'Old Time Radio isn't 'Old'

I love to receive your emails, and one in particular I received this week has sent me on a trail of wonderful childhood memories!

It was from Grandpa Chet. You may perhaps recognize his name because he's been a member of RUSC for many years, and is always adding terrific show reviews and comments to the RUSC website and Facebook page.

Well, in my recent survey, I asked "When did you start listening to old time radio?" and Chet wrote me about that. 

But it was something he added to the end of his email which got me really thinking. He said:-

"... it makes me realize that I'm one of the last for whom Old Time Radio isn't old - it's still a very relevant media alternative .. and the first inspiration of today's Marvel movies."

And he's absolutely right! Old Time Radio isn't old - and some of the best movies and series have come from the minds of folks who wrote those scripts nearly a century ago! 

I also discovered that Marvel Comics delved into audio dramas themselves a few times too, with Stan Lee himself popping over to a New York radio station to sign off Doctor Strange. 

Then there was The Fantastic Four - perhaps the most well-known of all Marvel's older audio dramas and radio plays - a thirteen episode radio series which aired in 1975, featuring the voices of Stan Lee as the narrator, and Bill Murray as The Human Torch, facing off against classic enemies such as Super-Skrull and Doctor Doom.

And who could forget Dirk Maggs’ Spider-Man serial for the BBC in the 1990’s too!

Marvel weren't the only comic book offering though, as DC Comics Adventures of Superman was a hit radio show from 1940 - 1950, and Batman, created in 1939 by DC Comics artist Bob Kane appeared with Robin several times over the years on Superman. There were a few more characters adapted from comic books who came and went too, such as The Blue Beetle, The Black Hood, The Green Lama, and there was even a Blackhawk show for all of four months.  

You can listen to several of these series on RUSC today - and I'm now on the hunt to see what other comic inspired radio shows I can find. If you have any ideas, let me know in the comments below!

Happy listening my friends,