Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: Notesfiles $Revision: 1.7.0.10 $; site convexs Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!inuxc!pur-ee!uiucdcs!convex!convexs!ayers From: ayers@convexs.UUCP Newsgroups: net.books Subject: Re: Doc Savage author? Message-ID: <6000010@convexs> Date: Tue, 12-Nov-85 09:33:00 EST Article-I.D.: convexs.6000010 Posted: Tue Nov 12 09:33:00 1985 Date-Received: Thu, 14-Nov-85 00:44:11 EST References: <2961@sun.uucp> Lines: 26 Nf-ID: #R:sun.uucp:2961:convexs:6000010:000:1119 Nf-From: convexs.UUCP!ayers Nov 12 08:33:00 1985 >The official author is 'Kenneth Robeson' which was a house name. The Doc >Savage books were written by a number of people, but the primary author was >Lester Dent (I believe there were four or five others in the 181 book >series). Close enough. The records of the time are sketchy. >The early ones are definitely better... >As the series progressed, they ran out of ideas and >started doing really strange things, and when WWII started they all ran off >and started fighting Nazi's. The earlier books age a lot better than the >later ones. This was due mostly to changes in the editorial staff, not from a lack of ideas. During the WWII era, the editors decided that a "superman" of bronze was no longer "news", (the "man of steel" being popular by then) and changed his personality to be more "human" -- thereby dooming the series. (People had plenty of "human" hero's; they wanted larger than life hero's to fight the larger than life enemies we had...) Or at least that's the general viewpoint held by the class we had on "Heroes for Troubled Times" in college (but what do they know...) blues, II