Creator Credits for Daredevil: Born Again (season 1)

In short: a welcome return to form for the television versions of these characters.

Below is my list of comic book creators whose work I saw represented in the 1st season of Daredevil: Born Again. If you see anything that I missed, please let me know in the comments. My full directory of Marvel Cinematic Universe Creator Credits is found here.

David Aja (artist): co-creator of Vanessa Fisk arranging Foggy Nelson's death to get at Matt Murdock (Daredevil #88, 2006); of the Tracksuit Mafia, Russian gangsters (Hawkeye #1, 2012)

Adrian Alphona (artist): co-creator of Ms. Marvel, a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager who lives in Jersey City, wearing a costume consisting of a mask, blue smock with yellow 'M', red burkini and golden bangle; of Yusuf Khan, Ms. Marvel's father (All-New Marvel Now! Point One #1, 2014); of Yusuf as a banker (Ms. Marvel #1, 2014)

Sana Amanat (editor): co-creator of Ms. Marvel, a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager who lives in Jersey City, wearing a costume consisting of a mask, blue smock with yellow 'M', red burkini and golden bangle (All-New Marvel Now! Point One #1, 2014)

Ross Andru (artist): co-creator of the Punisher, a war veteran who becomes a vigilante, wearing a black costume with white skull design on his chest and wielding vast arsenal of firearms and explosives in a one-man war on crime (Amazing Spider-Man #129, 1974)

Brian Michael Bendis (writer): co-creator of Soledad Ayala, Hector Ayala's wife; of the White Tiger being wrongly arrested for murder; of Matt Murdock becoming Hector's defense lawyer, creating a conflict of interests because of his own super hero identity (Daredevil #38, 2002); of the White Tiger being shot dead by the police after his trial (Daredevil #40, 2003); of Angela Del Toro, a young woman who is an ally of Daredevil (Daredevil #58, 2004); of Angela Del Toro revealed to be Hector Ayala's niece (Daredevil #69, 2005); of variant White Tiger costume with black stripes (Daredevil #70, 2005)

Jenny Blake (writer): co-creator of Matt Murdock's Catholicism (Daredevil #119, 1975)

Bob Brown (artist): co-creator of Matt Murdock's Catholicism (Daredevil #119, 1975); of Heather Glenn, Matt Murdock's girlfriend (Daredevil #126, 1975); of Bullseye, an expert assassin who can turn any object into a lethal weapon, battles Daredevil; of Bullseye with a target on his forehead (Daredevil #131, 1976)

Ed Brubaker (writer): co-creator of Foggy Nelson being killed while Matt Murdock hears his heart stop, upsetting him (Daredevil #82, 2006); of Vanessa Fisk arranging Foggy Nelson's death to get at Matt Murdock (Daredevil #88, 2006); of Vanessa Fisk running her husband's criminal empire during his absence (Daredevil #92, 2007)

John Buscema (artist): co-creator of Ms. Marvel, costumed woman with mask, red and blue costume (Ms. Marvel #1, 1977)

John Byrne (artist): co-creator of Karen Page living in San Francisco (Daredevil #138, 1976)

Marco Checchetto (artist): co-creator of the Punisher rescuing Daredevil from Mayor Wilson Fisk's police (Daredevil #3, 2019); of Mayor Wilson Fisk mobilizing an anti-vigilante task force to use extreme methods against New York's vigilantes, ordering all vigilante activity illegal (Devil's Reign #1, 2022)

D. G. Chichester (writer): co-creator of Daredevil wearing body armor (Daredevil #322, 1993)

Jeff Christiansen (writer): creator of Buck Cashman's name (Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z #12, 2010)

Gene Colan (artist): co-creator of Karen Page learning Matt Murdock is Daredevil (Daredevil #57, 1969); of Ben Urich, a reporter with a relentless dedication to the truth (Daredevil #153, 1978)

Carla Conway (writer): co-creator of Ms. Marvel, costumed woman with mask, red and blue costume (Ms. Marvel #1, 1977)

Gerry Conway (writer): co-creator of the Punisher, a war veteran who becomes a vigilante, wearing a black costume with white skull design on his chest and wielding vast arsenal of firearms and explosives in a one-man war on crime (Amazing Spider-Man #129, 1974); of the mystical golden tiger amulets that grant superhuman abilities to the athletes who wield them (Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1, 1974); of the Punisher's alias Frank Castle (Marvel Preview #2, 1975); of Ms. Marvel, costumed woman with mask, red and blue costume (Ms. Marvel #1, 1977)

Tony DeZuniga (artist): co-creator of the Punisher's alias Frank Castle (Marvel Preview #2, 1975)

Steve Ditko (artist): co-creator of Spider-Man, a young red and blue-garbed super hero in the New York area (Amazing Fantasy #15, 1962)

Terry Dodson (artist): co-creator of the White Tiger being shot dead by the police after his trial (Daredevil #40, 2003)

