT UP AT A NEIGHBOORHOOD STORE DURING ITS FIRST PRINTING. WHAT ATTRACTED ME WAS THE BAMA COVER (NATCH) AND THE TITLE (I GREW UP ABOUT A MILE FROM THE WORLDS FAIR SITE (NOW CALLED FLUSHING MEADOW PARK), IN FACT I COULD SEE THE UNISPHERE FROM MY WINDOW. THE BOOK WAS FANTASTIC, A GOOD,I THINK, EXAMPLE OF THE TONE AND CHARACTERS. I REMEMBER MY GRANDFATHER, ALWAYS INTERESTED IN WHAT I WAS READING, SAT ME DOWN AND TOLD ME ALL ABOUT THE PULPS, HOW HE REMEMBERED THE CHARACTERS,ETC. IT WAS A GREAT STARTING POINT TO A GUILTY PLEASURE OF MINE SINCE. ITS ODD HOW THESE THINGS COME BACK TO YOU. I AM CURRENTLY A LIEUTENANT IN THE NEW YORK FIRE DEPARTMENT ASSIGNED TO THE EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICE. I,M KIND OF STUCK AT HOME RECOVERING FROM INJURES FROM THE 11TH AND IN MY “DOWN TIME” I HAVE RECENTLY ENJOYED TRYING TO FILL THE FEW REMAINING GAPS IN MY PAPERBACK COLLECTION. MY WIFE SAYS I’M REGRESSING. MY KIDS (ALL IN COLLEGE) I’M SURE THINK BRAIN DAMAGE WAS AN INJURY THE DRS HAVENT PICKED UP ON YET. EITHER WAY, I FIND IT VERY VERY COOL TO GET BACK INTO DOC AFTER ALL THIS TIME, IT MAKES ME FEEL GOOD TO LAUGH ALONG WITH THE STORIES AGAIN. LONGWINDED, RIGHT ? SORRY, BUT SEEING THE WORLDS FAIR GOBLIN AS YOUR STORY DU JOUR I FELT COMPELLED TO WRITE IN. GOOD LUCK TO ALL YOU GUYS AND ITS GOOD MEETING YOU..SO TO SPEAK
First of all…you have got a great site!!!
As to “World’s Fair Goblin”, sorry, but it was not one of my favorates. I started reading the stories around 1967, so most of the first reads were Dent classics. ‘Seems I a bit of a purist: I didnt like “Murder Melody”, “Cold Death”, “Munitions Master”, ect. Usually if Monk said “Howlin’ Calamities”, the story was, at best 3 stars. Still good, but not the best.
Sorry I can’t be more specific, but I think I picked up on Dent’s style, and resist others (Except Ryerson Johnson & Will Murray). Alan Hathaway is by far the wors of the lot.
I think this is definitely one of the best Docs. I could tell right away it was going to be a great one… there is a scene near the beginning where Doc is doing a surgical procedure before an audience at the fair, and the
writer(s) somehow manage to make a normally mundane scene as suspenseful and exciting as any action sequence.
I know a Doc Savage story is good when my eyeballs start to get tired from speedily reading word after word in anticipation of what is to come… and my eyballs got really sore while reading this one. The exotic atmosphere of the World’s fair was really well created. I don’t care who wrote this one, it just had that quality that makes a great Doc Story. It had some silly stuff in it for sure, but for me a Doc isn’t great unless it has goofiness to it. The idea of thyroxine and adrenaline injections creating a monster out of a man in just a few days is pretty funny, and the monster depicted on the cover like a huge muppet on steroids only added to the fun. Definitely top ten material for me.
I didn’t really enjoy this one much at all. This is William Bogart’s first contribution to the series and it is full of a number of the flaws that plague the worst novels of other ghostwriters such as Davis, Donovan and Johnson. Not well written with clumsy prose, aimless plotting and some pretty ridiculous events. Bogart would improve as a Doc writer, though.
Not ENTIRELY awful, but not very good either. Clearly a patchwork (and a PR job for the Fair) thrown at Bogart (I think it was Bogart who wrote this) and ends up being a mess. Blah.
And is there any Doc novel that Andrew Salmon doesn’t like?
Yes there are Doc I don’t like. Can you guess which ones?
WFG was one of my favorite Docs (along with Red Snow) when I read the paperback series as a kid. My understanding is that it was at least co-written (or edited) by Dent – much as Bob Kane maintained artistic control over the Batman product for years.
Thanks for a great website!
I can’t believe some of you think this is one of the best Docs!
The story line plodded along – it took me over a week to force myself to finish it. Hathaway made a very inauspicious debut here. Doc was very
“science detective” and not the man of action that I like in the best Dent stories from the 30s. The “monster” and the “mad science” gadget were laughable.