A New Crusader Is Born		Man Of Mystery
Doc's Unusual Childhood		Wizard Of Science
Doc Goes To War		Physical Marvel
The Post War Years		Bronze Juggernaut
Doc's Career Begins		The Doc Savage Code

 Clark Savage Jr. was born on November 12, 1902 on a small schooner in a shallow cove at the north end of Andros Island, Bahamas. Clark Sr. and his exploration partners Hubert Robertson and Ned Land had been searching for sunken treasure in the area. The rough seas of a storm made the birth more difficult for Doc's mother, Arronaxe. Clark Sr. had named the vessel the "Orion". It is fitting that Doc was born on a vessel named for the great hunter of mythology. Doc would go on to become a fearsome hunter of men who had become like animals. The storm got worse, and shortly after Doc's birth, in the darkness of night, the schooner was dashed on a reef and began to break up. Clark Sr, Robertson and Land struggled to get Doc and his mother to safety. The sea was too violent, and in the darkness Doc's mother was separated from the group. Arronaxe, weakend by childbirth was lost. Doc was to be born into a world where he would be raised by men.

At the age of fourteen months, Clark Savage Jr. was entrusted to a board of scientists to begin the rigorous training which would prepare him for a very special purpose in life. The elder Savage held the belief that with the best training science could offer, his son could be molded into a higher level of human being. A man of the highest morals with a mind and body developed to the greatest degree humanly possible for the purpose of bringing good to the world. Clark Savage Jr. would be that man. With the loss of his dear wife, his son was now all the family Clark Sr. had. He was determined to leave this world a legacy of hope.

 For nearly twenty years various specialists trained and taught the young, Clark. The boy was gifted with a maturity that was well beyond his years. By the time he was seven, he was able to understand the purpose for his life. He studied and trained with determination. He developed a sense of self image that was inspiring to his mentors. The boy had a genius mind, and by the time he was eleven he was ready to begin college level material.

 Since the age of fourteen months, physical trainers worked with him daily. His diet was scientifically regulated to achieve optimum performance. He received training in various forms of athletics and self defense from experts in these areas. He was routinely pitted against two or three larger boys, then taught how to overcome them. Each time he succeeded, he was then given a greater challenge by being bound first or some other means of disadvantage. Clark loved to fight. He lost many, but he learned fast. With practice he learned to control his fear and also urges to be cruel. He was taught acrobatics by circus professionals. He become creative in the way he handled opponents. By the time he was twelve he was 5"-6" and 150 lbs. He could whip 8 out of 10 grown men.

 From the age of thirteen to nearly seventeen, he was traveling the globe. From one master to another he learned the skills he would require to meet his purpose. This is just some of what his boyhood travels included-

• Winter survival techniques from fur trappers in the Canadian snow country.
• Animal tracking and woodcraft from an Amazon indian tribe.
• Flying instruction from the best pilots in the world at the time.
• Diving and sea lore from Polynesians in the South Seas.
• In India and Tibet he studied yoga, hypnotism, emotional control and how to block his mind from the affects of pain. He also trained extensively in the martial arts of personal combat. It was here that he picked up the unique habit of unconsciencously making a peculiar trilling noise during moments of stress or concentration.
• In Indochina he learned how to prowl through the jungle with stealth by observing the movements of the great jungle hunters the Jaugar and Tiger.
• In Africa he met his cousin, The Seventh Earl of Greystoke, who trained him in the art of using trees to travel above the jungle floor.
• Learned vocal imitations and ventriloquism from the Great Lander
• To develop his other senses, Doc spent several weeks in a school for the blind, eyes bandaged except for daily exercise periods.
• He attended a school for the deaf & dumb where he learned sign language and lip reading.
• Jimmy Valentine and Arsene Lupin taught him how to pick locks and open safes.

 Doc's training was interrupted in April of 1917 when the U.S. declared war on Germany and entered what was being called "The Great War". Due to his size and maturity, and faked papers, he was able to pass himself off as sixteen and join the Army. His mentors went into a frenzy when they learned of what Doc had done. Secretely however, they were as ready as Doc was to put his training into practice on the great evil of the Huns. Doc's father yielded considerable influence with certain diplomatic figures in Washington, D.C. and was able to see to it that Doc was assigned to an air squadron, where he flew a Spad fighter. Clark Savage Sr. had been keeping track of his son's progress and was confident in Doc's remarkable abilities.

 Doc reported to his squadron in France in late fall of 1917, just after his 15th birthday. In March of 1918, after six successful combat missions he was shot down over Germany during a balloon-busting sortie.

Philip Jose Farmer's book Escape From Loki is the definitive story of Doc's "Original Adventure". It comes highly recommended by this web page author.

After returning from the war in 1919, Doc entered medical school at Johns Hopkins University. He graduated and received a M.D. in 1925. He spent the following two years studying in Europe under the greatest neurosurgeons and psychiatrists. In the fall of 1927 he returned to New York and began his experiments in brain surgery. After six months of intensive work he discovered what he called the "Crime Gland".  By the fall of 1928, Doc had developed a method to counter-act the imbalance in this gland, which causes anti-social and criminal behavior.  The  Crime College was then secretly built in Upstate New York. It opened for "business" in 1930.

In early 1933, all of the major preparations were complete. Doc was nearly ready to embark on the career he had spent his whole life training for.  He had only to solidify everything in his mind. He spent considerable time at the Fortress Of Solitude, involving himself in both meditation and final preparation for the battles to come.  In March of that year, everything galvanized in his soul. He was mentally, physically, emotionally, morally and spiritually ready! Doc was 30 years old.

