Christmas 2020

If I had any predictions about Christmas 2020 a year ago, about the only one I would have made would be that I would be in Angola, serving part of my one-year term as an associate missionary.

Obviously, that didn't happen.

In all my ears I've always been with either my parents or my brother at Christmas. I expected I wouldn't be there in 2020, but only because of my commitment to Angola -- I couldn't have predicted how this year would unfold.

I value that people have expressed concerns at how my year has been going -- after all, I live alone, I'm cut off from most of the people I normally interact with and I'm not in Angola. And yet I'm geniunely doing well in all of this. I accept that all of this is just temporary. I am going to Angola, eventually. I am going to be reunited with my friends and family.

I've decided to be intentional about battling loneliness during the holidays. Not only through internet video chats with friends and family but through activities. Heck, just by deciding that I'm going to cook the sort of meals my Mom traditionally serves during the holidays (instead of my usual 5-minute meals) I've been keeping myself occupied.

It's not the same, celebrating Christmas alone. There's no schedule -- I could watch the church service at any time, eat my meals at any time, open gifts at any time, get out of bed at any time. It's not how I would ever choose to spend the holiday.

But things aren't all bad. I hope you're managing in whatever circumstances you find yourself in during these holidays. Merry Christmas!

Advent meditation: Hope

A brief meditation on hope which I delivered this morning at my church

During these last eight months I’ve spent some time thinking about hope. Maybe this is a difficult time to be hopeful. Our days are growing shorter and darker and we know the darkest days yet to come. And although Calgary has its share of warm Chinook winds, it’s cold today and we know it will get colder. And although there is promising news about vaccines to combat COVID, we know it will be several more months before we see real change.

As I prepared this meditation I looked up famous quotations about hope and I was surprised to discover they weren’t all inspirational. Some famous sayings about hope were written by cynics, by people who did not believe in hope. I don’t know how a human being can survive without hope. When you’re hopeless, every day must be dark, every environment cold and every illness incurable.

But we come from a tradition steeped in hope. The prophets of the Old Testament lived in times of weak or corrupt leaders, civilization on the verge of collapse and worst of all, people turning their hearts from God. But the prophets boldly foretold the coming of a Messiah who would make things right. This hope was carried from prophet to prophet like a relay race until finally John the Baptist saw the beginning of Christ’s mission on Earth. Those prophets put their hope in God and God never fails.

And we today are not unlike the people awaiting their Messiah, for we are anticipating when Christ will come again. So I have hope. I hope that darkness will pass into light, cold thaw into warmth, sickness will yield to healing and hearts reconciled to God.

No shadow comes without the light making a way; no raging storm can ever defy one word of faith; my heart remains sure in the wind sure in the waves.

Today at Sequart: new Christopher Priest essay!

My newest Sequart essay "Panther's Priest" can now be read online. This is a retrospective of Christopher Priest's career up to when he became author of the Black Panther. I wrote this principally to put his career into perspective so as to better judge how his past writing experiences influenced where he took the Black Panther. I hope you enjoy it!

Marvel Monsters digital trade is on Comixology!

Comixology is now offering a digital 'trade' version of Marvel Monsters, collecting all of the books from that series, including my title Marvel Monsters: From the Files of Ulysses Bloodstone. In fact, the cover of the trade is taken from my book!

Marvel's monsters unleashed in four timeless tales by today's hottest creators! In MONSTERS ON THE PROWL, it's the Hulk, the Thing, Giant-Man and the Beast vs. a tidal wave of classic creatures when the Collector inadvertently lets loose Droom, Grogg, Goom, Rombuu, Grattu and more on New York City! In DEVIL DINOSAUR, two young Celestials debate prehistoric Earth's superior life form. But when the ferocity of Devil Dinosaur proves no match for the opposition, a savage from the future is brought back for a battle you thought you'd never see: Hulk vs. Devil Dino! In FIN FANG FOUR, four giant monsters - incarcerated for years for their crimes against humanity - now find themselves shrunk to human size and working at the home of the very people who captured them: the Fantastic Four! Meet Googam, Son of Goom; Elektro; Gorgilla; and Fin Fang Foom! But when Goom's mad plan to rescue his father goes awry, the quartet must put aside their differences and become - the Fin Fang Four! And in WHERE MONSTERS DWELL, witness the terror of Monstrollo, the horror of Manoo and the fright of Bombu!

You can purchase the trade here.

The Biblical Influence in Wyllis Cooper's Quiet, Please

Quiet, Please was a radio drama series created by Wyllis Cooper which ran from 1947-1949. Each episode starred Ernest Chappell as the lead performer, usually framed with Chappell speaking directly to the audience. Cooper had previously created the radio series Lights Out; Quiet, Please was at times a horror program like Lights Out, but at other times it leaned towards dark fantasy... or even defied genre!

Unfortunately we don't have much of Cooper's Lights Out episodes to compare with Quiet, Please; the vast majority of surviving episodes of Lights Out are those which were written & produced by Arch Oboler. But comparing Oboler's Lights Out to Cooper's Quiet, Please there is one obvious difference between the two men's styles: Cooper's interest in religion.

Oboler's Lights Out told stories which emphasized a rough (disproprtionate) sense of karma and/or hubris. A man wants to capture a big spider; he dies. A woman dances on a grave; she dies. A woman likes jazz music; brother, she dies! Perhaps the Lights Out episode "Nature Study" is the definitive Oboler morality play as the actual spoken aloud text of the story is that everyone who dies is being punished for their misdeeds.

Even in what little we have of Cooper's Lights Out, his evident Christian upbringing is noticeable. In "Uninhabited", three soldiers returning from World War I realize they are the veritable reincarnations of the three wise men from the story of Jesus' birth.

Many episodes of Quiet, Please have Biblical elements. Some are very subtle such as "Let the Lilies Consider", which is titled after the passage found in Matthew 6:28 & Luke 12:27. "Kill Me Again" features the Devil himself. "Calling All Souls" is a rare Halloween story which emphasizes All Saints' Day instead. In "Adam and the Darkest Day, a man named Adam who survives the near-destruction of all human life is told his name is an appropriate one.

But then there are other stories which delve much deeper into the Bible and Biblical characters.

"The Third Man's Story" features Ernest Chappell as the Biblical character Abel, recounting the story of Abel's murder (Genesis 4:1-8).

"Very Unimportant Person" features Ernest Chappell as an airplane pilot who has just survived a nuclear holocaust when he finds a stowaway on his plane who is God himself in an outcome which seems drawn from Revelation 21:1.

"Berlin, 1945" features Ernest Chappell as Jesus Christ, who visits lonesome soldiers in Berlin at the end of World War II; Chappell's identity is never spoken aloud and is only revealed in the last line of dialogue.

"Portrait of a Character" features Ernest Chappell as St. Gabriel the angel, who has just received a 'gig' to play his horn. Gabriel as a horn blower isn't directly from the Bible (wherein he appears to Zacharias and to Mary in Luke's gospel), but the tradition is derived from verses such as 1 Corinthians 15:52.

"A Time To Be Born and a Time to Die" is easily the most directly drawn from the Bible as it features Ernest Chappell as a man whose life directly follows the lines of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8.

Finally, "Shadow of the Wings" is a warm Easter tale starring Ernest Chappell as the Angel of Death, who helpfully recounts his tale from Exodus 12:23-30.

Wyllis Cooper's strong Christian influence in his writing definitely sets him apart from Arch Oboler as well as his contemporaries in radio horror/fantasy stories. It's yet another interesting aspect of Quiet, Please.

Review: Boxers and Saints

Having recently read Gene Luen Yang's Dragon Hoops, I felt spurred to check out a pair of books of his which I had missed: Boxers and Saints, which were published in 2013. Although each graphic novel has a different protagonist, they have the same setting (during the Boxer Rebellion) and not only do characters appear in both books, but events are repeated from different perspectives.

