Quest of the Spider by Kenneth Robeson (Doc Savage #3, May 1933). 150 p.This entry has a particularly lame plot, so I'll skip recapping it--except to mention that at one point it involves a character crawling around the swamp in a stuffed alligator suit. With a zipper. When I can't enjoy the action or the plot, I focus on the cultural details of the story. In this one there's a fair amount of airplane travel. I wish I knew more about 1930's commercial airline standards, because a plane some minor characters take is described as having wicker seats and a parachute provided for each passenger! At another point they're driving fast--60 mph--in a car with the windscreen down, and since the passengers don't have goggles they have difficulty seeing due to the wind (except for Doc, of course). Why on earth wouldn't you put the windscreen up, then? Am I missing some significance here?
First appearance of: Doc's thin-walled capsules of anesthetic gas, scattered about for bad guys to step on. "Brain operations" as part of the treatment turning criminals into upright citizens.
I keep clicking on these thinking "that's an interesting sounding book, I wonder what it's about." Hah-Doc Savage again. My childhood / adolescent memory of these is looking at them and then putting them aside from the paperback rack at the Jewel, and taking another Edgar Rice Burroughs instead. Always go for the quality! :)
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