Western Historical Manuscript Collection: There were two working titles for this story: “The Crime Annihilist” and “The Crime Annihilator.”
The Crime College: December 1934 proved to be a blockbuster story with The Annihilist. Here, for the first time, some of the secrets of the Crime College are revealed. We learn that the strange hospital is in an isolated spot. Crime, it is revealed, comes about from a glandular disorder, which is corrected by treatment at the facility. There is even a drug, a crime drug as you will, discovered during research that will cause men to become criminals.
There is little doubt about where the facility lies in regards to the letter of the law. Dent makes it clear that the courts are the legal mechanism for processing criminals. He also makes it clear that Doc Savage does not use the court system.
But the law doesn't concern itself overly much with this unorthodox center. By the story's end, Inspector Hardboiled Humbolt had a pretty clear understanding of just exactly what the remote mountain facility was. As a duly constituted law officer, he professes ignorance but as a citizen he openly wonders if he can send a few a few special friends over. Inspector Humbolt has joined the club.
There are two interesting things going on here in this story. First is the fact that Doc calls Pat Savage and invites her into the adventure. That's a big departure from other occasions.
The second is the name of Doc's chief surgeon -- Leander Court. Checking the dictionary we find this from “Webster's revised Unabridged Dictionary” (1913):
Leander: (Greek mythology) a youth beloved of Hero who drowned in a storm in the Hellespont on one of his nightly visits to see her.
court: To play the lover; to woo; as, to go courting.
Dent is pulling one of his wisecracks here. Leander "courted" Hero. Dent makes a pun on this.
Another thing in the story is the nickname Lizzie gives to Seco Nandez. Lizzie calls him "Nanny". Seco in Spanish means "dry". So Lizzie is something of a dry nanny.
Lewis J. Valentine was police commissioner for New York City during the time this story was printed. Valentine was known for his tough stance on crime and police corruption.
The
Shadow: There are some interesting items.
A couple of times I could close my eyes and imagine I was reading about
some other character besides Doc Savage.
Then there's this expression: “Basenstein reporting,’ he repeated over
and over. “Basenstein reporting."
“Report,” directed a voice
over the receiver.
At this point in the story
the reader does not know exactly to whom Basenstein is reporting. It turns out to be Hardboiled Humbolt but it
reads like something that Maxwell Grant penned.
Here's an example from The
Shadow – The Crime Cult (July 1932).
“Burbank reporting,”" he
said.
“Report,” came the voice.
This shouldn't be surprising
as the first story Dent wrote for Street & Smith was a Shadow story – The Golden Vulture.
Pulp hero aficionados may recognize another item appearing in this story. “The gun he brought out was not the regulation service revolver, but a lean-snouted .22-calibre target pistol.” This is the same weapon Richard Benson favors as The Avenger few years later in his own series.
Spanish Influenza: It is interesting to note that the "pop-eyed death" is mentioned in the same breath as the influenza epidemic. Clearly the story is referring to the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic which was only a scant sixteen years in the past.
A few years back Doc fan Jerry Cooper sent me a copy of an article titled Crooks Cured by Surgeon's Knife from the July 1930 issue of Popular Science. The article centers directly on the idea that crime has distinct physical causes due to glandular disturbances:
In other words, it now seems not only possible, but highly probably, that malsecretion (that is, a secretion which is too large or too small, or chemically unbalanced) of some gland is responsible for the greater part of the crime in the world.
The article specifically talks about rehabilitating offenders -- even habitual criminals -- through medical treatments. As Jerry aptly pointed out at the time the article has a lot in common with the theories later espoused at Doc's Crime College.
Batman: Years later, another Doc trademark is incorporated into the Batman comics in Batman #2. Now the idea that crime is a disease cured by a brain operation is one that is central to the Doc Savage mythos.
Robin asks, "What's your plan Batman?"
Batman replies, "My plan is to abduct the Joker from the hospital before he becomes strong and wily enough to slip through the hands of the police. Then we'll take him to a famous brain specialist for an operation, so that he can be cured and turned into a valuable citizen."
December 3, 1934 – Australian aviator Charles Ulm disappears after leaving Oakland, California on a flight to Hawaii.
December 5, 1934 – Fighting breaks out at Walwal between Ethiopian and Somali (Italian) troops. Italian dictator Benito Mussolini uses this as an excuse to prepare for war leading to the Abyssinia Crisis.
December 9, 1934 – The comic strip Terry and the Pirates by Milton Caniff begins.
December 22, 1933 – Movies: Son of Kong is released.
December 23, 1934 – Movies: The Scarlet Pimpernel opens. The film featured Leslie Howard, Merle Oberon, and Raymond Massey.
December 29, 1934 - Japan declares it will not abide by the terms of the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty.
