Lights Out Month Day 4: "Revolt of the Worms"

Today's episode of Lights Out is "Revolt of the Worms" from October 13, 1942. There are quite a few episodes by Arch Oboler wherein something becomes extremely large and menaces all life; this time out, it's earthworms. As usual, Lights Out's sound effects artists rise to the challenge!

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 3: "The Devil's Due"

I said this month I'd be looking at Arch Oboler's Lights Out, although this episode is an outlier. "The Devil's Due" (April 26, 1939) won a contest where fans competed to write their own Lights Out story. Although this is from the Arch Oboler era it was written by Fred France and adapted by Hobart Donovan.

You can tell this isn't Oboler before the credits run; it has plenty of gore as two hardened criminals review their history with their "silent partner." That makes up most of the program and it certainly fits the sort of audio gore which Oboler made famous, but the identity of the "silent partner" is a little more obvious than Oboler would have treated such a reveal; I mean, heck, his name's in the title! It's good radio horror, although it lacks that extra terror which Oboler brought to his scripts.

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 2: "It Happened"

Welcome to another look at the radio horror program Lights Out! "It Happened" (May 11, 1938) represents the series and author Arch Oboler at its peak. A young woman in Paris flees a kidnapper into the sewers -- and meets a man who invites her to join his business. He carves jewelry out of human bones. Lights Out had a reputation for how it employed sound effects to ghoulish ends and the noises in this episode are certainly in that tradition!

A friend of mine enjoyed this so much that he participated in a filmed version of the story, using the audio from the radio program for all the dialogue and sound effects. It was an interesting effect!

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Lights Out Month Day 1: "Cat Wife"

As I often do, I will spend October on this blog with a daily retrospective of a great old-time radio horror program. This year I've chosen the series Lights Out which was originated by Wyllis Cooper. However, as we have precious little of Cooper's stories still in existence, all of the episodes I'll be featuring will be those written by Arch Oboler.

The series began in 1934 under Cooper's direction, but has been supplanted by Oboler's lengthy run from 1936-1943. Most of what still exists comes from the 1942-43 run -- but many popular scripts were re-enacted so we have a pretty good idea of what the contents of Oboler's Lights Out were. The series looms so large that it tends to overshadow the rest of Oboler's work; I've frequently seen fans list episodes of Arch Oboler's Plays as episodes of Lights Out.

We're beginning with "Cat Wife" (April 6, 1938). I've discussed this one on the blog before; a husband is horrified when his wife transforms into an enormous cat. You might find this too silly -- after all, that's a ridiculous concept. However, I find this episode works because it's so unsettling and because Boris Karloff rendered a very fine performance as the husband. I don't think this is Oboler at his best, but it's a strong example of radio horror.

You can stream or download this episode from the Internet Archive here.

Marvel Appendix 20th Anniversary Wrap-Up!

Today is the final day of the month-long celebration of the Marvel Appendix's 20th year! All of the profiles I created to celebrate this occasion are now available online. Here's what I created for the event:

• AIDA (of Earth-712)
• AIDA (of Earth-199999)
• Arizona Kid
• Belag
• Clete Brandon
• Creighton H. Craven
• Major Cullen
• King David
• Dean "Deadman" Donnelly
• Gargantus
• Goliath
• Happy Hicks
• Hugo
• 'Lash' Larribee
• Laser-cannon
• Bobby Lathrop
• Jim Lathrop
• Marie Lathrop
• Cliff Macklin
• Nan Macklin
• Marak
• Mobius M. Mobius
• Private Tim O'Toole
• Omoro
• Packrat Pete
• Phil Parker
• Regulator
• Sigmar
• Spy Fighters
• Ted Stark
• Professor Stromm
• Lu Sun
• Freddy Sykes
• Adam Tyler
• Zadixx
• Zakka

Again, happy 20th Appendix!

New Essay: Yearning for Wakanda

I didn't intend for my next essay on Christopher Priest's Black Panther to take the shape that it did, but the idea for Yearning for Wakanda came to me while reading W. E. B. Du Bois soon after arriving in Angola and I found I had to get my ideas written down while they were fresh. I hope you like this essay!

Jessica Jones Season 3 Creator Credits

It's been a few years since the third season of Jessica Jones aired - I do normally try to be a bit more timely in posting the list of creators responsible for what was on screen. In my defense, I had cancelled my Netflix account and (let's admit it) the Marvel Netflix shows are no longer anyone's idea of what good super hero television looks like. Jessica Jones started strong, but not only did Iron Fist sap most the audience's goodwill towards the programs, it seemed to rob them of inertia in general. This season was pretty rote and predictable.

My complete list of Marvel Cinematic Universe creator credits can be found here!

Brian Michael Bendis: co-creator of Jessica Jones, a cynical, alcoholic, superhumanly strong private detective who runs Alias Investigations; of Jessica's relationship with Luke Cage (Alias #1, 2001); of Malcolm, the nearest person Jessica has to a secretary (Alias #6, 2002); Jessica gaining her powers in a car accident which killed her parents and brother (Alias #22, 2003); of Jessica having a past with Killgrave which left her with PTSD (Alias #24, 2003); of the Raft, a maximum security prison for superhuman criminals; of Foolkiller incarcerated at the Raft (New Avengers #1, 2005)

Michael Gaydos: co-creator of Jessica Jones, a cynical, alcoholic, superhumanly strong private detective who runs Alias Investigations; of Jessica's relationship with Luke Cage (Alias #1, 2001); of Malcolm, the nearest person Jessica has to a secretary (Alias #6, 2002); Jessica gaining her powers in a car accident which killed her parents and brother (Alias #22, 2003); of Jessica having a past with Killgrave which left her with PTSD (Alias #24, 2003)

