CBR: Azzarello Reimagines Doc Savage: The Man of Bronze

[CBR News]

Eisner winner Brian Azzarello talks to CBR about November's "Batman/Doc Savage" special and the subsequent miniseries that will feature the Man of Bronze, the Dark Knight and many more non-superpowered heroes, including The Spirit.


Full article here (http://comicbookresources.com/?page=article&id=22498).

[galactica]

Sounds good though I was hoping this would be an ongoing title but if there are multiple spin-offs planed maybe Doc Savage will be one of them.

[Bo-Man]

I cannot wait for this. Batman is a great way to introduce Doc Savage and these other charcters in this universe to the new readers who unfamiliar with him. I just wish that The Shadow could be involved in this universe. I could see other DC non-powered heroes like Green Arrow, Black Canary (they could use the Golden Age Canary who didn't have the Canary Cry), The Crimson Avenger (Lee Travis), The Sandman (Wesley Dodds), The Question (Vic Sage), The Huntress (Helena Bertinelli), Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), King Faraday, Amanda Waller, Nemesis, The Human Target, Tarantula (John Law), Rick Flag, The Vigilante. These DC could be re-imagined in this universe as some others are being done.

[DeTroyes]

As probably one of those "10 guys" mentioned in the interview, I will say that I will probably be rather annoyed if Monk and the rest Doc's team aren't part of Doc Savage's support cast.

Other than that, looking forward to this.

[THEDOC]

I as well as far as an old geezer. So is this an Elseworld title, will it be part of the 52?
Sounds ok, will have to see how Brian does, I worked with him at another company years ago so let's see what happens.

[Vidocq]

I as well as far as an old geezer. So is this an Elseworld title, will it be part of the 52?
Sounds ok, will have to see how Brian does, I worked with him at another company years ago so let's see what happens.

Considering that DC Plans to have spin offs, they will probablly make it one of the 52.

[Free-Man]

Has anyone said if Dan Garrett, the original Blue Beetle will show up? Before being bought by Charlton, I believe he had no powers.

And with a movie coming out, I kinda wish DC had bought up the rights to the Green Hornet, even if the Question and the Spirit do kinda make him redundant.

[Lemurion]

I cannot wait for this. Batman is a great way to introduce Doc Savage and these other charcters in this universe to the new readers who unfamiliar with him. I just wish that The Shadow could be involved in this universe. I could see other DC non-powered heroes like Green Arrow, Black Canary (they could use the Golden Age Canary who didn't have the Canary Cry), The Crimson Avenger (Lee Travis), The Sandman (Wesley Dodds), The Question (Vic Sage), The Huntress (Helena Bertinelli), Blue Beetle (Ted Kord), King Faraday, Amanda Waller, Nemesis, The Human Target, Tarantula (John Law), Rick Flag, The Vigilante. These DC could be re-imagined in this universe as some others are being done.

I'd like to see it - but I wouldn't want too many DCU characters re-imagined. I do agree that the Shadow would be fantastic if they could bring him in - but I understand if they don't get the rights.

Beyond Batman, I'd want to see the Sandman (Wesley Dodds) and maybe Green Arrow or the Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett) but that's about it. I really don't want modern characters like the Huntress involved because they're products of a different era and mindset. I want to see new takes on pulp characters (or golden age characters who could have been in the pulps) not more of the same as the DCU.

[Xero]

Rima the Jungle Girl is the only one I'm interested in. DC already has modern versions of the Shadow and Doc Savage, they just call them Batman and Bane.

[Retro315]

I'd like to see it - but I wouldn't want too many DCU characters re-imagined. I do agree that the Shadow would be fantastic if they could bring him in - but I understand if they don't get the rights.

Beyond Batman, I'd want to see the Sandman (Wesley Dodds) and maybe Green Arrow or the Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett) but that's about it. I really don't want modern characters like the Huntress involved because they're products of a different era and mindset. I want to see new takes on pulp characters (or golden age characters who could have been in the pulps) not more of the same as the DCU.

I agree that it's too many. But that being said ... one definitely has to figure that a good chunk of A and B-List non-super heroes can and hopefully some will translate over. Hopefully that counts for a handful of Batman's rogues - but only a handful. Joker, Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, Two-Face ... that sort of thing. But part of the appeal of old pulp comic strips is that there really weren't recurring villains, there were "bad guy of the week" types.

No Croc ... no Ra's ... no Clayface ...

Side note ... I wonder if this Batman will kill like the Batman of the 40's did ...

I think Green Arrow is a good next step ... possibly an old-school Randian kind of a Vic Sage, but doubtful since the Question didn't really catch on until the 80's. Perhaps the original Vigilante.

