As I post my pulp reflections I’m also going to slip in some of the more modern writings that have been produced since the cancellation of the original series.
This the second modern adventure of a younger Clark Savage Jr. It directly ties into the other Kong book by Will Murray. My plan is to pepper my reading the pulp stories in order with the modern works mostly by Will Murray. Otherwise I may never read them if I’m going in publishing order.
Monk isn’t the Only Big Ape
A reflection by M.J.Moran
Doc Savage Skull Island (Wild Adventures of Doc Savage 9)
By Will Murray
3/1/2013
Cover by Joe Devito
Doc Savage: Skull Island is an interesting addition to the Clark Savage Jr. mythos while using the backdrop of Kong’s stomping grounds. This is an early Doc adventure adding Murray’s ideas about the origins of some of Doc’s philosophies and technologies. Although many would cringe at the idea, especially the canon purist, I felt the story added depth to Doc and now consider it part of the Doc Savage story.
I recently read Kong vs. Tarzan by Will Murray which was a Kong story with Tarzan playing a supporting role. As I read DS: Skull Island, I thought it was a seamless sequel to Kong vs. Tarzan. To my surprise I found that DS: Skull Island was published 3 years earlier. So Murray is going Wold Newton on us but personally I like the concept.
King Kong, the original movie, left the audience with two big questions. Filmatically answering those questions would have bogged down the story but they hung out there. The first was how did Denham get Kong from Skull Island to New York? The second- How did New York dispose of the body of Kong? Again neither answer would make for an exciting aspect to the film so they were rightfully left out of the movie. In Kong vs. Tarzan, Murray answers the first questions in a logical, reasonable fashion that leads to the meeting of Kong and Tarzan. The second question is answered in DS: Skull Island leading Doc to tell about a previous adventure he had with his father that put them on Skull Island and an encounter with Kong.
It is a fast paced read, focusing on the relationships within the Savage family. Doc, having just returned from Europe and WWI, sets sail with his father to attempt to discover if Doc’s grandfather Stormalong Savage is still alive. Murray steps away in his works from the original author Lester Dent by adding in deepening characterization. He still hits the action tropes of a Doc Savage story but doubles the page length by adding a lot more interaction between characters.
I recommend the book to Doc and Kong fans neither one getting short shrift in the story. The Kong scenes play out better in this adventure than in Kong vs. Tarzan. This is Kong’s world and he is king. When transported to Africa, he is out of his element but dominating lesser creatures so the scenes play out with little tension. Here we have Doc out of his element, still learning himself while trying to prove himself to his father. Lots of tension both with the action and between characters. The purist Doc fan might be perturbed, the story doesn’t contradict but expands on the origin of some ideas from original pulp but this die hard fan thoroughly enjoyed this romp,