PAT SAVAGE

Real Name: Patricia "Pat" Savage

Identity/Class: Human, early 20th century (active 1930s and 40s);
   probably dual American/Canadian citizen (see comments)

Occupation: Owner and manager of Patricia's beauty salon and gymnasium

Group Membership: None

Affiliations: Doc Savage (Clark Savage Jr.), Fabulous Five (Ham/Brigadier General Theodore Marley Brooks, Johnny/William Harper Littlejohn, Long Tom/Major Thomas J. Roberts, Monk/Lieutenant Colonel Anthony Blodgett Mayfair, Renny/Colonel John Renwick), Hiram Meeker, Patricia's Staff (Eddie, Lorna, others), Lorna Zane, Tiny;
   formerly Boatface

Enemies: Boatface, Earth-Wreckers (Iron Mask, others), El Rabanos, Iron Mask, Cere Oveja, Corto Oveja, Ramon, the Werewolf

Known Relatives: Alex Savage (father, deceased), Clark Savage (uncle, deceased), Clark Savage Jr (cousin), Stormalong Savage (grandfather, deceased)

Aliases: None

Base of Operations: Patricia's, Park Avenue, NYC

First Appearance: "Brand of the Werewolf," Doc Savage Magazine vol.2#5 (January 1934);
   (Marvel) Doc Savage I#3 (February 1973)

Powers/Abilities: Pat Savage was an award-winning marksman and expert tracker, having grown up around her father's estate in the wilds of the Northwest Terroritories. She was a skilled driver, an expert fencer, excellent at boxing and jujitsu, in excellent physical condition and of well-above average strength for someone of her size. A polyglot like her cousin she spoke multiple languages, including Mayan, an extinct language used by Doc and his team to converse without others being able to eavesdrop. She was also a trained pilot, and understood Morse code and sign language, and could read lips.

   Pat most commonly arms herself with a Frontier single action army revolver Colt. 45, which she eventually modified to be triggerless and have a fanning spur.

   

Height: 5'7"
Weight: 140 lbs. (by estimation)
Eyes: Golden
Hair: Bronze; sometimes dyed brown

 

History:
(Doc Savage I#3 (fb) - BTS) - Patricia Savage was the daughter of Alex Savage and the cousin of renowned scientist and adventurer Clark "Doc" Savage. Like her famous relative, she had bronze-colored hair and skin. She owned a highly successful beauty salon, Patricia's, on Park Avenue...

(Doc Savage II#5 (fb) - BTS) - with a gym upstairs.

(Doc Savage I#3) - Doc found himself embroiled in a case involving a masked criminal gang dubbed the Silver Death's-Heads, and needed to hide a woman they were targeting, Lorna Zane, somewhere safe while he investigated, so he took her to Patricia's. Pat greeted her cousin by asking who was currently trying to kill him, and he introduced Pat to Zane and her associate, Harry "Rapid" Pace, explaining to them that she owned the salon. Pat noted that she'd rather be getting into trouble with Doc, but he explained that it was Lorna who was in trouble, and asked if she could stay there. Naturally Pat agreed. 

(Doc Savage I#4) - After successfully defeating the Silver Death's-Heads, unmasking their leader and concluding the case Doc returned to Patricia's accompanied by his aides and Pace, and Pat and Lorna joined them as Doc explained the defeated villain's plot to the gathering.

(Doc Savage I#7 (fb) - BTS) - Pat went to Canada on vacation to stay with her father on his remote estate in the Northwest Territories. While there she discovered there appeared to be a vendetta against them, with their cabin being ransacked when they were out, their mail stolen, and their telephone lines twice being cut, all of which had begun after her father discovered an ivory cube with the brand of a werewolf face on one side at an archaeological dig. She and the servants felt they were virtually under siege. Then Pat's father was murdered, apparently by a werewolf; that same night Pat and the servants, Boatface and his wife Tiny, heard the creature howling out in the wilderness. Pat suspected the murder had been carried out by someone seeking to procure the cube.