Boxers concerns Little Bao, a young man who gradually becomes the leader of a rebellion which is determined to kill all foreigners in China as well as those Chinese who have converted to Christianity. Little Bao becomes more zealous and fanatical as time carries on.

In Saints we meet Vibiana, a neglected Chinese girl who converts to Christianity after seeing a vision of Joan of Arc, then finds herself in the path of Little Bao's army.

It's only now that I've read my fifth Gene Luen Yang title that I'm beginning to see recurring patterns in Yang's work -- like, he really, really likes dream sequences. They figure into everything I've read so far, including Boxers and Saints.

But I'm kind of mixed as to how I feel about Boxers and Saints. I love the idea of telling the same story from two different perspectives and the Boxer Rebellion is a pretty fertile setting and one which I was interested in learning more about. But I feel like these two books would have been stronger as one single graphic novel.

You see, the division between Little Bao and Vibiana is not equal. Boxers is exactly the length of Saints! And for that, while Vibiana appears only briefly as a character in Boxers, Little Bao gets a lot of new material in Saints. It feels like Yang is more strongly drawn to the mysticism of Little Bao and less comfortable writing Christianity (strange that, as in Dragon Hoops I learned he was working at a Catholic school). Or perhaps he was simply more comfortable writing about a male protagonist than he was a female one.

I do recommend the two books and definitely think if you're going to read one you really should read both.

Five Dummies That Couldn't Be Silenced

In writing about old-time radio I've mentioned that comedy programs are frequently the most difficult for me to appreciate. One of the big comedy stars of old-time radio was Edgar Bergen with his ventriloquist dummy Charlie McCarthy. Much has been made of how unusual it was that ventriloquism could be a hit on the radio when audiences couldn't even see Bergen & McCarthy. Bergen cast a pretty large shadow, considering he lived long enough to make a cameo (with Charlie) in The Muppet Movie (1979). I think it's fair to say that when people tell fictional stories about ventriloquists and their dummies they tend to be inspired by Bergen.

One unusual trend in fiction about ventriloquists is the idea of the ventriloquist developing a split personality, engaging in a conflict with his dummy over which of them is the dominant personality. It has been played out in a few different places and I thought it would be fun to look at the most prominent instances. However, I'm not going to consider stories where the dummy is simply an independent force (ie, Twilight Zone's "Caesar and Me"), the dummy has to be in some way a part of the ventriloquist's personality.

As ventriloquist dummies are pretty creepy, each dummy will graded on the Charlie McCarthy scale. A rating of '1 Charlie' means the dummy is as creepy as Charlie McCarthy, '2 Charlies' means twice as creepy and so forth.

OTTO

From: "The Rival Dummy" (1928) a short story by Ben Hecht; also adapted into The Great Gabbo (1929), a film directed by James Cruze, as "The Rival Dummy" into an episode of the radio series Molle Mystery Theater (1946) and as an episode of the television series Studio One (1949).

Creep factor: 1 Charlie

What's His Deal?: As best as I can tell, Hecht's story is the originator of the 'evil dummy' genre and he wrote it 8 years before Bergen's breakout success! (Bergen was in vaudeville at the time) This dummy is not exactly evil and there is nothing supernatural about the story, but the ventriloquist Gabbo (played by Erich von Stroheim in the picture) finds himself over-indulging in his dummy, losing his own identity. Later writers took this concept, added a bit of Bergen and a lot of terror!

TOBY

From: Dead of Night (1945), a film directed by Alberto Cavalcanti; also adapted into an episode of the radio show Escape (1947)

Creep factor: 1 Charlie

What's His Deal?: This is easily the most famous 'evil dummy' story. Maxwell Frere (played by Michael Redgrave in the picture) finds his dummy Toby keeps saying things against his will. It might be the work of a rival ventriloquist -- or the dummy might have a life of his own. Note that the radio adaptation goes in quite a different direction from the movie.

RIABOUCHINSKA

From: "Riabouchinska" (1947), written by Ray Bradbury as an episode of the radio series Suspense; subsequently published as a short story "And So Died Riabouchinska" (1953), adapted to television's Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1956) and to television's Ray Bradbury Theater (1988).

Creep factor: 0.5 Charlies

What's HisHer Deal?: Riabouchinska is the female dummy of John Fabian (played by Claude Rains in the picture), a ventriloquist who previously used a Charlie-esque male dummy but later modeled a new dummy on the assistant he had been infatuated with. This is an interesting reversal of the usual evil dummy stories -- in this case, Riabouchinska is the embodiment of good while Fabian is evil!

WILLIE

From: "The Dummy" (1962) an episode of television's The Twilight Zone written by Rod Serling.

Creep factor: 2 Charlies

What's His Deal?: Ventriloquist Jerry Etherson (played by Cliff Robertson in the picture) is having a lot of trouble in his act; he has two dummies: the Charlie-esque Willie and the Mortimer Snerd-esque Goofy Goggles. But, as in Dead of Night, the dummy has a big ego, one which is overwhelming the ventriloquist -- however, it leads to a much more horrifying outcome than that film!

FATS

From: Magic (1976), a novel by William Goldman; also adapted into the film Magic (1978) directed by Richard Attenborough.

Creep factor: 5 Charlies

What's His Deal?: Corky Withers (played by Anthony Hopkins in the picture) is a frustrated stage magician who suffers a mental breakdown when success keeps eluding him. He reinvents his magic act by adopting Fats, a ventriloquist dummy. He cleverly uses Fats as a distraction to help him execute magic tricks and soon he gains all the success he wanted -- but Fats has developed into a separate personality and he's on the verge of a much more dangerous mental breakdown.

RIP: Sean Connery

You might find it hard to believe, but I grew up thinking James Bond movies were boring. Although my parents were (and are) both big fans of the movies, I don't recall any positive memories about seeing the films in my childhood. Positive memories of spending time with my parents, but nothing else.

Casino Royale changed my perspective on Bond, largely thanks to that film's attempt to be a Bond film for people who don't like Bond films (ie, me). Since then, I've learned to appreciate the Bond franchise history.

But is Sean Connery my favourite Bond? Nope, I'm for Daniel Craig.

To me, Sean Connery's greatest role was Daniel Dravot in The Man Who Would Be King (1975). I enjoyed many of Connery's roles -- heck, my parents dragged me to see Medicine Man -- but Connery's performance as a scoundrel who makes himself a godlike king then is undone by his own passions remains my personal favourite of his films.

Rest in peace Mr. Connery.

The Marvel Westerns collection is on Comixology!

Comixology is now offering the collected version of Marvel Westerns. It contains all of the Marvel Westerns titles from the 2006 event -- including my book, Marvel Westerns: Outlaw Files!

The Solicitation:

Marvel's masked men ride again in all-new tales by a posse of today's most talented creators! It's the raucous return of Two-Gun Kid, Hurricane, Red Wolf, the Man From Fort Rango, Kid Colt, Arizona Annie, the Black Rider, Gunhawk and more! And introducing the Philadelphia Filly and Spender! Plus: re-presenting the origin of Rawhide Kid by Jack "King" Kirby and other classic Marvel Western tales.

Check it out here on Comixology!

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 31 of 31: "The Corpse Nobody Loved"

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

To conclude my month-long look at hightlights from the series Inner Sanctum, I'm featuring "The Corpse Nobody Loved," an episode originally broadcast on September 21th, 1952. This was among the earliest episodes of the series I heard and it has a strange dream-like quality to it. A young woman catches a taxi, then finds herself seated next to a corpse!

"The Corpse Nobody Loved" was hosted by Paul McGrath.

You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Thank you for joining me during this month's theme! I hope you enjoyed it!