Bill Everett (artist): co-creator of Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who also fights crime as Daredevil by using his superhuman sensory powers; Daredevil costume with horns on head and red eye lenses, red and yellow colors; the billy club as Daredevil's primary weapon; Murdock partnered with his college friend Franklin "Foggy" Nelson at Nelson and Murdock law firm; Karen Page as Murdock and Nelson's secretary and object of affection to both men; Daredevil as a "man without fear"; Matt Murdock orphaned at a young age when his father was killed (Daredevil #1, 1964)

Matt Fraction (writer): co-creator of the Tracksuit Mafia, Russian gangsters (Hawkeye #1, 2012)

Ron Garney (artist): co-creator of Ben Hochberg, a district attorney who clashes with Matt Murdock (Daredevil #2, 2016); of Muse, a silent serial killer dressed in white with streaked paint on his mask who kills and tortures people from a twisted sense of creating art, using their blood in his paintings (Daredevil #11, 2016); of Muse confining his victims in the sewers while he created his art (Daredevil #13, 2016); of Wilson Fisk running for mayor of New York as an independent candidate, campaigning to outlaw vigilante heroes in New York such as Daredevil and the Punisher (Daredevil #28, 2017); of Muse's activities being used by Mayor Wilson Fisk as a justification for targeting vigilantes (Daredevil #598, 2018)

Dick Giordano (artist): co-creator of the mystical golden tiger amulets that grant superhuman abilities to the athletes who wield them (Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #1, 1974)

Mark Gruenwald (writer): co-creator of Bullseye escaping prison by spitting one of his broken teeth into a guard's eye (Captain America #372, 1990)

Manuel Gutierrez (artist): co-creator of Soledad Ayala, Hector Ayala's wife; of the White Tiger being wrongly arrested for murder; of Matt Murdock becoming Hector's defense lawyer, creating a conflict of interests because of his own super hero identity (Daredevil #38, 2002)

Don Heck (artist): co-creator of the Swordsman, a mustachioed swashbuckler who wields a sword (Avengers #19, 1965); of Jacques Duquesne, the Swordsman's real name (Avengers Spotlight #22, 1989)

Gil Kane (artist): co-creator of Hell's Kitchen as locale patroled by Daredevil (Daredevil #148, 1977)

Jack Kirby (artist): co-creator of the Swordsman, a mustachioed swashbuckler who wields a sword (Avengers #19, 1965)

Szymon Kudranski (artist): co-creator of police officers working for Wilson Fisk appropriating the Punisher's imagery in imitation of him, much to the Punisher's disgust (Punisher #13, 2019)

Stefano Landini (artist): co-creator of Wilson Fisk becoming mayor of New York; Daredevil vowing to bring down Fisk (Daredevil #595, 2018)

Michael Lark (artist): co-creator of Foggy Nelson being killed while Matt Murdock hears his heart stop, upsetting him (Daredevil #82, 2006); of Vanessa Fisk running her husband's criminal empire during his absence (Daredevil #92, 2007)

Stan Lee (writer/editor): co-creator of Spider-Man, a young red and blue-garbed super hero in the New York area (Amazing Fantasy #15, 1962); of the Kingpin of Crime, a mob boss and enemy of Spider-Man dressed in white who organizes the disparate underworld elements under his leadership from the heart of Manhattan (Amazing Spider-Man #50, 1967); of the Kingpin's wife, Vanessa Fisk (Amazing Spider-Man #69, 1969); of the Swordsman, a mustachioed swashbuckler who wields a sword (Avengers #19, 1965); of Matt Murdock, a blind lawyer who also fights crime as Daredevil by using his superhuman sensory powers; Daredevil costume with horns on head and red eye lenses, red and yellow colors; the billy club as Daredevil's primary weapon; Murdock partnered with his college friend Franklin "Foggy" Nelson at Nelson and Murdock law firm; Karen Page as Murdock and Nelson's secretary and object of affection to both men; Daredevil as a "man without fear"; Matt Murdock orphaned at a young age when his father was killed (Daredevil #1, 1964); of Daredevil's ability to detect lies (Daredevil #3, 1964); of Daredevil's red costume; of Daredevil's gimmick billy club (Daredevil #7, 1965)

Ron Lim (artist): co-creator of Bullseye escaping prison by spitting one of his broken teeth into a guard's eye (Captain America #372, 1990)

David Mack (writer): co-creator of Maya Lopez, a deaf First Nations woman who was like a daughter to Wilson Fisk (Daredevil #9, 1999)

Alex Maleev (artist): co-creator of Angela Del Toro, a young woman who is an ally of Daredevil (Daredevil #58, 2004); of Angela Del Toro revealed to be Hector Ayala's niece (Daredevil #69, 2005); of variant White Tiger costume with black stripes (Daredevil #70, 2005)

Bill Mantlo (writer): co-creator of the White Tiger, alias Hector Ayala, a Puerto Rican man who obtains the tiger amulet and dons a white costume to battle crime (Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #19, 1975)

David Mazzuchelli (artist): co-creator of Wilson Fisk learning Matt Murdock is Daredevil; of Wilson Fisk controlling the police and using the authorities to wreck Matt Murdock's life and target his allies (Daredevil #227, 1986); of Murdock wearing stubble in both of his identities (Daredevil #228, 1986)

