Juvenile Super-Hero Serial (1940)
 The Blue Beetle was another early comic book hero
that tugged on the cape of Superman. Created by Charles
Nicholas for the comic book Mystery Men, it first appearedin
1939. The Blue Beetle was moved with his popularity
to newspaper syndication and then the old time radio show in 1940,
in addition to continued comic book adventures.
Actor Frank Lovejoy (middle)
with the actress Joan Banks and their children.
Lovejoy appeared in several radio
programmes, including Nightbeat
On radio, Blue Beetle's career was rather short-lived,
but it was exciting while it lasted. Fine radio and motion
picture actor Frank Lovejoy (often on Suspense,
and star of Nightbeat)
was the Blue Beetle for the first 13 episodes,
while for the rest of the shows the actor was uncredited.
The Blue Beetle was a young police officer who
saw the need for extra-ordinary crime fighting. He took
the task on himself by secretly donning a superhero costume
to create fear in the criminals who were to learn to fear
the Blue Beetle's wrath. The 13-minute segments were usually
only 2 parts…so the stories were simple and obvious
in comparison to the many-parted Superman
radio show.The Blue Beetle the distinction of being one of
the few golden age characters to survive into to present,
but the character has been through many changes and revisions,
and the original character is quite different from the
one that comic book readers know today.
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There are many juvenile radio action and adventure serials to choose from. Some of the super heroes are Superman, Captain
Midnight, and The
Green Hornet. The aviation adventure shows include Hop Harrigan, Speed
Gibson and The
Air Adventures of Jimmy Allen. Jungle
Jim and Tarzan roam the wilder regions of the Dark Continent, while Terry
and the Pirates found adventure in the Orient.
Our own Wild West gave us excitement aplenty, like Sky
King or Straight
Arrow, along with several famous cowpokes in their
own half-hour shows. For more adventure, see also Dick
Tracy.
(Please note that many of the rare recordings in this collection may be of inferior sound quality.)
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