Friday's Favorite OTR

Sherlock Holmes: "The Fifth of November" 11/5/45


This one is a fun little mystery. It's Guy Fawkes Day in England, a celebration of the foiling of the 1605 Gunpowder Plot, in which Fawkes and some co-conspirators tried to blow up James I (James Stuart) and the entire British Parliament.


When a man named James Stuart shows up at Baker Street and tells Holmes that his cousin, named Guy Falkenberg, wants to kill him, it's hard to tell if he's just nuts. Or maybe his cousin is nuts and Stuart really is in danger.


Holmes (played in this episode by Basil Rathbone) gets to don a disguise, use a working-class accent and employ the Baker Street Irregulars before he gets to the bottom of it all. There actually is a murder plot afoot, but the identity of both the perspective killer and the intended victim involve a very nice twist.


And, by the way, Nigel Bruce as Watson is in particularly fine form as narrator in this episode.


You can listen to the episode or download it HERE.

Murder Amongst the Upper Crust

Inspector Roderick Alleyn himself comes from the upper crust of society. The second son of a baronet, he spent two years in the British diplomatic service before (for reasons never explained) deciding to become a cop.


And quite a successful cop he was. In thirty-two novels written over nearly a half-century, Alleyn used his sharp mind and keen deductive skills to unravel one complex murder case after another.



The Alleyn books were written by New Zealand native Ngaio Marsh, who consistently presented her readers with the two most important things in a mystery series: a likable protagonist and well-constructed mysteries.



Overture of Death (1939) is typical of just how skilled a writer Marsh was. A woman who was about to play the piano introduction for an amateur play is shot dead. It turns out the piano had been booby-trapped with a pistol rigged to fire when one of the foot pedals was pressed.



But wait! The woman hadn’t been the person originally scheduled to play the piano, but rather a last-minute replacement. Was she the intended victim, or was the lady who was supposed to play the real target? Both women were unpleasant, mean-spirited gossips, so there is certainly more than enough motive to go around.



So Inspector Alleyn has quite a job ahead of him. But we have fun following him around as he gradually pieces it all together. He’s a witty and decent person—someone we can’t help but like. His interplay with his sidekicks—Inspector Fox (refered to as “Brer Fox” by Alleyn) and reporter Nigel Bathgate--adds to the entertainment value of the book and helps to humanize the man. I love a bit where Alleyn and Fox rig the booby-trap back into the piano using a water pistol to test it out, then playfully trick Nigel into getting a face full of water.



But there’s little time for Alleyn to play. He digs up obscure and superficially meaningless clues (an onion found discarded near the crime scene proves important) and deals with the fact that pretty much every suspect is lying or withholding information about something. But, in the end, he comes up with a time table that allows him to finger the killer.



Despite his long and successful career, Inspector Alleyn never reached the same level of fame as Hercule Poirot or Philip Marlowe. But Ngaio Marsh was an excellent mystery writer and Alleyn would easily deserve a seat the same table along side the other Great Detectives.


Only two books to go before the Great Detectives Survey comes to an end. Next month, we'll visit Miss Marble and The Body in the Library.

History of the Marvel Universe: 1964 Annuals

FANTASTIC FOUR ANNUAL #2

Last time we saw Dr. Doom, he’d been hurtled into deep space. But then again, he’s been hurtled into deep space before. He’s also been miniaturized and tossed off his flying headquarters, but he always manages to survive.

This time, he survives by being rescued by Pharaoh Rama-Tut, who picks up Doom in his time ship while orbiting Jupiter.


But before that, we get a detailed account of Doom’s origins, including his youth as a persecuted Gypsy, his reasons for hating Reed, the explosion that scarred his face and his eventual rise to ruler of Latvaria. (This, by the way, is the first mention we get of Latvaria. Up to now, you see, Doom’s been a secret behind-the-scenes ruler.) It’s a powerful origin story, expertly told with art and dialogue perfectly meshed together.


Anyway, Rama Tut and Doom discuss their mutual dislike of the F.F. They also theorize that—what with all the time traveling each of them has done—one of them might be the ancestor of the other. Or they might even be the same guy. They actually don’t explain themselves very well regarding all this, but time paradoxes (even theoretical ones) are inherently confusing, so we’ll forgive them.


They decide they can’t team up because one of them might cease to exist if they hang out in the same time period. Rama Tut gets Doom back to Earth, then zips off to the future. As we’ve already seen, he soon returns to the 20th Century as Kang in Avengers #8.


Doom, in the meantime, lures the FF into a trap and feeds them a mind-altering drug that causes them to hallucinate and turn against one another. I love the scene where Sue thinks she catches Reed making out with another woman. (“I believe in playing the field, Blondie,” laughs pretend-Reed.)


