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Peter
Apr 16, 2010 07:58 PM

Comments: The cover features the familiar Bantam logo, though with less of a swoop. Again, Ham has a mustache, easily the most common deviation from the source material. First mention of Doc Savage having a private bank (“First National Bank of Hidalgo, natch). On Justice Inc., Richard Benson is nicknamed “Benny” instead of “Dick” presumably to ward off juvenile snickering (why not “Rick,” though?). Benson mentions Doc Savage at one point.

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Peter
Apr 16, 2010 07:58 PM

The Doc Savage tale is an apocalyptic adrenaline rush of action—too bad the episode is so short we don’t really get a feel for the series. It seems more contemporary than FIRST WAVE, which has a period mood. Visually it’s nice with a larger than life look befitting the Man of Bronze. Doc is given a toned-down widow’s peak and the standard torn shirt, with the aides looking okay but not that distinctive. Two new details: Long Tom is a newlywed and Monk has a pet rat, Tort (no mention of Habeas Corpus). The only debit is that it seems like a drawn out version of the opening scene of “The Doom on Thunder Isle!” from Marvel’s b&w DOC SAVAGE #1 and that was just another baddie with a lightning machine until they added all the puzzles and moved it into Dr Moreau territory. Can’t wait to see what they do to make this original.

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Peter
Apr 16, 2010 07:57 PM

The Justice Inc. story pitches it quite a bit darker and grittier than the pulp original, seeming more like “Punisher, P.I.” than Dick Benson the Avenger. Clearly “The Avenger” (the series’ original title back in 1940) can’t be used because Marvel has laid claim to that word since 1962; an early-70s DC adaptation was also called “Justice Inc.” after the first novel in the series. This series is clearly set in the here-and-now with cell phones, haircuts, and dialogue indicating the twenty-first century. One of the most modern aspects of the original tales was Benson’s multiracial team: here, though, Josh Newton is now Josh Monroe and his wife Rosabel has been dropped. Also Nellie (no surname given) appears to be Asian. The biggest surprise is that there is no mention of Benson’s face-molding abilities, in fact we don’t see him in action, aside from the opening sequence so don’t yet know what he’s capable of. He is a lot more intense and bitter than the original, with a hard, vicious edge to his avenging. Verdict: Hard to tell: by splitting the magazine between two series (and tacking on a preview of Zatanna’s new series), we don’t see enough of either Doc or “Benny” to get much of an idea what either is going to be like. Here’s hoping the series is so popular that Justice Inc is spun off into its own title and Doc gets the entire book to himself.