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Death in Silver (Doc Savage)
Encyclopedia
Death in Silver is a Doc Savage
pulp novel
by Lester Dent
writing under the house name
Kenneth Robeson
. It was published in October 1934.
It was the first Doc Savage story not to include all of his aides, due to author Lester Dent having difficulties using all six characters in every story. Only Ham, Monk and Pat appeared in Death in Silver.
The other three, less popular, main characters are described as being away on private ventures: Johnny giving a lecture in London
, Long Tom experimenting on an electrical pesticide in Europe
, and Renny building a hydro-electric plant
in South Africa
.
The original intent was that all three would become the basis of the next three novels.
Johnny's story became The Sea Magician in the next issue of Doc Savage, but this did not happen with all of them.
The follow-up adventure involving Renny later became the basis for the 1991 retro
novel Python Isle by Will Murray
.
Death in Silver was the third appearance of Pat Savage.
owner who has offices in the same building as Monk. When his office explodes, Monk and Ham investigate but are captured while reporting back to Doc Savage. With his other aides abroad, Doc Savage attempts to rescue them and solve the case alone. One of the first things he accomplishes is to deduce the nature of the explosion, which has eluded his aides and the police — it was caused by a three-inch shell.
Investigating the deaths of other witnesses to the attack (a fisherman
on the river and an aviator flying that day) leads Doc to Winthrop's Shipyards. The Silver Death's-Heads steal some blueprint
s to hide their secrets while Doc runs into Winthrop's Secretary, Lorna Zane, and efficiency expert, Harry "Rapid" Pace (who has the annoying habit of repeating almost everything twice). Doc leaves Lorna with his cousin Pat at her new beauty salon
/gym
nasium. Harry leads the Doc to the home of Bedford Burgess Gardner (owner of Transatlantic Lines and Winthorp's chief rival) based on a comment from the gang overheard at the shipyard.
Again they run into the gang, and pick up Hugh McCoy, Gardner's Financial Relations Consultant (advising on the merger
with Paine L. Winthrop's company) and Pace's rival for Lorna Zane's affections. By questioning an injured gang member, who had been poisoned by his own gang, they find that Monk and Ham are held at the "Indian's Head". Doc browses a telephone directory
at an all-night drug store
and picks out the "Indian Head Club". When asked he explains that its address is on the waterfront and the Silver Death's-Heads always seem to escape by the river
. His deduction is correct and, through stealth and violence, he rescues his aides. They all only narrowly miss being killed when the gang demolish the club with a bomb to destroy evidence. Meanwhile, the Silver Death's-Heads kidnap Pat and Lorna from Pat's salon.
Based on a map of New York Harbour found at the club before it exploded and burned down, Doc and Monk go out onto the foggy river to investigate. Diving from the boat, Doc discovers a submerged radio-buoy
at a point marked on the map. Further investigation is cut short by a shell apparently fired by an unseen submarine
. Ull, the leader of the Death's-Heads (but not the "big brain" behind their plans) sets a trap for Doc with Pat and Lorna as bait. A fake snitch calls Doc with some information but is cut off by a mock attack in another all-night drug store. They make sure to leave clues, especially a trail of footprints in vaseline (from a jar "accidentally" broken in the store), to lead Doc to their hideout. Doc follows the trail using ultraviolet light (because Petroleum jelly
glows under ultraviolet light) but approaches the hideout itself in disguise. He is able to penetrate the hideout and successfully avoid the traps set for him but does not manage to rescue Pat or Lorna (as they are not really there).
Moving back to the radio-buoys in the river, Doc and aides (along with Rapid Pace and Hugh McCoy) set out in the Helldiver (Doc's submarine). They follow a trail of hidden buoys out into the Atlantic
where they are attacked by another submarine (the buoys are intended to guide the villains' submarine down the river to an abandoned sewer that connects to the Indian's Head Club). They are eventually boarded and Doc Savage is apparently killed (this is a common event in Doc Savage stories). The rest are taken in the villains' submarine to their base in an almost derelict rum row
ship. Doc, hanging on to the side of the submarine, sneaks aboard the ship, rescues everyone, recovers a lot of stolen goods and escapes in a lifeboat
. A fire he started as a diversion causes an explosion (speculated to be either from the fuel tanks or a stockpile of explosives) and the ship sinks as they leave.
