March 11, 2025 • 58 mins
Years ago, Case wrote a radio script that crossed over Superman with The Shadow. Now, he's gathered a host of actors to read it with full orchestration and foley!
Overview
In the Creative Collaboration and Script Reading meeting titled "The Shadow Meets Superman in The Searing Silhouette," hosted by Case Aiken and Jmike Folson, participants including Rachel Quirky Schenk, Geoff Moonen, Olivia Gilliatt, Ben Goldsmith, Peter Coleman, and Sarah Moonen engaged in a collaborative reading of the script. The meeting began with introductions and role assignments, followed by a two-part reading that introduced the characters of The Shadow and Superman, set against the backdrop of a major metropolitan law firm and a kidnapping plot. The discussion segment allowed participants to share feedback on the script, explore its historical context, and draw comparisons with other media crossovers. Additionally, tangential discussions covered related topics, such as pinball machines and potential sequels. The meeting concluded with a wrap-up where participants exchanged final thoughts and social media information, and Case Aiken outlined the action items, including editing the script for sound effects and encouraging ongoing conversations in a dedicated Discord server.
Notes
Introduction and Script Reading (00:00 - 09:24) Script Reading Part 1 (09:24 - 18:08) Script Reading Part 2 (18:08 - 28:35) ️ Discussion and Feedback (28:35 - 40:33) Tangential Discussions (40:33 - 49:08) Wrap-up and Social Media (49:08 - 58:48)
- Case Aiken introduces the Men of Steel podcast
- Participants introduced: Rachel Quirky Schenk, Geoff Moonen, Olivia Gilliatt, Ben Goldsmith, Peter Coleman, Sarah Moonen
- Jmike Folson as co-host
- Reading of 'The Shadow meets Superman in the searing silhouette' script begins
- Introduction of characters: Lamont Cranston (The Shadow), Margo Lane
- Setting established: Major metropolitan law firm
- Kidnapping plot introduced
- Superman's introduction in the script
- Crossover between The Shadow and Superman storylines
- Investigation of the kidnapping case
- Interaction between Clark Kent and Margo Lane
- Participants share thoughts on the script reading
- Case Aiken explains script background and influences
- Discussion of radio show era and character portrayals
- Comparison to other media crossovers
- Conversation about pinball machines related to The Shadow
- Discussion about potential sequels or extensions of the script
- Participants share personal experiences and connections to the material
- Final thoughts from participants
- Sharing of social media handles and upcoming projects
- Case Aiken provides contact information and podcast details
- Discussion of Discord server for further conversations
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
You can talk as much as you want, you can sit at that space as much as you want, but once the mic is hot, they know.
Yeah.
Yeah. Well, with Champion, especially because I did curse him.
And that is. That is the reason that our blood feud.
What?
Aren't you aware of the lore of certain POV that I am?
Deep lore.
Like I have cursed Champion the cat. And that is why Rachel and I have this ongoing blood feud, which is particularly emphasized by the fact that every three word review, I would always put a period in there. And that is part of the incantation. That is the curse that I have placed on her cat. And that causes the bad behavior of the cat.
(00:36):
Yes.
Out of context, that is insane.
I know, right? And I said it that way because the context is insane.
In our defense, it was really organic as we built it, and then once it was done being grown, you just look at the tree that you grew and you went, that's a fucked up tree. Huh? That's a real weird tree we've made.
(01:01):
I want to make the most cursed wizard staff out of that tree.
Curse another cat.
All right, let's actually start. Hey, everyone, and welcome back to the Men of Steel podcast. I am Case Aiken, and as always, I am joined by my co host, J. Mike Fson, in a world where.
(01:38):
That sound good. I'm trying to work my voice thing for the thing today.
Oh, yeah. We're not alone here, J. Mike.
I know so many friends.
We have a pretty big pressure here, digitally speaking, because today we're finally doing the navally gaziest of naval gazes that we're doing on this podcast. And we've already done one of these. We're looking at a script I wrote, and in this case, we're doing a crossover script because we're doing the shadow meets Superman in the searing silhouette. And so to have a look at the script, we are joined by a ton of wonderful people. So I'm going to go around on my zoom screen. And so, first up, we're joined by Rachel Corky Shank.
(02:26):
Hello.
Do you miss me? Did you miss me? Certain pov. What's up? I disappeared.
We missed you so much. I just could not help but just, like, scream in joy when you jogged on the zoom call.
I know my face hurts from grinning so much already because I'm now on a zoom call with you, and I'm one step closer to ending your existence.