(Doc Savage I#7) - Pat called Doc for help, and he told her to stay put until he and his aides got there. The next night she and the servants heard the wolf howling again somewhere near the Savage homestead. Deciding that werewolf or not she was going to go after the thing that had killed her father, Pat armed herself with a double-barrelled shotfun and went hunting. However, search as she might, she couldn't find even a single footprint in the snow, so she returned to the cabin to discover Boatface and Tiny both apparently unconscious, the smell of gas, and the cabin again ransacked. Unaware Boatface was faking his slumber, Pat hastily checked the hiding place her father had put the ivory cube in, and was relieved to see it was still there.

   The next night Pat and Tiny were woken again by the howling, and Tiny informed her employer that Boatface was missing. Pat told Tiny that they were going to discover what was out there and not be scared off the land by who or whatever had slain her father. Arming herself with the shotgun again, she and Tiny set out into the snow hunting, with Pat noting that if Doc hurried he might be in time to pick up the pieces of the werewolf, providing she left any.

(Doc Savage I#7 - BTS) - Near a waterfall whose spray hid it until they were almost upon it the women discovered the makeshift gondola, a basket large enough to carry people suspended by rope strung across a gorge, that the werewolf and his allies had constructed to reach their hideout on the other side...

(Doc Savage I#7 - BTS/Doc Savage I#8 (fb)) - but there they were ambushed by the villains and captured.

(Doc Savage I#8 (fb) - BTS) - Both women were searched, but Tiny was checked less thoroughly than Pat.

(Doc Savage I#8) - Held in a tent in an encampment on a distant part of the estate, Pat and Tiny listened as the werewolf confronted one its men, Ramon, telling him off a for leaving his guard post watching over the gorge. To Pat's horror she heard the Spanish-accented guard claim there was no more need to guard it because he had slain Doc Savage, something Pat hoped was a falsehood intended to trick them. However she swore to herself that if they had killed her cousin she would make them wish they'd never been born, and she settled down to figure a way to escape. Checking with Tiny, Pat learned her servant still had a knife that had been missed when they were searched. They used it to cut their ropes, then Pat blindsided the guard outside their tent and stole his coat and gun. Hoping to fool the other crooks, Pat tried to pose as one of them taking Tiny to be interrogated, but the ruse failed almost immediately as the remaining men surrounded them. Ramon pointed out that now he had killed Doc Savage they no longer needed hostages, and made to shoot Pat, but before he could a very much alive Doc showed up. Ordering the villains to release the prisoners he began smashing his way through them. Those villains that Doc did not immediately render unconscious tried to flee, only to be tackled to the ground by Doc, while Pat took great satisfaction smashing one she had taken a particular dislike to in the face with the butt of a rifle. Pat, Doc and Tiny then set off back towards the homestead, where the rest of Doc's retinue were waiting; as they made their way through the woods Doc explained to Pat how during their journey he and his men had encountered a weird Spanish trio, el Rabanos and his companions Senor and Senorita Oveja, and how they had then been attacked by men seeking to stop them reaching Pat, presumably part of the werewolf's crew. One hoodlum, fatally wounded during an attack on Doc's people, had mentioned a hidden fortune before he died. Doc also explained how he had survived Ramon's attack at the gorge, and confirmed he had found Boatface's corpse, who had apparently been working for the werewolf only to be murdered by it. Reaching the gorge to see the lift jammed on the other side, Doc revealed he planned to cross by hanging onto the rope while carrying both women simultaneously. Hearing this, Pat suggested she could find another way across, but Doc told her not to worry, as she wouldn't wake up until they were on the other side. Before she could fully get her head round what Doc had just said, he rendered her instantly unconscious by applying pressure to some nerve clusters on her head and neck. As a result she was soundly asleep when moments later the werewolf appeared and attacked Doc, only for the creature to be quickly knocked out by the adventurer and unmasked as just a costumed thug.

(Doc Savage I#8 - BTS) - Hearing the werewolf's men rapidly approaching Doc left the villain where he was and carried Pat and Tiny across the gorge, then raced back to the homestead. During Doc's journey into Canada the crooks had tried to gas his team unconscious, prompting the chemist of the group, Monk, to concoct an antidote, which he now also administered to Pat and Tiny as a precaution.