The big brain
behind the plot turns out to be Hugh McCoy, who was also Bedford Burgess Gardner (by using a fake beard). Ham's research showed that "Gardner" had made over $1 Billion in the past year by using the gang to kill off opponents and rivals under cover of random crimes. He would then buy out their companies and make his money through stock manipulation.
Rapid Pace, who becomes less cowardly throughout the story, ends up with Lorna Zane.
s. The gadgets used by Savage within this story are:
Doc's shoes have special soles of soft rubber
to make them even more silent than normal rubber soled shoes.
Several vehicles are used by Doc Savage during Death in Silver. From his hidden garage, he drives an "expensive but unostentacious [blue] roadster
", carrying a radio tracking device and radio compass
(as well as an automatic transmission
and almost silent engine), and an armoured truck disguised as a "shabby laundry truck" complete with fake engine noise and artificially bad suspension.
From his collection stored in the Hidalgo Trading Company warehouse Doc uses a fast, silenced Motorboat
, capable of self-righting itself after capsizing with a pop-up gun and tripod. The boat is described as being considered by the navy for the basis of "a fleet of light coastal defense speedsters" (similar to an armed Motor life boat in description). Last, and also from the warehouse, Doc again uses the Helldiver submarine (first seen in The Polar Treasure, June 1933). The Helldiver has many gadgets and experimental devices built into it. In this story the principle modifications are a mechanism to release a chemical similar to squid ink, external-viewing television screens and dial-based sonic devices
allowing it to successfully navigate through New York harbour, and its traffic, while submerged.
s, firing tranquilising "Mercy Bullets," and bulletproof vests. Pat Savage only uses a trick phone that sprays tear gas when spoken into.
/contact poison
in their attempts to kill Doc Savage.
The villains use a mini-submarine, apparently based on a Japanese design recently reported in the American media. It is equipped with a three inch cannon and strong electromagnets for mooring to other craft. Several divers from this submarine carry electric lances similar to a cattleprod with a lethal voltage (but powered by a cable connected to the submarine).
The silver costumes themselves are described as being made from cloth interwoven with metal from molten silver dollars. The full-head masks cause shadows over the eyes and mouth which resuled in the name "Silver Death's-Heads" in the first place. Although not mentioned in the text of the story, the silver costumes are apparently used because their designer, the scientist Ull, lost his fortune in the Depression
speculating on silver (and believes he is entitled to get it back by force).
, including New York city
, Westchester County
, the rivers and coastal waters. (Most Doc Savage novels started in New York but moved to a more exotic location in the second act.)
All chronologies concur that Death in Silver transpired over a two-day period.
Death in Silver was re-published by Bantam Books
in paperback
in July 1968 with cover art by James Bama
. Its backcover blurb reads as follows:
Death in Silver was also re-published as a juvenile-market hardcover by Golden Press in 1975. This edition featured cover art by Ben Otero.
In 1973, Marvel Comics adapted Death in Silver as a two-part story in Doc Savage #3 and #4. The adaptation was scripted by Steve Englehart and drawn by Ross Andru, with inks by Tom Palmer. The cover for issue #3 was drawn by Jim Steranko. The first two issues of the Marvel Comics series placed Doc in a contemporary 1970s setting. With the adaptation of Death in Silver the series shifted to the original 1930s setting of the story.
Nostalgia Ventures re-published Death in Silver with The Golden Peril as a quality paperback
in January 2007, with original pulp cover art by Paul Baumhofer and Robert Harris, interior illustrations by Paul Orban, and commentary by pulp expert Will Murray
.
A sequel entitled Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil was announced at the conclusion of the first Doc Savage
film, 1975's
Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, produced by George Pal
.
According to the screenplay by Joe Morhaim that was posted on the Internet, this sequel was based very loosely on Death in Silver, which also featured a deformed, German-speaking supervillain
and a man-eating octopus
found in the September 1937 pulp novel The Feathered Octopus.
According to contemporary news accounts, this sequel had been filmed in the Lake Tahoe
area simultaneously with the principal photography for the first Doc Savage. However, due to the poor reception of the first film, Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil was never completed or released.
