My first exposure to The Shadow was not from movies, comics, or pulps - but the radio. My father would get collections of classic radio shows for us kids to listen to at night on camping trips. My favorites were Mystery Theater, X Minus One, and The Shadow. You just had to love the menacing laughter that they gave to the title character. There was no need for visuals when those audio dramas sparked so much imagination.
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
Green Arrow & Black Canary and The Shadow
My first exposure to The Shadow was not from movies, comics, or pulps - but the radio. My father would get collections of classic radio shows for us kids to listen to at night on camping trips. My favorites were Mystery Theater, X Minus One, and The Shadow. You just had to love the menacing laughter that they gave to the title character. There was no need for visuals when those audio dramas sparked so much imagination.
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I remember catching Mystery Theater on the radio a few times when I was a kid, and it was always a great treat.
Now... on the cover: It's awesome. After reading several Batman/Shadow crossovers, I would LOVE to see The Shadow team up with other DC heroes. Dr. Mid-Nite and the Creeper spring immediately to mind. However, after seeing this cover, I think that perhaps Green Arrow and Black Canary have pulled ahead in my mind.
TJW, if you like Mystery Theater, follow "Chilly Sunshine" on YouTube, he has most of the episodes.
I used to play them for my kids when we were on trips. My daughter didn't like them, but my son Eddie did. In fact, he would do these hilarious mimics of the Blue Coal commercials.
The vintage commercials are almost as fun as the shows themselves!
My grandmother actually had a small collection of those old radio programs as well, having a couple episodes of the Shadow, so in addition to that and the movie, I was an early Shadow fan for sure. Damn if no one could top the Shadow's laugh after saying his signature, iconic line "WHO KNOWS THE EVIL THAT LURKS IN THE HEARTS OF MEN......THE SHADOW KNOWS!!!!" Just great stuff.
Another solid team-up idea here Ross.
Based off this and the Arrow TV show, one could see where Arrow really was set up to be just like Batman, or his universe's Batman, between fighting most of Batman's enemies, and then his own family, the Queen Family, being like a dark reflection of the Waynes.
Good stuff.
I'm a big fan of The Shadow, whether it's radio, pulps, novels (original novels, not just pulp reprints), comics... but my first exposure to the character was that horribly campy 1960s comic book version published by Archie Comics. The first issue wasn't bad, but then he became a superhero. I was about seven or eight, so I enjoyed it... then.
For old radio programs, my own preference runs toward Fibber McGee and Molly. In particular, I love Bill Thompson's performances as the Old Timer, Horatio K. Boomer, and Wallace Wimple (that last with a voice that, at Tex Avery's insistence, would become that of Droopy Dog).
And audio dramas are coming back, too, and are a lot of fun to do. They're not appearing on the radio these days, though, but on the Internet and sometimes on CD. I served script editor duties on the first episode of a short-lived Twilight Zone-styled program called Doorways & Dimensions, had featured guest appearances on several episodes of the second season of the Spoony Bard's Aural Podcast (their adaptation of the first Fallout game), and am now in mid-production for an audio drama of my own.
The Doctor Who audio dramas from Big Finish Productions have also been credited with giving extra life to the Sixth, Eighth, and War Doctors, as well as several companions, friends, and even a few folks who were well-liked one-off characters.
(If anyone asks for links to the above, I'll post them. I'd do it right now, but it's not quite a good time.)
Another great one! The Shadow knows who failed this city.
My hometown radio station used to play the old radio dramas, during the early Sixties, as well. Of course, it wasn't until decades later that I learned that the all-knowing Shadow and the man who hosted Mercury Theater-on-the-Air on Oct. 30, 1938 were one and the same. The legendary Orson Welles!
That fond (if vague) memory is one of the reasons I went to see the Alec Baldwin movie version. And I loved it! It was everything that Seth Rogen's version of the Green Hornet should have been...but, sadly, wasn't.
You can find a lot of the old radio shows on the web at archive.org.
Speaking of radio shows, has anyone else ever heard the adventures of the Most Fantastic Crime Fighter The World Has Ever Known: CHICKENNNNN MAAAAAAAAAAAAAN! He's everywhere! He's everywhere! ?????
I love downloading the old-time radio shows at archive.org (and other sites) and playing them in the car. If you like The Shadow's program, try The Third Man (with Orson Welles) and The Saint (with Vincent Price).
Terrific set up Ross! I can see how Green Arrow would chafe at being hassled the Shadow, it may be even worse than having Batman around. GA and Black Canary always have had great versatility, they've gone on cosmic level adventure being JLA members, and yet they're right at home on a down and dirty street level. Of course, nothing can match the Shadow's ability to handle the lowest back-alley crimes while also venturing into the spirit worlds... Anything with the Shadow is great. Those old radio shows were spine-tingling fun!
Interesting threesome! How about, for the next one, teaming Sean Connery up with Robert Vaughn and Harrison Ford? You could call it...
"A Quantum of Solos."
Fabolous cover. I think you have an idea of a great crossover although currently the shadow at Dynamite is lacking and not currently active. And agree how movies have destroyed classic characters like the Green Hornet and the Lone Ranger trying to find a new market for them.
Always great to see The Shadow in action.
I have to agree with you, there, Glenn. I mean, I get where the most recent version of LR was _trying_ to go, with having Tonto telling the "truth" about Kemo Sabe. But, didn't the writers or casting director think it was automatically self-defeating to have the former portrayed by a Caucasian-American actor?
@Cc: let alone, the overly Tim-Burtonized Johnn Depp.
The 1940s Shadow, Green Hornet, and Lone Ranger comics adapted radio show scripts into comics form.
Shadow adaptations
http://captainvideossecretsanctum.blogspot.com/2013/10/captains-library-shadow-vampire-hall.html
http://crimeandpunishmentcomics.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-shadow-shadow-in-danger-part-1.html
Green Hornet adaptations
http://captainvideossecretsanctum.blogspot.com/2016/11/captains-theatre-green-hornet-proof-of.html
http://captainvideossecretsanctum.blogspot.com/2012/12/captains-library-theatre-green-hornet.html
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