Scott McDaniel (artist): co-creator of Daredevil wearing body armor (Daredevil #322, 1993)

Jamie McKelvie (artist): co-creator of Ms. Marvel, a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager who lives in Jersey City, wearing a costume consisting of a mask, blue smock with yellow 'M', red burkini and golden bangle (All-New Marvel Now! Point One #1, 2014)

Roger McKenzie (writer): co-creator of Ben Urich, a reporter with a relentless dedication to the truth (Daredevil #153, 1978); of Josie's Bar, a dive bar in Hell's Kitchen tended by the titular Josie (Daredevil #160, 1979); of Hell's Kitchen as Matt Murdock's childhood borough (Daredevil #164, 1980); of Daredevil and Punisher being fellow vigilantes but disagreeing sharply on how extreme their crimefighting methods should go (Daredevil #183, 1982)

Frank Miller (artist/writer): creator of Wilson Fisk's name; of Wilson Fisk as Daredevil's primary enemy (Daredevil #170, 1981); of the reporter Urich working against Fisk (Daredevil #177, 1981); of Bullseye using the name 'Benjamin Poindexter'; of Daredevil badly injuring Bullseye in retribution (Daredevil #181, 1982); co-creator of Josie's Bar, a dive bar in Hell's Kitchen tended by the titular Josie (Daredevil #160, 1979); of Hell's Kitchen as Matt Murdock's childhood borough (Daredevil #164, 1980); of Daredevil and Punisher being fellow vigilantes but disagreeing sharply on how extreme their crimefighting methods should go (Daredevil #183, 1982); of Wilson Fisk learning Matt Murdock is Daredevil; of Wilson Fisk controlling the police and using the authorities to wreck Matt Murdock's life and target his allies (Daredevil #227, 1986); of Murdock wearing stubble in both of his identities (Daredevil #228, 1986)

Lou Mougin (writer): co-creator of Jacques Duquesne, the Swordsman's real name; of Armand Duquesne, the father of the Swordsman (Avengers Spotlight #22, 1989)

Ann Nocenti (writer): co-creator of Buck Cashman, an employee of Wilson Fisk and an enemy of Daredevil (Daredevil #250, 1988)

Joe Orlando (artist): co-creator of Daredevil's ability to detect lies (Daredevil #3, 1964)

George Perez (artist): co-creator of the White Tiger, alias Hector Ayala, a Puerto Rican man who obtains the tiger amulet and dons a white costume to battle crime (Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #19, 1975); of variant White Tiger costume with black stripes (Daredevil #70, 2005)

Yvette Perez (writer): co-creator of the White Tiger, alias Hector Ayala, a Puerto Rican man who obtains the tiger amulet and dons a white costume to battle crime (Deadly Hands of Kung Fu #19, 1975)

Joe Quesada (artist): co-creator of Matt Murdock wearing red-tinted sunglasses (Daredevil #1, 1998); of Maya Lopez, a deaf First Nations woman who was like a daughter to Wilson Fisk (Daredevil #9, 1999)

Paolo Rivera (artist): co-creator of Kirsten McDuffie, a New York assistant district attorney who crosses paths with Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson (Daredevil #1, 2011)

John Romita (artist): co-creator of the Kingpin of Crime, a mob boss and enemy of Spider-Man dressed in white who organizes the disparate underworld elements under his leadership from the heart of Manhattan (Amazing Spider-Man #50, 1967); of the Kingpin's wife, Vanessa Fisk (Amazing Spider-Man #69, 1969); of the Punisher, a war veteran who becomes a vigilante, wearing a black costume with white skull design on his chest and wielding vast arsenal of firearms and explosives in a one-man war on crime (Amazing Spider-Man #129, 1974); of Ms. Marvel, costumed woman with mask, red and blue costume (Ms. Marvel #1, 1977)

John Romita Jr. (artist): co-creator of Buck Cashman, an employee of Wilson Fisk and an enemy of Daredevil (Daredevil #250, 1988)

Matthew Rosenberg (writer): co-creator of police officers working for Wilson Fisk appropriating the Punisher's imagery in imitation of him, much to the Punisher's disgust (Punisher #13, 2019)

Chris Samnee (artist): co-creator of Matt and Kirsten opening a law firm together (Daredevil #1, 2014)

Jim Shooter (writer): co-creator of Hell's Kitchen as locale patroled by Daredevil (Daredevil #148, 1977)

Kevin Smith (writer): co-creator of Matt Murdock wearing red-tinted sunglasses (Daredevil #1, 1998)