Doc Savage
Doc Savage is a fictional character originally published in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L...
pulp novel
Pulp magazine
Pulp magazines , also collectively known as pulp fiction, refers to inexpensive fiction magazines published from 1896 through the 1950s. The typical pulp magazine was seven inches wide by ten inches high, half an inch thick, and 128 pages long...
by Lester Dent
Lester Dent
Lester Dent was a prolific pulp fiction author, best known as the creator and main author of the series of novels about the superhuman scientist and adventurer, Doc Savage. The 159 novels written over 16 years were credited to the house name Kenneth Robeson.-Early years:Dent was born in 1904 in...
writing under the house name
Pen name
A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a pseudonym adopted by an author. A pen name may be used to make the author's name more distinctive, to disguise his or her gender, to distance an author from some or all of his or her works, to protect the author from retribution for his or her...
Kenneth Robeson
Kenneth Robeson
Kenneth Robeson was the house name used by Street and Smith Publications as the author of their popular character Doc Savage and later The Avenger. Many authors wrote under this name, though most Doc Savage stories were written by the author Lester Dent:...
. It was published in October 1934.
It was the first Doc Savage story not to include all of his aides, due to author Lester Dent having difficulties using all six characters in every story. Only Ham, Monk and Pat appeared in Death in Silver.
The other three, less popular, main characters are described as being away on private ventures: Johnny giving a lecture in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, Long Tom experimenting on an electrical pesticide in Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
, and Renny building a hydro-electric plant
Hydroelectricity
Hydroelectricity is the term referring to electricity generated by hydropower; the production of electrical power through the use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water. It is the most widely used form of renewable energy...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
.
The original intent was that all three would become the basis of the next three novels.
Johnny's story became The Sea Magician in the next issue of Doc Savage, but this did not happen with all of them.
The follow-up adventure involving Renny later became the basis for the 1991 retro
Retro
Retro is a culturally outdated or aged style, trend, mode, or fashion, from the overall postmodern past, that has since that time become functionally or superficially the norm once again. The use of "retro" style iconography and imagery interjected into post-modern art, advertising, mass media, etc...
novel Python Isle by Will Murray
Will Murray (writer)
Will Murray is the author of more than fifty novels, a scholar of pulp fiction and a writer of numorous comic books. Much of his fiction has been published under pseudonyms.-Novels and magazines:...
.
Death in Silver was the third appearance of Pat Savage.
Summary
The Silver Death's-Heads, a gang of criminals who wear silver overalls and masks, have been committing seemingly random crimes for months. They become involved when they attack Paine L. Winthrop, a shipyardShipyard
Shipyards and dockyards are places which repair and build ships. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance and basing activities than shipyards, which are sometimes associated more with initial...
owner who has offices in the same building as Monk. When his office explodes, Monk and Ham investigate but are captured while reporting back to Doc Savage. With his other aides abroad, Doc Savage attempts to rescue them and solve the case alone. One of the first things he accomplishes is to deduce the nature of the explosion, which has eluded his aides and the police — it was caused by a three-inch shell.
Investigating the deaths of other witnesses to the attack (a fisherman
Fisherman
A fisherman or fisher is someone who captures fish and other animals from a body of water, or gathers shellfish. Worldwide, there are about 38 million commercial and subsistence fishermen and fish farmers. The term can also be applied to recreational fishermen and may be used to describe both men...
on the river and an aviator flying that day) leads Doc to Winthrop's Shipyards. The Silver Death's-Heads steal some blueprint
Blueprint
A blueprint is a type of paper-based reproduction usually of a technical drawing, documenting an architecture or an engineering design. More generally, the term "blueprint" has come to be used to refer to any detailed plan....
s to hide their secrets while Doc runs into Winthrop's Secretary, Lorna Zane, and efficiency expert, Harry "Rapid" Pace (who has the annoying habit of repeating almost everything twice). Doc leaves Lorna with his cousin Pat at her new beauty salon
Beauty salon
A beauty salon or beauty parlor is an establishment dealing with cosmetic treatments for men and women...