(02:49):
Yes.
And so it begins.
Yes. No. So it continues.
It never ended. Listen, Screensnark may be over, but our blood feud Will never end.
And we've got Jeff Mooton.
Hi there, everybody. I've been on this show before. I'll be on it again. And I'm just happy to be here. And I have no publicly admissible blood feud with anyone on this call yet. And now it is in recording. Excellent.
(03:20):
No. Who laughed just now? That was Olivia Gilliot.
Hello.
It's very nice to be here.
Olivia, I'm so glad that you're here.
Here.
This has been a work in progress for a long time. And you and I used to work together in theater a decade ago, and this had been a thing that we had talked about. And when I bumped into you because you were involved, you directed a show that my friend Matt wrote, we got to talking, and this sort of sparked this whole thing happening again. So I'm so happy you're here.
(03:49):
I'm thrilled to be here then. Thrilled to hear that star. It's the spark of, I don't know, iteration or creation is a fun one.
Another person who has been involved in eventually making this actually happen is Ben Goldsmith.
Hi, guys. How are you? All in the POB land. That's right. I've known Case for a very long time. I read the original script of it, and I gotta say, my Batman tattoo is not happy with who I'm playing today.
(04:19):
It'll be the world's finest performance.
Oh, he did the thing. He did the thing.
We've got Peter Coleman.
Hi. Hello, everybody. I am pretty sure I may have, at some point been on this podcast before. Maybe, I don't know.
You've been on podcasts of mine, but I don't think you've ever been on Men of Steel.
(04:39):
Not this one. Oh, my God. Longtime listener, first time caller, very excited to be here.
Turn down your radio. Turn down your radio.
I also have a blood feud with Case Aiken.
Yes.
See?
See, I rack them up. Come on.
You're in good company.
When people. When people talk about Case Aiken, what they think is blood feuds, obviously.
(05:03):
So all I'm saying is.
All I'm saying is we can collaborate. The enemy. The enemy of my enemy. My friend. What's up, bestie? Let's go get Case.
Hey, new bestie.
Super villain. Team ups.
Perfect.
I'll duck behind him, you push him over. Okay.
(05:24):
And lastly, we have Sarah Moonan.
Hey, everybody. Excited to be here?
Yeah. All right. I probably should have said who you all are reading while I went down that list. So. Yeah. So Peter is doing the part of Lamont Cranston, AKA the Shadow. Ben is reading the part of Clark Kent, AKA Superman. Rachel is reading the part of Margo Lane. Olivia is reading the part of Lois Lane. Then we've got J. Mike Falson reading a variety of vocal parts, including Jacob Gallows and Jimmy Olsen. Jeff is reading a variety of vocal parts including Bernard Alden and Perry White. And then, Sarah, you are reading a variety of parts in this one as.
(06:08):
Well, including voice number three.
Voice number three? Yes. Wait, what?
She gets to voice number three.
Voice number three is actually quite important because the voice one, two and three are.
I retract myself.
Yes.
I was very excited about that. Although, Ben, does this mean we're in a blood feud now? Because you wanted voice number three.
I mean, I'm kind of jealous of all the blood feuds going on, so.
Yeah, our calendar just opened up.
(06:34):
Well, why don't we actually get into the reading? Oh, and. Sorry. And I'll be the narrator for this. For this reading and. Yeah, let's get into it. As we dive into. The Shadow meets Superman in the searing silhouette by P.K. Sagan III.
(06:57):
Who knows what evil lurks within the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.
Now a thrilling adventure of the Shadow and his relentless fight against the forces of evil. Demonstrating to young and old alike that CR does not pay. The Shadow, mysterious character who aids the forces of law and order is, in reality Lamont Cranston, wealthy man about town. Years ago, in the Orient, Cranston learned a strange and mysterious secret. The hypnotic power to cloud men's minds so they cannot see him. Cranston's friend and companion, the lovely Margolaine, is the only person who knows to whom the Voice of Shadow belongs. Now listen to the searing silhouette. Early one morning, at the major metropolitan law firm of Steven Smith and Gallows, senior partner Jacob Gallows was at work when he received a strange visitor.
(07:53):
Gallows?
Why, yes. Can I help you?
Quiet.
Is that a gun?
What does it look like, shyster?
Now, see here.
No, no. You see here. You're coming with me. Marianne, your secretary ain't around to help you.
What did you do to her? Did you harm her? If you did, so help me.