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 30 of 31: "The Meek Die Slowly"

Today I'm looking at the Inner Sanctum episode "The Meek Die Slowly," which was originally broadcast on September 7th, 1952. Many episodes of Inner Sanctum attempt to conceal the show's murderer -- this is not such an episode. Our anti-hero is a gardener who finds himself tortured by what seem to be the ghost of a young woman he murdered.

"The Meek Die Slowly" was hosted by Paul McGrath and starred Arnold Moss. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Tomorrow I wrap up this year's Halloween theme!

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 29 of 31: "Strange Passenger"

Earlier I looked at the Inner Sanctum episode "The Hitch-Hiking Corpse" and disputed it having any connection to Lucille Fletcher's "The Hitchhiker." Today I'm looking at "Strange Passenger" which was first broadcast on August 31, 1952, and it has much more in common with Fletcher's play than the former program! This episode features another lonely driver on the highway at night; he keeps seeing a woman hitchhiker at the side of the road... and his radio doesn't seem to stop playing "Star Dust."

"Strange Passenger" was hosted by Paul McGrath and featured Joan Lorring and Leon Janney. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 28 of 31: "Murder Off the Record"

Today I'm looking at the Inner Sanctum episode "Murder Off the Record," which was originally broadcast on August 3rd, 1952. At this point, Inner Sanctum had been on the air for 11 years but, as this episode demonstrates, their quality remained consistent. This was one of the first episode I heard of the series. It opens with a man entering a record store and beginning to record a confession of the strange events which had recently transpired in his life. It seems a weighing machine predicted fortune for him -- and very quickly the prediction came through!

"Murder Off the Record" was hosted by Paul McGrath and featured Ken Lynch, Lawson Zerbe, Lesley Woods and Santos Ortega. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 27 of 31: "Death Pays the Freight"

There are so, so many stories in old-time radio wherein a character meets a random stranger who is their exact double. Such a story is "Death Pays the Freight," an Inner Sanctum episode which was originally broadcast on July 6th, 1952. This story concerns a hobo on a boxcar who kills a man in self-defense. Realizing the dead man is practically his twin he decides to adopt the dead man's identity, then finds out the dead man was a hitman!

"Death Pays the Freight" was hosted by Paul McGrath and featured Everett Sloane, Leon Janney and Ralph Bell. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 26 of 31: "Terror by Night"

Compared to the likes of Suspense, Inner Sanctum seldom had many big-name talents starring in their programs, but "Terror by Night" is one of the happy exceptions. This episode, first broadcast on June 29th, 1952, stars one of Suspense's top stars, Agnes Moorehead! Like yesterday's episode, we have a plot in which a lone driver travelling at night runs into a dangerous situation. In this instance, Moorehead ends up meeting a man who has a body in the trunk of his car. It has a great pay-off at the climax!

"Terror by Night" was hosted by Paul McGrath and starred Agnes Moorehead. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 25 of 31: "The Hitch-Hiking Corpse"

"The Hitch-Hiking Corpse" is an episode of Inner Sanctum which was originally broadcast on January 23, 1950. Strangely, the RadioGold Index refers to this as an 'adaptation' of Lucille Fletcher's play "The Hitchhiker" (best known as an episode of Suspense). The Index even lists Lucille Fletcher as the author but it's a pretty dubious connection: the two plays have nothing in common other than the presence of a hitchhiker.

In the Fletcher play, a man driving across country keeps seeing the same ghostly hitchhiker everywhere he goes. In this, "The Hitch-Hiking Corpse," a trucker picks up a hitch-hiking woman who claims to have supernatural powers and might be a murderer.

"The Hitch-Hiking Corpse" was hosted by Paul McGrath and featured Ken Lynch, Mercedes McCambridge and Everett Sloane. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 24 of 31: "A Corpse for Halloween"

"A Corpse for Halloween." There's a title to get you in the Halloween spirit! This story concerns a man who once went on a treasure hunt with two other men, then left them to die in the jaws of a tiger. Now, one of the two supposedly dead men has returned, badly disfigured and vowing revenge on his former ally. The marked man must run through streets of costumed Halloween revelers with no idea where the next attempt on his life will be held.

"A Corpse for Halloween" was, appropriately, originally broadcast on October 31st, 1949. This episode was hosted by Paul McGrath and featured Berry Kroeger, Larry Haines and Mercedes McCambridge. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 23 of 31: "The Devil's Workshop"

I have no problem with Inner Sanctum getting a little weird and creepy. This outing, "The Devil's Workshop," is one with a very strong supernatural concept -- a wax dummy seems to have come to life -- and unlike the perceived Inner Sanctum trope, there's no real cop-out ending. There's not much in the way of answers no matter how you look at it and the episode is better for it. I think this is one of the series' best programs.

"The Devil's Workshop" was originally broadcast on October 10th, 1949. It was hosted by Paul McGrath and featured Mason Adams, Joan Banks, Martin Gabel and Lawson Zerbe. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 22 of 31: "Deadly Fare"

Yesterday I looked at a hearse driver in Inner Sanctum's "Only the Dead Die Twice." Today the protagonist is a cab driver in "Deadly Fare," which was originally broadcast on July 18th, 1949. The concept is a strong one -- a taxi driver finds himself at the mercy of his latest fare, a murderer. In the hands of Suspense, it would have been a strong half hour. Come to think of it, it has a little in common with the film Collateral, doesn't it?

"Deadly Fare" was hosted by Paul McGrath and featured Larry Haines, Everett Sloane, Lawson Zerbe and Berry Kroeger. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 21 of 31: "Only the Dead Die Twice"

Today I'm looking back on "Only the Dead Die Twice," an episode of Inner Sanctum which was originally broadcast March 21, 1949. The story concerns a hearse driver who is hired by a woman to collect the body of her dead husband. It's a bad idea, but the driver agrees -- then finds out the dead man isn't even her husband...

"Only the Dead Die Twice" was hosted by Paul McGrath and featured Larry Haines, Alice Reinheart, Everett Sloane and Joseph Julian. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 20 of 31: "Fearful Voyage"

Today I'm featuring the Inner Sanctum episode titled "Fearful Voyage," originally broadcast on January 3rd, 1949. Our story concerns the crew of a ship and it's seemingly-mad captain who insists that he's married to a ghost.

"Fearful Voyage" was hosted by Paul McGrath and featured Arnold Moss, Eslpeth Eric, Santos Ortega and Joseph Julian. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month: day 19 of 31 "Murder by Prophecy"

Here's one of my favourite episodes of Inner Sanctum: "Murder by Prophecy," which was originally broadcast September 27, 1948. Our story concerns an heir who discovers a prophecy which seems to promise him access to immense wealth which has been hidden somewhere. The man attempts to follow the prophecy to the letter, even though it means he must commit several murders!

"Murder by Prophecy" was hosted by Paul McGrath and featured Joseph Julian, Santos Ortega, Alice Reinheart and Alan Devitt. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month: day 18 of 31: "Death Demon"

For today's episode of Inner Sanctum, let's delve into something a little more original than most. Here's a story about a melodramatic young man whose father is dead; his uncle has married his widowed mother. Then the son makes contact with his father's ghost and learns his uncle is the one who killed him--- wait a minute, you're saying this has been done before?

Oh, well. Please enjoy "Death Demon," originally broadcast July 5, 1948. This episode was hosted by Paul McGrath and starred Everett Sloane. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month: day 17 of 31: "Elixir Number Four"

Aw, yeah! Richard Widmark! This episode of Inner Sanctum is sometimes called "Elixir Number Four" and sometimes called "The Man Who Couldn't Die," depending on whom you ask. I first heard the story introduced as "Elixir Number Four," so that's the title I'm sticking with. Whatever you call it, it was originally broadcast February 12, 1946.