Charles Soule (writer): co-creator of Ben Hochberg, a district attorney who clashes with Matt Murdock (Daredevil #2, 2016); of Muse, a silent serial killer dressed in white with streaked paint on his mask who kills and tortures people from a twisted sense of creating art, using their blood in his paintings (Daredevil #11, 2016); of Muse confining his victims in the sewers while he created his art (Daredevil #13, 2016); of Wilson Fisk running for mayor of New York as an independent candidate, campaigning to outlaw vigilante heroes in New York such as Daredevil and the Punisher (Daredevil #28, 2017); of Wilson Fisk becoming mayor of New York; Daredevil vowing to bring down Fisk (Daredevil #595, 2018); of Muse's activities being used by Mayor Wilson Fisk as a justification for targeting vigilantes (Daredevil #598, 2018)

Richard Starkings (letterer): creator of Daredevil logo (Daredevil #1, 1998)

Roy Thomas (writer): co-creator of Karen Page learning Matt Murdock is Daredevil (Daredevil #57, 1969)

Stephen Wacker (editor): co-creator of Ms. Marvel, a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager who lives in Jersey City, wearing a costume consisting of a mask, blue smock with yellow 'M', red burkini and golden bangle (All-New Marvel Now! Point One #1, 2014)

Mark Waid (writer): co-creator of Kirsten McDuffie, a New York assistant district attorney who crosses paths with Matt Murdock and Foggy Nelson (Daredevil #1, 2011); of Matt and Kirsten opening a law firm together (Daredevil #1, 2014)

G. Willow Wilson (writer): co-creator of Ms. Marvel, a Pakistani-American Muslim teenager who lives in Jersey City, wearing a costume consisting of a mask, blue smock with yellow 'M', red burkini and golden bangle; of Yusuf Khan, Ms. Marvel's father (All-New Marvel Now! Point One #1, 2014); of Yusuf as a banker (Ms. Marvel #1, 2014)

Marv Wolfman (writer): co-creator of Heather Glenn, Matt Murdock's girlfriend (Daredevil #126, 1975); of Bullseye, an expert assassin who can turn any object into a lethal weapon, battles Daredevil; of Bullseye with a target on his forehead (Daredevil #131, 1976); of Karen Page living in San Francisco (Daredevil #138, 1976)

Wally Wood (artist): co-creator of Daredevil's red costume; of Daredevil's gimmick billy club (Daredevil #7, 1965)

Chip Zdarsky (writer): co-creator of the Punisher rescuing Daredevil from Mayor Wilson Fisk's police (Daredevil #3, 2019); of Mayor Wilson Fisk mobilizing an anti-vigilante task force to use extreme methods against New York's vigilantes, ordering all vigilante activity illegal (Devil's Reign #1, 2022)

Radio Recap: The Witch's Tale

"A hundred years old I be today; yes, sir, a hundred years old..."

The Witch's Tale was one of the earliest radio horror programs in the history of the genre. Although it doesn't bear up especially well today, the series holds immense historical interest. It ran on New York's famous WOR station from 1931-1938, initially as a local show, then moving to the Mutual network in 1934. The show had it's own pulp magazine in 1936, but it only lasted two issues.

The series was written by Alonzo Deen Cole; Cole also wrote a few episodes of the Shadow, but the other series he's best-remembered for is Casey, Crime Photographer.

One of the program's pioneering traits was its host, Old Nancy "the witch of Salem," portrayed by Adelaide Fitz-Allen, Miriam Wolfe and Martha Wentworth, accompanied by her black cat "Satan" (apparently Cole himself was the voice of the cat). Old Nancy played the role of horror host straight, but in the following decade Inner Sanctum Mysteries would play up the role for camp humour. Horror hosts (be they radio, comic book, TV or film) in general tend towards the campy side, but it all goes back to Old Nancy.

Although the Witch's Tale took itself very seriously, I'm afraid it doesn't hold up as a horror program. Part of the problem with the series is that it was testing out new ground, blazing new trails. Radio of the early to mid-30s simply wasn't very sophisticated and the Witch's Tale didn't make much of audio effects; music usually only appeared between dramatic sequences, sound effects were few and far between. Consequently, when something terrifying appears in an episode of the Witch's Tale it can't be conveyed in any manner except exposition. Much of what makes the Witch's Tale campy to my ears is that no matter how horrible the circumstances, no matter how histrionic the person in danger may be, they still find the words to describe what's happening. Characters attempting to convey exposition while screaming at each other is never not funny to me, I'm ashamed to say.

So yes, Cole's program no doubt helped demonstrate to the likes of Wyllis Cooper and Arch Oboler that there was *ahem* a little room for improvement in radio horror. Someone had to be the trailblazer, and that man was Alonzo Deen Cole.

My go-to as campiest of the camp is the episode "Hairy Monster," in which a heroic Irish cop defends the episode's female protagonist from the hairy monster menacing her. The actor portraying the Irishman seems to have a very tenuous grasp on his accent that results in his performance being even more stilted than a typical Witch's Tale actor. I'm afraid the more I listen to that one, the harder I laugh.

But this is not to say that the Witch's Tale holds nothing but camp value. If you enjoy stories of the supernatural and you can accept the limitations these shows were created under, I think you can still enjoy yourself. For instance, the show made an adaptation of Prosper Merimee's "the Bronze Venus" that I think is pretty good. I found the episodes "the Devil Doctor" and "the Statue of Thor" to be okay programs too.