[protonik]

I am looking forward to this like a kid waiting on Xmas. There is something about pulp that I find unique & interesting. I loved the JSA: Liberty Files material as a pulp translation of the classic JSA of the 40s. This may appeal even more!

[mike627]

This sounds pretty cool I'm gonna get this and the other mini.:cool:

[Bo-Man]

I'd like to see it - but I wouldn't want too many DCU characters re-imagined. I do agree that the Shadow would be fantastic if they could bring him in - but I understand if they don't get the rights.

Beyond Batman, I'd want to see the Sandman (Wesley Dodds) and maybe Green Arrow or the Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett) but that's about it. I really don't want modern characters like the Huntress involved because they're products of a different era and mindset. I want to see new takes on pulp characters (or golden age characters twho could have been in the pulps) not more of the same as the DCU.
I got to thinking you really don't want too many DCU heroes here like you were saying. I like what you said about Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett). I could see him here.

[Bo-Man]

I agree that it's too many. But that being said ... one definitely has to figure that a good chunk of A and B-List non-super heroes can and hopefully some will translate over. Hopefully that counts for a handful of Batman's rogues - but only a handful. Joker, Catwoman, Riddler, Penguin, Two-Face ... that sort of thing. But part of the appeal of old pulp comic strips is that there really weren't recurring villains, there were "bad guy of the week" types.

No Croc ... no Ra's ... no Clayface ...

Side note ... I wonder if this Batman will kill like the Batman of the 40's did ...

I think Green Arrow is a good next step ... possibly an old-school Randian kind of a Vic Sage, but doubtful since the Question didn't really catch on until the 80's. Perhaps the original Vigilante.

Yeah, I get what you are saying.
I could see no Croc, Ra's ( unless he is like Nolan's movie version), Clayface could be the 40's Basil Karlo version, no Mr. Freeze, or Man-Bat

[Vidocq]

Rima the Jungle Girl is the only one I'm interested in. DC already has modern versions of the Shadow and Doc Savage, they just call them Batman and Bane.

You need to google Doc Savage, he has absolutly nothing in common with Bane.


I'd like to see it - but I wouldn't want too many DCU characters re-imagined. I do agree that the Shadow would be fantastic if they could bring him in - but I understand if they don't get the rights.

Beyond Batman, I'd want to see the Sandman (Wesley Dodds) and maybe Green Arrow or the Blue Beetle (Dan Garrett) but that's about it. I really don't want modern characters like the Huntress involved because they're products of a different era and mindset. I want to see new takes on pulp characters (or golden age characters who could have been in the pulps) not more of the same as the DCU.
I think that even Green Arrow would be pushing it. He is too colorful to be a Pulp hero and Blue Bettle's superpowers would prevent him from making an appereance. I would Love to see The Question or Mr A though, they would fit right in.

[Lemurion]

The original Blue Beetle (Dan Garret - sorry I added an extra 't' the first time) had no powers.

[Free-Man]

You need to google Doc Savage, he has absolutly nothing in common with Bane.


I think that even Green Arrow would be pushing it. He is too colorful to be a Pulp hero and Blue Bettle's superpowers would prevent him from making an appereance. I would Love to see The Question or Mr A though, they would fit right in.

The first Blue Beetle didn't have superpowers. He just used gadgets and Kung-fu. When Charlton bought the rights to BB years later, they added in all the stuff about the Scarab and the superpowers.

[BCraig50]

Mr. Azzaerello's arrogance and pretty rude dismissal of the legions of Doc Savage fans that are out there made me wonder how he got to be a writer. What he needs to realize is Doc Savage is a property with a long and rich history that should not be ignored so he can play god. I urge Doc fans everywhere to boycott the title as long as Azaerello has anything to do with it. I know that I will not bother to purchase any title written by him because he has obviously forgotten it was the fans that got him where he is to day.

[Taskmaster]

I've never read any Doc Savage stuff in the past, but i'm really psyched for this, bravo DC!

[hondobrode]

Doc is older than any other comic book character including icons Superman and Batman. They've all been reimagined and tweaked by the creative teams working on them at that time while keeping the core basis of the character intact i.e. godlike last surviving alien, crazy rich buhzillionnaire orphan who pushes himself to the pinnacle of physical and mental perfection.

Azz doesn't do so well with superpowered characters. His stuff is more street. This is a good chance for him to strut his stuff.

I'm very interested in seeing all of this.

Doc includes the Fabulous Five. Azz said so in this article.

I noticed in previous news it said no only Doc, but The Avenger too, both Street & Smith properties. I'm betting DC bought the rights to the whole kit and kaboodle of Street & Smith's character including the biggest fish, The Shadow !

Also think this'll end up being it's own separate Earth in the DCU, which is fine by me.

[earl]

I've been hoping that DC would try a different line of books, so hopefully this will be good and catch on.

