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'Zine of Bronze #7
edited by Jim Main
The seventh issue of ZOB starts off with a terrific cover by Alvaro Fernandois. It's backed up on the inside with a full page illustration of the Doc by none other than George McVey (Pulp Dreams).
After editor Jim Main's introduction and three pages or letters, the adventure begins with Jeffrey Vavra's Was Doc Savage a Narcissist? A purposely provocative title? Maybe, but just as Vavra begins to unravel the secret of the Doc's disappearing shirt, the Doc bares his own rebuttal in a seemingly non-stop pageant of tattered paperback book covers. And this is only the beginning. Like a seasoned host of afternoon talk-radio, Vavra shreds the heroics and challenges his readers to cover their eyes or uncover the truth.
Julián Puga V. postulates on Lester Dent's inspiration for the setting and some of the characters from the first published Doc Savage yarn, The Man of Bronze. Puga's report takes us back to the early 30s and cites additional research by Rick Lai from The Golden Perils #18.
Dennis Kinninger returns with another installment of his Super-Amalgamations. This time he provides recaps and comments on the Bantam Books reprints #19, 20, and 21. The first two written by Dent, and the last penned by Laurence Donovan. As a mini tribute to the late Philip Jose Farmer, he also reviews Farmer's Doc Savage story Escape from Loki (1991) and his character biography, Doc Savage His Apocalyptic Life.
Art Sippo is another frequent contributor to ZOB. His original fiction is always the main event, in the issues filled with his work. This one is no exception. Sippo does a fine job of capturing many of the sensibilities of classic pulp fiction. Black and white thinking abounds, particularly about right and wrong. But also a place where criminals can be completely transformed via rehabilitation and become dedicated foot soldiers in the war against evil with uncompromised loyalty and integrity.
However, it's not entirely immersed in the good old days. Newer thinking on the role of women and minorities is incorporated—even proselytized—as if the old school characters, still living in the past, need to be enlightened. Suspension of disbelief was always a prerequisite for pulp fiction, but for this modern day hybrid the reader must renew his commitment from time to time.
Another commonplace practice is to incorporate other pulp fiction characters into the modern day prose. In this case it's done by recounting a series of Patricia's dates with the characters of the best selling titles of pulp's heyday. For me this is a bit like reading the origin of Captain Future. It's fun the first couple of times, but progressively loses my interest as the encounters increase. Side trips are still side trips, unless they progress the story.
At the close of this issue's letters column Main includes a nice biography on Dr. Arthur Sippo MD, MPH who is such a die-hard Savage fan he even maintains a blog on the subject called Speculations in Bronze. Sippo's experience in medicine and the military often lays the foundation for his stories. That's true of his yarn for this issue too. The Perils of Patricia is a new adventure about a perfectly formed (mentally and physically) cousin of the bronze Doc, and her run-in with evil-to-the-core Donny McGurk and his drug induced prostitution ring.
The story is extra long, so Main divided it into two parts, with the opener in this issue. Sippo includes some very nice classic pulp fiction business along the way. The effects of the wonder drug that transforms the prostitutes and Patricia's escape from McGurk's thugs, being two great examples.
The story starts slowly, with perhaps a little too much character background and set-up, but when things finally take off, it's another very enjoyable pulp fiction simulation by a master of the pursuit. I anxiously await part two.
'Zine of Bronze #7 (Spring 2010, Main Enterprises) is 36 b&w pages, plus color covers. 8.5" x 11", printed through the SPA with saddle stitch binding and machine trim. Production work by Marc Haines. Additional artwork by Christian Diaz (back cover), Kevin Duncan, Tim Faurote, John Lambert, and Dann Phillips. It's available for $5.50 (postage paid) from Main Enterprises.
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The Chill by Ross Macdonald
Like Dashiell Hammett and Raymond Chandler, Macdonald is a crime fiction writer whose work rose above its humble genre. His earliest work was written under his real name Kenneth Millar. When he began writing mysteries in 1949, he wrote under the name John Macdonald to avoid confusion with his wife, Margaret Millar, who was already an established mystery writer. Later he switched to John Ross Macdonald to avoid confusion with John D. MacDonald. He eventually settled on Ross Macdonald until his death in 1983.
Macdonald is best remembered for his Lew Archer novels. In all, he wrote eighteen of them and several short stories. Paul Newman played the detective in Harper (1966) and The Drowning Pool (1975). Archer was also the name of a short-lived television series on NBC in 1975 starring Brian Keith.
The Chill is the eleventh novel in the series, first published in 1964. The story concerns a series of murders and a psychologically distressed young bride named Dolly, whom the police quickly identify as a key person of interest.
Although the book has its share of action and twists, what makes it stand out is Macdonald's remarkable skill at characterization. Even peripheral characters have a depth and definition that seems to effortlessly solidify in your mind's eye from only a brief description or a few lines of dialog. What defines characters is simply everything they do. The way they dress, where they appear, what they say and how they say it. Macdonald is a master of characterization and he seems to use every line to multiple purpose, moving the story forward and revealing character simultaneously.
Written in first person, The Chill is a true page-turner. Not in the sense of imminent danger at every corner or non-stop action, but through engagement with its characters. They're so real and their conflicts so affecting you're compelled to read on to find out what happens next.
This is the first Ross Macdonald novel I've read and he's already one of my favorite writers.
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Double Indemnity
by James M. Cain
I chanced upon a worn copy of this American hard-boiled classic at a book sale and picked it up for a song. Although he wrote eighteen novels in all, James M. Cain is most famous for two: The Postman Always Rings Twice (1934) and Double Indemnity, which was first published in Liberty Magazine in 1936. Both were runaway hits that firmly established him as a master of crime fiction.
At 125 pages Double Indemnity is about the length of the typical pulp magazine story of its era. The prose is terse and reads like a freight train. Once it leaves the station it picks up speed and never slows until it deposits you at the end of its run.
Most pulp stories of this era are rich with 1930's atmosphere. Cain's work goes one better. He captures the era and the setting with such finesse and depth that it almost feels like a character in the story. Double Indemnity is worth reading as a study in writing craft, but the plot is still the main event and it still packs a wallop.
A long time insurance salesman is enticed by the wife of a business man into a high-stakes game of murder and fraud. With his expertise in the insurance racket he plots the perfect crime with the maximum payoff. Too bad he doesn't realize he's not the one running the show until he's in too deep to get out.
The story reflects the ideology of its day, but Cain's exploration of what makes people tick and his observations about the insurance industry are surprisingly frank and timeless. The book is masterfully written in first person narrative which just adds to the fun. Now I'm going to have to track down the movie just to see how they adapted it to the screen.
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