Hello Nealus
Yes, you're getting the idea and not far wrong.
A successfull formula spawns imitators and variation formulas
and the successfull ones of those do the same.
But Doc Savage did not just appear by magic, it was influenced by past
successful characters and stories.
Sherlock Holmes for example is the iconic archetype of the Private
Consulting Detective and the role model for everything since, from
Poirot, Nero Wolfe to Magnum PI. but you can find parts of Holmes in
detective stories prior to him. and I am not just talking Wold Newton.
Nothing is ever fully original.
Pulps had a big influence on comics. Many of the pulp writers became
comic writers as the industry changed and they brought their ideas and
writing styles with them.
EandO Binder, Edmond Hamilton, Gardner Fox are just a few names.
The Fantastic Four is Marvels Super Team comic, the success of JLA was
instrumental in its creation.
They are based on the idea of a hero family unit. the bickering of
Johnny Storm and Uncle Benjy is more sibling rivalry than that of Monk
and Ham.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fantastic_four
Superman has more ties to Doc Savage. Writers were shameless in what
they swiped er borrowed eh influenced. Supermans Fortress of Solitude
is a prime example
the concept of a crime fighting team of adventurers and their
headquarters is so common a theme its generic and can't be owned by any
one character
after all, before Doc, there was King Arthur,his knights and Camelot.
tphile
