F/SF

The fourth book in the Man of Bronze series - by publication, at least - The Polar Treasure has a stronger narrative structure than the previous novels. Where the previous novels felt like episodic radio serials strung together to form a larger work, Polar Treasure feels more intentionally structured.

The adventure that Doc and his crew go on this round is also more based in reality; while their exploits are still on a grand scale, they are a far cry from ancient Mayan civilizations and modern-day dinosaurs. In short, Doc rescues a blind violinist from being kidnapped by treasure-hunters seeking the map to a lost ocean liner fill of gold and decides to beat them to the treasure out of spite, resulting in a global race involving submarines, biplanes, pirates, Eskimos. Spoiler: Doc kills and eats a polar bear with his bare hands.

Another big change is the body count. There are still plenty of fatalities, but we are now at a point where they are not being delivered by Doc himself, as he is now in the habit of subduing his enemies instead of killing them and shipping them to his secret facility where they are brainwashed into productive members of society. This, somehow, is supposed to be less creepy than Doc just pulling his attackers apart like fresh bread.

Long story short (too late), The Polar Treasure is so far my favorite Doc Savage adventure, most likely because it is - so far - the most translatable for my modern sensibilities. Just remember: "It depends on the bear." ( )

I can absolutely see why scrawny, nerdy, pimply, pinheaded pre-teen me loved these damn books so much.

Aside from having the best adventures—and this one, The Polar Treasure is easily the best of the first four so far—and having five of the best friends, there's Doc himself, who is larger than life in every single way possible.

I don't know about you, but at twelve, when I was being bullied at school, had one friend who was just as scrawny, nerdy, pimply, and pinheaded as I was, and me also just discovering girls...I mean, this was the guy. I wanted to be this guy, the one who knows more than everyone else, the one who always has the plan, the one who has unlimited cash at his disposal, the one who's dedicated to improving both himself and the world, and the one that every woman falls over.

And now, approaching sixty, with thirty years of marriage in the books, two kids, one about to be married, a grandkid...still, reading one of these stories turns me right back into that nerdy pre-teen all over again.

As for the story? Yep, it's as typically convoluted and dumb as most of them are, but if you squint your eyes just right and drop your brain into low gear, these books are a hell of a lot of fun. I mean, we have a violinist with a secret map on his back, we have a trip above the Arctic Circle, we've got smelly Eskimos (yes, there's always some cringe-worthy stuff in each book, and this is it), we've got a beautiful woman, we've got Doc performing another impossible operation, we've got a cool submarine, and hell, Doc even kicks a polar bear's ass.

What more can you ask for? ( )

Polar Treasure (Monk, Ham, Renny, Long Tom, Johnny) (New York, Aboard a submarine, the Arctic)(cover artist- Jim Aviati)
Publishing order #4 Bantam #4

Quest of the Spider had me starting to really enjoy this little chore I set myself up for by reading all the Doc adventures in order. The Polar Treasure made me feel that this will be more play than work. Probably a sacrilegious statement but I’ve read Man of Bronze a couple of times along with looking at various adaptations of the story by Marvel and George Pal. So it wasn’t fresh. In Land of Terror, Dent seems to be finding his legs but The Polar Treasure gets to be fun.

Also in these reflections I’ve started to become in tune with the covers. I noted that Land of Terror was not a favorite cover, Doc just didn’t seem right although the dinosaurs were cool. A little research uncovered my rookie mistake in talking about the Bantam Doc Savages- James Bama didn’t do all the covers. So I’ve started noting who the cover artist is when I can. The cover by Jim Aviati shows Doc being menaced by a polar bear on the edge of an ice cliff with a treasure falling away from a break in the ice. My first thought there is a buddhist fable here with my second thought being who buries treasure in an ice overhang. I realize though that the artist isn’t giving away any part of the story since it is The Polar (ice and polar bear -check) Treasure (golden stuff including boxes-check).
Into the story itself the first third is set in New York and includes the revelation that among Doc’s many accomplishments, he is also a modest but adept musician/composer. As the action in New York wraps up, the reader is introduced to the Helldiver which will become Doc’s submarine in later adventures if memory serves. I was a little disappointed that Doc did not build it himself but as the adventure progresses, he made enough modifications to make it his own.

The second third of the story is set on the Hell Diver. The interaction between Doc’s men, the captain and the crew is what sold the adventure to me. Another device introduced in this part of the adventure is a collapsible sea plane. In later adventures there will be other versions of small one or two man collapsible planes or autogyros. Dent uses the word collapsible meaning that the device is portable and readily stored on a submarine, boat or plane. How they are assembled is left up to the reader’s imagination. The last of the adventure is played out on the arctic ice with a delicious setting that I won’t spoil here. I felt that Doc was a little less ruthless in this adventure until the end where let’s say he isn’t very merciful.

This was a good adventure and had me wanting to get back to reading the story since pesky things like work and life interrupted the reading. I should confess here, that the plan is to read one or two Doc books a month mixed in with other reading ventures. With that confession, this adventure had me focusing my reading time solely in the arctic.