(Doc Savage I#8) - Back at the cabin Pat discovered that the cube was missing and realized Boatface must have taken it; since the gang were still seeking it, they reasoned he must have hidden it before his fatal meeting with the werewolf. There discussion about how to proceed was interrupted by the unexpected arrival of Senorita Cere Oveja, who told the assemblage that the werewolf had her father and el Rabanos held prisoner, and had released her to ask Doc for the ivory cube in exchange for their lives. Pat listened as, at Doc's insistence, Oveja explained the cube's purpose; it supposedly showed the way to the hidden treasure of her ancestor, 17th century pirate Alfrado Leon, also known as the werewolf. It didn't take long for Doc to figure out roughly where Boatface had hidden the cube, retrieve it and unlock the map it contained, but soon after the werewolf and his men showed up outside the cabin, revealed Rabanos and the Ovejas were not his prisoners but partners, and deployed the knock out gas. Pat and the others pretended to succumb, and waited for an opportune moment to act. This came when the villains took them all to the cave where the treasure had been hidden. There a gloating el Rabanos admitted to Pat that they had murdered her father to lure Doc in, believing (rightly as it turned out) that only someone as intelligent as he could solve the riddle of the ivory cube. Having already weakened the ropes binding them, the group broke free and battle commenced between the gang and Doc's group, the latter side swiftly gaining the upper hand. However the ruckus triggered a cave-in. Doc, his team, Pat, Tiny and the Ovejas made it out, but the rest, including the werewolf and Rabanos, were crushed. Senorita Ovejas was overjoyed to see that Monk and Renny had also grabbed the treasure chest, until they made it clear she and her father were getting nothing, and the fortune within would instead be donated to worthy causes.

   With the mystery solved and her father avenged, Pat told Doc that she was all alone now, and asked to join him in his work, so long as he didn't mind. Hearing this Monk told her that Doc wouldn't mind, not unless he wanted to tangle with all of his aides. With this Doc confirmed to Pat that she was in, and she thanked them for all they had done.

(Doc Savage II#5) - On June 18th 1933 Pat was visited at her salon by the timid Hiram Meeker, whose nervousness was not improved to be introduced to her when she was in her gym wearing a form-fitting leotard. While she exercised on a pair of gymnastic rings, he told her about a dangerous group called the Earth-Wreckers. He explained that he was a demolitions expert who had been approached by what turned out to be an international extortion cartel led by a man who called himself Iron Mask. They offered him a million dollars to join them, wanting his demolitions knowledge as part of a plan to blackmail world governments by using a super explosive they had developed, with bombs containing it planted in locations within each continent. If detonated the bombs would create massive faults in the Earth's crust, triggering earthquakes and floods. The Earth-Wreckers themselves would hide out near Loch Ness, Scotland, since they believed that Britain's island status would spare it from the devastation the six inhabited continents would suffer should the world governments fail to meet their extortion demands.

   Moving on to parallel bars as she heard his tale, Pat asked why Hiram had come to her, and he admitted that he'd hoped she would help him get in touch with Doc and ask him to stop the group. Dismounting, Pat queried why Hiram hadn't just gone straight to Doc, and Hiram stuttered that he didn't know a normal person like himself could just approach her cousin. Somewhat peeved by this comment, Pat responded that while the glare from Doc's halo might temporarily blind people, it had been done, and she icily added that she'd take him to her cousin. This calmed Hiram down, but only until he got in Pat's roadste and she set off at breakneck speed, terrifying the appropriately named Meeker.

   Arriving at Doc's headquarters atop the Empire State Building, Pat and Meeker entered to find Doc and his companions already somewhat aware of the Earth-Wreckers, as they had already issued their threat to various countries who in turn had turned to Doc for help. Indeed, Doc had already located and stolen the activator the Earth-Wreckers had intended to use to trigger their bombs, but he was aware this would only delay their plans by a day or so. Rebuffing Monk's advances, Pat introduced her guest. Hearing Meeker's tale, the group realized they would need to head for Scotland, but when Pat asked when do "we" leave, he told her in no uncertain terms that she wasn't, since adventure was no place for a woman. This understandably enraged Pat, and when Monk somewhat condescendingly told her that he at least considered her a "real peach" she threw him over her shoulder, grabbed Hiram and stormed out, momentarily angry at all men.