/gym
Gym
The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...
nasium. Harry leads the Doc to the home of Bedford Burgess Gardner (owner of Transatlantic Lines and Winthorp's chief rival) based on a comment from the gang overheard at the shipyard.
Again they run into the gang, and pick up Hugh McCoy, Gardner's Financial Relations Consultant (advising on the merger
Mergers and acquisitions
Mergers and acquisitions refers to the aspect of corporate strategy, corporate finance and management dealing with the buying, selling, dividing and combining of different companies and similar entities that can help an enterprise grow rapidly in its sector or location of origin, or a new field or...
with Paine L. Winthrop's company) and Pace's rival for Lorna Zane's affections. By questioning an injured gang member, who had been poisoned by his own gang, they find that Monk and Ham are held at the "Indian's Head". Doc browses a telephone directory
Telephone directory
A telephone directory is a listing of telephone subscribers in a geographical area or subscribers to services provided by the organization that publishes the directory...
at an all-night drug store
Pharmacy
Pharmacy is the health profession that links the health sciences with the chemical sciences and it is charged with ensuring the safe and effective use of pharmaceutical drugs...
and picks out the "Indian Head Club". When asked he explains that its address is on the waterfront and the Silver Death's-Heads always seem to escape by the river
Harlem River
The Harlem River is a navigable tidal strait in New York City, USA that flows 8 miles between the Hudson River and the East River, separating the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx...
. His deduction is correct and, through stealth and violence, he rescues his aides. They all only narrowly miss being killed when the gang demolish the club with a bomb to destroy evidence. Meanwhile, the Silver Death's-Heads kidnap Pat and Lorna from Pat's salon.
Based on a map of New York Harbour found at the club before it exploded and burned down, Doc and Monk go out onto the foggy river to investigate. Diving from the boat, Doc discovers a submerged radio-buoy
Buoy
A buoy is a floating device that can have many different purposes. It can be anchored or allowed to drift. The word, of Old French or Middle Dutch origin, is now most commonly in UK English, although some orthoepists have traditionally prescribed the pronunciation...
at a point marked on the map. Further investigation is cut short by a shell apparently fired by an unseen submarine
Submarine
A submarine is a watercraft capable of independent operation below the surface of the water. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability...
. Ull, the leader of the Death's-Heads (but not the "big brain" behind their plans) sets a trap for Doc with Pat and Lorna as bait. A fake snitch calls Doc with some information but is cut off by a mock attack in another all-night drug store. They make sure to leave clues, especially a trail of footprints in vaseline (from a jar "accidentally" broken in the store), to lead Doc to their hideout. Doc follows the trail using ultraviolet light (because Petroleum jelly
Petroleum jelly
Petroleum jelly, petrolatum, white petrolatum or soft paraffin, CAS number 8009-03-8, is a semi-solid mixture of hydrocarbons , originally promoted as a topical ointment for its healing properties...
glows under ultraviolet light) but approaches the hideout itself in disguise. He is able to penetrate the hideout and successfully avoid the traps set for him but does not manage to rescue Pat or Lorna (as they are not really there).
Moving back to the radio-buoys in the river, Doc and aides (along with Rapid Pace and Hugh McCoy) set out in the Helldiver (Doc's submarine). They follow a trail of hidden buoys out into the Atlantic
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about , it covers approximately 20% of the Earth's surface and about 26% of its water surface area...
where they are attacked by another submarine (the buoys are intended to guide the villains' submarine down the river to an abandoned sewer that connects to the Indian's Head Club). They are eventually boarded and Doc Savage is apparently killed (this is a common event in Doc Savage stories). The rest are taken in the villains' submarine to their base in an almost derelict rum row
Rum row
A rum row was a Prohibition-era term referring to a line of ships loaded with liquor anchored beyond the maritime limit of the United States. These lines became established near major U.S...
ship. Doc, hanging on to the side of the submarine, sneaks aboard the ship, rescues everyone, recovers a lot of stolen goods and escapes in a lifeboat
Lifeboat (shipboard)
A lifeboat is a small, rigid or inflatable watercraft carried for emergency evacuation in the event of a disaster aboard ship. In the military, a lifeboat may be referred to as a whaleboat, dinghy, or gig. The ship's tenders of cruise ships often double as lifeboats. Recreational sailors sometimes...
