John Sunlight
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John Sunlight is a fictional character and is the archenemy of the heroic Doc Savage. Sunlight is the only villain to appear in more than one of Savage's 190 adventures. He first appeared in Fortress of Solitude and later returned in The Devil Genghis.
John Sunlight possesses many qualities that could be considered heroic. He is stronger, more intelligent, and possesses much greater control of his emotions than ordinary people do. In times of concentration or stress he emits a low growl subconsciously, very similar to Doc's trilling. He is also an idealist who seeks to end problems such as war, famine, bigotry, etc. by bringing the world under his control. In this he is similar to other well-known literary supervillains, notably Fu Manchu. It is speculated that due to his age and remarkably similar characteristics John Sunlight may be Doc Savage's son from the events in Escape from Loki.
Like the villains from the James Bond stories, Sunlight also has a number of eccentricities. In The Devil Genghis he has adopted the habit of dressing entirely in one color. He has unusually large and long-fingered hands, with exceptional strength.
Millennium Publications' inaugural Doc Savage comic book miniseries The Monarch of Armageddon, by Mark Ellis and Darryl Banks, begins shortly after The Devil Genghis and depicts Sunlight's systematic destruction of everything Doc holds dear. In the concluding chapter, Sunlight apparently commits suicide rather than have his life saved by Doc Savage.
John Sunlight also appears briefly in the science fiction novel Roadmarks by Roger Zelazny.
[edit] Further reading
- Philip José Farmer. Doc Savage: His Apocalyptic Life (New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1975), Chapter 18
- [1] Farmer’s Escape from Loki: A Closer Look by Christopher Carey
- [2] Loki in Sunlight by Christopher Carey
- [3] The Green Eyes Have It - Or Are They Blue? or Another Case of Identity Recased by Christopher Carey