Friday's Favorite OTR

Pete Kelly's Blues: "June Gould" 9/12/51

Pete gets roped into trying to find a missing girl who used to sing at a local speakeasy. The only lead he has is that the girl was once involved with a local gangster, so finding her might not be the safest thing in the world to do.

This one has a very high impact ending.

Click HERE to listen or download.

And She Can Cook Too!

Read/Watch 'em In Order #42

As far as I know, Agatha Christie's Miss Marple is the first elderly spinster who turned out to have a talent for solving crimes. But Miss Marple's success opened the floodgates for a lot of imitators.

The best of these might very well be a sharp-tongued school teacher named Hildegarde Withers. We first meet her in the 1931 novel The Penguin Pool Murder, written by Stuart Palmer. It would be the first of 18 novels and short story anthologies featuring Miss Withers. Acerbic she might be, but Miss Withers is (as mystery historian Otto Penzler states) "...a romantic at heart and will extend herself to help young lovers."

This brings us to Edna May Oliver, a well-known character actor who specialized in playing shart-tongued spinsters. So when RKO adapted The Penguin Pool Murder into a film in 1932, Edna was the perfect actress to drop into the role. 

We first meet Miss Withers when she brings her students to an aquarium on a field trip. She casually trips a fleeing purse snatcher and lectures her students to "never try to evade the law with an umbrella between your legs."  

Like most amateur detectives, Miss Withers is pretty much a magnet for crime. A few minutes after foiling the purse snatching, she witnesses a body being dumped into the penguin pool.

Well, you can't expect Miss Withers to witness a crime and NOT voice her own opinions about it--especially after its discovered that a hatpin taken from her is the murder weapon. Soon, she and the equally acerbic Inspector Piper are defacto partners in solving the crime. And it will take some solving--there's at least three suspects with means, motive and opportunity. Miss Withers, though, might just have an idea for trapping the killer into giving himself/herself away.

It's a fun film, balancing the comedy with a good mystery plot. Oliver really was tailor-made for the role and James Gleason (as Inspector Piper) plays off her perfectly.

But this won't be the last time Miss Withers will be called upon to solve a murder--which is a good thing as the world really doesn't have a sufficient supply of elderly women who solve crimes. Oliver will appear in two more films in the series (leaving the role when her contract with RKO expired). We'll take a look at those other two films soon.

Not Quite Insane

My favorite Batman stories come from the 1970s. It is, by golly, the Bat-Decade. Denny O'Neil and Neal Adams would be my (arguable) pick for the best writer/artist combination, but there were a number of others doing great work during that decade.

For instance, Batman #317 (November 1979) was written by Len Wein and drawn by Irv Novick, who had a clean and dynamic look to his pencils. It's a Riddler story--and there's a way in which Wein writes the Riddler that is, I think, key to properly understanding that character.

(A sidenote: the Riddler was once an obscure villain who only appeared in two stories from the 1940s. But he was brought back for a story in 1965. This, plus Frank Gorshin's brilliantly over-the-top characterization of him in the Adam West Batman series, granted him an important place in the Dark Knight's Rogue's Gallery.)

The Riddler's gimmick was, of course, riddles. He had an obsession he just could not overcome--he HAD to send Batman and/or the cops a riddle that, if properly interpreted, would hint at the crime he was planning. Of course, Batman would inevitably figure out the riddle and catch him, but he'd still be driven to send riddles again the next time he planned something.

Which, by the way, makes me think if you were a low-level thug living in Gotham City, the best henchman job would be working for the Riddler. He leaves a riddle, but you sneak back later and remove the riddle before Batman sees it. The Riddler is happy because he commits his crime without interference and thinks he's outwitting the Cape Crusader at last. You get your cut of the loot and everybody's happy. 

But I digress. The thing I liked about the Riddler was that he was not insane or a maniacal killer. He had his one mental flaw--and admittedly it was one heck of a flaw. But he wasn't nuts. When he was caught, he was sent to prison rather than the insane asylum. He certainly wasn't a nice guy and he was willing to kill if he had to, but he's not just the Joker in a different costume. 

It's an important distinction--one that was lost in more modern stories when the Riddler ended up getting shipped off to Arkham Asylum when he was caught because he'd driven so far into Crazy Town. I think that was a mistake. The less-crazy version of Edward Nigma is the one that is more distinct and interesting.

In "The Riddler's 1,001 Clue Caper," the villain tries to beat his obsession by mailing Batman a book of riddles. It's a clever ploy--he gets to use his gimmick, but does so in such a way that it really doesn't help Batman at all. There's no way of knowing which of the 1,001 riddles is the one that gives a clue.

But Batman's not the World's Greatest Detective (well, almost) for nothing. He and Robin simply start with the riddle book (stolen from the prison library) and use basic detective leg-work to figure out what the villain is up to. So, when a series of bizarre crimes results in Riddler hijacking an illegal gun shipment, the Dynamic Duo are there to catch him when he tries to sell the weapons. I love that aspect of the plot.

All this leads to the moment in which we see that Len Wein really does get the Riddler. At one point, he's pointing an automatic rifle at Batman and Robin, saying "I'd rather not kill you both--but I won't hesitate to if you force me."

See? He's NOT just the Joker in another costume. When written properly, he really is an interesting and distinctive character.