Richard Widmark -- who could always be counted on for a playing a great smarmy character (as in The Colorblind Formula) -- portrays a young man who learns his girlfriend's father has invented a formula which grants eternal life to the one who uses it. But really, the formula is merely a MacGuffin to get the plot rolling -- really the story is about Widmark's growing interest in the formula, plot to murder the professor and then how his scheme comes undone.

This episode was hosted by Paul McGrath and starred Richard Widmark. This marks the last episode of Inner Sanctum Mystery I'll be featuring in this series which includes Lipton commercials with Mary Bennett. "Good riddance," say most listeners. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month: day 16 of 31: "Skeleton Bay"

Today's episode of Inner Sanctum is "Skeleton Bay", which was originally broadcast February 5, 1946 and produced again on January 30, 1950. The story features a mystery writer on vacation who witnesses a murder. She then extends a helping hand to the killer to help him conceal the crime. Having been the author of crime stories, she thrills to the idea of becoming involvved in an actual crime -- but perhaps a murderer isn't the best person you could have for a friend.

"Skeleton Bay" was hosted by Paul McGrath and starred Mercedes McCambridge. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here. The 1950 version is available here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 15 of 31: "The Creeping Wall"

There are a lot of rip-offs in old-time radio scripts, especially when you examine a series such as Inner Sanctum, it being a program which wasn't under a tremendous amount of scrutiny when it first appeared. If Suspense stole someone's idea, that might be news -- but if Inner Sanctum did it, possibly no one would notice. Which brings me to today's episode of Inner Sanctum: "The Creeping Wall", first broadcast January 8, 1946.

The story concerns a wife who is under mental strain. She seems to suffer from hallucinations and is particularly haunted by the wallpaper in her house. If this sounds a little like "The Yellow Wallpaper," well, that's not an accident. This story is an unapologetic rip-off of the famous 1892 short story "The Yellow Wallpaper" by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. You can read the original story on Project Gutenberg. It doesn't take that long to read. That story received an official adaptation on the July 29, 1948 episode of Suspense, starring Agnes Moorehead; you can listen to that here.

"The Yellow Wallpaper" is still studied at many universities today because it serves as an example of feminist literature. The ways in which the husband in the original story belittles his wife's condition are not too dissimilar to the one in "The Creeping Wall." However, while "The Yellow Wallpaper" climaxes on a moment of intense horror, "The Creeping Wall" ends on a rather upbeat ending with the wife described as 'beautiful'. If you're studying "The Yellow Wallpaper", perhaps comparing it to "The Creeping Wall" would make a strong essay?

"The Creeping Wall" was hosted by Paul McGrath and starred Irene Wicker. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 14 of 31: "The Undead"

As I once indicated in my list Various Venerable Vampires of Various Value in Vintage Radio, vampires were somewhat scarce in old-time radio. Although Inner Sanctum's host loved to crack jokes about vampires, they seldom flashed a fang in the program itself. A rare and welcome exception is "The Undead," which was originally broadcast December 18, 1945. In this story, a woman begins to wonder about her husband, an actor who only seems to work by night; then she finds an old obituary in his name -- and she begins to worry that he plans to make her one of the living dead.

I blogged about Ernie Colon's comic book version of this story here.

"The Undead" was hosted by Paul McGrath and starred Anne Seymour. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 13 of 31: "The Dark Chamber"

When it comes to horror on Inner Sanctum Mysteries, it's hard to get more basic than the episode "The Dark Chamber." It was first broadcast December 11, 1945 and concerns an army veteran who finds himself trapped in a room by a mad scientist who is intent on studying fear by inflicting terror upon his prisoners. In other words, the mad scientist is doing the same thing as the program's writers -- trying to scare his audience. It's a pretty far-fetched episode but man, the actors are committed in their performances!

The script to this episode was recycled on Murder at Midnight on May 26, 1947. This episode was hosted by Paul McGrath and featured Ken Lynch. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here. Dare to compare! You can hear the Murder at Midnight version here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 12 of 31: "Portrait of Death"

In the Inner Sanctum story "Portrait of Death" (originally broadcast June 12, 1945), a painting seems to predict death in the home of its owner. A woman who hints at the painting's power keeps trying to acquire it... could she be the killer?

This episode was hosted by Paul McGrath and the cast included Lesley Woods, Santos Ortega and Berry Kroeger. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 11 of 31: "Death Across the Board"

For many years, Inner Sanctum Mysteries had been hosted by Raymond Edward Johnson; this episode features another famous 'Raymond' -- Raymond Massey! In "Death Across the Board", which was first broadcast June 5, 1945, Massey plays a fan of chess who discovers a criminal mastermind has decided to play a real-life game of chess using live human beings as the pieces -- and now Massey has been put into the game!

The script to this episode was recycled on Murder at Midnight on November 16, 1946; it was one of a handful of Inner Sanctum scripts which were recycled on Murder at Midnight. This episode was hosted by Paul McGrath and starred Raymond Massey. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here. Dare to compare! You can hear the Murder at Midnight version here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 10 of 31: "Musical Score"

One of the strengths of Inner Sanctum Mysteries was how they would frequently make music part of their story. In "Musical Score", originally broadcast May 29, 1945, a man on a life raft can't stand the song a man is humming to his wife. The man sends both of them to a watery grave. Some time later he begins to kill off the other people who were on the raft so he can conceal his guilt, but the tune he heard on the raft still haunts his mind.

With this episode, Paul McGrath became the host of Inner Sanctum Mystery. Fans used to confuse him with Raymond Edward Johnson; although he essentially played the same character, he's only ever referred to as "Mr. Host". The cast includes Berry Kroeger, Santos Ortega and Arnold Moss. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 9 of 31: "The Black Art"

Inner Sanctum Mysteries loved to hint at the supernatural but seldom followed through. All the same, the supernatural menace in many of their stories is a great source of tension and suspense. Such a program is "The Black Art", which was first broadcast May 15, 1945. In this tale, a convict is visited by a woman who claims to have supernatural powers and offers to rescue him from death!

This was the final episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries to be hosted by Raymond Edward Johnson. Simone Simon stars. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month day 8 of 31: "The Girl and the Gallows"

Today's I'm looking back at the Inner Sanctum episode "The Girl and the Gallows", which was originally broadcast May 1, 1945. This episode has strong supernatural overtones as a woman's stepmother foretells the woman's death upon the gallows. Everything she predicts seems to come true...

This episode was hosted by Raymond Edward Johnson and starred Wendy Barrie. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 7 of 31: "Song of the Slasher"

Today's episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries is "Song of the Slasher", which was originally broadcast April 24, 1945. This episode concerns a knife-wielding maniac who seems to whistle a tune as he commits his crime. Somehow the police are able to get near enough to hear the whistle yet not catch the man. This story is definitely a bit hard to swallow, but it has a great atmosphere (especially the whistling) and a neat twist in the climax.

This episode was hosted by Raymond Edward Johnson and starred Arnold Moss, Jackson Beck, Lesley Woods and Lawson Zerbe. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 6 of 31: "The Judas Clock"

Today the Inner Sanctum episode I'd like to revisit is one I've blogged about before: "The Judas Clock", first broadcast April 17, 1945. This is my absolute favourite episode of Inner Sanctum Mysteries, so I'd be cuckoo not to bring it up.

This is the prime episode I turn to when I want to show OTR fans just how good Inner Sanctum can be. The story involves a clock which depicts the Biblical Judas Iscariot. It's not a very happy subject for a work of art and indeed, this clock can kill! The episode is a bit more gruesome than the usual fare on Inner Sanctum -- when I was a teenager I heard it while riding in the car with my family and my mother was disgusted by the violence in this tale. Just remember, it's all in your mind...

