Review of "Doc Savage Number 19 The Air Lord Saga"

 Review of

Doc Savage Number 19 The Air Lord Saga

Five out of five stars

Vintage Doc Savage story in modern form

 Doc Savage was in many ways the model for all comic book superheroes, no less an authority than Stan Lee has stated this. Clark Savage Jr. (Doc) and his gang of five assistants first appeared in the American pulp press in the 1930’s at the height of the Great Depression. It was a time when people needed heroes and he was also the epitome of the self-made man.

 This story is set in 1937, when Doc and his talented companions are in their prime. There has been a series of deadly plane crashes and a man has sent a message that he wants to meet with Doc to give him information about the crashes. The meeting is in the street and a group of men arrive and kill the informant in a very brutal way.

 Fortunately, there is a clue that Doc is able to decode, and they all board their powerful car with Doc standing on the running board. They are able to thwart a plot to destroy a plane and learn of an even greater plot that involves the German dirigible “Hindenburg.” After jumping from a plane, Doc lands on the “Hindenburg” and attempts to defuse a bomb.

 Although the time context is the late 1930’s, the dialog is very much that of the late twentieth century. The Air Lord is a worthy adversary of Doc and his gang, and this episode ends with a historic cliffhanger. Monk and Ham are at odds, so everything is normal in this semi-classical adventure of a classical and trailblazing American hero.