I’m taking a look at all of The Bronze Gazette issues for 2017, as I’ve done for previous years, as subscriptions are taken for a year’s set of issues.
So here are issues #78, 79, and 80 of this excellent Doc Savage fanzine, along with the 2017 Doc Con Special (Special Issue #2).
• #78 (Spring 2017) has a nice cover by comicbook artist Gary Chaloner, who gives us an article on his Doc pastiche, Red Kelso. I hope we’ll see Kelso in print sometime. Several good articles have a focus on art and artists.
We get an interview with JG Jones, who did several great Doc covers for the horrible First Wave run from DC, and the final (and pretty decent) Doc story there. Another interview is with Keith Wilson, the man behind the Doc fantasy covers. We learn how Bob Larkin got the job of doing Doc covers for Bantam. And finally we look into the mystery of why the same artwork by Fred Pfeiffer was used on two Doc covers. And maybe what we should have gotten as the cover of The Stone Man.
Will Murray gives out the secret on the recent Doc/The Shadow team-up novel, Empire of Doom.
And Jeff Deischer provides us with the first of a three-part article on the theme of “the Doc novel that was too good,” basically the differences between the original and published versions of The Exploding Lake.
• #79 (Summer 2017) kicks off with a new cover by Bob Larkin that has Doc, Pat, and a wolfman! It features several good articles and reviews. We get a review of the recent Pat Savage solo novel, The Six Scarlet Scorpions. For articles, Duane Spurlock takes a look at Cold Death, a bad Doc novel with an interesting woman. Continuing the theme, we get a Q&A with several female Doc fans, and a look at the heroine of The Freckled Shark. And Win Scott Eckert takes a look at Pat Wildman, created by Philip José Farmer.
Will Murray provides two articles. One looks at some of the planned Doc novels from when he was working with Bantam. I seem to recall some of these titles from the time, which I was tracking on my own listing of Doc novels. And he takes a look at what should be the next Doc novel, Mr. Calamity, and how it will differ from others.
And Jeff Deischer continues his serialized article on the “Doc novel that was too good.”
• #80 (Fall 2017) focuses on Philip José Farmer and his Doc work, as the 100th anniversary of his birthday came in early 2018. We get new and reprinted works. First up is Farmer’s article on writing his Doc biography, Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life, which has been reprinted about four times (but who knows who has or hasn’t read this). We also get a couple of letters (previously never printed) that Farmer wrote to founding editor Howard Wright in relation to The Bronze Gazette. And we get the afterward that Farmer wrote for the final Bantam Doc omnibus.
Chuck Welch provides an excellent introduction to the issue and the impact of Farmer’s Doc biography on him, along with the letter he wrote Farmer and the response he got. The issue is rounded out with a great deal of artwork that really enhances the articles.
And Jeff Deischer finishes his serialized article on the “Doc novel that was too good.”
• 2017 Doc Con Special, is the second special issue published for the annual Doc Con in Phoenix. These special issues are not part of the subscription, and so far have been the program guide for the Doc Cons, so only a few extras are available. This one has a nice article on guest of honor David Avallone, who wrote the recent Doc Savage mini-series at Dynamite. There are also a review of Empire of Doom, reprints of some of the previous Doc Con poster artwork, and a big article that gives an historical overview of the Doc Cons.
If you are a Doc fan and not subscribed, do so today. Some back issues may be available. Subscriptions for 2018 are being taken, and I would advise doing so ASAP before the price goes up. What I know of the planned articles look interesting as usual. And, yes, I’ve already re-upped!
