This is the kind of book pulp fans dream about: A team-up starring
three front-rank heroes – The Spider, Operator 5 and G-8.
Will Murray, as I’m sure you know, has already brought us two meetings
between Doc Savage and The Shadow (reviewed HERE and HERE) as well as King Kong
mash-ups with both Doc (HERE) and Tarzan (HERE), all from the modern-day pulp factory known as Altus Press. And now comes The Doom Legion,
bringing together the top three do-gooders of the Popular Publications
universe.
The Spider gets top billing here, and rightly so, being the most
revered and reprinted of the three. Why is that? Well, he (aka Richard
Wentworth) has the coolest outfit and the most eccentric personality. He also
has a capable faithful Indian companion—a Sikh name Ram Singh, a fearless significant
other who would (and often nearly does) lay down her life for him, and a solid
ally in Police Commissioner Weston—who unofficially knows supports his crusade
as a crimefighter.
Operator 5 of the Secret Service (aka James "Jimmy" Christopher) is a bright-eyed
young straight arrow, pure of heart and mind, with a reporter girlfriend who is
undoubtedly a virgin (just as Richard Wentworth's paramour is undoubtedly not). He operates as a lone wolf, with occasional contact with
his equally straight arrow superior, Z-7.
G-8, the Flying Spy of WWI, is now known as Captain George Gate (G-ate,
get it?), is a man in search of camaraderie. Pals Bull Martin and Nippy Weston from his old squadron are
not mentioned here, and though he tries a little banter with Operator 5, the
Secret Service ace seems immune to humor.
Will Murray brings these three together and swats them with three fistfuls
of trouble. 1) A meteor slams into Central Park, turning people and animals
into killing machines. Heat beams shoot from the eyes of those infected, melting
and killing everything in their path. 2) The Spider’s old nemesis The Dictator
shows up seeking revenge, and armed with a new dastardly plan. And 3) G-8’s wartime
enemy The Steel Mask returns (seemingly) from the dead determined to finish G-8
and raise any kind of hell he can.
It takes a lot of juggling to keep all those balls in the air at once,
but Will proves up to the task. The deviltry and heroics are non-stop, and all
the characters ring true to their roots. Especially interesting is the dynamic
between Operator 5 and The Spider. The straight arrow of the Secret Service is too
anal to have truck with a notorious vigilante, and tries to shut him out of the
action. But you know The Spider. He’s an irresistible force, and even an object
as immovable as Operator 5 is unable to slow him down.
The result is a riotous romp through New York City, leaving a trail of
dead citizens. Most of these meet grisly ends, but this being a hero pulp epic,
it’s all in good fun. You’ll want to read this, of course. And you’ll want to
alert for hat tips to pulpsters, such a drive by of Steeger School (named,
natch, for Harry Steeger, editor of Popular Publications, home of Dime Detective
and the three heroes of this adventure).
Please keep this stuff coming, Mr. Murray (as if you had to be asked)!