Relax. Unlike your kind, I don't attack the innocent. She's done nothing wrong besides working for you. And you've duped too many people for me to hold that against her.
(08:20):
What are you going to do?
You'll see.
Lamont, where are we going?
We're going into the city. My contacts with the police have alerted me of some peculiar details of a recent kidnapping. There.
Peculiar details?
The desk where the victim worked had the words. The evil of men shall know to fear the dark. Burned into it.
(08:47):
Burned?
Yes, burned. But that isn't what troubles me. What troubles me is that the only thing witnesses saw of the kidnapper was a shadow.
You don't mean.
I'm afraid that I do. The prime suspect the police have in this caper is the Shadow.
(09:10):
Extra, extra.
Shadow kidnaps wealthy lawyer. Read all about it. Elusive criminal threatened city.
Oh, Mont. Did you hear that?
Yes. Yes, I did. Marco.
Is there anything you can do to clear your name?
I'm going to wait until nightfall. Once the police coverage has lessened from the crime scene, the Shadow will pay a visit to the offices of Steven Smith and Gallows.
(09:34):
What will you do until nightfall?
I'm going to return to the hotel room. I have a feeling that every moment of sleep I can get will be precious.
In that case, I think as long as we're in the city, I'm going to look up my cousin.
Oh, I didn't know you had family here.
Oh, yes, but I haven't seen her in ages.
Where is she?
She works at the Daily Planet.
(09:54):
Oh.
As a secretary. Lamont, Margot.
Just because she's a woman doesn't mean she can't be a reporter. She's quite good too. Though she seems to have some fascination with this urban legend of a flying man.
Well, I hope you see her.
Thank you. Goodbye. Lamont.
Margot.
(10:20):
Later at the major metropolitan newspaper, the Daily Planet.
Excuse me. Excuse me. Would you happen to know where I can find Lois Lane?
Yeah.
Ms. Lane works over at the desk around the corner. Just take her right there and it's on your rack. You can't miss it.
Oh, thank you. Mr. Olson?
Jimmy Olsen.
Hi, I'm Marco Lane.
(10:40):
Nice to meet you, Ms. Lane. Wait, Ms. Lane?
Yes. I'm Lois's cousin.
Wow. Nice to meet you, Ms. Lane.
Nice to meet you too, Jimmy.
And I'm done.
Another front page triumph.
Mar, what are you doing here?
I was in the city and I had a few hours to myself.
(11:01):
I'm so happy to see you. Surprised, but happy. Actually, hold on a minute. I need to take this down to the editing so it can make print.
Oh, sure. Clark.
Clark, can you come here a moment?
Oh, sure, Lois. What do you need?
Clark, this is my cousin, Margot.
Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you.
It's nice to meet you too, Clark.
I need to run this down to editing. Can you entertain Margo for a moment?
(11:24):
I suppose so, Lois.
Wonderful.
Just reg her with Tales of the Nightlife In Smallville, Kansas.
Smallville?
Lois likes to kid about where I'm from. To her, any place in Kansas is Smallville.
Oh, I see.
To tell you the truth, I don't think I've ever actually told what part of Kansas I'm from.
(11:46):
That's Lois.
Yes. Yes, I suppose it is.
Now, you are a reporter also?
Yes. Actually, I've been partnered with Lois on a number of stories. The chief seems to think we work well together.
And you disagree?
I enjoyed working with Lois just fine. But Lois tends to like working alone. She wants it to be her story.
(12:07):
I see.
I hope Kent didn't bore you to death.
Oh, no. He was perfectly delightful.
Well, I have some work to do.
Okay. Goodbye, Clark.
He seemed nice.
Kent. I suppose he is, in that spineless sort of way. So you had dinner? It's getting late.
Yes, it is getting late. It has come the time for the Shadow to make his move.
(12:31):
I slipped by the policeman outside easily enough. Now, onto the office. This office seems to be well looked over. I doubt that they've missed too many clues.
Hey, who's there?
Blast. I've alerted the policeman. I best leave. This place has enough shadows. But I think a visit to the police headquarters is in order.
(12:59):
What was that?
Just the wind. It's getting late. I think we got all the information we can from you. Let me just go get a few forms and you'll be all set to go, ma'am.
Thank you.
H. This woman was a witness of the crime. I wonder. Just as I thought. The witnesses only saw a shadow because that was all that was there to see. Whoever kidnapped Gallows possessed my ability to cloud men's minds as well. The confusion and disarray of her mind is enough to indicate that I must see their files on this case.