This phenomenal episode is hosted by Raymond Edward Johnson and features Berry Kroeger, Santos Ortega, Jackson Beck and Alice Reinheart. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 5 of 31: "The Bog-Oak Necklace"

Today I'm looking back to the Inner Sanctum episode "The Bog-Oak Necklace", which was originally broadcast April 10, 1945. This story is told largely in flashback as learn how a bog-oak necklace was used to commit murder; in the framing sequences, the necklace has resurfaced and the killer's guilty conscience tears them apart. You won't soon forget the protagonist's first name...

This episode is hosted by Raymond Edward Johnson and stars Miriam Hopkins, Santos Ortega, Lesley Woods and Alan Devitt. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 4 of 31: "No Coffin for the Dead"

"No Coffin for the Dead" was first broadcast February 20, 1945. This episode dives straight into the action as two men are assaulted by a knife-wielding maniac. The survivor begins an investigation to locate the real killer, but the man he identifies isn't even able to walk. This episode has a very strong climax!

By the time of this episode the series had a new sponsor: Lipton Tea & Lipton Soup. This brought to the show a new commercial spokesperson, Mary Bennett. Her chipper manner is definitely a contrast to Raymond's horrible puns or the grisly actions in the script. Most fans of the series disdain Mary; she definitely has a few moments where her commercials undermine the tension of the play. On the other hand, her back-and-forth with Raymond is occasionally enjoyable.

This episode features Raymond Edward Johnson as the host; the cast includes Les Tremayne, Santos Ortega, Luis Van Rooten and Alice Frost. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 3 of 31: "The Colorblind Formula"

Today I'm featuring the Inner Sanctum Mystery titled "The Color Blind Formula", which was first broadcast December 6, 1944. This episode involves a scientist who has a created a solution to cure color-blindness. However, it seems the scientist has been murdered and a blackmailer has figured out what's happened. This was a wartime story, which becomes relevant near the end of the episode. This is one of several episodes featuring Richard Widmark, who had a terrific radio voice!

The surviving copy of this episode is version from the Mystery Playhouse hosted by Peter Lorre. The actual program is hosted by Raymond Edward Johnson and the lead role belongs to Richard Widmark. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 2 of 31: "The Black Sea Gull"

Today I'm looking at the Inner Sanctum Mystery episode "The Black Sea Gull", which was first broadcast March 7, 1943. This episode stars Peter Lorre as a man whose wife dies while promising she will return from death itself. A black sea gull seems to confirm her promise. Peter Lorre always gave 110% on the radio and this program is no exception!

This episode features Raymond Edward Johnson as the host; Peter Lorre stars. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Inner Sanctum Halloween Month, day 1 of 31: "The Amazing Death of Mrs. Putnam"

Welcome to my October 2020 Halloween Old-Time Radio theme month! This year I've decided to feature 31 episodes of the series Inner Sanctum Mystery, which was broadcast 1941-1952. It was also the name of a line of mystery books which were promoted on the radio show, and it lent its name (but little else) to a Universal film series. It briefly became a television series in 1954.

Inner Sanctum Mystery is disdained by some fans of old-time radio because among horror fans, it has a reputation for cop-out endings. There are definitely quite a few episodes which hint towards there being some dark supernatural menace which is ultimately revealed as a hallucination, dream or carefully-orchestrated plot by the police to trick the killer into confessing his crimes. But it's not fair to chacterized the series as entirely 'cop-outs'. There are many episodes with no supernatural elements at all and there the show would commit to its content.

We might as well begin with the first episode of Inner Sanctum Mystery: "The Amazing Death of Mrs. Putnam", broadcast January 7, 1941. If you're already familiar with the show you'll find this episode is a little 'off'. The content is mostly a crime-detective story, complete with a bumbling sidekick for the hero. But this modest little program is where it all began!

This episode features Raymond Edward Johnson as the host; the cast includes Alan Devitt, House Jameson and Everett Sloane. The commercial sponsor is Carter's Little Liver Pills. You can listen to this episode at archive.org by clicking here.

Angola in the Comics #15: Black Jack in "White Lion"

I don't seldom look at manga on this blog, but in the past I've indicated that one of the mangas I enjoyed was Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack, a series about the world's greatest surgeon, an unlicensed practitioner who demands the top dollar for his work, yet despite that has a deep conscience and sense of justice. Recently I've been going through the volumes I hadn't read (printed in English by Vertical) when in volume 12 I found -- of all things -- a story referencing Angola!

I don't know where the story called "White Lion" was first published, although it appears to be from the 1970s. In this story, Black Jack is hired by the owner of a zoo in Japan which recently received Luna Luna, a rare white lion from Angola, which is referenced as being "recently independent". The lion appears to be sick and although Black Jack's specialities are in human medicine, the zoo hopes he can help the cub. What Black Jack discovers is that the lion isn't simply white furred -- it's suffering from albinism. To save Luna Luna's life, Black Jack injects him with melanin, darkening the lion's skin and fur. The lion is now of little interest to the zoo, who return him to Angola.

I'm not sure what inspired this particular story of Tezuka's -- I've noticed that many of his Black Jack comics were drawn from contemporary news items in Japan. So why Angola? Just because it had recently become indepdendent? And why white lions? Simply because of Tezuka's earlier series Kimba the White Lion, or was there an issue at a Japanese zoo which was similar to this? Regardless of where the story came from, the references to Angola's independence are nice, and lions were certainly in Angola at the time (today, probably not so much). So far as I know, white lions are found in South Africa, but at least this is within southern Africa. I've never considered the effects of albinism on animals, but albinism is certainly an issue all over Africa. In my own vists to Angola, my uncle patiently explained to me how carefully albinos must protect themselves from the sun -- much as Black Jack recounts in this comic.

What an interesting place to find a comic book reference to Angola. Thanks, Tezuka!

"One man's terrorist is another man's liberator, father." Black review

I recently sat down and read Black, a trade paperback published by Black Mask which collects all six issues of the comic book series by writer Kwanza Osajyefo and artist Jamal Igle. It was originally published in 2016 and drew some controversy at the time. The controversy seemed to be rooted in the premise: that Black is a super hero story set in a world where only black people have super powers. I assumed the criticism was coming from the more racist and fragile corners of toxic online comics fandom - I intended to keep an open mind as I read the book.

Unfortunately, I was very disappointed in this series. The idea that only black people have super powers in this world is a provocative notion. However, I don't think the comic ever lives up to its premise. I've never read anything by Osajyefo before -- it appears Black was his first big project. I was familiar with Igle, however, and the story is definitely helped by Igle's steady artwork. Although the entire story was rendered in black and white, Igle's dynamic art keeps the story looking energetic.

Initially Black seems to have two point-of-view characters encountering its world. One is a young man named Kareem Jenkins who gains his powers at the start of the series after being gunned down by police officers. Jenkins is quickly snapped up by a secret society of black superhumans who explain something about their world to him. The second POV character is Ellen Michaels, a black police detective who examines the black superhuman community from the outside. However, when Michaels finally confronts the superhumans in the fifth issue her story is basically over; well before that point it's clear that Jenkins is the one true protagonist of this series.

Yet although Jenkins is a decent POV character in terms of explaining the world the superhumans run around in, he's virtually a blank slate; beyond being black and having powers I never came to understand his character. Like, he had two friends at his side when he was gunned down in the opening pages; not once does he seem to care about his friends' murder or wonder if either of them similarly survived the attack by manifesting super powers. Not once does Jenkins look back at his old life -- whatever that was -- and yearn to see his family or friends. We don't even get a sense of his age or occupation. Once he's brought into the fold by the black superhumans, he exists solely in a world populated by superhumans (and their enemies).