Cover Cavalcade

Tarzan goes all Rambo on the Germans. This is a Russ Mannning adaptation of Tarzan the Untamed, the 7th Tarzan novel. Tarzan thinks poor Jane has been killed by the Germans during the outbreak of the First World War, so you really can't blame him for being annoyed.

Edgar Rice Burroughs actually wanted to kill Jane off for real in this novel, thinking that he needed to free the Lord of the Jungle from domesticity so that he could go off on adventures. Editorial decree saved Jane's life and Tarzan managed to get in quite a bit of adventuring anyways.

Friday's Favorite OTR

Gunsmoke: "General Parsley Smith" 7/2/55

Eldery Parsley Smith lies about his Civil War experience, lies about his rank and even lies about his Mexican War experience. So when he claims the new banker is planning on absconding from Dodge City with the deposits, there's really no reason at all to believe him.

Is there?

Click HERE to listen or download.

Visit Mercury and Go Insane!

When we visited Leigh Brackett's version of the Solar System a month or so ago, we spent some time in the swamps of Venus and aboard a space ship populated by space gypsies. But just about every planet in Brackett's Solar System is a source of adventure.

"Demons of Darkside," first published in the January 1941 issue of Startling Stories, takes us to Mercury. And Mercury is a planet that is quite likely to kill you--if it doesn't drive you insane first.

But Barry Garth has to go there. He's wanted for murder and the woman he loves is about to be executed for that same murder. There is just one person who has the information that can prove their innocence. But this person is probably the murderer. Also, the guy's space yacht just crashed on the dark side of Mercury.

No one has ever come back alive from Darkside. Or so everyone thinks. When Barry steals a salvage ship in a desperate attempt to find the wrecked yacht, he learns that at least one person has returned from Darkside alive. But that person left his sanity behind and now stays perpetually drunk while screaming sentences such as ""Ye thought ye had me once, ye black demons of hell, but I cheated ye!"

Barry has no choice,though--either he finds the wrecked yacht along with evidence to clear himself and his girl, or the poor girl will be executed.  Besides, all that talk of demons must just be the ravings of a madman.

Barry reaches the Darkside, only to discover that the "demons" are indeed real.

"Demons of Darkside" is a nifty little horror story--steadily building up tension and making Barry's encounter with the "demons" a truly creepy experience. The eventual payoff--involving the identity of the demons and the resolution of Barry's plight--is effective and satisfying.

This is one of four stories set in Brackett's Solar System that take place (in whole or in part) on Mercury. We'll be taking a look at the remaining three over the course of the next few months.

Andar Takes the Spotlight

In the average issue of Turok, Son of Stone, Turok is the main protagonist with the younger Andar following his lead. This makes perfect sense, of course. Turok is the title character, the older of the two and was cast as Andar's teacher/mentor/surrogate father fairly early in the series.

But every once in a while, Andar would get to demonstrate that he was no slouch in the hero department as well. In Turok #82 (January 1973), for instance, Turok goes missing early in the story. Andar is completely on his own.

This happens when the two Indians come across a deserted village on the side of a lake. When Andar is knocked after a tussle with a lake monster, Turok is captured by someone.

Andar is on his own with no idea what happened to his friend. He meets a tribe of murderous nomads and discovers they had enslaved the inhabitants of the lake village. But the Lake People had fled--perhaps taking Turok with them. Andar can't know for sure.

The witch doctor of the nomadic tribe wants to kill Andar, but a demonstration of fire-making and the killing of a dinosaur with a poisoned arrow actually gets Andar the witch doctor's job.

But that doesn't make life any easier for the young Indian. Darg, the displaced witch doctor, tries to do him in a few times. But Darg is killed by a giant spider, solving that problem. (It's a nice touch that Andar tries to save Darg despite their rather unpleasant history with each other.)

That night, the Lake People return--led by Turok who is hoping to find Andar. In the ensuing battle, the two Indians flee and resume their search for a way out of the lost valley.

This is yet another example of the solid storytelling found in so many Gold Key comics from that era. The art by Alberto Giolitti is a lot of fun with several great action sequences. It was nice to give Andar his day in the spotlight and watch him demonstrate the level of courage and intelligence that Turok had been showing him for so long.

We never do find out who wins the fight between the Lake People and the nomads, though.

As a side note, I used to be critical of a lot of Dell and Gold Key's interior art--and have even knocked it a few times on this blog in the past. But as I read or re-read a lot of Dell/Gold Key stuff with the intention of writing about it, I'm realizing that the art is usually good and often excellent. I'm not sure where my original prejudice against Gold Key art came from--perhaps the superb painted covers they used gave me skewed expectations for what was inside. But nowadays I rarely if ever see anything wrong with the company's pencils.

Cover Cavalcade

One of Berni Wrightson's finest illustrations.

My Encyclopedia Awesomeness Overflows!

Here, once again, is a link to my Encyclopedia Britannica contributor page.  From there, you can now see two more articles I wrote--one on DC Comics and one on Marvel Comics. That makes six altogether.

Yes, I agree with all of you. I am indeed awesome.

Friday's Favorite OTR

Superman: "The Ghost Brigade" 5/4/48

It's bad enough when the ghost of Captain Kidd sabotages the Metropolis subway system. But when the ghosts of the Jesse James gang robs a bank, poor Perry White's blood pressure really goes through the roof. This just might be a job for Superman.

Click HERE to listen or download.

This is the first episode of an 11-part serial. You can download the rest of the story arc HERE.

But remember--REMEMBER--it is a mortal sin to listen to more than one chapter of a serial per day!