FOUR COLOR RADIO Presents: Orson Welles’ THE WAR OF THE WORLDS
PERFECT FOR HALLOWEEN EVE: The first installment of a new feature on old-time radio programs and their links to comics — by PETER BOSCH!
New looks at old-time radio shows — and their comics connections… By PETER BOSCH Hello, we’re back with another installment of FOUR COLOR RADIO. This time, we bring you two shows featuring two popular characters from the same publisher — MLJ Magazines (aka Archie Comics). However, “popular” on radio only applied to one, and not the other. First up (as well as first aired) was Archie Andrews, which was not only the name of the character but also the name of the program (though, the latter was also referred to as The Adventures of Archie Andrews). The series began May 31, 1943, on NBC as a five-times-a-week program, at 15 minutes each day. Check out this pair of promo covers for the new show, both drawn by Bob Montana — Pep Comics #42 (Sept. 1943) and #43 (Oct. 1943): The following ad in Pep #43 also plugged the show: A few months after its debut, the program’s format was changed to a once-a-week, 25-minute entry on Friday evenings. In 1944, an NBC competitor, the Mutual Broadcasting Network, acquired the program from January to June, and switched it back to a 15-minute daily format. However, Archie Andrews returned to NBC a year later, with the show also going back to its half-hour length. NBC remained its home from June 2, 1945, through the final episode eight years later, on September 5, 1953. During the series’ 10 years on the air, there were a total of four different Archies, played in turn by Charles Mullen, Jack Grimes, Burt Boyar, and Bob Hastings. Likewise, there were three Jugheads (Cameron Andrews, Hal Stone, and Arnold Stang) and two Veronicas (Gloria Mann and Vivian Smolen). Paul Gordon took on the role of Reggie, and the part of Mr. Weatherbee was played by Arthur Maitland. Oh, and there were three Bettys — played by Joy Geffen, Rosemary Rice, and Doris Grundy, who happened to have the same last name as Archie’s teacher, Miss Grundy. (In “Twisted Youth,” a 1999 episode of the cartoon Archie’s Weird Mysteries, Miss Grundy’s first name is revealed to be “Doris.” In the same episode, Miss G drinks a youth serum and is shown to be a beautiful blonde, just like you-know-who.” The longest-running Archie of the series was Bob Hastings, pictured here standing at the microphone with (left to right)...
FOUR COLOR RADIO meets BATMAN ’66 WEEK! — Welcome to BATMAN ’66 WEEK, celebrating the 60th anniversary of the beloved TV show starring Adam West! All week, we’ll be presenting daily tributes and features, leading up to Jan. 12 — the premiere date itself — when we’ll roll out a brand-new TOP 13 BATMAN ’66 EPISODE COUNTDOWN, voted upon by a panel of the most knowledgeable Bat-experts around. Click here for the COMPLETE INDEX. — Dan — By PETER BOSCH Hey, everybody, since we’re celebrating BATMAN ’66 WEEK here at 13th Dimension, I thought it would be fun to discuss the first time the Dynamic Duo made it through the airwaves into your home — 21 years earlier, on the radio program The Adventures of Superman. The February 28 to March 15, 1945, storyline “The Mystery of the Waxmen” had Superman meeting Robin first and then Batman. Highly regrettable is that only two episodes of that radio serial survive: In 1981, however, Roy Thomas incorporated a condensed version of the story (pencilled by Rich Buckler and inked by Frank McLaughlin) into World’s Finest Comics #271, a special anniversary issue (cover by George Perez): Don’t despair, though, about those missing episodes. There were at least 15 other shared radio adventures before the Caped Crusader and Man of Steel first teamed up in the comics, in 1952’s Superman #76. You can find links to those old-time radio shows below. Sometimes, though, Batman and Robin took center stage, with their own adventures on the program. Why? Remarkably, because of Kryptonite, which was invented for the series. The prevailing belief is that the radioactive rock was created to give Superman a vulnerability. Perhaps, but it was also devised to give Clayton “Bud” Collyer (Superman and Clark Kent’s voice actor) a chance to have some vacation time. Kryptonite appears, Superman collapses, unable to speak, and Bud is off. Batman and Robin take over. Batman was portrayed by three different actors from 1945 to the last appearance of the Dynamic Duo in 1948. They were Stacy (Stacey) Harris, Matt Crowley, and Gary Merrill, who went on to appear in a number of noteworthy Hollywood movies, including the 1950 Bette Davis classic, All About Eve, playing her fiancé in the film. (He was also that in real life, marrying Davis that same year.) The role of Robin was played in all adventures by the capable radio...
PERFECT FOR HALLOWEEN EVE: The first installment of a new feature on old-time radio programs and their links to comics — by PETER BOSCH!