I feel it's a problem as it becomes hard to define what exactly is at stake in Black. The main concern seems to be keeping the black superhumans' existence a secret, but when they eventually reveal that superhuman blacks have existed in this world for more than 150 years (issue #5 during a long monologue), it becomes awfully hard to believe that the secret could have been kept under wraps. Indeed, the bubble is burst pretty easily in the final pages of the sixth issue. It's not so much that this is what our world would be like if there were black superbeings so much as this is what a super hero world would be like if there were only black superbeings. I mean, the white people who have been oppressing the blacks have super exo-armor and robots. That ain't our world.

This is a very uncharitable comparison, but the comic which I was most reminded of while reading Black was Rob Liefeld's Youngblood. By that I mean, Black is constantly introducing superhumans one mob at a time; they crowd the page, their names and powers unknown (Liefeld at least had the common courtesy to include text boxes identifying where in the thesaurus he found his codenames), then about ten pages later another gaggle of superhumans are introduced. None of them make an impression. There are perhaps one dozen characters who are important to this story's plot, but there are about four dozen characters jockeying for panel time. I think it was meant to indicate that the superbeings in Black are set in a lived-in universe where the local superbeings have a history we readers only glimpse. However, the throngs of superhumans just feel tiresome, much like Liefeld's thesaurus mobs.

The X-Men have been a very flexible premise for exploring different kinds of discrimination while remaining a sci-fi/super hero concept. Black wears its metaphor on its sleeve (I mean, there are teams designated 'King' and 'Selma'; subtle, it ain't); this isn't "people born with super powers would face discrimination" it's "people born with black skin AND super powers would face discrimination." There's also something buried in there about black people possessing power and how that power should/could be exercised. Black is a very interesting premise in search of a plot.

"Let's see if this old timer can still weave a good yarn." The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television review

Back in the 1990s when my family had the Sci Fi Channel, whenever the channel would run marathons of the original Twilight Zone I tried to tune in and catch as many as I could. I certainly didn't love them all equally -- "The Howling Man" mesmerized me; "From Agnes - with Love" was tiresome; and I was flummoxed as to why "The Lateness of the Hour" was shot on video. All in all, I understood why the television series was so highly regarded. Thirty years after their original broadcast, those shows still stood up. I eventually bought the complete series on DVD.

Recently Humanoids published an interesting graphic novel titled The Twilight Man: Rod Serling and the Birth of Television by Koren Shadmi. I had never previously seen Shadmi's work and I'm quite impressed by his style. The art has very clean lines and the pacing is quite relaxed. Somehow Shadmi found a means to tell Serling's life story in less than 170 pages without meandering or rushing through his life; indeed, Shadmi has some very creative ideas about how to approach Serling's life, framing it through scenes of Serling aboard an airplane narrating his biography to another passenger. Shadmi makes the story feel like an authentic account of Serling's life, but the weirdness of the Twilight Zone creeps into Serling's account.

The book is also told in black & white, the format one immediately thinks of when thinking of the Twilight Zone. Scenes set aboard the airplane (the framing device) are cast in deep grey shades, setting them off from the rest of the book. Shadmi spends a fair bit of time on Serling's life before becoming a writer, depicting his actions as a paratrooper in World War II. His wartime exploits aren't explicitly connected to his later career, but these details were very interesting to me. I knew a number of anecdotes about Serling's life and I was pleased to see many of them replicated here - Shadmi recreates Serling's notorioius interview with Mike Wallace and he visits Serling's falling out with Ray Bradbury. I'm a little disappointed that Serling's put-down on Night Gallery as "Mannix in a graveyard" didn't make it in, but the book certainly gets across what a dispiriting experience Night Gallery was for Serling.

I enjoyed learning more about Serling's television career prior to Twilight Zone. I knew of of his productions (and I've seen the film adaptation of Patterns) but this filled in a lot of information about how Serling became a television playwright. For all the acclaim Serling won, it's a little startling to see just how brief that span of his career lasted. The Twilight Zone really secured him a place in television history.

If you're a Twilight Zone fan you'll want to read this; if you're interested in the history of television, you'll find much of interest; if you just want a great biography, check it out.

"This is why people love basketball." Dragon Hoops review

When I was a boy, one summer I went to a summer camp which had a basketball net set up. I played around with the basketball, usually alone. A counselor who must have surmised that I had low self-esteem tried to encourage me in the sport and I got to think that I was okay at it -- but once I saw how much better my classmates at school were at basketball, I keep away from it. In retrospect, I should have asked my parents for a basketball and played it on my own time just for fun. I regret that I've never been very good at any competitive sports.

Which brings me to Gene Luen Yang's new graphic novel Dragon Hoops. I heard the book was nominated for some awards so I signed out a copy from my library knowing nothing about it other than the author and title. But then, Yang is an author I already enjoyed. Years earlier I bought his American Born Chinese based on good word-of-mouth. A few years later when I audited a university course on graphic novels, American Born Chinese was one of the textbooks and the professors brought to light a lot of elements from the novel which I hadn't noticed on my own. (Yang's The Shadow Hero was a fun read too; I reviewed it here)

Hoop Dragons is something of a memoir book with Yang as the lead character. He depicts his own unathleticism (which I empathize with) but, while searching for a topic for his next graphic novel, Yang becomes interested in the basketball team at the Catholic high school where he teaches. This 400+ page tome features Yang's investigation of the sport, taking the time to explain the history of basketball while Yang tries to better understand the members of the Dragons and follows them through the year until they enter the state championship game. At the same time, Yang recounts how DC Comics were courting him to write Superman, but he wasn't certain he should take the assignment after hearing DC's editors gleefully describe how 'Superman isn't Superman' anymore.

Even with my lack of athleticism, I've enjoyed plenty of films about sports -- the triumph of the underdog is always a strong subject, whether it's Rocky, Creed, Remember the Titans or Mean Machine. It's amazing how often these 'underdog stories' play out in real life. Perhaps it's a matter of perspective -- the Dragons' lineup includes the single strongest ranked high school player in the nation -- but the book frequently shows the team's failures. Even some of their victories are tarnished as spectators opine the Dragons lack teamwork. But Yang had no idea when he began the book that he would be following them to their eventual victory.

As someone who gave up a career in comics because I thought my permanent position in a school was a much more secure future, I couldn't believe Yang gave up his teaching job to toil in comics. I understand that he felt he had to follow his passions and go 'all in', but man, in comics you have to fight for every paycheque and there is an infinite number of wannabes who want your job. However much teaching pays in the USA, it still has to be better than becoming another disposable DC Comics writer.

Yang's questionable career goals aside, I highly recommend this book! It will probably be best enjoyed by teenagers but you don't have to like basketball in order to fall under the book's spell.

"You can say it as loud as you like, Ollie. No one cares." The Stringbags review

I recently read The Stringbags by Garth Ennis and P. J. Holden, published by Dead Reckoning earlier this year. This graphic novel brought me a sudden realization: I have not been reading enough Garth Ennis war comics!

It seems virtually every publisher has published at least one of Ennis' war comics: Marvel, DC, Dark Horse, Aftershock, Rebellion, TKO, Avatar, Dynamite, First Second, Titan... one can only wonder when Boom! or IDW will take the plunge. Dead Reckoning is a fairly new comics publisher working as an imprint for the Naval Institute Press. Many of their publication are centered around naval histories, but they branch out into almost anything in the military. The Stringbags is drawn from the history of the British Navy in World War II.

I had never heard of 'stringbags' before reading this book. As is helpfully explained (and demonstrated), the 'stringbags' were biplanes outfitted with torpedoes to combat enemy battleships. The Stringbags is divided into three chapters, each featuring a three-man 'stringbag' crew consisting of Archie, Ollie and Pops. They're fairly broad characters, but the stories aren't character-driven. I was surprised by how educational this book was -- Ennis frequently indulged in lengthy explanations of the actual battles and what their implications were. In the first chapter he depicts the battle of Taranto (previously unknown to me) and how it demonstrated aircraft carriers were superior to battleships. The second chapter depicts the legendary battle of the Bismarck while the third chapter depicts Operation Fuller, an unsuccessful British naval battle (but Ennis explains how the German victory was ultimately insubtantial).

