Fantasy
Doc Savage
Behind the Scenes
Much like the Heracles sculpture, this pose might seem odd because I was initially going to portray Doc grabbing someone he was about to lay out with a powerful haymaker. Unfortunately, the rights to producing the piece got tied up, and I dropped the project before sculpting his opponent. Despite the many years that have passed since I sculpted it, I like to think I’ll revisit it one day, scan the original and print a copy so I can sculpt an enemy our hero is about to put to sleep.
Doc Savage
Doc Savage first appeared in American pulp magazines during the 1930s and 1940s. A doctor, scientist, adventurer, detective and polymath who “rights wrongs and punishes evildoers,” he was created by publisher Henry W. Ralston and editor John L. Nanovic at Street & Smith Publications, with additional material contributed by the series’ main writer, Lester Dent.
Though his early pulp adventures were illustrated by Walter Baumhofer, Paul Orban, Emery Clarke, Modest Stein and Robert G. Harris, I drew my inspiration from the work of another artist whose depiction of the character—though very different from how he is described in the text—would become the definitive representation, James Bama. When Bantam Books began reprinting the individual magazine novels in 1964, cover artist Bama came up with the image of a craggy-faced, bronze-haired, bronze-skinned stoic sporting an exaggerated widows’ peak, based on American actor and model, Steve Holland.
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Please note, all Manifest Sculpt work is completed with traditional sculpting techniques—modelling and carving—rather than through modern digital techniques and programs. Consequently, the resin and bronze castings in this edition were also produced through traditional mold making and manufacturing processes. Final Manifest Sculpt commissions are available in a variety of materials, but they are not 3D printed and are not available as printable files. Copyright Notice: all work, including ideation, concepts, stories and their development, character design and production are the property of Carlos Soca unless otherwise noted, and all rights are reserved. Should you wish to discuss collaboration or licensing of an intellectual property or its design, please contact Manifest Sculpt.