TALES of the MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER

"Tales of the Mysterious Traveler" starred Maurice Tarplin as "The Traveler" (who also appeared as "The Strange Dr. Weird"). The series ran from 1944 to 1952.

This was a long running horror melodrama on the Mutual network, but it was also adapted as a Charlton comic with cool art by Steve Ditko and many others.

Steve Ditko pretty much designed the character's look - snap brim hat, scarf and long overcoat, usually colored blue. Reminds me a bit of The Phantom Stranger.....

But here's the funny thing...after the radio show folded in the late 50's, Charlton continued to use him as a host in their books into the early 60's, mostly in Strange Suspense Stories.

If you count reprints - he appeared until the late 70's!


There was even a digest size
Tales of the Mysterious Traveler magazine
with covers by Norm (Mars Attacks/Wacky Packs) Saunders - who knew!?!

Quality of these episodes ranges from the sublime to the ridiculous, but the good ones are GOOD.... 'Nuff said?

TALES of the MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER I as a zip file.
TALES of the MYSTERIOUS TRAVELER II as a zip file.

PS. It seems like complaints were received 'bout "The Challenge of Space" and the file was removed. Hmmmmmm....
I wonder what the ol' Traveler would have to say about that?

The Green Hornet!

On January 31, 1936, the first Green Hornet radio program aired on WXYZ in Detroit, Michigan. The character was created by George W. Trendle, the same man associated with the creation of the Lone Ranger radio show.

The Green Hornet was Britt Reid, newspaper publisher of the Daily Sentinel by day and crimfighter by night. Reid was the great-nephew of the Lone Ranger, whose war against crime was presumably an extension of his family history. The Hornet fought crime with his high-powered car, the Black Beauty and a gun that fired knockout gas instead of bullets.

Assisted by his faithful valet, Kato - who would drive the Black Beauty, keep watch out for the police or the bad guys and sometimes lend a helping hand with the fighting. Just like the Lone Ranger and Tonto. Hmmmm.....
Anyway, the program lasted from January of 1936 to December 5, 1952.

Al Hodge played the role of Britt Reid for seven years, from 1936 through January of 1943. Later, three other radio actors played Britt Reid - Donovan Faust took the role for the 1943 season, Robert Hall played the part for three years, from 1943 to 1946 and Jack McCarthy finished the last years of the series from 1946 through 1952.

The Hornet appeared in two Serials, Comics (by Harvey) and Even Big Little Books, and was briefly revived for one season of half hour TV episodes in the 1960's with Van Williams and Bruce Lee starring.

Here's the surviving radio episodes as two zip files - almost 500+ MBs of OTR!
Green Hornet 1 as a zip file.
Green Hornet 2 as a zip file.

PS. Savefile has returned, but all the files i'd uploaded there are gone.... oh well......
I think i'll stick with the rapidshare thingy for a bit.......

Supersize me!

OK - I'm experimenting with the new larger storage afforded by rapidshare - so here's some experiments on my behalf. Your feedback on these is greatly appreciated, so let me know what you think of these. I'll wait until the "votes" are in before I decide on what's best.... keep the original creamy page color or crunch 'em to white? Too big? Not big enough? Your input on this IS important to me!

Click here to download "SPACE ADVENTURES" #60 as a 100 MB+ PDF file!

Click here to download "SPACE ADVENTURES" #2 as a 100 MB+ PDF file!

Click here to download "Strange Suspense Stories" #2 as a 100 MB+ PDF file!

Click here to download "Outer Space" #1 as a 90 MB+ PDF file!

Click here to download "Journey Into Fear" #15 as a 100 MB+ PDF file!

Click here to download "BLACK MAGIC" #25 as a 90 MB+ PDF file!

Click here to download "BUCCANEER" #8 as a 100 MB+ PDF file!

William Gibson AKA Maxwell Grant (Re-Post)

Walter Gibson was born September 12, 1897 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Fascinated in stage magic from an early age, by 17, Walter had been performing his own magic show, had met "The Mysterious Dunninger", and was a partner in "Gibson and Rippey", a small magic shop. After college, he started working for The Evening Public Ledger, where he wrote crossword puzzles, a syndicated column on magic tricks, and other features. He also wrote the first of many books on magic - "After Dinner Tricks", "Sixteen Master Card Mysteries", and "The Bunco Book" as well as opening another magic shop with Bill Kofoes in 1925, as well as radio work for WIP in Philadelphia.

