Dent borrows the basic idea for this story from H. G. Wells. The Food of the Gods and How it Came to Earth was published in 1904. The story plays off the idea of a new compound, Herakleophorbia IV, which causes living organisms to grow to gigantic proportions. In Wells’ story, the first animals used for experimentation are chickens. Dent names his first character Bruno Hen. Wells’ experimental farm is tended by a married couple, the Skinners. Bruno Hen is a trapper or skinner of animals. Giants in both stories wear iron shoes. The giant, Caddies, is imprisoned in a chalk pit where he is condemned to work. Dent has the giants in his story imprison Doc Savage and his men in a deep pit.
An electronic version of The Food of the Gods and How it Came to Earth is available at Project Gutenberg.
Potent explosive rounds come on the scene. Exactly how does one go about making explosive rounds for a machine pistol? One method that might work would be to have a binary type bullet similar to that used for chemical weapons. The hollow shell of the bullet would be divided into two chambers separated by a thin membrane. The shock from firing would break the membrane and allow the two chemicals to mix forming the explosive. Another method would be to have tiny wax spheres suspended in a liquid. The heat from firing the round would melt the wax spheres, releasing the chemicals contained therein and creating an explosive compound.
Not being well versed in explosives I am doing a lot of guess work here. I don't believe any of the powerful "plastic" explosives available today were even invented before World War II. If I were going to describe this in a Doc story I would probably pick nitroglycerine as my explosive of choice. It is properly romantic enough and has a great reputation. In college, one chemistry professor gave a lengthy lecture on some compounds called Grignard Reagents that are both powerful and unstable. This could also be a candidate for the explosive rounds.
The 1934 Chicago World’s Fair may have had some influence on Lester Dent and his inclusion of “pinheads” in the story. Robert Bogdan, in his book Freak Show: Presenting Human Oddities for Amusement and Profit, explains how two black men were passed off as African tribesmen. The promoter’s name was Nate Eagle and he was a well known showman of the time. Eagle referred to the two men as “pinheads” while presenting them as members of the African “Ituri” tribe who practice head binding.
The George Washington Bridge is mentioned.
Pacs are lace boots with waterproof bottoms and leather uppers. They are more commonly known as shoe-pacs.
Renny hires a hydraulic mining firm to excavate the old coal tunnel. A steam shovel was also mentioned.
Doc uses special shells for a .410 shotgun.
One of the villains falls in quicksand.
In July 1933, the human giant, Robert Wadlow visited the Chicago World’s Fair. Wadlow stood nearly nine feet tall. News articles on the event may have been an influence on this story.
Another factor that may be of some interest relating to this story is the 1904 novel The Food of the Gods and How it Came to Earth by H. G. Wells. Its main plot is a growth substance which causes extreme growth in any creature that eats it, including human beings. Another book dealing with giants is Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol. This 1865 story details Alice’s strange adventures which also including growing to gigantic proportions.
A movie version was released on December 22, 1933 by Paramount Pictures. The movie featured many popular stars such as Gary Cooper, W. C. Fields, and Cary Grant. The story was also a very popular play on Broadway in 1932.
Comics: Here is another story that makes its way into the comics, albeit without Doc Savage. The second story of Batman #2 is especially interesting as it has many of the same elements seen in The Monsters. Human beings are injected with a compound that speeds up their growth glands. The end results are "giants" who are as tall as fifteen feet. These massive creatures are limited in intellect are used for simply robberies albeit on a large scale.
April 1, 1934 - The Masked Invasion is published in the first issue of Popular Publications’ Operator #5.
April 1, 1934 – The Conan story Iron Shadows in the Moon by Robert E. Howard is published in Weird Tales.
April 6, 1934 – Whitewall tires are offered as an option by Ford.
April 8, 1934 – Franklin Mars, confectioner and creator of the Snickers candy bar dies.
April 16, 1934 – Movies – Tarzan and His Mate opens.
April 22, 1934 – John Dillinger escapes an FBI trap.
April 23, 1934 – Movies: The Universal serial The Vanishing Shadow opens.
April 28, 1934 – Collier’s publishes the first installment of The Trail of Fu Manchu by Sax Rohmer.