(13:36):
Sorry about that. Now, just sign these forms and you're. You'll be all set to go.
Thank you.
This case.
What? Where did the file go? Did that shadow just move? It did. Shadow, I know you're here. If you think you can just steal our information on this, you're wrong. We know it was you. Sarge. Sarge, get over here. The Shadow just stole our case files. Really? The Shadow? Isn't he a myth? Yes, I know we've run stories about a mysterious flying superman but those have witnesses. The shadow's only consistent description is that people didn't see him. Okay, that's what the police statement has. Get Kent and Lane up here.
(14:32):
Lois went out to dinner with her cousin.
What? Who said she could do that?
You did, sir.
Oh, then get me Kent.
You wanted to see me, Chief?
Yes, but don't call me Chief. Shut that door right now. Listen, Kent, I just got a call from Grayson down at the police headquarters. Remember the kidnapping from yesterday?
(14:55):
Why, yes, Chief, sir.
Right.
Well, it turns out that the Shadow just stole the case files for it. It seems that crazy notion of the Shadow pulling the job has just been confirmed.
But I thought the Shadow was just an urban legend, like the Superman.
Yes, well, apparently the Shadow has been a bit more public than the Superman. Notes and such have been left with the police in the past.
(15:21):
Assuming he is real, haven't the stories about him indicated that he was just assisting the law?
Until now, it seems.
I see.
Kent, I want you to investigate this. You have a knack for uncovering details about the unexplainable. And I want to see if it will play out on this.
Okay, Chief.
(15:42):
And don't call me chief.
Now, just into this empty storeroom because this looks like a job for Superman.
What will the Shadow do when confronted by the man of Steel? Find out when we return after a word from our sponsor.
(16:03):
Video games are a unique medium.
They can tell stories, immerse us in strange, fantastic worlds. Blur the very boundaries of our reality. But at the end of the day.
Video games are fun. Whatever fun is to you.
I'm Jeff Moonan. And I am Matt, AKA Stormageddon. And on Fun and Games, we talk about the history, trends and community of video games.
(16:26):
It's a celebration of all the games we play and all the fun we find with.
And there's so many more games out there, so we hope you'll share in that conversation with us. Fun and Games podcast with Matt and Jeff.
Find us on certainpov.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
And happy gaming.
(16:47):
Yes. Faster than an airplane. More powerful than a locomotive. Impervious to bullets.
Up in the sky, look.
It's a giant bird.
It's a plane.
It's Superman.
And now Superman. A being no larger than an ordinary man, but possessed of powers and abilities never before realized on Earth. Able to leap into an air an eighth of a mile at a single bound. Hurdle A 20 story building with ease. Race a high powered bullet to its target. Lift tremendous weights and rend solid steel in his bare hands as though it were paper. Superman, A strange visitor from a distant planet. Champion of the oppressed physical marvel. Extraordinary. Who has sworn to devote his existence on Earth to helping those in need. Yes, folks, it seems that for once in their long history of fighting the forces of Evil. The Shadow and Superman may finally cross paths.
(17:36):
I hope this Shadow doesn't think he can get away from me. Because he has another thing coming to him if he thinks that anyone can escape Superman.
It says here that before joining Stephenson, Smith Gallows was a solo practitioner. A successful one too. Only lost one case between passing the bar and becoming partner. I can't see any reason to kidnap him. He seems to be a perfectly upright citizen. And there was no ransom note, so it's not as if someone was trying for money. His wife or two daughters would better targets for that anyways. Maybe something to drink would help. Pool Refreshing water. That name of his client in the one he lost, it seems familiar. Richard Alden. Richard Alden. Richard Alden. Of course, Richard Alden. He was another pupil of the master when I studied in the Orient. Alden would have been able to cloud the minds of all witnesses of the kidnapping. It says that he was on trial for murder and Gallows was his defense.
(18:52):
It seemed like there was no way a talented young lawyer like Gallows could mess it up. But for some reason, the jury found Alden guilty and sentenced him to death. So it couldn't have been Richard Alden. Even though that would be the only possible culprit. Wait. It says here that Alden left a wife and 10 year old son. Could the son have been taught to blind men to his presence by his father beforehand? I must check the city records on this individual.
(19:20):
Foreign.
Here's the scene of the initial kidnapping. I'll bet anything that there's some sort of trail here.
Using his X ray eyes, Superman scours the room for any clues that the police might not have uncovered.
Hello. What have we here? It looks like a boot print. It doesn't match any of the standard police shoes. Nor does it look anything like a businessman would wear at work. It's recent, too.