Steve Englehart: co-creator of Patsy Walker wanting to be a hero (Amazing Adventures #15, 1972); of Patsy Walker being capable in a fight; of Patsy's mother Dorothy Walker (Avengers #141, 1975); of Patsy Walker gaining superhuman athletic powers; of Patsy as Hellcat, a costumed hero in yellow and blue (Avengers #144, 1976)

Archie Goodwin: co-creator of Luke Cage, superhumanly strong and durable hero for hire in Harlem; of Willis Stryker, Cage's one-time friend who became his enemy (Hero for Hire #1, 1972); of Spider-Woman, heroine Jessica Jones is based upon (Marvel Spotlight #32, 1977)

George Perez: co-creator of Patsy Walker being capable in a fight; of Patsy's mother Dorothy Walker (Avengers #141, 1975); of Patsy Walker gaining superhuman athletic powers; of Patsy as Hellcat, a costumed hero in yellow and blue (Avengers #144, 1976)

Michael Fleisher: co-creator of Jessica Drew's occupation as detective (Spider-Woman #21, 1979); of Dr. Karl Malus, a criminal scientist who experiments on both willing and unwilling subjects to grant them superhuman abilities (Spider-Woman #30, 1980)

Marv Wolfman: co-creator of Blake Tower, New York district attorney (Daredevil #124, 1975); of Mind-Wave, a criminal who can read minds (Daredevil #133, 1976); of Spider-Woman's Jessica Drew identity (Spider-Woman #1, 1978)

Billy Graham: co-creator of Luke Cage, superhumanly strong and durable hero for hire in Harlem; of Willis Stryker, Cage's one-time friend who became his enemy (Hero for Hire #1, 1972)

Steve Gerber: co-creator of Foolkiller's face being disfigured (Foolkiller #10, 1991); of Foolkiller, an insane maniac who kills people he deems unfit to live (Man-Thing #3, 1974)

Steve Leialoha: co-creator of Dr. Karl Malus, a criminal scientist who experiments on both willing and unwilling subjects to grant them superhuman abilities (Spider-Woman #30, 1980)

Roy Thomas: co-creator of the Cat, a costumed identity assumed by Patsy Walker (The Cat #1, 1972); Daniel Rand, a young businessman (Marvel Premiere #15, 1974)

Joe Orlando: co-creator of Killgrave, a man dressed in purple who can control the actions of others through the sound of his voice (Daredevil #4, 1964)

Stan Lee: co-creator of Killgrave, a man dressed in purple who can control the actions of others through the sound of his voice (Daredevil #4, 1964)

David Finch: co-creator of the Raft, a maximum security prison for superhuman criminals; of Foolkiller incarcerated at the Raft (New Avengers #1, 2005)

Roger Stern: co-creator of Foolkiller, Greg Salinger, an insane maniac who kills people he deems unfit to live (Omega the Unknown #8, 1977)

Lee Elias: co-creator of Foolkiller, Greg Salinger, an insane maniac who kills people he deems unfit to live (Omega the Unknown #8, 1977)

Jeff Christiansen: creator of Mind-Wave's real name Erik Gelden (All-New Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe A to Z Vol. 10, 2006)

Val Mayerik: co-creator of Foolkiller, an insane maniac who kills people he deems unfit to live (Man-Thing #3, 1974)

Mark Gruenwald: co-creator of Patsy Walker being a teenage celebrity (Defenders #89, 1980)

Chris Claremont: co-creator of Jeryn Hogarth, a lawyer (Marvel Premiere #24, 1975)

Pat Broderick: co-creator of Jeryn Hogarth, a lawyer (Marvel Premiere #24, 1975)

Sal Buscema: co-creator of Spider-Woman, heroine Jessica Jones is based upon (Marvel Spotlight #32, 1977)

Ruth Atkinson: co-creator of Patsy Walker, a red-headed young woman (Miss America #2, 1944)

Otto Binder: co-creator of Patsy Walker, a red-headed young woman (Miss America #2, 1944)

David Anthony Kraft: co-creator of Patsy Walker being a teenage celebrity (Defenders #89, 1980)

Carmine Infantino: co-creator of Spider-Woman's Jessica Drew identity (Spider-Woman #1, 1978)

Frank Springer: co-creator of Jessica Drew's occupation as a detective (Spider-Woman #21, 1979)

Gil Kane: co-creator of Daniel Rand, a young businessman (Marvel Premiere #15, 1974)

Tom Sutton: co-creator of Patsy Walker wanting to be a hero (Amazing Adventures #15, 1972)

Steven Grant: co-creator of Patsy Walker being a teenage celebrity (Defenders #89, 1980)

Ed Hannigan: co-creator of Patsy Walker being a teenage celebrity (Defenders #89, 1980)

Don Perlin: co-creator of Patsy Walker being a teenage celebrity (Defenders #89, 1980)

Linda Fite: co-creator of the Cat, a costumed identity assumed by Patsy Walker (The Cat #1, 1972)

Marie Severin: co-creator of the Cat, a costumed identity assumed by Patsy Walker (The Cat #1, 1972)

J. J. Birch: co-creator of Foolkiller's face being disfigured (Foolkiller #10, 1991)

Bob Brown: co-creator of Mind-Wave, a criminal who can read minds (Daredevil #133, 1976)

Len Wein: co-creator of Blake Tower, New York district attorney (Daredevil #124, 1975)

Gene Colan: co-creator of Blake Tower, New York district attorney (Daredevil #124, 1975)