. A fire he started as a diversion causes an explosion (speculated to be either from the fuel tanks or a stockpile of explosives) and the ship sinks as they leave.
The big brain
Masked Mystery Villain
A Masked Mystery Villain is a stock character in genre fiction. The Masked Mystery Villain was frequently used in the adventure stories of Pulp magazines and Movie Serials in the early twentieth century. They can also appear in Crime fiction to add to the atmosphere of suspense and suspicion...
behind the plot turns out to be Hugh McCoy, who was also Bedford Burgess Gardner (by using a fake beard). Ham's research showed that "Gardner" had made over $1 Billion in the past year by using the gang to kill off opponents and rivals under cover of random crimes. He would then buy out their companies and make his money through stock manipulation.
Rapid Pace, who becomes less cowardly throughout the story, ends up with Lorna Zane.
Doc Savage
Doc Savage wears a special pocket-filled waistcoat to carry assorted useful gadgetGadget
A gadget is a small technological object that has a particular function, but is often thought of as a novelty. Gadgets are invariably considered to be more unusually or cleverly designed than normal technological objects at the time of their invention...
s. The gadgets used by Savage within this story are:
- AnaestheticAnesthesiaAnesthesia, or anaesthesia , traditionally meant the condition of having sensation blocked or temporarily taken away...
gas in small glass balls - Black "clover seeds" that detonate like firecrackerFirecrackerA firecracker is a small explosive device primarily designed to produce a large amount of noise, especially in the form of a loud bang; any visual effect is incidental to this goal. They have fuses, and are wrapped in a heavy paper casing to contain the explosive compound...
s when stepped on - SilkSilkSilk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
cord and grappleGrappling hookA grappling hook is an anchor with multiple hooks , attached to a rope; it is thrown, dropped, sunk, projected, or fastened directly by hand to where at least one hook may catch and hold. Generally, grappling hooks are used to temporarily secure one end of a rope. They may also be used to dredge... - Cherry-sized microgrenadesHand grenadeA hand grenade is any small bomb that can be thrown by hand. Hand grenades are classified into three categories, explosive grenades, chemical and gas grenades. Explosive grenades are the most commonly used in modern warfare, and are designed to detonate after impact or after a set amount of time...
- A thin periscopePeriscopeA periscope is an instrument for observation from a concealed position. In its simplest form it consists of a tube with mirrors at each end set parallel to each other at a 45-degree angle....
device - A dark dust that glows under ultravioletUltravioletUltraviolet light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than that of visible light, but longer than X-rays, in the range 10 nm to 400 nm, and energies from 3 eV to 124 eV...
light - An ultraviolet lantern
- Goggles to aid seeing ultraviolet in daylight
- InfraredInfraredInfrared light is electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength longer than that of visible light, measured from the nominal edge of visible red light at 0.74 micrometres , and extending conventionally to 300 µm...
beacons - Infrared Goggles
- Special all-transparent diving helmetDiving helmetDiving helmets are worn mainly by professional divers engaged in surface supplied diving, though many models can be adapted for use with scuba equipment....
- Diving suitDiving suitA diving suit is a garment or device designed to protect a diver from the underwater environment. A diving suit typically also incorporates an air-supply .-History:...
with integral radioRadioRadio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space... - Small gas maskGas maskA gas mask is a mask put on over the face to protect the wearer from inhaling airborne pollutants and toxic gases. The mask forms a sealed cover over the nose and mouth, but may also cover the eyes and other vulnerable soft tissues of the face. Some gas masks are also respirators, though the word...
Doc's shoes have special soles of soft rubber
Rubber
Natural rubber, also called India rubber or caoutchouc, is an elastomer that was originally derived from latex, a milky colloid produced by some plants. The plants would be ‘tapped’, that is, an incision made into the bark of the tree and the sticky, milk colored latex sap collected and refined...
to make them even more silent than normal rubber soled shoes.
Several vehicles are used by Doc Savage during Death in Silver. From his hidden garage, he drives an "expensive but unostentacious [blue] roadster
Roadster
A roadster is a two-seat open car with emphasis on sporty handling and without a fixed roof or side weather protection. Strictly speaking a roadster with wind-up windows is a convertible but as true roadsters are no longer made the distinction is now irrelevant...