I wasn't familiar with artist P. J. Holden prior to this book either. Even though I'm not well-versed in the details of military equipment, any artist tackling a realistic war comic has to be. Holden's art is full of details but it isn't mechanical -- the details don't interfere with the plot. It's really fine work, as beautiful as a war comic can be.

Whatever my word may be worth, I do highly recommend The Stringbags and I intend to read more of the Ennis war comics that I've missed.

History of Black Panther is up at Sequart!

My new essay about Christopher Priest's Black Panther is up at Sequart; this one is more informational than most as it details the Black Panther's publishing history prior to Priest's arrival in 1998. Check it out and tell me what you think!

My Other 10 Favourite Moments from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

As I stated yesterday, my favourite moment in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. -- the moment which made me a fan of the program -- was in the season 1 finale, when Fitz confessed his feelings for Simmons at the bottom of the ocean. So here are 10 other moments which I really enjoyed during my marathon sessions of all seven seasons, presented in chronological order:

1. Coulson explains how S.H.I.E.L.D. must function as vigilantes from the shadows (2x1: "Shadows")
2. Bobbi takes a bullet for Lance (2x22: "S.O.S.")
3. Simmons recounts her experiences on the planet Maveth (3x5: "4,772 Hours")
4. Bobbi and Lance receive "a spy's goodbye" (3x13: "Parting Shot")
5. Daisy wakes up in the Framework and thinks she's about to be reunited with her boyfriend Lincoln -- but it's Grant Ward (4x15: "Self Control")
6. Lance Hunter breaks Fitz out of jail (5x5: "Rewind")
7. Fitz and Simmons are married (5x12: "The Real Deal")
8. Coulson spends his last days with May (5x22: "The End")
9. Daisy and Simmons get high on alien drugs while looking for Fitz (6x3: "Fear and Loathing on the Planet of Kitson")
10. Fitz and Simmons confront all of the issues and trauma in their relationship (6x6: "Inescapable")

"We are not agents of nothing, we are agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and that still carries weight!" Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. rundown

I came in late to the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. television series. At the time the program began in 2013 I had quit Marvel and was boycotting all Marvel-related products. I relaxed the boycott a few years later, but during that time I heard a few things about the program. Much of what I heard was negative. The early part of season 1 was roundly criticized as an inept 'sci-fi cop show'. I heard good buzz about the ways in which the show tied in to the film Captain America: The Winter Soldier, but after that I seldom heard anything about the program.

After I lifted my boycott I started watching the Marvel Netflix shows. Although they started off rather well, at some point (opinions differ as to whether it was Daredevil season 2 or Iron Fist season 1) the line of shows went off the rails. Each season of those programs played like a 13-hour movie, running just one long continuous storyline. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but all too often the shows simply spun their wheels -- hero confronts villain, villain somehow skates off, resolution deferred; supporting character has a very slow subplot that doesn't go anywhere but pays the actors' bills. It also did not feel like the showrunners particularly cared about the super hero genre (unbelieveably, confirmed by Iron Fist's showrunner).

I considered watching Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. from time to time simply as a means of crossing it off a list. I don't enjoy Ryan Reynolds' Deadpool movies, but I've watched them just for the sake of keeping up on Marvel. 7 seasons of Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. sounded like a lot of tedium. Last month I started watching the series.

I went through those 7 seasons awfully fast; truly, I was hooked. It took a while to really get me -- the Captain America: The Winter Soldier tie-in definitely helped -- but the 1st season came to a very satisfying conclusion. My opinion of the show wavered from time to time -- mostly around mid-season when the plots seemed to be spinning their wheels -- but the performances were always solid and the series rewarded the time I invested in it; every plot came out pretty well. Well, okay, maybe not the Izel plot in season 6, that was pretty much a turkey, but that season's B-plot was pretty good.

I can actually point to a single moment which made me invested in the show -- it's from the season 1 finale, "Beginning of the End." The scientist characters Fitz and Simmons are trapped in a capsule on the bottom of the ocean with little hope of rescue. They fashion a means to escape the capsule but only have enough oxygen in a tank for one of them to reach the surface. As Fitz has broken his arm, he insists Simmons should take the oxygen and save herself. When Simmons protests, Fitz admits that's he in love with her and forces her to use the tank. It leads to an intense scene of Simmons in the ocean, trying to keep an unconscious Fitz's head above water, crying out for help -- when suddenly a helicopter lowers down and Nick Fury reaches out to take her hand. Nothing else in those 7 years landed as hard as that!

As a comics fan, there were some bits I really enjoyed seeing adapted -- their Ghost Rider was astonishingly faithful to the comics; they kept Mr. Hyde as Daisy's father; their Absorbing Man looked great; Glenn Talbot was recurring character; and they had a great 'rogue LMD' plot. Many of the elements from the comics were in-name-only. Like, their Al MacKenzie shares just his name and occupation with the character Bob Harras & Paul Neary created. But it matters very little, since the character they developed was immensely likeable.

Tomorrow I'm going to share a list of my favourite moments from the series. I'm glad I finally checked out this show -- I would now rank it as the best television adaptation of a Marvel Comics property.

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (season 7) Creator Credits

A couple of weeks ago Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. completed its seventh and final season, so I have compiled another list of the comic book creators who innovtated characters and ideas demonstrated on the show. I found the season a little uneven but it hit some great highs and ended the show in a satisfying way.

My full list of Marvel Cinematic Universe creator credits can be found right here.

Stan Lee: co-creator of the Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes (Avengers #1, 1963); of the Inhumans, a sub-species of humanity who possess superhuman abilities (Fantastic Four #45, 1965); of the Inhumans based in a hidden city in the Himalayan mountains (Fantastic Four #47, 1966); of the Kree, an extraterrestrial race (Fantastic Four #64, 1967); of Bruce Banner, a famous scientist (Incredible Hulk #1, 1962); of Nick Fury, a capable soldier; of Gabe Jones, one of the Howling Commandos (Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #1, 1963); of Eric Koenig, an ally of Nick Fury (Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #27, 1966); of S.H.I.E.L.D., an international espionage agency; of Life Model Decoys, S.H.I.E.L.D. androids designed to mimic human behaviour; of Hydra, a terrorist organization which battles S.H.I.E.L.D.; of Nick Fury as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.; of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, a massive flying aircraft carrier; of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying cars with hover technology built into their wheels (Strange Tales #135, 1965); of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents dressed in blue jumpsuits (Strange Tales #139, 1965); of the Hydra logo, a skull atop octopus arms (Strange Tales #151, 1966); of Peggy Carter, Captain America's wartime love interest (Tales of Suspense #75, 1966); of Glenn Talbot, an officer in the US Air Force who battles rogue superhumans (Tales to Astonish #61, 1964); of extraterrestrial robots being sent to observe events on Earth (Thor #132, 1966); of the Terrigen Mist, superhuman crystals which grant the Inhumans their abilities (Thor #146, 1967)