[DeTroyes]

Doc includes the Fabulous Five. Azz said so in this article.

:::scanning article again:::

Whoops, somehow I missed that. Good, because Monk was always my second favorite character in that series.

[Bo-Man]

I noticed in previous news it said no only Doc, but The Avenger too, both Street & Smith properties. I'm betting DC bought the rights to the whole kit and kaboodle of Street & Smith's character including the biggest fish, The Shadow !

Also think this'll end up being it's own separate Earth in the DCU, which is fine by me.


Since Doc and The Avenger are here, I hope you are right about the Shadow, he needs to belong here. If I am correct in looking up The Shadow, the pulp version had no powers to cloud mens minds or hypnotic ability like the radio and the movie. So I could see the pulp version here.

Yes, I think it will be a seperate earth, but I don't know if it will be one of the 52 earths. Azzerello joked about it being a 53rd earth. I do know that Grant Morrison is bringing out a new Earth in the Multiverse that will be a pulp version with Doc Fate ( a mixture of Dr. Fate and Doc Savage), The Bat-Man, The Green Lantern, The Mighty Atom, Lady Blackhawk and the will be called The Society of Super-Heroes.

[DeTroyes]

I noticed in previous news it said no only Doc, but The Avenger too, both Street & Smith properties. I'm betting DC bought the rights to the whole kit and kaboodle of Street & Smith's character including the biggest fish, The Shadow !

Unfortunately, its not as simple as that.

Street & Smith stopped publishing pulps in 1949, because of declining sales due to the advent of television; most of those rights were purchased by Popular Publications, who continued to publish many S&S publications well into the 1960s. However, Street & Smith retained the rights to both Doc Savage and The Shadow, because they were deemed to still be potential money makers (indeed, several attempts were made in the 1950s to produce TV series based on both properties). Street & Smith was acquired by Conde Nast Publications in 1959, and with that purchase Conde Nast became the owners of both Doc Savage and The Shadow. However, Conde Nast then turned around and sold the rights to Doc Savage to Random House, who proceeded to reprint the series under their Bantam line. So far as I know, Random House still retains the rights for Doc Savage.

DC currently has a distribution deal with Random House, among other business dealings. Thus, its reasonable to assume that DC acquired the licensing for Doc Savage through their business dealings with Random House.

Conde Nast still retains the rights to The Shadow; thus, if DC wishes to use The Shadow, they would need to get a separate licensing agreement. Not saying they haven't or that they won't, but since The Shadow is a fairly well known property, the fact that no such licensing has been announced probably means it hasn't happened. Thus, its unlikely The Shadow will show up in this new universe, at least initially. (and in fact, I believe Conde Nast actually has a business arrangement of some kind with Marvel, so it would not surprise me if Marvel gets the rights for a Shadow comic).

As for some of the other pulp heroes...

The Avenger I believe may actually be owned by Warner Brothers, acquired in the 1970s during the height of the Doc Savage boom by Warner Publications. Getting the rights to that character for DC is probably just a matter of paperwork.

G-8 and his Battle Aces, Operator No. 5, and The Spider were Popular Publications characters; they are owned by Argosy Communications, the current successor to Popular Publications. They still license the reprint rights and have licensed comic book rights in the past (Eclipse comics did a Spider adaptation a few years ago), so its probably possible to get the rights from them. I'd LOVE to see G-8 and his Battle Aces in this pulp universe.

[hondobrode]

Forgot about the Spider but remembered The Whisperer.

I'm thinking if this sells fairly well, which I think it will, what DC doesn't already have, or have up their sleeve and not told us about yet (I suspect The Shadow), then they will be more likely to add to their pulpy world.

I'd like to see The Rocketeer added to this but who knows where the rights to the character since Dave Stevens passed away.

[Drcharles]

this whole pulp era sounds good, if DC could make this work then they are on to a winner, I would be certainly interested in this.
I think DC would have to clearly state which Earth these characters reside in, I wonder if all the Pulp heroes from the Public Domain would be a part of it.

Anyone remember BlackShirt, a British pulp hero ?

[KevinTBrown]

Considering that DC Plans to have spin offs, they will probablly make it one of the 52.

He made a joke at the DC panel at Chicago Con that he was creating a "53rd world".

[KevinTBrown]

Mr. Azzaerello's arrogance and pretty rude dismissal of the legions of Doc Savage fans that are out there made me wonder how he got to be a writer. What he needs to realize is Doc Savage is a property with a long and rich history that should not be ignored so he can play god. I urge Doc fans everywhere to boycott the title as long as Azaerello has anything to do with it. I know that I will not bother to purchase any title written by him because he has obviously forgotten it was the fans that got him where he is to day.

Perhaps you should actually, oh I don't know, read it first before you judge? I was fortunate to see Azzarello speak about this project and he's truly excited by it. He's not gonig to re-create the wheel, but he's going to out his own spin on things.

