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blorb-el · 2 years

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very happy to finally see someone who is as much mentally destroyed by flashpoint kal as me (it gets better I promise) and thanks to you I finally tried the superman radio show and... I don't know if I should thank you or curse you ? I just finished listening to the headless indian and the super sleuth and I fear this hyperfixation isn't going away soon...

But anyway, please pretty please could you give me some recs ? Is there an order I should listen them to or are they more stand alone stories ?

And continue to share your knowledge about superman and comics in general please it's fascinating!

flashpoint kal is literally something i'd daydream up and then go 'no no you're being too self indulgently angsty come on.' flashpoint beyond #3 was worth it all to see him finding a purpose :,)

old time radio the adventures of superman my beloved! (qualified). I've wanted to do a rec list for a while but I keep on getting hung up on how anti-Native/Indigenous a lot of the episodes are, especially in the first 'season.' That being said, I think most people are going to go into a radio show from the 40s aware of both the progressiveness of the show and the instances where it fails to reach the high standard it set for itself, particularly in the postwar era.

When I listened, I listened to The Clan of the Fiery Cross first, then went back to the beginning and just listened straight through. A very knowledgeable old time radio enthusiast did a podcast of every complete serial. 3 caveats here: 1. there are a few episodes missing or out of order but that's pretty easy to figure out, 2. the first 40 or so podcast episodes went missing (look those up on youtube or download those on archive.org here), and 3. while looking it up I only just now found out he's pretty far right-wing. He keeps it off his commentary though.

I think of OTR TAOS as 3.5 eras: the first before it moved to Mutual (40-42ish), the War years which are almost entirely lost, the postwar "S stands for sjw and sci-fi" era (my beloved) (Dec 45-48), and the short last series of half-hour standalone episodes. Here’s how stuff changed over time:

There’s a major paradigm shift between the first era and lost war serials where Superman operates first as an urban legend/cryptid, then switches to operating in the open and the world becomes aware he exists. Weird Justice Cryptid.

There’s a ‘soft’ retcon at some point in the lost serials where instead of growing up on the way to Earth and stepping out of the spaceship fully grown, as in the first episode of the first era, he gets to grow up with the Kents (who, fun fact, are from Iowa). His origin will be retold at several points.

During Looking for Kryptonite, the serial following the Atom Man saga, Clark makes the momentous decision to trust Bruce with his secret identity. This is a paradigm shift on the level of revealing his existence to the world.

In the switch to the last era of half hour standalone episodes, Bruce is then retconned out of existence (RIP). The half hour episodes may as well be a different canon, since many of them are adaptations of previous serials. They do have their own charm though.

There’s some smaller details that happen as ‘continuity’ within the postwar era, but all these shouldn’t trip a listener up much - Poco shows up, Perry gets elected Mayor of Metropolis, Lois gradually becomes more friendly to Clark, Unity House is built, etc.

Under the cut, a LONG list of highlights in order of airing, but tl;dr I’d say my top 10 were: the first storyline, The Black Pearl of Osiris, A Mystery for Superman, The Headless Indian, the entire Atom Man saga including Looking for Kryptonite, The Clan of the Fiery Cross, George Latimer Crooked Political Boss, Superman vs. Kryptonite, The Mystery of Meteor Island, and The Voice of Doom.

From the first era:

the first 21 episodes form a roughly continuous story which I'd recommend highly. this was the only era that they gave individual episode titles so I'll skip listing them all, just stop when you get to The Emerald of the Incas which is five episodes of pure YIKES. (to be fair the last episode is essentially "hey you moron, ask the Native Americans if perhaps they wrote down the statue's inscriptions instead of STEALING IT???" Debatable if it's worth slogging through the five episodes before that. )

Pick right back up again with Donelli's Protection Racket and Airplane Disaster, which were Jimmy Olsen’s first stories in any medium, and go a long way to explain why Jimmy loves Clark. The found family really kicks off here imo.

It's been a year or so since I listened to these but I recall Buffalo Hills, Happyland Amusement Park, Pillar of Fire at Grave's End, and The Yellow Mask and the Five Million Dollar Jewel Robbery were all pretty good, with the last featuring a familiar villain.