(19:53):
Superman bends over and uses his mighty lungs to capture the scent of the boot.
I have you now, Shadow. Now up.
Up. With that, Superman takes off, leaping an eighth of a mile into the sky. Red cape flowing in the whistling wind.
Anywhere you go, I can follow. Now, Shadow. You may escape the police, but you'll never escape Superman.
(20:17):
Man alive, Alden. Why can't I find you?
Looking for someone else to kidnap, Shadow?
Who are you?
Someone who doesn't take too kindly to kidnappers and thieves. Now, what have you done with Gallows?
Nothing. I'm investigating his kidnapping.
Trying to save your skin, are you? Well, it won't work. And just so you know, that little mind trick of yours doesn't affect me, so you may as well stop trying. You may disappear in the normal light, but still emanate heat. And your body glows brightly to my x ray eyes.
(20:51):
It seems that you're that superman that everyone in the city is so taken with. You remind me of a doctor friend of mine. Well, if I can't just block normal sight, let's see if we can rectify the problem.
The plane.
What? All I did was try to hide myself from your other senses as well.
(21:14):
Please fail.
Very well. But only if you listen. Well, I have evidence that indicates that whomever kidnapped gallows used the same trick of the mind to hide himself and gallows from witnesses. Which limits the number of people who it could be to less than a dozen. In gallows records, I have found links to a now deceased father named Richard Alden, who would have fallen within that dozen. He was an adventurer himself, but the law rejected his help and named him a criminal. I have reason to suspect that the son of Richard Alden has kidnapped Jacob gallows.
(21:52):
Have you any idea where this man may be?
No. But you might. How did you find me?
I followed your scent of your boot print in the gallows office.
And you didn't try the burned writing on the desk?
It didn't give me any idea of where to look. The only scent that came off it was a copper. But there are a number of places that could come from. Your boot print was more specific.
(22:16):
Hopper. Where in this city could we find copper?
The pockets of every man, woman, and child. It's everywhere.
Is there any factory that processes wire.
On the east side?
Is it anywhere near where Gallows was kidnapped?
Maybe six blocks from the office.
(22:37):
Okay. From what I've heard, you've been associated with helping people and solving crimes for the last few years. Now, I've also heard that you can fly. Can you get us there quickly?
Yes, if we're not too late already.
Taking the shadow into his arms, Superman leaps out through a window and onwards. A streak of blue and red intertwined with a wisp of black, soaring through the night sky.
(23:06):
I thought you could fly.
Can only leap tremendously. Perhaps, but only a week.
How good is your hearing?
Good enough to hear that nothing is going on inside. Except one man breathing as though he were asleep.
Let me go. You don't strike me as the most subtle individual.
All right, go.
(23:29):
Hello, Mr. Cranston.
I see you know both who I am and how to detect me.
I wouldn't have taken up against my father's killer if I hadn't you inspired me. You, using the gifts we had learned from the master to fight evil and injustice. I had no father to guide me through much of my life. But I had a role model in you.
(23:53):
But there was no grave injustice done upon you.
What? Surely you know that Gallows sold my father out. He refused to aid him in the case and provided horrible counsel so that he wouldn't step on too many toes so that he could make partner. My father was framed, and Gallows was part of it. My father trusted him and was betrayed.
(24:16):
How do you know this?
Because I read his mind.
You're lying to me. I can see it as plain as day that you can't do that. For all your skill, it is focused by anger and hate, which blocks you out of the minds of others.
You don't support me, but you have to. This is right. I am acting as you would in my shoes.
(24:40):
Gallows tried to counsel your father, but the case was unwinnable. Assuming your father was framed.
Assuming? Are you trying to tell me that you don't believe that my father really was innocent?
That's not what I'm saying.
You know what? You're right. I am focused by anger. So much so that I learned to make evil burn at my touch. Now die suddenly.
(25:03):
After overhearing the turn in the discussion, Superman races in.
Hold on there. I gotcha. Let's watch what you do with that hand.
Now. What did you do with Gallows?
Can't you guess? I brought him here to see the error of his ways. But when he wouldn't accept his guilt, he knew my touch.
Neuter Barber.
(25:25):
I did nothing wrong.
You slew a man that you suspected of doing a poor job long ago in his career. You had no grounds for your accusations. You killed a man. The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. And you are the bitterest fruit of all.
He was a murderer himself.
(25:46):
That is not for you to decide.
