Doc Savage battles genetically-engineered giants in "The Monsters," the classic pulp thriller that inspired the Hugo Strange story in Batman #1. Why did I point this out? Because this pulp reprint contains two original essays written by historian Will Murray, about the four color comics and the connection between those and the novels in this reprint. A nice way of pairing the stories together.
Then, the Man of Bronze and his Iron Crew discover that a metabolism-accelerating elixir is creating an army of superpowered criminals in "The Whisker of Hercules."
This classic pulp reprint also features the original color pulp covers by Walter Baumhofer and Modest Stein, and interior illustrations by Paul Orban.
I would like to point out that these reprints from Nostalgia Ventures are a welcome addition to my bookshelf, are graphically pleasing to the eye and the reprinting of the original illustrations are a nice touch. Most pulp reprints don't include the illustrations from the pulps. As a result, they read like today's novels and stories were are printed on the cheap because the publishers don't want to spend money on an illustrator. I believe Girosol was the first publishing company to do this with pulp reprints and Nostalgia Ventures followed their lead.
The essays by Will Murray are also welcome, but can be too in-depth at times for the casual reader. But since those are extras on top of the two novels you are buying, it's not a bad thing. My only gripe is that many of these Doc Savage novels were reprinted in the 1970s in trade paperbacks and you can buy them for as low as $5 a piece. So the $12.95 cover price isn't too bad for the product but shop around and buy them for $8 or $9 bucks a piece and you'll do fine.
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