Old-time radio shows and their comics connections… By PETER BOSCH Drop your TV remote! It’s me, the Fun Pharaoh of Four Color Radio! I’m ready to take you all again in the Wayback Machine to the days when radio ruled the airwaves. This month, get ready for an adrenaline-charged ride in the Black Beauty with the two greatest racket busters of their time (predating Batman and Robin by three years!) — the Green Hornet and Kato! In 1935, George W. Trendle, the owner of WXYZ radio in Detroit, wanted a follow-up to the station’s great success, The Lone Ranger. Except, this time, he wanted the criminals that the hero would face to be the worst of our modern-day society — dirty politicians, racketeers, and crooked businessmen who preyed upon the public. For this, he turned to the creator of the Lone Ranger, Fran Striker. As most fans know, there was a great similarity between the two masked heroes. Neither used their weapons to kill anyone. Both had sidekicks (Tonto and Kato), and where the Ranger had Silver, the Hornet had the snazzy Black Beauty. And let’s not forget how the Lone Ranger was so often mistaken for a bad guy because he wore a mask. On the other hand, the Green Hornet deliberately made people think he was a criminal, as bad as the rest, in order to get within their shady enterprises and expose them to the police. And, oh yes, they were related — but that fact didn’t come out for a number of years. The Green Hornet radio program had its 90th anniversary this year, with it airing originally on January 31, 1936, on WXYZ radio and a few other Michigan stations. In the promotional newspaper ad (above) for the premiere broadcast, you are going to notice three things right away. The first is that the show aired at 10:30 pm. This would quickly change to 7:30 pm, twice a week. The second item is the title of the show — The Adventures of the Hornet. That also quickly changed because Trendle wanted to copyright it but he discovered “the Hornet” could not be registered; a very rushed conference with station employees came up with “the Green Hornet” — and that worked. The last item — do you see how Michael Axford got bold billing BEFORE...