Many years ago I stumbled upon a book in -I think- a used bookstore (remember those?) and the cover image blew me away.  Because it was part of a very long series, I can’t recall which book it was exactly, but the cover most likely was a James Bama illustrated one like this:

For those who don’t know who Doc Savage is, he was/is arguably the first ever “superhero”.  His adventures were mostly written by a man named Lester Dent along with a few others and under the pseudonym Kenneth Robeson.  The original stories were presented in short novel form and in pulp magazines…

The Bantam reprints of the Doc Savage books were a hit though I suspect a great deal of credit goes to James Bama’s re-imagining of Doc Savage’s “look” (the two images presented above are the original cover to the story Fortress of Solitude, with Doc looking like a typical 1930’s hunky movie star, and the James Bama one, where he looks like an odd, mysterious, almost mutant-like being).  James Bama eventually left the reprint series but the subsequent books featured artists who emulated his style, especially his “take” on the character of Doc Savage…

Recently all 181 Doc Savage novels were reprinted -beautifully, I might add- in a prestige magazine format…

To say I’m a fan of Doc Savage is an understatement.  I find the original novels fun, intriguing, and, while dated, exciting as hell.

No doubt in large part thanks to the success of the Bantam reprints, in 1975 a film version of Doc Savage was made.  It featured Ron Ely in the title role.  Strap yourselves in if you haven’t “experienced” this before…

To say the movie -to a fan of Doc Savage like myself- was a disappointment is pretty much the king of understatements.  While the cast was pretty good and Ron Ely, IMHO, was a good choice for the titular role, the film suffered from a lack of a consistent tone and at times too cheesy -and jokey- presentation.

The movie was a flop yet interest in Doc Savage remained.  Over the many years since that movie’s release, a number of directors, including such luminaries as James Cameron, have attached themselves to a new film version.  None, however, were able to seal the deal and get the film actually made.

The latest in this line was/is Shane Black, best known for his screenplays to, among others, Lethal Weapon (the original), or acting in films such as Predator, or directing/writing films such as Iron Man 3 or last year’s The Nice Guys.  Mr. Black’s version of Doc Savage, it was further reported, drew the interest of Dwayne Johnson which is a coup considering how popular an actor he is.

That news, alas, didn’t thrill me so much.  While I like Mr. Johnson and feel he’s very good -and charismatic- in a number of movies, I just didn’t feel he was the right choice for the role of Doc Savage.

Regardless, back in July Shane Black was asked about progress on the Doc Savage film and it appears the movie may be stalled right now.  The below link is to the article -again, from July, so take the information with that grain of salt- by David Kozlowski and presented on lrmonline.com:

Shane Black Provides Update on Doc Savage Movie

The bottom line is that Shane Black is currently very busy with the editing of the new Predator movie, which he also directed, and Dwayne Johnson is very busy making his twenty to fifty plus movies each year, so Mr. Black is basically telling everyone to not hold their breaths regarding the new Doc Savage film.  At this point it’s a matter of finding the time for all parties to be freed up and able to get together and that may not happen -if at all- for a while.

Sure, I’d love to see a new Doc Savage movie.  But I’d be lying if I said this news of its stalled nature depressed me.  Though some of the interviews with Shane Black regarding Doc Savage gave the impression he was a big fan of the character and wanted to make a respectful movie from the source material, I continued to have doubts about Mr. Johnson in the lead role (again, I like his work, but until I see him do it, I just can’t envision him in that role) and therefore can’t be too unhappy this particular project might not come to fruition.

Oh well!