Surviving episodes include a number of 1930s episodes from the Mutual run and a number of Australian versions from circa 1941 that used the same scripts as from the US version.

Here's a playlist a fan made of surviving episodes of the Witch's Tale on YouTube:

In Memoriam: The Bay

I suppose I shouldn't be too emotional about the collapse of a shopping centre, but the recent collapse of the Hudson's Bay Company has made me feel a twinge of sadness.

We've been down this road before; former shopping institutions like Sears and Eaton's have gone away. Yet the Hudson's Bay Company is different - it's a piece of Canadiana. You cannot take a class in Canadian history without talking about the Hudson's Bay Company.

There are plenty of reasons why the Bay has floundered and I did wince when I read the complaints people shared in recent CBC articles; one mentioned how the stores' escalators seemed to go out of order so frequently. And yes, when I started regularly visiting the Bay during the last 2 years, I myself was struck by the escalator being inoperable.

My wife and I had $200 in gift cards for the Bay and we spent a good 1.5 years trying to spend them. It shouldn't have been that hard to do, but for all that we thought the Bay had terrific high-end merchandise, it was also very expensive merchandise. We kept finding ourselves unwilling to spend the gift cards-- up until the bankruptcy announcement came out and we spent them out as quickly as we could.

I suppose from where I sit, those were the biggest factors in why the Bay wasn't our favourite store-- it was expensive and it didn't feature a wide range of options.

I hope the Bay comes through its difficulties in some form.

Radio Recap: Blair of the Mounties

Blair of the Mounties was a syndicated radio detective serial that ran from January to October of 1938. It was written by and starred Colonel Rhys Davies (a former Mountie) as Blair, the titular mounted policeman.

The series jumps around in time a bit; one episode, "the Case of Lieutenant Ralston," is set during World War I, when Blair was not in the Mounties; it seems to me it was written to indulge Rhys Davies, who served in real-life had served in army intelligence during the war, as Blair is shown to. Much later another episode - "The Most Famous Spy" - is a wartime story about Mata Hari.

In one story, "The Kittilak Lagoon Mystery," Blair goes off on a weird tirade in which he complains about the difficulties in prosecuting criminal cases. Here's a small snippet of his lengthy complaint:

"The trouble of the world today, and modern police work in particular is that everybody's trying to be too smart and technical. ... Look at modern police work in general - filing systems, scientific methods and all that sort of stuff and look at the criminals who get away. And look at modern trial systems! Expert witnesses! Psychiatrists! Murder trials lasting for weeks! In the old days it took a few hours."

So, that's a bit fascist, complaining that police are being restrained because they have to respect individual rights? Rights that help prevent against wrongful arrest and conviction? Rights that prevent the sort of lynching that Blair seems to prefer?

There's also a strange tirade that Blair goes on in "Star Ruby of Talangor" where he complains (for several minutes) about detective fiction and calls out authors of fiction for not being as clever in real-life, singling out Arthur Conan Doyle in particular. It's especially ill-judged because the kind of detective fiction Blair complains about is basically what Blair of the Mounties indulges in - it's always about Blair spotting some clever clue that everyone else overlooked.

Blair retired to married life in "Strange Case of Henry Peterson" but returned in the next episode, "the Return of Inspector Blair." At that point the series was set in England and revealed that Blair had originally been born there - so he's not even a Canadian hero? Sheesh. Blair then becomes a private detective in England who solves crimes so... the entire premise of the title is a little questionable, since he's no longer "of the Mounties."

Indigenous characters fare about as well as you'd expect from old-time radio - that is, they're portrayed by white people who speak in halting, "me-catch-um" dialects.

All in all, I wanted to like Blair of the Mounties as an early bit of Canadiana radio, but Blair's long, angry speeches did a lot to eliminate my enjoyment of this program. You can still feel that tiny thrill only a Canadian can understand when a place like Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan is name-checked, but that doesn't make up for the tedium surrounding this program.

The Old Time Radio Researchers have a YouTube playlist of Blair of the Mounties!

"Even if..." Rend Collective thoughts

Over a week ago, I went to see a live concert by the band Rend Collective.

In my teenage years I was fascinated by what was then called "Contemporary Christian Music." Particularly from the 1980s-90s there was effort to create a kind of Christian alternative to popular 'secular' music. I gradually lost interest in CCM after high school and by the early 21st century, CCM slowly faded away.

Of course, it faded away because something else had taken its place; the new vogue was for Christian musicians to create worship songs that could be replicated in churches worldwide, rather than supporting a parallel entertainment industry.

I came to enjoy the new wave of Christian worship songs, but I thought the days of me purchasing Christian song albums was well in the past. I felt the new songs were suitable for church worship but weren't the sort of thing I would listen to around the house.

Enter Rend Collective, an Irish worship band who fell neatly into the new wave of worship. My then-worship leader Rob brought them into my home church, principally through the song "My Lighthouse." That song on its own won me over-- it's a happy, toe-tapping ditty. I wound up getting into the band's albums largely on the strength of that tune (I chose it as the theme song of the Cursillo weekend I led).