", carrying a radio tracking device and radio compass
Radio direction finder
A radio direction finder is a device for finding the direction to a radio source. Due to low frequency propagation characteristic to travel very long distances and "over the horizon", it makes a particularly good navigation system for ships, small boats, and aircraft that might be some distance...
(as well as an automatic transmission
Automatic transmission
An automatic transmission is one type of motor vehicle transmission that can automatically change gear ratios as the vehicle moves, freeing the driver from having to shift gears manually...
and almost silent engine), and an armoured truck disguised as a "shabby laundry truck" complete with fake engine noise and artificially bad suspension.
From his collection stored in the Hidalgo Trading Company warehouse Doc uses a fast, silenced Motorboat
Motorboat
A motorboat is a boat which is powered by an engine. Some motorboats are fitted with inboard engines, others have an outboard motor installed on the rear, containing the internal combustion engine, the gearbox and the propeller in one portable unit.An inboard/outboard contains a hybrid of a...
, capable of self-righting itself after capsizing with a pop-up gun and tripod. The boat is described as being considered by the navy for the basis of "a fleet of light coastal defense speedsters" (similar to an armed Motor life boat in description). Last, and also from the warehouse, Doc again uses the Helldiver submarine (first seen in The Polar Treasure, June 1933). The Helldiver has many gadgets and experimental devices built into it. In this story the principle modifications are a mechanism to release a chemical similar to squid ink, external-viewing television screens and dial-based sonic devices
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
allowing it to successfully navigate through New York harbour, and its traffic, while submerged.
Ham, Monk & Pat
Ham and Monk both have their normal equipment of Super Machine PistolMachine pistol
A machine pistol is a handgun-style, often magazine-fed and self-loading firearm, capable of fully automatic or burst fire, and normally chambered for pistol cartridges. The term is a literal translation of Maschinenpistole, the German term for a hand-held automatic weapon...
s, firing tranquilising "Mercy Bullets," and bulletproof vests. Pat Savage only uses a trick phone that sprays tear gas when spoken into.
The Silver Death's-Heads
On a few occasions, the gang make use of a combination acidAcid
An acid is a substance which reacts with a base. Commonly, acids can be identified as tasting sour, reacting with metals such as calcium, and bases like sodium carbonate. Aqueous acids have a pH of less than 7, where an acid of lower pH is typically stronger, and turn blue litmus paper red...
/contact poison
Poison
In the context of biology, poisons are substances that can cause disturbances to organisms, usually by chemical reaction or other activity on the molecular scale, when a sufficient quantity is absorbed by an organism....
in their attempts to kill Doc Savage.
The villains use a mini-submarine, apparently based on a Japanese design recently reported in the American media. It is equipped with a three inch cannon and strong electromagnets for mooring to other craft. Several divers from this submarine carry electric lances similar to a cattleprod with a lethal voltage (but powered by a cable connected to the submarine).
The silver costumes themselves are described as being made from cloth interwoven with metal from molten silver dollars. The full-head masks cause shadows over the eyes and mouth which resuled in the name "Silver Death's-Heads" in the first place. Although not mentioned in the text of the story, the silver costumes are apparently used because their designer, the scientist Ull, lost his fortune in the Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
speculating on silver (and believes he is entitled to get it back by force).
Setting
This Doc Savage novel is set entirely in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, including New York city
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
, Westchester County
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
, the rivers and coastal waters. (Most Doc Savage novels started in New York but moved to a more exotic location in the second act.)
Chronology
- The chronology found in Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic LifeDoc Savage: His Apocalyptic LifeDoc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life is a fictional biography by Philip José Farmer about pulp fiction hero Doc Savage.The book is written with the assumption that Doc Savage was a real person. Kenneth Robeson, the author of the Doc Savage novels, is portrayed as writing fictionalized memoirs of the...
by Philip José FarmerPhilip José FarmerPhilip José Farmer was an American author, principally known for his award-winning science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories....
places the events of Death in Silver in mid-July 1934. - The Complete Chronology of Bronze by Rick Lai sets this adventure in mid-May 1933.
