Doc Savage and G.I. Joe

Last night I watched "G.I. Joe: The Rise of COBRA" on Netflix.  The idea of pulling a team together comprised of individuals who each contribute some unique skill to the team is certainly not new.  Look at the X-Men.  Or "The A-Team."  Look at the Justice League of America.  But go a little further back, to the days of the "pulps."  One of the popular adventure series was "Doc Savage".

I started reading the Bantam paperback editions of Doc Savage stories when I was in high school and saw some of my friends reading them.  Doc Savage was a crime-fighting hero who had no superpowers, no mask or cape.  Just (!) a genius intellect, a physique to put Arnold Schwarzenegger to shame, a code of honor and justice, and the ability to pull together the right team. 

• "Monk" (Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Blodgett Mayfair, an industrial chemist.)
  
• "Ham" (Brigadier General Theodore Marley Brooks, an attorney.)
• "Renny" (Colonel John Renwick, a construction engineer.)
• "Long Tom" (Major Thomas J. Roberts, an electrical engineer.)
• "Johnny" (William Harper Littlejohn, an archaeologist and geologist.)

I have tried - periodically - to go back and read some of the old Doc Savage stories, but alas, they don't hold the same allure they did when I was a younger man.  But I learned early on there's nothing you can't do if you have the right people to work with.