But while I love the high-energy found in many of their songs, the concert helped me articulate what I really enjoy about Rend Collective - and what makes them different from the CCM of my teen years - is that they're real. At the concert, lead performer Chris Llewellyn noted that the Psalms found in the Bible aren't simply songs of joy - many of them are songs of lament and we need to have a place for lament in our contemporary worship.

The aforementioned Rob seemed to agree with that; Rend Collective's song "Weep with Me" - a melancholy song of lament - became a song he frequently performed at our church (and I think Rob performed it at every funeral I attended after he added it to his repertoire). Songs like "Weep with Me" give us a place to express our grief and sadness. That's contrary to so much of the old CCM, which didn't want to act as though tough times existed - if they did, they were all in the past, not in the present or the future.

And Llewellyn took time to talk about his own mental health struggles with depression. Given that the band was performing in an Alliance church - and among all churches, the Evangelicals are most offended by Christians talking about mental health - that was bold of him. The band is real about the troubles that exist in life, the troubles they themselves experience.

Recently, my favourite song of theirs has been "Hallelujah Anyway." Rend Collective performed it at the concert that night; I performed it myself last weekend. What draws me to the song is that it's a song about going through problems yet remaining optimistic. Maybe it's a small thing, but being able to sing lyrics like "Even if my daylight never dawns; even if my breakthrough never comes; even if I'll fight to bring you praise" has a different kind of power than the usual triumphalism I find in Christian worship.

So yeah, I have a lot of time for Rend Collective.

Radio Recap: Indictment

"Indictment; a formal written charge of crime as the basis for trial of the accused. If the balance scales of justice are to remain righted, there must be trials, there must be convictions; the vital step which leads inexorably to these is the accusation of guilt by the grand jury: the Indictment!

Indictment was a latter-day CBS program from 1956-1959. It starred Nat Polen as district attorney Edward McCormick and Jack Arthur as assistant district attorney Tom Russo. The series' content was based on the files of the real-life ADA Eleazer Lipsky.

Indictment is something of a variant on detective shows, where instead of detectives, you have district attorneys who are searching for the right kind of pressure to deploy against an arrested individual that will force a confession out of them - usually by getting them to turn on whoever their partner-in-crime was.

The only reason I became fascinated with Indictment was that I learned three latter episodes of Suspense - "Infanticide" (October 11, 1959) "The Thimble" (November 22, 1959) and "End of the Road" (January 31, 1960) - were recycled from scripts used on Indictment. And yet, no one seems to know which episodes of Indictment. I've yet to see a decent log of the series and with only 7 episodes known to exist, it's a barely-glimpsed corner of OTR, despite being linked to one of radio's greatest programs.

Unfortunately, outside of the link to Suspense, there's little to say about Indictment. For a CBS series, the production values are pretty low - all the music is canned (some it recycled from Harry Alan Towers programs!) and sound effects are very limited. The series is also hampered by poor audio mixing, as in the episode "The Grand Slam Heist" in which a baseball game is being played in the background of a scene but the game's audio is louder than the dialogue! Despite being transcribed, Indictment has a number of flubbed lines, suggesting they didn't have the resources (or the self-respect) to do retakes. Decades later, television's Law and Order proved you could wring good drama out of legal wrangling but for radio it's just not engaging enough.

You can hear Indictment's remaining 7 episodes at the Old Time Radio Researchers Library.

Radio Recap: The Radio Hall of Fame

The Radio Hall of Fame - also called Philco Radio Hall of Fame after the series' sponsor - was a variety program that aired over the Blue network, continuing with them even after the network changed its name to ABC. It started in 1943 as an hour-long program, then shifted to a half-hour in 1945 before completing its run in 1946 (the following fall, Philco continued on ABC with Philco Radio Time starring Bing Crosby). The series offered a chance for audiences to hear repeat performances of popular radio stars in their most famous roles. Music throughout the series was provided by bandleader Paul Whiteman.

I haven't posted many Radio Recaps of Blue network shows; NBC Blue seldom had big name stars - those were usually reserved for the primary NBC network. Radio Hall of Fame was obviously a very expensive show, considering the vast number of talents who made themselves available for it. Compare this extravaganza to Philco's modest Phyl Coe Radio Mysteries series from just 6 years earlier - clearly time had been very good to Philco's business!

The show was strongly connected to Variety magazine; the magazine's critic Deems Taylor was the show's original host. Apparently that caused a lot of problems for the series because most of the newspaper coverage of Radio Hall of Fame consisted of the series insisting it wasn't just a mouthpiece for Variety. As of the second season, Deems Taylor was gone and the series was led by a series of guest hosts, usually popular film and radio stars.

During the summer time the series became the Philco Summer Theater; Paul Whiteman stayed on to introduce the acts but it became almost entirely musical numbers (with a brief news break). But in every incarnation, the Radio Hall of Fame had a lot of music - sometimes the musical acts go on for about 10 minutes-- occasionally, longer than that!

