The Amazing Mr. Malone

Murder and Mr. Malone, starring Frank Lovejoy as Chicago’s mystery-solving lawyer John J. Malone, debuted on January 11, 1947 over ABC. 

One of the lesser known radio shows also known as The Amazing Mr. Malone.

Based on the John Malone series of mystery novels by Craig Rice, and on the radio series of the same name. John J. Malone, socialite and ladies man, is a brilliant criminal lawyer taking up a new case in every episode.

Sponsored by Guild Wines through the Honig-Cooper agency, week after week Mr. Malone found himself involved in trying to solve a wide variety of killings that often involved blackmail, mistaken identities, and gambling. In the spring of 1948 the sponsor announced they were cutting ties with Mr. Malone, while at the same time changing the title of the series from Murder and Mr. Malone to The Amazing Mr. Malone as of April 24, 1948. At the time of the change the series was being carried over 63 stations of the ABC network. As The Amazing Mr. Malone, Lovejoy’s series ran for almost another year until March 1949.

This series had a brief television run from September 24, 1951 to March 10, 1952 on ABC, with Lee Tracy in the title role.

Blackstone, the Magic Detective

Blackstone, the Magic Detective was a 15-minute radio series which aired Sunday afternoons at 2:45pm on the Mutual Broadcasting System from October 3, 1948 until April 3, 1949.

The series, starring Ed Jerome as "the world's greatest living magician," was based on real-life magician Harry Blackstone Sr. Storylines usually opened with Blackstone (Jerome) telling his friends John (Ted Osborne) and Rhoda (Fran Carlon) about an experience from his past, and this mystery story was then dramatized in a flashback. At the end, Blackstone challenged the audience to find a solution to the magical mystery. Each show concluded with Blackstone outlining a trick that listeners could perform for the amusement of their friends.

The show usually opened with Blackstone (Ed Jerome) and his assistant Rhoda Brent (Fran Carlon) talking with a friend of theirs, either Don Hancock or Alan Kent (played by the episodes' announcers in-character as themselves) or John (Ted Osborne). A past adventure of Blackstone's would come up in conversation, and that mystery story was then dramatized as a flashback.

After the mystery's climax, the narrative returned to the three main characters as Blackstone performed a magic trick. After a commercial break handled by the announcer, Blackstone returned to explain the trick so that listeners could perform it for their friends' amusement.

Batman and the adventures of Superman

Batman (originally referred to as the Bat-Man and still referred to at times as the Batman) is a fictional comic book superhero co-created by artist Bob Kane and writer Bill Finger and published by DC Comics. The character made his first appearance in Detective Comics 27 (May 1939). Batman's secret identity is Bruce Wayne, a wealthy industrialist, playboy, and philanthropist. Witnessing the murder of his parents as a child leads him to train himself to physical and intellectual perfection and don a bat-themed costume in order to fight crime. Batman operates in Gotham City, assisted by various supporting characters including his sidekick Robin and his butler Alfred Pennyworth, and fights an assortment of villains influenced by the characters' roots in film and pulp magazines. Unlike most superheroes, he does not possess any superpowers; he makes use of intellect, detective skills, science and technology, wealth, physical prowess, and intimidation in his war on crime.

The character was an attempt by National Publications to find the success that Action Comics was having with Superman, who first appeared in Action Comics No. 1 in June, 1938. Action Comics and Detective Comics were two of the companies which would eventually form DC Comics in the early 1940s. When the costumed superhero began to fade from popularity, the company rekindled interest in June 1952 by teaming Batman and Superman in Superman 76. In this issue, the two heroes discover each other's secret identities. The pairing was a financial success and would be repeated numerous times over the years in comics.

The Adventures of Superman radio show ran for 2,062 episodes between 1942 and 1951, whereas Batman only had a few scattered episodes on his own. These include the single episode of The Batman Mystery Club and Batman and Robin's Christmas Carol Caper. However, Superman on the radio needed the help of the Caped Crusader and his sidekick Robin on several occasions. To be sure, Batman was more likely to be written into the plot when Superman star Bud Collier was due for some time off, but Batman was an important part of Superman's radio world.

Batman becomes part of more than a dozen Superman story arcs, each from five to thirty five episodes long, making the Caped Crusader nearly as important to The Adventures of Superman as Lois Lane and Jimmy Olsen.

One element of Batman, which does not make it to The Adventures of Superman, is the Caped Crusader's Rogues Gallery. For the most part, Batman's enemies do not possess any superpowers. They are however costumed criminals with strong ties to organized crime. The most recognizable is The Joker. A fall into a vat of dangerous chemicals had bleached The Joker's skin a clown white, turned his hair permanently green, and forced his bright red lips into an eternal grin. Nick Carter, Master Detective goes up against a villain very similar to the Joker in "The Case of the Poker Murders". The bad guy is the Ace of Spades, who names his henchmen for playing cards and leaves a face card whenever he strikes.

The collection also contains the complete story lines of Adventures of Superman in which Batman or Bruce Wayne make an appearance. The collection also contains two rare recording: A Baman Christmas special and an audition program from 1950 of "Batman Mystery Club".