This all leads up to a wonderful climax—in which everything literally depends on whether Reed or Doom has the stronger intellect. All the action in this issue is tied into the personality quirks and flaws of the various characters. It’s one of the best-constructed plots that Stan and Jack ever came up with. That, plus Doom’s super-cool origin story, make this issue one of the best in the FF’s already exemplary run.

SPIDER MAN ANNUAL #1

1964 is the year for great annuals. In this one, six of the webslinger’s enemies (Doc Ock, Electro, Mysterio, Kraven, Vulture and Sandman) team up to exact their revenge. First, they kidnap Betty Brant (accidentally snatching up Aunt May as well), then use her to bait a trap for Spider Man.


But poor Peter Parker—who is going through some pangs of guilt when he’s reminded of how his Uncle Ben died—has lost his powers. Regardless of this, he dons his costume to try to rescue his loved ones.


His powers return when the fighting starts. It turns out the power loss was just psycho-somatic from the guilt he was feeling.


What follows are some of Steve Ditko’s best fight scenes, as the Sinister Six (each of them wanting the credit for beating Spider Man) take on our hero one at a time. Each fight is in a different location and forces Spidey to use a variety of tactics. And Ditko gives us a magnificent full-page splash panel for each of the fights. The art work in this issue is arguable the best Ditko ever produced—wonderful visual fun from beginning to end.



The script is great as well. There’s humor drawn from J. Jonah Jamison’s desperate and unnecessary efforts to contact Spider Man and tell him about Betty’s kidnapping. (Spidey already knows.) And more humor from the fact that Aunt May never really gets that she’s been kidnapped—commenting on how well-mannered and charming Doctor Octopus is. (“We musn’t be prejudiced against him because he seems to have some sort of trouble with his arms.”) Later, she’s shocked at how vulgar and rude that Spider Man person is, beginning a long-running gag involving May’s poor opinion of the hero.


Even the scene in which the villains first get together to make plans is full of nice character moments—Vulture keeps insisting they should just gang up on Spider Man, but Kraven is too proud for that and Sandman too arrogantly confident.


Perhaps the one flaw is the absolutely shameless cameos by just about every other hero currently inhabiting the Marvel Universe—each of whom pops up for a panel or two throughout the story. (Complete with captions reminding us that they all appear in their own books.) Most of them have nothing to do with the story—they are literally just walking (or flying) past. It’s harmless enough, though. And a scene in which the Human Torch tracks down Spidey and asks if he can help is nicely done.


That’s it for the 1964 annuals. Next time, we’ll start our look at October 1964. It’s a busy month in which the FF encounters an old enemy; Spider Man and the Human Torch double-team the Green Goblin; the Torch and the Thing screw up; Dr. Strange runs away from Baron Mordo; Thor and Iron Man each borrow villains from other heroes’ Rogue’s Galleries; Giant Man fights a Commie, um, gorilla?; Hulk battles a giant robot; the Avengers meet a villain (or is he?) named Wonder Man; and Daredevil fights a bad guy with a dumb name.

Friday's Favorite OTR

Dragnet: "The Big Gangster" parts 1 & 2, 5/23/50 & 5/30/50


Somebody tries to ventilate a known gangster with a machine gun. The gangster won't talk, so Sgt. Friday and his partner Ben Romero have to start the investigation from scratch. Catching the gunmen is particularly important as they hope not only to solve this particular crime, but also nip a potential gang war in the bud.


Like all Dragnet episodes, this is a straightforward police procedural that uses the investigative process and a matter-of-fact style to generate drama. The sound effects and other production values are top-notch. This is particularly highlighted in a bar fight scene during the first episode. There's just a series of yells, breaking glass and breaking furniture, with each listener providing his or her own fight choreography. A gun/chase scene that makes up the story's finale also requires the listener to use his imagination. It's what makes old time radio so great.



Listen to these episodes or download them HERE.

If I ever own my own space ship/time machine...

Okay, I realize the odds of my ever owning my own ship capable of both faster-than-light travel and time travel are rather small.

But one never knows for sure about such things and it's best to be prepared for just this eventuality.

So I've given the matter some thought and I've come up with what I think would be the perfect crew of alien beings for my very own space ship.

Presuming my ship is fairly small (let's say Millenium Falcon-sized), then I can probably get by with just a few crew members. So we'll start with a Durlan:

Durlans come from the DC Comics universe--the first Durlan we meet is Chameleon Boy, a member of the Legion of Super Heroes. They're a race of shapeshifters, able to change shape, size and mass at will. A Durlan can turn himself into anthing from an ant to a dinosaur. They're also smart and technologically savvy. A shape-shifting crewmate who can fix the hyperdrive or plot a course to Alpha Centauri? What more can you want for a space ship crew?