The Howling Coyote is a tossup, featuring maybe the one (1) multidimensional, memorable Native character in the whole run, but also more racism than usual. Give it a try if you like Westerns. It has one of my favorite side characters from the entire series, Tumbleweed Jones, a cowboy who took one look at Jimmy and turned to Clark and said i know you're his adopted dad but i want to also adopt him. can i. elder queer mentor vibes. gay little cowboy adopts gay little bowtied city kid and coparents with gay tired superhero. Howling Coyote goes right into...

The Black Pearl of Osiris, which is one of my favorites. Tumbleweed Jones comes to the big city. A decent mystery. Ridiculous side characters. Clark gets gaslit instead of gaslighting everyone else for once. Some racism as usual, though. Note that this one is slightly out of order on the podcast.

Last of the Clipper Ships is slow paced but good if you are in love with Jimmy (I was at this point) and also features an ABSURDLY good Moment in part 18 where they're in a dark room and Clark ventriloquizes a conversation between himself and Superman. It was one of those moments I felt like a kid listening because it blew my mind.

Dr. Roebling and the Voice Machine pays tribute to one of the original inspirations behind Superman with its machine that listens into crime - a fun look at what sci-fi looked like in 1941.

The Silver Arrow, a direct continuation on from the preceding The Crooked Oil Association (a thoroughly meh episode), is a delightful Western treasure hunt with Tumbleweed's return.

The Mechanical Man has an evil Nazi robot Superman gets to punch, what's not to love.

The first three parts of Lita, the Leopard Woman are really good Daily Planet family dynamics, the rest is skippable.

A Mystery for Superman is the last episode in this run, and you are either going to think the solution to the mystery is INCREDIBLY FUNNY or SO STUPID. I think the first. love this episode.

There are almost no complete serials from the war years, a consequence of the master recordings being stored on cheaper materials in order to preserve metal for the war effort. You’ve mentioned The Headless Indian, one of the best serials in the entire show, IMO. Amazing characters, great villain, and somehow less racist than the title would imply.

The first Batman/Superman team up and the first encounter with Kryptonite are from this era and they are both lost and I’m going to die mad about it.

Postwar era favorites:

Dr. Blythe’s Confidence Gang is the first surviving Batman serial; I would recommend it just on those grounds but it’s also a fun story where Batman and Clark Kent work together to clear Lois’s name of a false murder.

The Atom Man saga is the longest connected group of stories. It goes Meteor of Kryptonite, The Scarlet Widow, The Atom Man, and The Atom Man in Metropolis, and technically leads right into Looking for Kryptonite. Big recommendation; although Superman’s faced off against criminal genius type supervillains like the Laugher and the Yellow Mask, this is the first (and one of only two times) he comes up against an enemy with superpowers, and he shows his mettle and courage as he’s almost killed multiple times in this storyline.

Is There Another Superman, another Batman team up, is a little ridiculous but it does delight me because half their problems could be solved if Clark took a nap while Bruce watched him. This makes sense I promise.

The Radar Rocket is so bad it’s good. Terrible, terrible science. Superman fights moon pterodactyls and moon ants and also Poco is there. Also notable for being the only serial I can remember where Clark spends the majority of his time being Superman instead of Clark Kent.

Story of the Century is an adaptation of A Mystery for Superman, only this time Bruce gets to get in on the fun, and then Clark gets to turn the tables.

The Hate Mongers Organization is the opening salvo of the show’s antiracist campaign. From here on out, this will be the show’s major concern. This is followed by Al Vincent’s Corrupt Political Machine, a similar story which I also recommend, and then comes...

The Clan of the Fiery Cross. Justly famous, a fierce, pointed criticism of a real, present opinion in American society, and it deserves the praise it gets. Although folks coming to this serial from Superman Smashes the Klan may be disappointed to know that there’s never an explicit Superman as Immigrant storyline in this serial, it’s still devoted with a singleminded, refreshing intensity to making sure that the bigot is proven wrong at every turn, and showing the violence and hatred of the Klan is founded on hypocrisy. (ALSO READ SUPERMAN SMASHES THE KLAN.)

The Super Sleuth is another delightful teamup with Batman, where a detective is convinced Clark Kent is Superman and annoys the hell out of him.

The Secret Menace Strikes Again returns to the justice and tolerance themes, this time with the corporate censorship of the Daily Planet, fearmongering, war profiteering, and the kidnapping of Perry White.

George Latimer, Crooked Political Boss, deals with violent antisemitism, Nativism, and the political machine. High recommendation, especially since Latimer will return.