   Reaching the ground Pat dragged Hiram to her car, intending to drive him home, but as they reached the vehicle gunmen sent by the Earth-Wreckers to silence Hiram opened fire. Meeker screamed in terror, but Pat shoved him into the passenger seat and gunned the engine. The gunmen pursued in their own vehicle, and Pat grabbed a pistol from a hidden dashboard panel and fired at them, accurately striking their windscreen despite firing over her shoulder using the rear-view mirror to aim while simultaneously driving at high speed. However the pursuers' vehicle had bulletproof glass and they returned fire. Enjoying herself immensely despite, or perhaps because of, the danger, Pat tried unsuccessfully to shake them, and then finally spotted a truck trailer sitting by the roadside with its rear ramp down. While Hiram cowered, Pat drove straight in and smashed through the other end; the gunmen tried to follow, but were slightly off and crashed into the rear of the truck instead, killing both would-be assassins. Her adrenaline pumping, an exhilarated Pat decided she wasn't going to obey Doc, and despite Hiram's protests she turned the car around and headed for the Hidalgo Trading Company warehouse where Doc stashed his vehicles.

   Knowing Doc and his friends would soon arrive via a pneumatic tube that traversed underground from Doc's skyscraper headquarters all the way to the warehouse, Pat locked the door at the tube's entry terminal, so that when the capsule carrying them arrived minutes later they were trapped within. Over the radio she then blackmailed Doc, insisting that she'd only let him out after he promised she could tag along. Knowing Pat meant it (and secretly impressed with her), Doc agreed. As they exited the capsule Pat added that Hiram was also coming along, and when Doc began to protest about endangering innocents she pointed out that there was a hit out on him, so he would be safer in their company. The group then set off in Amberjack, Doc's zeppelin, heading for Scotland.

   During the long flight Pat listened sympathetically as Hiram explained how his wife had left him because she said he wasn't dynamic enough, and how in childhood even his dog ran away.

   The group reached Castle Urquhart on the shores of Loch Ness on June 19th and checked into the local inn, where the owner assumed the famous adventurer Doc Savage had come to solve the mystery of the recently publicized monster Nessie. Dismissing this notion, Pat asked the man whether there had been any suspicious strangers or unusual activity in the area recently, and he confirmed that, outside of the uptick in tourists, a construction crew working on the new A-Road by the loch claimed to have seen something out of the normal. While everyone else settled into their rooms, on Doc's orders Monk investigated, questioning the workmen and then taking a boat out onto the loch to check where they claimed to have seen the monster. A sudden encounter with the creature made Monk race back to report what had happened, and so only minutes after checking in at the inn the group, including Pat and Hiram, headed to the spot where Monk saw Nessie. Pat watched as Doc and his men donned diving suits, then as Doc entered the waters he sternly reminded Pat she was to remain there and guard Hiram. Naturally, as soon as Doc and company submerged Pat informed Hiram that they were going to put on the two spare diving suits she'd covertly brought. The pair followed Doc's team as they in turn followed what appeared to be Nessie to a hidden underwater entrance to Castle Urquhart. Exiting the water outside the castle, Pat revealed to the others that she had followed, and the group observed that there were armed guards patrolling the castle's battlements. They tried to sneak in, but were spotted and a melee ensued between the Earth-Wreckers and Pat's allies, with Pat joining in pounding the enemy. Confronted by Iron Mask, Doc threw him over the battlements into the loch, then ordered Pat to take Hiram and fish the villain out the waters before he drowned. While she did this the others headed deeper into the castle, finding "Nessie" in a subterranean grotto and learning it was merely a disguised submarine, then locating the remaining Earth-Wreckers gathered around their replacement detonation device. Doc and his aides immediately attacked to prevent them triggering any of their super bombs.