No other man "ghosted" more books for magicians - Walter Gibson became both biographer and the "ghost writer" for Howard Thurston, Harry Houdini, and Harry Blackstone. Gibson was engaged by Thurston in 1923 to write "200 Tricks You Can Do", "200 More Tricks You Can Do", "Fooling the World", "Book of Magic", and "The Thurston Magic Lessons" as well as a biography. Gibson met Houdini in 1915, and was even selected as one of the ‘inspectors’ for the Chinese Water Torture Cell. He eventually ghost wrote for Houdini, and had finished two books just prior to Houdini’s death in 1926. Walter produced six books on Houdini from 1926 to 1976, offering profound and personal insight into one of the most important and mysterious figures of the early 20th century. The third magician Gibson befriended was Harry Blackstone, Sr. and "ghosted" for him under the name Harry Blackstone, writing "Blackstone’s Annual of Magic" and many books that followed up to 1948 ("Blackstone’s Tricks Anyone Can Do"). In 1941, Gibson made Blackstone into a comic book hero. The comic was designed to be used as a promotional tool for his shows, but Street and Smith (publishers of Th* Sh*d*w) found that it sold extremely well. For 5 years, Blackstone carried his own comic and magic show. Gibson also wrote a radio series based on Blackstone.

Gibson became the editor of True Strange Stories in 1928, and by the next year was working on the first of many Sh*d*w novels for Street and Smith. The pen-name Maxwell Grant was created by combining the names of two magic shop owners. "Th* Living Sh*d*w" was published in April of 1931 and garnered success almost immediately. By mid 1932, Street and Smith were publishing Th* Sh*d*w twice a month.

Walter Gibson wrote amost 300 Sh*d*w novels over a period of 15 years. Many of the stories were used as scripts for the radio series, comic books, and movies. After the pulp ceased publication, and the radio show left the airwaves, Gibson began to write true crime stories as well as works on unsolved crimes, ghost stories, magic, and even some television adaptations. Walter Gibson was honored for his accomplishments in magic with a Masters Fellowship from the Society of American Magicians. On the other hand, Conde Naste's almost pathological legal persection of any and all fan sites relating to Gibson and his creation "Th* Sh*d*w" does his memory no honor at all.......

50+ episodes of "Blackstone, The Magic Detective" scripted by Gibson as a handy dandy zip file!

Zero Hour.

In between Twilight Zone and Night Gallery, our man Rod hosted Mutual Radio's abortive competitor to the long running CBS Radio Mystery Theater (hosted by E. G. Marshall). The first season featured 5 thirty minute episodes running from Monday through Friday, featuring continuing stories. This format was less than popular, as many listeners would miss an installment, often the climax of the weeks' story on Friday. For the second season, self-contained episodes were used, but the show was badly promoted and died a quiet death.
There's 150 episodes split into 3 zipped files. This SHOULD keep you busy for a while......

Season 1

Wife of the Red-Haired Man 1-5 Patty Duke, John Astin, Howard Duff

Someone's Death 1-5 George Kennedy, Robert Reed

Fourth of Forever 1-5 John Dehner, Susan Oliver

Face of the Foe 1-5 Jessica Walters, Joe Campanella, Judy Carne

Blessing Way 1-5 Ed Nelson, Barbara Anderson, Tige Andrews

Princess Stakes Murder 1-5 Howard Duff, Julie Adams, Ray Danton

Queen in Danger 1-5 Juliet Mills, Robert Brown, Murray Mathieson

Desperate Witness 1-5 Dick Crenna, Keenan Wynn, Julie Adams

If Two of Them Are Dead 1-5 Earl Holliman, Katherine Burns, Nina Foch

But I Wouldn't Want to Die There 1-5 Nehemiah Persoff, Brock Peters, Marge Redman

Heir Hunters 1-5 Ken Berry, Joanne Worley, Edgar Bergen

Die in the Country 1-5 Peter Marshall, Susan Strasberg, Andrew Dugan

Deadman's Tale 1-5 George Maharis, Craig Stevens, Charles McGraw

Season 2

Bye-Bye, Narco. Terror In the Night, Scream of the Hawk, The Extortionist, The Price of Admission - Mel Torme

A Shortage Story, Escape To Nowhere, Fair's Fair, You Know, The Housecall, The Violation - Jackie Cooper

Arm's Length, Some People Die Only Once, The Reward, The Villanious Verdict, The Strange Odyssey - Dick Sargent

White Flame, Burn Bright, Mind of the Beholder, Why Driving Sally Insane, There's a Man In 211, Death Is the Puppeteer - Lyle Waggoner

Dr. Rivington Presumably, Wanted...A Willing Companion, Pigs Couldn't Put You In the Pen, Sky Lab, Are You There, A Favor You Can't Refuse - William Shatner

Death at Half a Length, Floating Down the River, Once a Thief, Murder Shrieks Out, Rehabilitation of Citizen Fimple - Gregg Morris

Bonnie and Clyde Alive, Sisters of Satan, The Mannequin Sham, Double Date To Destiny, Clay Pidgeons - Lee Meriweather

The Past Is Always Present, The Woman In Black Come Light My Fire, Riders Wanted, Death On Canvas - Peter Lupis

The House That Clement Built, The Joint Account, The Tiger Cages, Violence Takes a Curtain Call, The Children Are Dying - Shelly Berman

Bend, Spindle, Mutilate, Murder Is a Work of Art, Edward's Tug and Salvage, Larceny On the Lake, On the Lam - Bob Crane

Death Takes a Sleigh Ride, Marionettes, Ghost of the Black Plague, Trunkfull of Trouble, The Grand Prize - Monte Markham

Welcome Home Denny Shackleford, Death of a Genius, Remember Me, Lost In Time, Once Upon a Trunk - Joe Campanella

Corpse Takes a Stand, Carnival of Menace, Chicago John and the Glitter People, Smokescreen, The Holdout - Ross Martin

Plus the pre-release Mutual Promotion Tape and whatever other goodies I had lying around!

