Rock Bottom Comics: DOC SAVAGE, 1966
Whew, this is just poor.In 1966, a Doc Savage movie was planned. This was the phase where the Batman TV series and the James Bond movies were at their peak of popularity. Chuck Connors was chosen to play the Man of Bronze, and he would have been a surprisingly apt choice. Check out the way he looks in the opening of BRANDED and you can see him doing a good job as Doc. THE THOUSAND-HEADED MAN might have started a new franchise. But the movie deal fell through because of a dispute over the rights, and all we have to show for it is a one-shot comic from Gold Key. Unfortunately (although it's a bit of a completist's collectible) the comic just isn't any good. ("Hey mister! I want my lunch money back, this funnybook stinks!")
It follows the story of the original pulp in a bare-bones way but the writing is plain and the art is mediocre. I don't know what the deal was with Jack Sparling, whether he accepted a lot of jobs he had to rush to turn in or if his style was just naturally sketchy and uninspired. In any case, whenever I saw his art, I was assured it would be passable and nothing more. The front and back cover of the Gold Key comic had blown-up art by James Bama from the Bantam reprint of THE THOUSAND-HEADED MAN. If you want a textbook example of bait and switch, think of a comic with James Bama covers and Jack Spartling interior art.
A good example of the amount of care that went into this issue, check out the balloons where the letterer accidently repeated dialogue.