(Doc Savage II#5 - BTS) - Pat meanwhile got the loch shores to find Iron Mask gone, having already pulled himself out and now heading towards the activator chamber. She and Hiram pursued. 

(Doc Savage II#5) - Pat arrived in time to see Iron Mask reaching for the activator, intending to destroy Australia. Without hesitation she threw a grenade, destroying the activator; however Iron Mask, though badly injured and with his titular mask destroyed, survived. Raging, he raced towards Pat and struck her with a metal-covered fist, knocking her unconscious. Doc and Monk pursued as he fled, and witnessed the villain being slain by the real Nessie.

   A short while later, after the Earth-Wreckers had all been rounded up and Pat had awoken, she listened as Doc informed Monk that they would not tell the world of their encounter with the creature as doing so would bring scrutiny as to why they were in Loch Ness, and the world governments wanted to keep their adventure quiet so as to not trigger panic over how close the world had come to disaster. Still later as the group began their return flight home aboard the Amberjack Monk invited Pat out for dinner when they got back to Manhattan. Still recalling how they had all tried to leave her behind, Pat icily replied that she already had a date, and when Monk inquired who, Pat grabbed Hiram's arm and to his surprise stated that it was with him, "a real man."

Comments: Created by Lester Dent; adapted into Marvel by Steve Englehart, Ross Andru and Tom Palmer.

   Pat was introduced in the 11th Doc Savage novel, Brand of the Werewolf, which made it clear that prior to this Doc had never met either Pat or his Uncle Alex. Pat's appearances in Marvel's Doc Savage comics are thus somewhat out of order, as the adaptation of Brand of the Werewolf was her second Marvel appearance, and she and Doc appear to know each other. In the Brand of the Werewolf novel she is only around 18 and still lives in Canada on her father's estate, only moving to Manhattan in subsequent tales, but in the Marvel comics version of Brand of the Werewolf it is mentioned by Doc that she is in Canada on vacation. Additionally, when Doc visits Alex Savage's grave he notes that Alex was a good man, something the pulps version didn't do or say because he didn't know his uncle.

   Her first illustration also came in Brand of the Werewolf, and can be seen to the right. Starting as she meant to go on, Pat is depicted punching an enemy.

   The Brand of the Werewolf novel and comic both share a scene that reveals that with Alex dead Pat and Doc are now each other's only living relatives. Though I don't think it was ever explicitly stated, but presumably her father and Doc's were brothers rather than in-laws, given the shared surname. In the novel Violent Night she confirms she was born in Canada, meaning she'd have Canadian citizenship as Canada has birthright citizenship; though I don't think it's ever been explicitly stated, Doc and his father are always presented as being Americans, so presumably Alex Savage also was, meaning Pat presumably holds dual citizenship.

   Per the Doc Savage Chronology the stories were set around these dates and thus in this order, if the books remain where they should rather than being shifted around to fit the comic's timeline:

   Pat went on to appear in 37 of Doc's original run of adventures, and her final appearance in I Died Yesterday she was also the narrator and main protagonist.

   Doc also tried unsuccessfully to get hold of Pat over the radio in 126: The Mental Monster, while novel 139: Weird Valley mentions that Pat and Doc both have flake-gold eyes, a family characteristic, adding another two tales where she was mentioned but didn't actually appear. She graced a few of the pulp covers (see right), and Marvel's Doc Savage I#3 was her comics debut, but since then she has appeared in DC, Millennium Publications, and Dynamite's Doc Savage comics; Millennium even made her the star of her own one-shot. In 2016 with a new series of authorized Doc Savage novels being released, writer Will Murray made her the star of her own book, Six Scarlet Scorpions.

   It's probably worth pointing out that while Marvel's Doc Savage comic adapted his pulp novels, Marvel's Doc Savage magazine contained brand new tales, not based on any prior publication. It's a credit to writer Doug Moench that this isn't obvious when reading those stories, with twists and turns and bizarre villains that match perfectly the Doc Savage pulp tales.