Well, you might want a Kzin:

The Kzinti are a carnivorous and violent race, but make friends with one and he'll be a pretty loyal companion. A part of Larry Niven's "Known Space" universe (and also co-opted into the Star Trek universe in an episode of the 1973-74 animated series), these eight-foot-tall cat-like aliens are also capable of learning advanced technology. And if you get into a fight with some space pirates, there's really nobody you'd rather have at your side than a Kzin. These guys are the ultimate warriors. They love a good fight.



You need to keep him well-fed, though. They are carnivorous, after all. And they have no cultural taboos against eating members of other intelligent species. I'll need to keep a lot of raw meat on board my ship.


And what the hey. Let's add K-9 the robot dog to the crew as well:






A member of the Doctor Who universe, K-9 is a highly advanced computer capable of swiftly performing the most complex calculations. He's also equipped with sensors that can detect pretty much anything, has a laser in his nose and can generate a powerful force field.


And he's a robot dog! How cool is that?


Of course, he can be defeated by his inability to navigate a flight of stairs, but you can't have everything.


So that's it. Two intelligent aliens and an even more intelligent robot who can together fight or think their way out of pretty much any difficult situation. All I need now is my time and space ship and I'm ready to go.


Of course, I'd have to hope my three crewmen don't start to wonder why they need me along.

History of the Marvel Universe: September 1964, part 3

AVENGERS #8

We meet Kang the Conqueror in this issue--but we've actually sorta seen him before. He was Pharoah Rama-Tut when the Fantastic Four fought him in issue #19 of their book. After his defeat there, Rama-Tut tried to return to his native time period (the 31th Century) but over-shot and ended up in the 41st Century instead.


But that worked out okay for him. He landed on a world torn by war, carved out an empire for himself and has now travelled back to the 20th Century to conquer us more primitive people.


Initially, things look bad when most of the Avengers are captured and taken inside Kang's huge time ship. But the Wasp, along with Rick Jones and his Teen Brigade, manage to pull off a rescue. When his armored suit and his ship are both damaged, Kang beats a hasy retreat into the time stream.


It's yet another well-done fight scene by Jack Kirby (who, unfortunately, will be dropping the Avengers after this issue). As with the last issue of the Avengers, it's a little jarring to see a band of teenagers--rather than, say, a Green Beret A-Team--going up against a supervillain.


But that's done partially because the average comic book reader was still pretty young at the time. I think it may also have been done to keep Rick Jones in the loop, as a mentor-student relationship between him and Captain America is still being built up. In a few months, though, Cap will get his own feature in Tales of Suspense, taking Rick with him. Rick will appear less often in the Avengers. Though Rick is a perfectly good character in his own right, this is just as well. He never really fit in with the Avengers. But as the student of a single superhero--well, I can buy that.


X-MEN #7


Now that the X-Men have graduated, Professor X decides that they are ready to go it on their own. He appoints Cyclops as group leader, then takes a leave of absence from his school. He also introduces Scott to Cerebro, the mutant tracking computer that will be such a big part of the X-Men mythology.


Soon, the X-less X-Men get their baptism of fire when Magneto tracks down the Blob and tries to recruit him into the Brotherhood. Most of this issue centers around the fight scene that follows, with Magneto pretty much blowing his chance to earn Blob's loyalty when he proves willing to blow up the fat mutant in order to take out the X-Men. The battle ends in a draw when the Brotherhood retreats.


The fight scenes, as usual, were very good. But there's also some interesting characterizations going on. When Scott becomes leader, we get some dialogue revealing just how concerned he always is about losing control of his optic beams. Wanda and Pietro continue to grow more and more disillusioned with Magneto. And the Blob ends up being a tragic figure that you can't help feeling sympathy for.


That's it for September. Next week, we'll take a look at the 1964 annuals--Fantastic Four Annual #2 and Spider Man Annual #1, before moving on to October.

Friday's Favorite OTR

Suspense: "Hide and Seek" 5/13/62


Don't listen to this one if you really hate rats. The high point of this episode is when an unlucky gambler is forced to hide from a pair of hitmen in a garbage-strewn alley. Narration is provided by the great Jackson Beck (who is perhaps tied with Fred Foy from The Lone Ranger as the best narrator ever). And, boy, is that narration vivid! Especially when a big rat comes crawling out of the garbage and slowly approaches the terrified gambler. When Beck starts describing the rings on the rat's tail and the fleas crawling across its fur, your skin is guaranteed to crawl. You'll check for rats under your bed before going to bed tonight. You WILL be creeped out.


Can the luckless gambler suppress his loathing of rats as the ugly thing approaches him? Or will he give way to panic and allow the killers to find him?


Suspense was only a few weeks away from cancellation--the last of the shows left over from the Golden Age of Radio--when this episode aired. It is vivid proof that Suspense remained one of radio's finest shows right up until the end.


You can listen to this episode or download it HERE.