Now, the repeated performances varied quite a bit. At the beginning of the show, they genuinely did offer fans a chance to hear a popular performance a second time, which was a novelty in the days when "re-runs" didn't exist. The show's fourth episode featured a recreation of a sketch heard two weeks earlier on the Texaco Star Theatre with Fred Allen's entire comedy cast appearing for the recreation - that's kind of a big deal for a Blue network series to be highlighting a popular CBS comedy! But many of the comedy sketches on Radio Fall of Fame weren't from the recent past of radio, instead comedy stars would turn up to repeat their most well-known performances.

Radio Hall of Fame had radio stars: Fred Allen, Bob Hope, Red Skelton, Jimmy Durante, George Burns and Gracie Allen, George Jessel, Ed Wynn, Bing Crosby, Chico Marx, Oscar Levant, Eddie Cantor, Abbott and Costello; they had comedians who at the time were best-known for their stand-up acts: Jackie Gleason, Milton Berle, Henny Youngman; they had popular singers: Ginny Sims, Lauritz Melchior, Mary Martin, Burl Ives, Dick Powell, Kenny Baker, Kate Smith, Victor Borge; they had movie stars: Joan Fontaine, Brian Aherne, Laird Cregar, Raymond Edward Johnson, Paul Muni, William Gargan, Mary Astor, Orson Welles, Judy Garland, Boris Karloff, Ingrid Bergman, Lionel Barrymore; heck, they had Terry and the Pirates cartoonist Milton Caniff!

But Radio Hall of Fame also featured the likes of Arch Oboler recreating his script "Alter Ego" (first heard on Texaco Star Theatre in 1938) which was being made into the film Bewitched that same year; they recreated "Sorry, Wrong Number" from Suspense with Agnes Moorehead in her famous role; they brought in the casts of Vic and Sade, Lum and Abner, It Pays to Be Ignorant, Mr. District Attorney; and a satire of Inner Sanctum Mysteries complete with Raymond Edward Johnson.

The music heard was of all varieties - there was opera, Broadway musical comedy, classical music - along with a variety of old jazz pieces led by Paul Whiteman. Often there's at least one musical number that had no vocalist, just orchestra. Much of the music wasn't typically heard on radio, which isn't exactly fitting with the "Hall of Fame" part of the series title. When you pair that with many of the nightclub comedians heard on the series, it really does sound like an attempt to put Variety on the radio.

The original content also included (for the 1st season only) a lot of dramatic plays written by Milton Geiger that were usually heard in the last quarter of the show. The series was produced relatively early in the USA's involvement in World War II and Geiger's plays were frequently about the conflict. In the 2nd season, the dramatic plays were usually familiar stories, such as Poe's "The Tell-Tale Heart" (with Peter Lorre) and Maupassant's "A Piece of String" (with Claude Rains). By the show's last season, the runtime had been trimmed to 30 minutes and the dramatic parts almost entirely excised, leaving the series just another music-comedy variety show.

I can't quite recommend the Radio Hall of Fame despite its high production values and immense array of talents. If any of the famous names above pique your interest then by all means you should search out the episodes they appeared in -- but for me, the series has too much music. The occasional great comedy routine (and there are some great ones, especially the Jackie Gleason, Chico Marx and Victor Borge appearances) doesn't really make up for the lengthy musical numbers you have to listen to in order to discover them. There are better musical-comedy variety shows (Command Performance comes to mind).

You can hear nearly 100 episodes of the Radio Hall of Fame at the Old Time Radio Researchers' Library.

RIP: Val Kilmer

Actor Val Kilmer passed away this week, aged only 65.

I'm sure every film buff out there has a favourite Val Kilmer movie, but mine is his first film - Top Secret! (1984), the ridiculous comedy film in which he portrayed the Elvis-like singing sensation Nick Rivers, who journeys behind the Iron Curtain and gets involved in a spy plot that is very much like the 1944 movie the Conspirators. As Kilmer himself noted, being that he was a young actor, it was a huge challenge to take on such a wacky comedy role; Kilmer succeeded because he portrayed Nick earnestly, a straight man in a very, very wacky movie.

But I'm sure most film buffs are going to point to Tombstone (1993). And yes, even I - a man who does not especially like westerns - point to Kilmer's performance as Doc Holliday as a terrific piece of acting. Perhaps Tombstone is the western movie for people who don't like westerns? Anyway, go watch Tombstone if you haven't already.

Obviously, there's much more I could mention; I have one friend who loves the Ghost and the Darkness (1996); my sister loved Willow (1988); my wife really likes the Saint (1997).

Rest in peace, Mr. Kilmer.

Columbia Workshop: The Recommended Listening List

With more than 300 episodes of the Columbia Workshop still in existence, it's pretty difficult to know what someone might like from the series. Everything I've learned about Columbia Workshop has confirmed how John Dunning summed it up in his encyclopedia:

"That this was not a show for the masses is especially true today. Some of these shows, on first listening, seem to move at a glacial pace; some seem quite old and date. The techniques they pioneered have become so routine, their high-tech counterparts bombarding people in radio commericals around the clock, that a listener seldom gives a thought to a time when they didn't exist."

