Doc Savage (1975 series) #4

Additional credits: Marie Severin penciled the first eight pages of the story. a) Page reduction in all of Marvel’s B&W titles left room for nothing beside the main story and letters column; b) Doc Savage makes a rare appearance in formal wear; c) Doc again demonstrates his knowledge of art, but also shows his mastery of savate; d) oddly, Doc carries a gun in this story; e) first Marvel mention of the Crime College and the first B&W mention of the Flea-Run and Doc’s nerve press; f) the reference to John Sunlight marks the first allusion to a canonical adventure; g) Johnny says “I’ll be superamalgamated!” twice, perhaps to reestablish his trademark; h) Ham’s sword-cane is portrayed as both having to be drawn from a sheath and as having a small retractable blade (the latter is the norm for this series); i) “Habeas” is spelled correctly twice, as “Habeus” once; j) anachronism: in February 1936, a character refers to Orson Welles’ “War of the Worlds” broadcast, two-and-a-half years before it took place (writer Moench claims this was intentional). Additional comments: a) Issue also includes “Mail of Bronze,” a letters column; b) the cover by Ken Barr is stunningly unattractive, showing Doc Savage, face obscured by shadows, looking like he has grizzled hair and a stubbly beard, with apple cheeks and an oddly glowing metallic shirt; c) because of space limitations, the inside front cover is occupied by the table of contents.