I first read Doc Savage's adventures in the 60s, as did many others. I found the books to be of varying quality, and that they were very dated. They might have been good for kids of the 1930s, but by the 60s, there was much more sophisticated fare available. However, there is something about Doc and his crew. That "something" is the fact that anybody can see their favorite superhero in there...somewhere. Superman, Batman, Hercules, Bruce Lee, Tarzan, Sherlock Holmes, even Mr. Spock. They are all there. Farmer does a wonderful job relating literary characters to one another and linking their superheroness to radiation exposure experienced by an ancestor. This book follows Doc's life and attempts to thread the adventures togther, biography fashion, with illuminations here and there. It is a wild adventure, and one to be savored. Read "Tarzan Alive", sort of a companion volume, for Tarzan's "genealogy". I, for one, would love to see Doc Savage given a more adult treatment by a good writer. Farmer attempts this here, and in "Lord of the Trees" and "The Mad Goblin", but falls short, for reasons that should be clear to anybody that has read those books. Anyway, I only gave this four stars because one should be a Doc Savage fan to really get the meat out of it. It is a good, fun read.