   Earth-Wreckers is set in June 1933, and Pat and co. end up visiting Loch Ness. The attention to detail is excellent - especially in the pre-internet days when researching other parts of the world meant actual work, many American comics mess up details about the U.K. Here though the real world Castle Urquhart on the shores of Loch Ness is visually accurate, and Nessie being a new tourist attraction is a nice touch, as the first reported modern sighting had hit the newspapers in May 1933. Additionally, mention of a new "A-Road" (roughly equivalent to a state highway) being built is also historically accurate for 1933.

   Pat's first Marvel appearance depicts her with brown hair and very normal pink skin, contrary to her description in the novels. Her return appearance in the Brand of the Werewolf adaptation at least fixes her skin tone to match that of Doc, but her hair is still brown rather than the bronze color it should be. I guess since she runs a beauty salon she must dye it brown some of the time, though this somewhat conflicts with her book depiction, where she is very proud of her unusual hair color. The same panel I've included (left) is reprinted in Giant-Size Doc Savage in an article about Doc and his allies, and there it was recolored to make her hair and skin better match Doc. It's worth mentioning that Doc's bronze skin-tone is regularly explained in the books as being a tan resulting from prolonged exposure to tropical suns, and so that's presumably also the case for Pat.

   Sadly Pat's Marvel appearances don't provide a really good color full body shot of her- the ones used above are the best of the bunch. However, somewhat Marvel-adjacent, Dave Cockrum did design sketches for a proposed Doc Savage newspaper strip around the same time Marvel was publishing the Doc Savage comics, and these can be found online. I've taken the liberty of coloring in the Pat Savage sketch, and while it's clearly an unfinished rough sketch, I think it looks pretty good (Dave's art, not my amateur coloring job), so I've included it.

   This profile was completed on 08/22/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary's celebratory event to represent Doc Savage.

Profile by Loki.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Pat Savage is related to

but has no known connections to:

Alex Savage

Alex Savage was the owner of a large estate in Canada, uncle of the adventurer Doc Savage, and father of Patricia Savage. While checking out an archaeological dig near his estate he discovered an ivory cube with a brand of a werewolf's face carved on its side. Shortly afterwards his estate began to be targeted by someone apparently seeking the cube, and then while driving through snowy roads on his estate in winter his car was attacked by what appeared to be a werewolf, which jumped on his vehicle's running board, smashed the driver's window with a rock, and murdered him. Pat buried him on the estate near the Savage homestead.

--Doc Savage I#7

images: (without ads)
Doc Savage II#7, p1, pan1 (main image)
Doc Savage II#5, p30, pan4 (black and white headshot)
Doc Savage I#7, p13, pan6 (color headshot)
Doc Savage I#7, p14, pan3 (color full body image, Pat in winter clothes with shotgun)
Doc Savage II#5, p33, pan3 (Pat in black and white, pulling lever)
Doc Savage II#5, p39, pan6 (in diving suit)
Doc Savage Magazine#11, Brand of the Werewolf, p21, pan1 (first ever illustration of Pat Savage)
Doc Savage I#3, p14, pan4 (headshot with normal skin and brown hair)
Doc Savage Magazine#19, Fear Cay cover (Pat Savage on cover)
Dave Cockrum design sketch for Pat Savage
Doc Savage I#7, p4, pan2 (Alex Savage)

Appearances:
Doc Savage I#3-4 (February-April 1973) - Steve Englehart (writer), Ross Andru (pencils), Tom Palmer (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Doc Savage I#7 (October 1973) - Gardner Fox & Tony Isabella (writers), Ross Andru (pencils), Frank Springer (inks), Roy Thomas (editor)
Doc Savage I#8 (January 1974) - Tony Isabella (script), Rich Buckler (breakdowns),Tom Palmer & Jack Abel (finished art), Roy Thomas (editor)
Doc Savage II#5 (July 1976) - Doug Moench (writer), Tony DeZuniga (art), John Warner (editor)

First Posted: 09/28/2026
Last updated: 08/22/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
All other characters mentioned or pictured are ™ and © 1941-2099 Marvel Characters, Inc. All Rights Reserved. If you like this stuff, you should check out the real thing!
Please visit The Marvel Official Site at: http://www.marvel.com

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