Jack Kirby: co-creator of the Avengers, Earth's Mightiest Heroes (Avengers #1, 1963); of the Red Skull, a Nazi criminal; of Abraham Erskine, inventor of the Super-Solder Serum (Captain America Comics #1, 1941); of the Inhumans, a sub-species of humanity who possess superhuman abilities (Fantastic Four #45, 1965); of the Inhumans based in a hidden city in the Himalayan mountains (Fantastic Four #47, 1966); of the Kree, an extraterrestrial race (Fantastic Four #64, 1967); of Bruce Banner, a famous scientist (Incredible Hulk #1, 1962); of Nick Fury, a capable soldier; of Gabe Jones, one of the Howling Commandos (Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #1, 1963); of S.H.I.E.L.D., an international espionage agency; of Life Model Decoys, S.H.I.E.L.D. androids designed to mimic human behaviour; of Hydra, a terrorist organization which battles S.H.I.E.L.D.; of Nick Fury as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D.; of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier, a massive flying aircraft carrier; of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s flying cars with hover technology built into their wheels (Strange Tales #135, 1965); of S.H.I.E.L.D. agents dressed in blue jumpsuits (Strange Tales #139, 1965); of the Hydra logo, a skull atop octopus arms (Strange Tales #151, 1966); of Peggy Carter, Captain America's wartime love interest (Tales of Suspense #75, 1966); of extraterrestrial robots being sent to observe events on Earth (Thor #132, 1966); of the Terrigen Mist, superhuman crystals which grant the Inhumans their abilities (Thor #146, 1967)

Brian Michael Bendis: co-creator of Victoria Hand, a S.H.I.E.L.D. officer with red highlights in her hair (Dark Avengers #1, 2009); of Elena "Yo-Yo" Rodriguez, a superhuman ally of Daisy who has superhuman speed (Mighty Avengers #13, 2008); of Quake, Daisy JOhnson's codename (New Avengers #20, 2006); of Daisy Johnson, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with the superhuman power to control seismic energy; of Daisy's gloves used to help control her powers (Secret War #2, 2005)

Jonathan Hickman: co-creator of Hive, a parasite-like creature, infecting various people (Secret Warriors #2, 2009); of Yo-Yo Rodriguez having both of her hands cut off by agents of Hydra (Secret Warriors #3, 2009); of Yo-Yo Rodriguez using prosthetic hands (Secret Warriors #8, 2009); of Daniel Whitehall, an agent of Hydra (Secret Warriors #11, 2010); of Conrad Murphy, an ally of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Secret Warriors #24, 2011)

Roy Thomas: co-creator of Quinjets, the personal aircraft of the Avengers (Avengers #61, 1969); of the Ghost Rider, a supernatural hero (Marvel Spotlight #5, 1972); of Jim Morita, a World War II Nisei soldier who fought alongside the Howling Commandos (Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #38, 1967); of the round eagle logo used by S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strange Tales #154, 1967)

Dick Ayers: co-creator of Eric Koenig, an ally of Nick Fury (Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #27, 1966); of Jim Morita, a World War II Nisei soldier who fought alongside the Howling Commandos (Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #38, 1967); of Peggy Carter, Captain America's wartime love interest (Tales of Suspense #75, 1966)

Bob Harras: co-creator of Al MacKenzie as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. #1, 1989); of Hydra taking over S.H.I.E.L.D. from within (Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #1, 1988); of Aphonse "Al" MacKenzie, a spy affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D. (Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #3, 1988)

Stefano Caselli: co-creator of Hive, a parasite-like creature, infecting various people (Secret Warriors #2, 2009); of Yo-Yo Rodriguez having both of her hands cut off by agents of Hydra (Secret Warriors #3, 2009); of Daniel Whitehall, an agent of Hydra (Secret Warriors #11, 2010)

Paul Neary: co-creator of the Red Skull's name Johann Shmidt (Captain America #298, 1984); of Hydra taking over S.H.I.E.L.D. from within (Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #1, 1988); of Aphonse "Al" MacKenzie, a spy affiliated with S.H.I.E.L.D. (Nick Fury vs. S.H.I.E.L.D. #3, 1988)

Jim Steranko: creator of blue S.H.I.E.L.D. uniforms with white belts and holsters (Strange Tales #167, 1968); co-creator of the Hydra logo, a skull atop octopus arms (Strange Tales #151, 1966); of the round eagle logo used by S.H.I.E.L.D. (Strange Tales #154, 1967)

Sal Buscema: co-creator of Peggy Carter's name (Captain America #162, 1973); of Peggy Carter as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Captain America #169, 1974); of Hugh Jones, a corrupt businessman (Captain America #180, 1974)

Steve Englehart: co-creator of Peggy Carter's name (Captain America #162, 1973); of Peggy Carter as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Captain America #169, 1974); of Hugh Jones, a corrupt businessman (Captain America #180, 1974)

Gabriele Dell'Otto: co-creator of Daisy Johnson, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent with the superhuman power to control seismic energy; of Daisy's gloves used to help control her powers (Secret War #2, 2005)

Mike Friedrich: co-creator of Peggy Carter as an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Captain America #169, 1974); of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy where agents are trained for the organization (Marvel Super Action #1, 1976)

Frank Miller: co-creator of John Garrett, a cybernetic agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Elektra: Assassin #2, 1986); of Chastity McBride, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Elektra: Assassin #5, 1986)

Bill Sienkiewicz: co-creator of John Garrett, a cybernetic agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Elektra: Assassin #2, 1986); of Chastity McBride, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Elektra: Assassin #5, 1986)

John Buscema: co-creator of Quinjets, the personal aircraft of the Avengers (Avengers #61, 1969); of the Xandarians, an extraterrestrial race (Nova #1, 1976)

Alessandro Vitti: co-creator of Yo-Yo Rodriguez using prosthetic hands (Secret Warriors #8, 2009); of Conrad Murphy, an ally of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Secret Warriors #24, 2011)

Joe Simon: co-creator of the Red Skull, a Nazi criminal; of Abraham Erskine, inventor of the Super-Solder Serum (Captain America Comics #1, 1941)

Steve Ditko: co-creator of Glenn Talbot, an officer in the US Air Force who battles rogue superhumans (Tales to Astonish #61, 1964)

George Evans: co-creator of the S.H.I.E.L.D. Academy where agents are trained for the organization (Marvel Super Action #1, 1976)

Mike Deodato Jr.: co-creator of Victoria Hand, a S.H.I.E.L.D. officer with red highlights in her hair (Dark Avengers #1, 2009)

Charles Soule: co-creator of Flint, a young Inhuman with the power to control rocks (Inhuman #3, 2014)

Joe Madureira: co-creator of Flint, a young Inhuman with the power to control rocks (Inhuman #3, 2014)

M. C. Wyman: co-creator of Rick Stoner, the original director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Fury #1, 1994)

Barry Dutter: co-creator of Rick Stoner, the original director of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Fury #1, 1994)

Don Heck: co-creator of Howard Stark, an inventive genius (Iron Man #28, 1970)

Archie Goodwin: co-creator of Howard Stark, an inventive genius (Iron Man #28, 1970)

Mark Millar: co-creator of the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters (Ultimates #1, 2002)

Bryan Hitch: co-creator of the Triskelion, S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters (Ultimates #1, 2002)

Doug Murray: co-creator of Michael Phillips, a soldier (The 'Nam #17, 1988)

Wayne Van Sant: co-creator of Michael Phillips, a soldier (The 'Nam #17, 1988)

Mike Ploog: co-creator of the Ghost Rider, a supernatural hero (Marvel Spotlight #5, 1972)

Gary Friedrich: co-creator of the Ghost Rider, a supernatural hero (Marvel Spotlight #5, 1972)

John Byrne: creator of Roger Dooley, a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent (Marvel Graphic Novel #18, 1985)

Jim McCann: co-creator of Susan Morse, Bobbi Morse's mother (Hawkeye & Mockingbird #1, 2010)

David Lopez: co-creator of Susan Morse, Bobbi Morse's mother (Hawkeye & Mockingbird #1, 2010)

Marv Wolfman: co-creator of the Xandarians, an extraterrestrial race (Nova #1, 1976)

J. M. DeMatteis: co-creator of the Red Skull's name Johann Shmidt (Captain America #298, 1984)