Synopsis / Summary / Plot
In his office late one night, realty investor Thorne Shaw receives a visit—from a vengeful Viking warrior come to carry him off. The next day, Doc Savage’s aides receive a caller, a slim blind man named Sandy Taine, wanting Doc to find his missing father, and relates the following tale: five years ago, Quentin Taine invested in an expedition to recover a sunken treasure galleon in waters near Greenland. The expedition was a failure and two men, Taine and Jared Rutter, failed to return. The police now believe that Taine is the mad Viking carrying off the members of the group that abandoned him, with revenge in mind. Doc, who has been listening in from the next room, agrees to help Sandy, once she abandons her disguise. Doc and his team head out to rescue the two remaining members of the expedition but they are too late, and Doc has a run-in with the Viking, who wields a uranium-powered scepter. Back a headquarters, a gold coin dropped by the Viking’s henchman turns out to conceal a precision-cut map of Baffin Bay, revealing the location of the galleon. When they arrive on the spot and explore underwater, a freak whirlpool draws them through a tunnel and into a subterranean lost world inhabited by reptile people. The kidnapped members of the expedition are there and tell Doc that Quentin Taine is the mad Viking. After a battle with the Reptilians, Doc reveals that the men are not prisoners but partners with the Viking, Jacob Rutter; having faked their kidnappings, they have returned to exploit the uranium deposits in the valley. Holding Long Tom hostage, the villains send Doc and company to the Reptilians whose leader turns out to be Quentin Taine, who is the protector of the peaceful people and has himself mutated into their image. While Monk climbs out through a frozen volcano to retrieve their plane, Doc frees Long Tom and battles the Viking, who, mad with greed, fires his deadly scepter and accidentally shatters the outer wall of the valley, causing the sea to flood the place. Doc and company manage to escape in the plane but Taine, mad from the radiation, chooses to stay behind and die for his people.
Issue also contains a text article:
“Ron Ely: the Man of Bronze.”
Writer: John Warner; photographer: Michelle Wolfman.
An interview with Ron Ely, star of the then forthcoming DOC SAVAGE movie in which he surveys his early career and discusses his interpretation of the character of Doc Savage. The article is illustrated with candid photos taken during the interview.