Arriving back in New York, Doc was ready to assemble is group of friends and declare that the time had come. Instead, when he returned, he was informed of his father's death. The news was an unexpected blow. Doc had counted on his father living to see his work, work the elder Savage had made possible. There was nothing to do but gather his men and give his small speech anyway. Monk, Ham, Renny, Johnny and Long Tom were ready too. They had been waiting for this moment for many years- To go here and there, to the far ends of the earth with Doc, helping those who needed it and punishing those who deserved it. 

Doc and his men launched themselves into the mystery Clark Savage Sr's demise from the  Red-Fingered Death.

The average person on the street has heard of Doc Savage, but knowns very little about him beyond what can be read in  newspapers and magazines. It is no mystery that Doc Savage keeps his office on the 86th floor of the most impressive skyscraper in mid-town Manhattan in New York city. To the public Doc is a remarkable personage always shrouded in mystery. One thing that is widely known about Doc Savage is his unique profession of righting wrongs, aiding the oppressed  and meting out justice to evildoers. The general public tends to view him as a sort of modern knight in armor.

Doc shuns publicity for several reasons. Foremost, he does not want his actions and movements to become common knowledge, lest a villain learn of them and gain an advantage.  Mystery works to Doc's advantage. His foes are legion. Because of this, the element of suprise is essential to his survival. Also, Doc is a genuinely humble man. If he wanted to toot his horn he would have plenty to toot about. It  just is not in the big bronze guy's nature.

Doc's periodic disappearances also lend an aura of mystery about him. So far as anyone (except his aids) knows, he has vanished from the face of the earth. He cannot be reached by any mehod, nor by his aids. His is frequently gone for months. He returns just as mysteriously as when he vanished. Almost always he brings with him some sort of scientific breakthrough. It could be anything from a new theory of electricity to a pioneering new method of surgery. Doc's knowledge of science is vast. When asked where he has been, Doc exercises his somewhat aggravating habit of seeming not to hear a question that he does not desire to answer. It is during these periods of disappearance that Doc retreats to his  Fortress Of Solitude in the arctic circle for periods of intense study.

Another of Doc's mysterious hangouts is his secret warehouse and hanger on the Hudson River. Operated under the name of the  Hidalgo Trading Company, Doc uses this facility to house the armada of air and water craft he uses in his work.

Perhaps Doc Savage's most guarded secret is the source of his fabulous wealth. If the truth were to be known, it would undoubtedly be at risk. Doc's wealth is the legacy left to him by his father and the King of a vanished race of Mayan royalty. Safe from discovery by civilization in  The Valley Of The Vanished Doc can call for it as needed.

This fabulous wealth has enabled Doc to do great work. His enterprises are vast and largely kept in secret. If one was to do some serious investigating they would find that Doc has holdings in a staggering number of corporations and charitable organizations. On several occasions in order to obtain an employee's assistance, Doc has had to merely make a phone call and the employee is informed by an irate boss that Doc nearly owns the company. It pays to own stock.

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Doc was raised from the cradle to be a new type of man. He received physical training since the age of fourteen months. Since that time he has always maintained a daily regimen of exercise. Only rarely has he missed a day. This is the secret of his  incredible abilities and musculature.

• The exercise routine consists of pitting one muscle against another. Each muscle is individually worked in this manner.
• Doc uses several pieces of scientific apparatus designed to test his hearing and sight.
• Several cards are used for reading braille to highten the sensivity of touch.
• A case with several vials holding small samples are opened and smelled to enhance the olfactory system.
• To challenge his mental capacity Doc juggles several numbers in his head, multiplying, taking cube roots and integrals.

It is Doc's practice to never carry a gun, although he is an excellent marksman. He believes that the man who carries a gun develops a psychological dependence on it and soon becomes helpless without one. He prefers instead to rely on his wits and the various scientific gadgets he commonly uses.

Doc and his men routinely wear a light-weight bulletproof union-suit of wire mesh mail that gives protection from the neck to just below the knees. This body armor can stop a slug from anything less than a high powered rifle. Over this Doc wears a strange looking under-vest. The vest contains numerous pockets that hold various gadgets and small vials of chemicals. The pockets are nested between padding to conceal their presence. Here is a sample of what Doc packs in the vest-

• Glass-walled anestetic gas grenades the size of robin's eggs
• High power explosive grenades the size of ball bearings
• Lock-picking tool set
• Silk line & rubber-coated grappling hook
• Hypodermic kit including truth serum vials
• Smoke grenades
• A pouch which contains a pencil-thin collapsible periscope which can be converted into either a telescope or a microscope by switching accessory lenses. With lenses removed it also can be used as an underwater snorkel.
• Fog bombs that deposit a dust that emits a green glow when exposed to ultraviolet light.
• Chalk that writes invisibly, but becomes visible when exposed to ultraviolet light.
• A vial of red solution that resembles blood.

Doc also carries in two false molars a 2-part explosive. He also wears a wig with an interior lining of the same light mesh as the body armor. Attached to the inside liner are two flat sheets that when rolled together create a powerful explosive. 

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Let me strive every moment of my life, to make myself better and better, to the best of my ability, that all may profit by it.

Let me think of the right and lend all my assistance to those who need it, with no regard for anything but justice.

 Let me take what comes with a smile, without loss of courage.

 Let me be considerate of my country, of my fellow citizens and my associates in everything I say and do.

Let me do right to all, and wrong no man.

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