This is the End: The Destroyer

Strictly speaking this is not the end for the world of The Destroyer.  The books are still being published as is the Legacy spinoff series.  But this is the end of playing catchup with the series which started in the early 1970s.  I started collecting in the late eighties and now have finally caught up (if I had more time I'd reread the whole series in order) thanks in large part to fact the entire series is now available as ebooks.  151 books, a spinoff series of six books so far, a movie (and a new one in the works), a TV pilot as well as Marvel comics. (There are new comics that I need to get)

It feels weird being caught up, the hunt for Destroyers has been part of my life for 30 years now.  The Destroyer I can't remember how I discovered him it might have been a copy of Inside Sinanju at the cheap books in the corner store visiting my grandmother.  It might have been a library book.  It may have been the back cover blurb for the Doc Savage video (which was definitely my introduction to Buckaroo Banzai).

When I found The Destroyer, I was in love. The characters are great.  Chuin should be the most offensive character in the world but he's not. Some would say that he's racist but it makes sense because he IS far superior to everyone else. He’s a frail looking little old man but heaven help you if you upset him or interrupt his soap operas.

Then there is Harold Smith the incorruptible WWII veteran cheapskate with a computer system that can infiltrate any electronic information.  Smith was asked to head the agency CURE by Kennedy and has been in the job since the 1960s. 

Remo is the meat in the sandwich of these two extremes. The Newark beat cop conscripted into an eternal battle with outré threats to America. He's the guy who cleans up Chuin's bodies when the old man kills someone who has annoyed him.

A lot of the Destroyer has made its way into other things Person of Interest, Knight Rider, The Karate Kid.

The Destroyer lead me to explore other series and was why I wrote Serial Vigilantes of Paperback Fiction.  Being able to write a Destroyer short story for the More Blood anthology was one of the greatest moments of my life. 

Now available

If asked The Destroyer Series by Warren Murphy and Richard Sapir would have to rate as one of my favourite series of all time.

When the call went out for a new anthology of stories set in the Destroyer universe I quickly submitted a story "The Roads not Taken.".  Set in the Vietnam War, I tell the story of the first time that Remo ever heard of Sinanju. 

There are 17 other stories in this anthology all from fellow fans and writers. 


Currently the book is only available in hard copy at Amazon

JAKE SPEED (1986) starring Wayne Crawford and John Hurt

Originally posted Friday, August 25, 2006 2:52:20 PM

 

I remember being grade 5 or 6 and writing a story where The Hardy Boys had me join them on a case, part of the appeal of the escapist fiction is that we can join in these adventures.

JAKE SPEED offers this opportunity. The movie starts with kidnapping of two American girls in Paris. Next we see the family upset by the loss of their daughter Maureen. Grandpa comes with the advice that the family should bypass the State Department and try to contact the handful of men who can really help. Mack Bolan The Executioner, Remo Williams The Destroyer and Jake Speed. Grandpa recommends Jake Speed.*

C'mon Grandpa we all know these books aren't real, no way Jake Speed can help because he's not real.

Maureen's sister Maggie goes home and gets a note from Jake Speed. Maggie takes her friend with her to the meeting (the friend gets some of the best lines in the film referring to Jake Speed as Speedy Jake and Remo as Romero and The Urinator of Reamer)

We get to see several Jake Speed novels which were published by Gold Eagle (Now those novels would have to be some of the rarest pieces of Aggressor material)

Next thing Maggie knows she being whisked off to Africa for an adventure ("But I don't want an adventure I want my sister back" she screams at Jake at one point.)

The film lags slightly once we hit Africa and discover that Jake's trusty HARV (heavily armoured raiding vehicle) hasn't arrived yet and the adventurers are stuck driving normal jeeps. Des informs Jake that Doc Savage used to drive these. Jake grumbles that Savage isn't even in the game anymore.

We see an abortive attempt to find Maureen but all this makes Jake seem incompetent, with our adventurers fleeing in defeat.

Then we wait, wait for HARV to arrive, wait while Maureen runs off and is told that Jake and Des are conmen.

Finally HARV turns up and the adventure starts again and we discover that Jake's archenemy Sid is behind all this. We see Jake fall into a lion pit, take on an army, engage in a high speed car chase.

I generally enjoyed this movie except for the dragging middle part.





*Imagine if he had of recommended Remo, I can see the family beating down the door of Folcroft Sanatorium and Smith having a fit.