With that, the Shadow closed his eyes and dug deep within the mind of Bernard Aldin. He went down into the darkest recesses and tugged.
What are you doing to me?
Stripping you of your powers.
(26:06):
No.
You will never be able to harm those as you have ever again.
Then Bernard Aldin fell unconscious. The Shadow notified the police of their location and parted ways with the man of Tomorrow. Later, at the hotel room of Lamont Cranston in Margo Lane.
And that was how I met the Superman.
(26:27):
Oh, Lamont. That's so amazing. He's actually real.
I know. So did you see your cousin?
Yes. But now I almost wish I had Gone with you instead. To have actually met the real Superman. What I would give.
Yes. Well, he was nice in a spineless sort of way. Not all that impressive, really.
(26:53):
You son of a. Unbelievable. Calling me spineless.
Got you with the last word, mofo.
It was a callback.
Both versions of him were spineless.
Can I tell you guys something? I. That ended way too soon for me. I could have listened to you guys go on for, like, another half an hour, I swear.
(27:15):
Honestly, Same.
It was. I was the entire time just sitting there, so happy to be listening to you guys. That was great.
This is fun.
Yeah, this was fun, right?
Thank you guys for doing this. It's been. I actually have never listened to this read out loud, and so I'm really happy for you all.
(27:35):
That was the first time.
Yeah, yeah. Like, I've had people read it before, but never just, like, out loud.
Full cast, all that stuff. Yeah, yeah.
Just. Just wait till your daughter gets a little older, and then you can always read all your stuff out loud together.
Oh, that's a super cute act on that. But, yeah, I wanted to open the floor to you guys. I mean, again, I wanted to thank you for. For being here. But, you know, if anyone had questions or things they wanted to talk about or themes. I mean, for me, this was my first time listening to it out loud. And, you know, it's kind of wild. I wrote this in college as a. For an assignment for a creative writing course. And this was like my freshman year. And so, like, while I've, like, touched it up a little bit, and at one point I, like, had, like, filed the serial numbers off so that it could be a. Like, it could be a non specific Superman shadow piece. Yeah, I. You know, I have a Superman podcast.
(28:32):
It made sense for me to, like, flip it back this way. So, like, it's gone through a couple of versions. But like I said, I've just. I've never had a table read with it. It's just a thing that I've always had sitting in my back pocket that I wanted to do something with, and this seemed like a good opportunity. So again, thank you all for. For being here on this one. And. Yeah, like, what stood out to anyone on this one?
(28:57):
First of all, thank you so much, Case. This was a delight to read. I will say, when I first read the script, I popped a little with the callback of Clark is kind of spineless. Superman's kind of spineless. And I just went, oh, in my head. Canon Margo knows now Margot's like, wait a minute. Wait a second. That's how that one guy was described at the Daily Planet.
(29:28):
And in a city of 8 million people, there's only one spineless person?
Only one spineless six foot four man.
Yes, well, it used to be a popular way to be described, but it's fallen out of favor if they're being described that way. It's very specific. I actually enjoy the fact that this is a specific era of radio plane, a specific era of Superman. The fact that without making it a big deal and almost playing into the rumor side of things, there's like, no, this isn't the Superman that you expect in 2024. You hear Superman, who can do a thousand things. No, this is the extraterrestrial circus strongman. That was from way back when. And I Love that.
(30:10):
The 1938 Superman.
Yeah. Yes. Yeah. I wanted to lean into that, like, early Superman with like, the jumping aspect of it. Like, the radio show is why the radio show in the cartoon are like the two reasons why, like, the jumping became a flight thing. And I wanted to sort of like play around with that all. Like, I, I, I don't think it's a surprise to anyone. I, I've mentioned this before on the podcast, but anyway, everyone here, I, I listened to a ton of the Superman radio show and a ton of the Shadow. And so it was always like in the back of my mind to like, bring those together. But, like, some of the pieces of that were always like, well, this is the larger Superman stuff that was going on at the time. I'd love to do that.
(30:51):
Or to like, I have a reference to Doc Savage in here where it's like, you remind me of a doctor I know. And that's more of a Pulp Fiction kind of thing for the character.
I was wondering, I was gonna ask specifically about that reference. What does it mean?
Yeah, yeah. So that's a reference to Doc Savage, who is sort of a prototype character for Superman. He was called the man of Bronze because he was a six foot, something like perfectly tanned giant super scientist who had a team of associates that he would travel around with and do stuff. And he had a place called a Fortress of Solitude that was his, like, you know, his lair, which, you know, was then copied over for Superman. And his name was Clark.