- The Adventures of Doc Savage: A Definitive Chronology by Jeff Deischer sets Death in Silver in mid-October 1933
All chronologies concur that Death in Silver transpired over a two-day period.
Other media
Bantam Books
Bantam Books is an American publishing house owned entirely by Random House, the German media corporation subsidiary of Bertelsmann; it is an imprint of the Random House Publishing Group. It was formed in 1945 by Walter B. Pitkin, Jr., Sidney B. Kramer, and Ian and Betty Ballantine...
in paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
in July 1968 with cover art by James Bama
James Bama
James Bama is an American artist known for his realistic paintings and etchings of Western subjects. Life in Wyoming led to his comment, "Here an artist can trace the beginnings of Western history, see the first buildings, the oldest wagons, saddles and guns, and be up close to the remnants of...
. Its backcover blurb reads as follows:
- An awesome legion of master criminals launch a devastating series of raids that set the entire east coast of America aflame. Skyscrapers explode, ocean liners disappear, key witnesses are kidnapped and brutally murdered as the holocaust rages. In a desperate race against time Doc Savage attempts to discover the true identity of the twisted brain who rules the silver-costumed marauders -- while the mysterious Ull and his army of hooded assassins move closer to their grim objective of world domination.
Death in Silver was also re-published as a juvenile-market hardcover by Golden Press in 1975. This edition featured cover art by Ben Otero.
In 1973, Marvel Comics adapted Death in Silver as a two-part story in Doc Savage #3 and #4. The adaptation was scripted by Steve Englehart and drawn by Ross Andru, with inks by Tom Palmer. The cover for issue #3 was drawn by Jim Steranko. The first two issues of the Marvel Comics series placed Doc in a contemporary 1970s setting. With the adaptation of Death in Silver the series shifted to the original 1930s setting of the story.
Nostalgia Ventures re-published Death in Silver with The Golden Peril as a quality paperback
Paperback
Paperback, softback or softcover describe and refer to a book by the nature of its binding. The covers of such books are usually made of paper or paperboard, and are usually held together with glue rather than stitches or staples...
in January 2007, with original pulp cover art by Paul Baumhofer and Robert Harris, interior illustrations by Paul Orban, and commentary by pulp expert Will Murray
Will Murray (writer)
Will Murray is the author of more than fifty novels, a scholar of pulp fiction and a writer of numorous comic books. Much of his fiction has been published under pseudonyms.-Novels and magazines:...
.
Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil
Doc Savage
Doc Savage is a fictional character originally published in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. He was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L...
film, 1975's
1975 in film
The year 1975 in film involved some significant events, with Steven Spielberg's thriller Jaws topping the box office.-Events:*March 26 - The film version of The Who's Tommy premieres in London....
Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze, produced by George Pal
George Pál
George Pal , born György Pál Marczincsak, was a Hungarian-born American animator and film producer, principally associated with the science fiction genre...
.
According to the screenplay by Joe Morhaim that was posted on the Internet, this sequel was based very loosely on Death in Silver, which also featured a deformed, German-speaking supervillain
Supervillain
A supervillain or supervillainess is a variant of the villain character type, commonly found in comic books, action movies and science fiction in various media.They are sometimes used as foils to superheroes and other fictional heroes...
and a man-eating octopus
Octopus
The octopus is a cephalopod mollusc of the order Octopoda. Octopuses have two eyes and four pairs of arms, and like other cephalopods they are bilaterally symmetric. An octopus has a hard beak, with its mouth at the center point of the arms...
found in the September 1937 pulp novel The Feathered Octopus.
According to contemporary news accounts, this sequel had been filmed in the Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe
Lake Tahoe is a large freshwater lake in the Sierra Nevada of the United States. At a surface elevation of , it is located along the border between California and Nevada, west of Carson City. Lake Tahoe is the largest alpine lake in North America. Its depth is , making it the USA's second-deepest...
area simultaneously with the principal photography for the first Doc Savage. However, due to the poor reception of the first film, Doc Savage: The Arch Enemy of Evil was never completed or released.
External links
- Death in Silver at Doc Savage Organized
- Death in Silver at Dr Hermes Reviews
- http://www.nostalgiaventures.com Nostalgia Ventures, Inc.