The Dead Voice: Someone is blackmailing Robin. Furious, protective World’s Finest Coparents, Alfred gets to do something, and Dick gets a grandfather!

The Disappearance of Clark Kent - Superman takes a break from corruption on Earth to try to save a planetoid from destruction. A quintessential Superman Moment in here as he decides he has to do what he can to help despite the personal risk. The rest of the serial is bizarre sci-fi. It leads right into The Secret Letter, also recommended, in which Clark returns to Earth to try to reclaim the last will and testament he left for his friends before they open it and discover his identity. Another Batman appearance.

Drought in Freeville returns to corrupt politicans, addressing the tension between newly-returned veterans and people suspicious of and hostile to them. I liked it mostly as a historical document - if you like the political stories listen, if they’re not your cup of tea it’s skippable.

The Monkey Burglar - if you liked The Dead Voice, here is more Robin being threatened!

The Knights of the White Carnation - White supremacists try to destroy a high school basketball team because there are Catholics/immigrant children on it.

The Man Without a Face - international spy espionage featuring a surprise return from Herbert Caulkins, the investigator in The Super Sleuth, and an attempt to sabotage the World Peace Organization/UN.

The Mystery of the Lost Planet - This is Poco’s origin, meaning it’s a rewrite of one of the lost War serials. Possibly the funniest thing radio Clark Kent has ever done in his life in part 10.

Superman vs. Kryptonite - Another of my favorites. Spoiler alert, Superman does not win the fight vs Kryptonite. George Latimer returns, determined to get revenge on both Clark Kent and Superman, and runs steps ahead of Batman as Bruce frantically tries to figure out where Superman is and rescue him. Features a completely bonkers plot twist halfway through which I kind of love, and one of the most memorable ending sequences - I can see it as clearly as a movie.

The Secret Rocket - The only time Clark returns to the Kent farm, in a poignant moment (it’s been sold: the Kents are dead in this continuity). The remainder of the story is a little eh, but a fun core idea of how destructive Kryptonian technology could be in 1947.

The Ruler of Darkness - yet another political machine story, except in this one, Perry White has HAD ENOUGH and runs for Mayor himself. Cue many, many, many attempts to sabotage his campaign.

Batman’s Great Mystery - the mystery is that Batman has turned into a hatemongering bigot, and obviously Dick and Clark must team up to go “this isn’t you.” It isn’t him.

Mystery of the Stolen Costume - Someone’s robbed Clark Kent’s apartment and has found his secret closet with his spare costume. Bruce and Clark work together to try to save his identity.

The Skin Game - More bigots try to de-integrate a track and field team, explicitly because one of the athletes is Black. For reference, this serial was broadcast in 1948, Brown v Board of Education was decided in 1954.

The Mystery of Sleeping Beauty - completely ridiculous in terms of history and sci-fi, but it rolls right around into kind of charming, and plus Superman gets to fight and probably kill a whole bunch of Nazis. In an off-camera 1948 way.

The Mystery of Meteor Island - okay have you ever read/listened to/watched a Superman story where he gets owned by Kryptonite and thought idly to yourself, what if someone ELSE got owned by radiation poisoning? Well have I the radio serial for you. Batman and Robin story.

The Voice of Doom - the only other superpowered enemy in the series. A killer convict acquires some hypersonic voice power in a lab accident. A Batman team up, and also the return of the Scarlet Widow (even though she totally died earlier. Comics style retcon!)

The Mystery of the Letter - the most memorable Lois centric episode, she receives a letter from her sister Diana which brings her and Clark to Paris.

And finally, of the half hour standalone stories - after so long listening to the serials, I’d gotten used to their slower paced storylines, so this wasn’t my favorite format, but the pacing is probably more amenable to most listeners. I liked The Double Trouble, One Minute to Death, Death Rides the Roller Coaster, Mystery of the Mechanical Monster, and The Diamond of Death. The Mystery of the Walking Dead was also okay, but Clark was a bit of an ass in the first part of that one. These were oriented towards adults and were much darker in tone, hence the edgy titles.

Whew. Or as Jimmy would say, gleeps! Fellow otr taos enjoyers feel free to yell at me anytime about any of these serials, or sound off about your favorites.

#thanks for the ask :^)#listen the show went 10 years. im allowed to write a ridiculous amount about it #otr taos #bud collyer #clark kent #superman #episode guide #long post

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