(31:38):
And this guy was a character on the Shadow.
He's a Pulp Fiction character that was a, a contemporary of the Shadows, Pulp Fiction stuff. So, like, they often get paired together in the way that as a Superman Batman of the Pulp Fiction era, before we get to the comics. I mean, he's human, but he's as far, like, he's as close to superhuman as you can get and still be human. And like, is in the grand tradition of like the romance novel kind of hero finding, you know, lost cities and, you know, going on those kind of adventures.
(32:10):
When you say bronzed, do you mean literally like Adam Warlock?
No, no, he looks like he's made of bronze because he's like so perfectly tanned. Okay. And they call him the man of Bronze. And also, like, his hair is supposed to be like the exact same shade. So he just like looks like a bronze statue wherever he goes.
(32:31):
It's funny.
Yeah. I feel like also it's the kind of thing where if you made a reference to someone moving, like a phantom or a ghost who walks, it would also wouldn't be too out of place in this kind of era and things for similar reasons.
Yeah, I mean, like, it's supposed to be cheeky fun. Like the fact that the reason why Lois Lane and Margo Lane get together is the fact that their last name is Lane. And it's always just been kind of a fun detail that like, never amounted to anything. I was like, well, obviously they're cousins.
(32:55):
I mean, what it was that.
That makes a lot more sense to me than, wait, your mommy's name is Martha? My mommy's name is Martha. Let's be friends.
Why did you say that name?
Why did he say that name?
Yeah, yeah. So that was fun and I'm so glad that I got to have. I mean, like, so there's some stuff in here like, that was specifically me poking fun at like, radio stereotypes and like, some of it was the casual sexism of radio shows. So, like, that's why I did, like, it's a little over, you know, it's a little heavy handed. But at the same time I was like, no, I, like, I need to comment on all this stuff. And it was fun to sort of explore that with Lois, who is a really cool character and was very cutting edge when she was introduced and who kind of got reined in over time. Like the radio show. She became much more of like a damsel in distress over the course of its run.
(33:48):
And the comics also, it became more of like romance comics and love story books.
Yeah, no, an earlier Men of Steel episode got me to watch the Fleischer cartoons. And Lois Lane is unhinged.
Yeah. Very much rules anything for a story. And like, that's such a cool element.
Yeah.
(34:08):
And like, you know, it's. Obviously it's not a huge. So this is written as two. Two episodes, like an episode of the Shadow and an episode of Superman, which. So it theoretically could be like a back to back slot kind of situation. I don't know what the actual. Like. Like, for one thing, I don't know which channel each of them were broadcast on. Off the top of my head, I want to say CBS is one of them, but I couldn't tell you for sure. But yeah, I wanted it to seem like it was doing those two episodes. And like, those episodes are really short. Like, I think they typically run 10 to 15 minutes. So I wrote it that way.
(34:46):
And then later when I actually was like, looking at possibly like putting these out as separate chunks, I realized like, oh, God, it's like perfectly like. I think it's page seven or eight where the. The Superman, like, intro, like, comes in and it's like. Yeah, no, that's. That's exactly what I wanted. Yeah. Yeah.
(35:07):
And it kind of feels like for a radio drama of the time, you could have easily broken it up with a follow the story on Superman at 7 or, you know, whatever it is coming up.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like, that was my hope. It made me think of, like, network crossovers. Like when, like ABC did the. NBC, pardon me, did the Friends single guy and I forget all the other and Mad about you, like, crossover where they all had a blackout in the first season of Friends. Or like when Baby Buffet's.
(35:40):
Sister Ursula crosses over.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
Stuff like that where it's like, oh, it just feels like, oh, well, we're the same network, so we can have those kind of like, crossover kind of elements.
Yeah, a bunch of networks did that with like, their late. Their. Their primetime tv.
Yeah, I'm.
I think CBS said one too. Like the Nanny was part of it or something.
Yeah, or like USA back when they had like, a lot of like, kids cartoons, including, I remember Savage Dragon and I want to say Wing Commander had like a crossover character who just like fell through realities appearing in all the different, like, series that were coming out at the time. And it was like just weird crossover kind of stuff like that. That's a long story.
(36:15):
Yeah, like when icarly crossed over with Victorious on the Disney Channel.
An important moment in all of our.
Lives, deeply important in a moment in pop culture.
Or when Apple showed up on. On Full House.
