Skip this section if you must, but know this:  I would never have undertaken this huge project, except that it would have been such a crime, so selfish, not to share this very enjoyable story with other fans!  My desire to allow you to enjoy "Death's Domain" overcame my natural sloth.  Any typos are purely my own, and I apologize in advance for them.  Paty wrote all 137 pages on a typewriter, amazingly, and managed very well, but my hands are not so well trained, alas, even with the aid of a word processor.  I caught (and executed) as many errors as I could find.

I have never actually met Paty.  My husband had corresponded via email with her husband, well-known comic artist Dave Cockrum, regarding their mutual interest in the Blackhawk comics and planes.  Dave had also been an artist on the X-Men comics back when it was great; Dan (my spouse) mentioned to him that I was a fan.  From there we began to discover a number of common interests, and when I heard that Dave's wife Paty had written a Doc Savage novel (which had been considered for publication by Bantam, no less!), to say I was enthusiastic would be putting it mildly!  A new Doc story!  Holy Cow!

But there had only been two copies of the novel, and both appeared to be lost.  Fortunately, Paty is a woman of determination, and while I was still mourning this loss, she regained one of the (typed) copies.  Being of kind and generous spirit, she made a copy of it and mailed it to me! (Insert lots of enthusiastic jumping up and down here.  ;-)  I asked her permission to share it and the artwork with all of the Doc fans.

I found her writing to be quite true to the original pulp style, and the characters rang true.  Paty obviously knows her Doc!  Now, this story has a somewhat different angle than those we've read before...but that's the point.  This is a previously unknown, more personal chapter in Doc's life. (See the "Foreword".)  It has action and humor, along with many traditional 'Doc' elements and a rather high body count (not Doc's doing, of course), plus something more.  I loved it, and hope you will too!  

Now, Dave Cockrum is not the only artist in their family.  Paty had drawn (and copied for me) several cover concepts that she had done for this novel.  Not only that, she drew Doc's face on the envelope she mailed them to me in, and colored his eyes in with flake-gold ink!  What fun it was to get that!  We heard from Dave that this wasn't unusual; Paty has apparently often added her artwork to envelopes she sent out.  (Recently her artwork has been severely restricted for medical reasons, so please be considerate if you email her.)

Who else has gotten artwork by Paty?  Well, you may have heard of one lady - a talented author by the name of Laurell Hamilton, who does the "Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter" series.  (Even if you're not 'into' vampires - I wasn't at all - at least try the first one, "Guilty Pleasures".  You will enjoy the ride!  Anita Blake is tough but fun, the stories are dramatic and intense in places, the universe is interesting (vampires not only exist, they have legal rights), and the feminine touches of humor in the stories slay me...no pun intended.)  It seems that Paty is also a fan of these stories, and wrote to Ms. Hamilton, embellishing her letter with artwork of the sexy vampire Jean-Claude.  More than one of the books since then have been at least partly dedicated to Paty's inspiring drawings!

Finally, don't miss the true tale of the day Paty actually saw Doc Savage in New York City! Paty Sees Doc Savage

TAKE ME TO THE FOREWORD, PLEASE!