While it's been about 20 years since I last read a Doc Savage novel, I'm eagerly looking forward to this book.

[Bo-Man]

Forgot about the Spider but remembered The Whisperer.

I'm thinking if this sells fairly well, which I think it will, what DC doesn't already have, or have up their sleeve and not told us about yet (I suspect The Shadow), then they will be more likely to add to their pulpy world.

I'd like to see The Rocketeer added to this but who knows where the rights to the character since Dave Stevens passed away.

The Spider, The Whisperer ( real name get this Commissioner James "Wildcat" Gordon lol) and the Rocketeer would be awesome to see.

[scipio1952]

I guess I'm one of the older Doc Savage fans. Hey, look I'm glad Doc is coming back in this new era of comic books. I hope the DC team knocks it out of the park. Anyone who wants to read the originals can do so without too much trouble. I look forward to being that old man in line at the comic store asking if the new Batman/Doc Savage comic is in yet. I always loved comics and I hope that never ends. To all the comic book writers and artists I have enjoyed over the years all I can say is...THANK YOU for all the great times.

[Pól Rua]

Mr. Azzaerello's arrogance and pretty rude dismissal of the legions of Doc Savage fans that are out there made me wonder how he got to be a writer. What he needs to realize is Doc Savage is a property with a long and rich history that should not be ignored so he can play god. I urge Doc fans everywhere to boycott the title as long as Azaerello has anything to do with it. I know that I will not bother to purchase any title written by him because he has obviously forgotten it was the fans that got him where he is to day.
Um. Azz became a writer by being an accomplished writer. Obviously, to some people, the concept of 'writing ability' takes a backseat to 'mindlessly adhering to the whiny whims of entitled fanboys'.
I, too, am a Doc Savage fan, and really, we're not a 'legion'. Marvel and DC have both tried several times to launch Doc Savage (and the Shadow, and the Avenger) as comics properties... I know, because I own pretty much all of them... and they've never sold well.
So no, I'm not going to be boycotting a new title featuring a character I like and written by a talented writer just because you have your fanboy entitlement knickers in a twist.


Doc is older than any other comic book character including icons Superman and Batman.
'ANY other comic book character'?
The Yellow Kid? Ally Sloper? Popeye? The Katzenjammer Kids?
Um. No. Comic Books didn't start in June 1938 with 'Action #1'.

[raskal66]

Um. Azz became a writer by being an accomplished writer. Obviously, to some people, the concept of 'writing ability' takes a backseat to 'mindlessly adhering to the whiny whims of entitled fanboys'.
I, too, am a Doc Savage fan, and really, we're not a 'legion'. Marvel and DC have both tried several times to launch Doc Savage (and the Shadow, and the Avenger) as comics properties... I know, because I own pretty much all of them... and they've never sold well.
So no, I'm not going to be boycotting a new title featuring a character I like and written by a talented writer just because you have your fanboy entitlement knickers in a twist.




Maybe we could have a long dreamt of (by me anyway) mixture of Azzarello and Brubaker work on this in the way that Abnett and Lanning work toggether, with Sean Phillips doing the art.

I'm just kidding. This project has already been announced and that would just be way too cool to actually happen. I'll give this a shot though, because I always enjoy a good crime story and Azzarello hooked me good with 100 Bullets.

[Lemurion]

I've read a lot of Doc Savage - so long as he keeps the core (pinnacle of human perfection, the Five, Clark Savage jr. etc.) I can handle Doc not being identical to what's gone before.

[theduck]

Mr. Azzaerello's arrogance and pretty rude dismissal of the legions of Doc Savage fans that are out there made me wonder how he got to be a writer. What he needs to realize is Doc Savage is a property with a long and rich history that should not be ignored so he can play god. I urge Doc fans everywhere to boycott the title as long as Azaerello has anything to do with it. I know that I will not bother to purchase any title written by him because he has obviously forgotten it was the fans that got him where he is to day.

As a fan of Doc since 1972, I have to say I laughed out loud at Mr. Azzarello's assertion that you don't need to know about Doc Savage to read the Batman/Doc Savage team-up, since he wants more than 10 readers. I thought it was a great line.

Let's face it - there are a lot of people out there who aren't all that familiar with Doc (everyone I know who's aware of Doc knows of him because of me). Mr. Azzarello is a good writer, and as long as he gets the spirit of Doc right, I'll be satisfied with his interpretation. And since he's set up this world so that Doc is the world's Superman, I think he's on the right track.

I'll be first on line in November for the first issue!

[ponset]

Batman and Doc Savage=COOL!!!

Here is a web site with info about Doc, The Shadow, The Avenger, and The Whisperer.

http://www.shadowsanctum.com