Columbia Workshop was a pioneering, groundbreaking series, but people prefer to hear radio shows that implemented their solutions rather than listen to those early experiments. But if you're willing to dig through Columbia Workshop you'll find a massive vault full of compelling dramas, great performances and unusual uses of sound.

Here's what I consider to be the most worthwhile episodes:

• "The Gods of the Mountain" (December 19, 1936) an adaptation of Lord Dunsany's tale of beggars who masquerade as gods and the horrible fate they suffer.
• "Split Seconds" (March 14, 1937) a man struggles to swim to shore as scenes from his life echo in his ears.
• "Danse Macabre" (March 21, 1937) Death itself sets out to find companionship, killing everyone who refuses to dance to his fiddle.
• "The Fall of the City" (April 11, 1937 and again September 28, 1939) the drama of a great city's destruction, notable for the 1st version's cast of 200 voices and the 2nd version's 500+ cast!
• "R.U.R." (April 18, 1937) an adaptation of Karel Capek's play which introduced the word "robot."
• "S. S. San Pedro" (September 5, 1937) a story with heavy supernatural overtones as a ship at sea nears a disaster it can't survive.
• "The Killers" (October 17, 1937) a good adaptation of Ernest Hemmingway's short story of two gunmen and their willing victim.
• "The Horla" (November 7, 1937) an adaptation of the Guy de Maupassant story (although poor Alfred Shirley can't compare to Peter Lorre's majestic Mystery in the Air performance).
• "Night Patrol" (February 26, 1938) an Irish cop on the beat has various encounters with neighborhood folk one evening (at the time, an innovative use of footstep sound effects).
• "Seven Waves Away" (April 2, 1938) men on a lifeboat decide to sacrifice some of their fellow survivors believing it will better their odds for rescue.
• "The Fisherman and His Soul" (May 7, 1938) an adaptation of Oscar Wilde's fairy tale of a fisherman who sacrificed his soul so that he could love a mermaid, which proves to be a fatal error.
• "Bury the Dead" (May 28, 1938) an anti-war story in which the dead slain in war rise and society wonders how to make them rest again.
• "Mr. Whipple Is Worried" (January 16, 1939) a comedic episode in which a meek little man discovers he can hear statues talk.
• "Nine Prisoners" (February 20, 1939) an anti-war story in which nine soldiers are told to execute their prisoners and how each of the nine copes with their orders.
• "Jury Trial" (February 27, 1939) a look at members of a jury and how their personal prejudices and preferences interfere with justice.
• "The Law Beaters" (May 15, 1939) in which two criminals swap stories about their greatest triumphs- with a great twist ending.
• "The Man with the One Track Mind" (June 30, 1940) a whimsical story about a man who becomes a train and the unusual culture among other living train engines.
• "Carmilla" (July 28, 1940) an adaptation of Sheridan le Fanu's famous vampire story.
• "The Pussy Cat and the Expert Plumber Who Was a Man" (September 29, 1940) Arthur Miller(!)'s humorous tale of a talking cat who decides to run for public office.
• "The Plot to Overthrow Christmas (December 22, 1940) Norman Corwin's humorous bit of verse in which the fiends of Hades (ladies) attempt to snuff out Santa Claus.
• "Miracle in Manhattan" (December 21, 1941) a Christmas story of a cynical taxi driver who ferries around a mysterious man who might just be Jesus (this one was repeated several times as an episode of Duffy's Tavern).
• "Someone Else" (July 20, 1942) an offbeat supernatural tale about a man who is haunted by relics of the past.
• "Remodeled Brownstone" (October 19, 1942) a horror story in which new homeowners find their home haunted by a ghostly infant.
• "The Trial" (May 19, 1946) an adaptation of Kafka's most famous novel.
• "The Parade" (December 7, 1946) on the anniverary of the Pearl Harbor attack, a tale in which dead soldiers march silently through the city streets.

Here are some of the more "weird" episodes:

• "Maker of Dreams" (September 26, 1936) opens with a comedic drama about the spirits who give people dreams; it's followed by a discussion of how sound effects are created to give people the impression that ghosts exist.
• "The Tell-Tale Heart" (July 11, 1937) a very unusual adaptation that's less-faithful than most radio adaptations; the content of the story is the same but there's none of Edgar Allan Poe's prose - all the dialogue is unique to this production.
• "Surrealism" (June 11, 1938) a celebration of surrealism, with a variety of odd poems and songs with unusual musical accompaniment and sound effects.
• "So This Is Radio" (September 7, 1939) an explanation of how music is utilized in radio and the different means by which music is used in drama.
• "Double Exposure" (February 15, 1940) an adaptation of a Grand Guignol play; it's not what you'd expect, given the theatre's reputation for gore; it's definitely a horror play but it's very restrained and the horror doesn't really come until the climax.

Here's again is a massive collection of the Columbia Workshop at the Internet Archive.