Zero Hour Part 1
Zero Hour Part 2
Zero Hour Part 3

Dimension X!

Well - here's my surprise - the entire series of Dimension X, all tasty encodes (20+ MBs each). As you might guess, all this activity has left me a bit drained, so i'll see you after the weekend with more fun!
#1 Outer Limit

#2 With Folded Hands
#3 Report On The Barnhouse Effect
#4 No Contact

#5 Knock

#6 Almost Human
#7 The Lost Race
#8 To The Future
#9 Embassy

#10 The Green Hills Of Earth
#11 There Will Come Soft Rains - Zero Hour

#12 Destination Moon
#13 A Logic Named Joe
#14 Mars Is Heaven
#15 The Man In The Moon
#16 Beyond Infinty
#17 Potters of Firsk
#18 Perigis Wonderful Dolls
#18 The Castaways

#20 The Martian Chronicles
#21 The Parade
#22 The Roads Must Roll
#23 The Outer Limit
#24 Hello Tomorrow

#25 Dr. Grimshaw's Sanitorium
#26 And The Moon Be Still As Bright
#27 No Contact
#28 The Professor Was A Thief
#29 Shanghied
#30 Competition
#31 Universe
#32 The Green Hills Of Earth
#33 Mars Is Heaven
#34 The Martian Death March
#35 The Last Objective
#36 Nightmare

#37 Pebble In The Sky
#38 Child's Play
#39 Time & Time again
#40 Dwellers In Silence
#41 Courtesy

#42 Universe
#43 The Veldt
#44 Vital Factor
#45 Untitled Story
#46 Marrionettes Inc.

#47 First Contact
#48 Kaleidoscope
#49 Requiem
#50 Nightfall

Space Opera Overload!

So - i've been busy re-tooling the whole shebang, and here's stage one! Honking big zip files of OTR!

First up, Buck Rogers - The episodes in this zip file are as follows....
390405 Ep 01
390407 Ep 02
390409 Ep 03
390412 Ep 04
390414 Ep 05
390416 Ep 06
390419 Ep 07
390421 Ep 08
390423 Ep 09
390428 Ep 11
390426 Ep 10
390430 Ep 12
Mechanical Mole 1-7
After Killer Kane 1-5
Ep 732 Pts 1 & 2
Ep 733 Pts 1 & 2
Ep 736 Pt 1
Ep 737 Pt 1
Ep 738 Pt 2
Ep 739 Pt 2
Ep 740 Pt 1
470328 Last Show
Whatever Became Of.... Radio's Buck Rogers?
And here's the cover to the novel that started it all.....
Buck Rogers!


Plus (just to show you that I have been busy toiling away) - 6 episodes of "Challenge of Space" as a big ol' zip file! Episodes are -
"Climb To Safety"
"Far Centaurus" (A. E. van Vogt!)
"Another Galaxy"
"Where Is Atlantis?"
"Ten Miles To the Moon"
"Screwy Satellite"
Challenge of Space!
For some reason I can't find my copy of "Mission: Abort", but i'm sure it'll turn up the moment I put this post up... you know how THAT works....

I'll be back before the weekend with a nice surpise.....

Nobody but me likes Mighty Samson?

Look, i've been enjoying these and I thought i'd pop one more up real quick.
Also, for a variety of reasons, I think i'm going to use rapidshare from now on for the comic pdfs, mainly because they are very reliable and they just upped the storage on files to 300 MB. which will allow me to do the files WAY larger, with less compression. Cool huh?

Mighty Samson #15

Ne*l *d*ms @ Nati*nal Lamp**n!

A long time ago, way back when things were very different in America (in the 1970's) there was a humor magazine that made Mad magazine look like The New York Times. In this magazine, there would be, very often, excellent and astute parodies of comic books. Some of them were by well known comic book artists. Here are three.

Deadman

Dragula

Son of God
PS. Once a bastion of barbed satire, it now only exists as a lame franchise, mainly used for the purpose of extolling the virtues of "Frat-Boy" humor and selling lame movies.
*sigh*.
What do we have today?
The Onion, The Daily Show/Colbert Report and South Park?
Please........ Don't make me throw you down the stairs!

PPS. Seems like Savefile is no more.
Oh well... It was a nice (and free) ride while it lasted.

PPPS. I'm sorry if this post betrays my bitter curmudgeonly nature, my cynical world-view and my dark pessismism about the unchanging nature of most things in the world.... as the French say "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose"......
Things could always be worse though..... as Ozzy Osbourne once remarked... "I could be Sting" - now wouldn't THAT suck!