We love it.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly. And. And so that's felt like the kind of convenience of the Lane kind of crossover and then having these two episodes that again, are pretty short, but like a real. Both the Shadow and Superman. And Superman more so because it's like super serialized. Like, the individual episodes are extremely short, but, like, the actual stories are like seven part stories, typically very long collections. Like, they still move pretty fast because it's only like an hour, but is like I said, like, individual episodes are like, you know, boom, boom. You're done.
(37:07):
Yeah. Yes. I've talked about this a bunch when I've been on the show in previous episodes. When I was in college, I was part of our, you know, radio theater troupe. And one of the things that we did, we would mostly do, like, standalone horror stuff and we did Christmas Carolyn, et cetera, but we would usually end it with an episode from a Superman serial. And we never got through the entirety of one of them because they were short episodes, but there's so many of them. Yeah, it's the wildest thing.
(37:37):
Yeah. So, J Mike, I did. Did you get a chance to read this before. Before we actually. Okay. Sorry, that wasn't like a leading, like.
Hey, did you call me out?
No, no, no. Like, I'm. I'm curious about your thoughts.
You're about to start a blood feud.
Oh, my God.
(37:57):
Another.
I'm Paul K's blood feuds.
Akin a blood feud.
Would you like to have a blood feud?
I like that a lot.
Would you like to do some rides?
It could be a sacrifice, a wonderful sacrifice. We could do it all tonight or.
(38:19):
Nailed the rhyme.
There you go.
All right. But no, J Mike, as co host of the show, like, is there any observation that you have that you think is, like, good to bring?
I was laughing when were reading this because, like, man, we did the. Many episodes ago, we did the crossover radio show event with like, Batman, Superman.
Oh, yes.
Where they went to, like, the carnival or the fair or whatever. And then was it Jimmy, Lois and Dick got kidnapped at one point. And I was like, oh, man, this is bringing back so many good memories.
(38:51):
Well, and obviously, like, I'm super influenced by that particular collection because that's such a fun story and was like one of the early, like, collections of radio tapes I had for Superman.
Also, I gotta say this, Peter, when you were doing the whole reaching into his mind, you were doing like the Dr. Xavier, like, mind touch thing. And I was trying really hard not to laugh because, like, I saw it and I was like, he's doing a thing. Oh, my gosh.
(39:16):
Take a moment and just give like, mad Props to Peter for reading, like, the clunkiest of dialogue that I could have possibly thrown your way. You had, like, paragraphs of just, like, raw exposition, which is very in keeping for the. For the series. But, like, thank you so much for doing this part.
It was.
Thank you.
It was my pleasure. I. I've loved the Shadow ever since that Alec Baldwin movie came out in the 90s. I watched that movie so many times as a kid, I jumped at the chance to do this.
(39:45):
Yeah, no. So, like, listeners, like, Peter is a great voice actor, and I was trying to, like, put the people I. I had that were, like, good for doing, like, a lot of parts on the. Lot of parts, like tracks. And then he was like, no, I gotta be the shadow. And I was like, okay. Obviously.
Thank you for letting me live out my childhood fantasy case.
(40:06):
That was awesome.
Dude. You crushed it.
Everybody crushed it.
Stop it. I mean, most of my knowledge of the Shadow and even the Alec Baldwin movie is I always play the pinball game whenever I see it.
Oh, nice.
That's my fault.
Where can I play this pinball game?
(40:28):
How often do you get down to Asbury Park?
You know, it's been a minute, but I. Every once in a while. Oh, the pinball arcade.
I know the Silverball Museum in Asbury Park. It's my favorite place in the whole world.
Wait, is it that old of a pinball machine?
They have new here, too. Like, they're. They're. They have, like, history and everything. Up for everything. So it's. No, I meant the oldest and far from the newest. So, yeah, it's there.
(40:50):
The Shadow. Okay, you know what? All right, that's it. I'm going back to Asbury. I know what I'm doing, listeners.
You should be going to Asbury Park.
They don't have a Superman pinball machine. Give them hell for it.
Really?
They have one.
They have one at Not Weird Beach Fun spot in Lacunia, New Hampshire, which has, like, a whole bunch of old pinball tape. They have the Superman one from the 70s. And, guys, I think for an episode, Kay should play them both and just play the audio.
(41:16):
Well, we did the board game for Superman.
Incredible.
Yeah, we did, which was a lot of fun. But the. The outtakes was just us, like, swearing at each other. Sorry, Rachel. You're. You've been winning.
Yeah. I wonder if that. That secret pinball arcade behind the Laundromat in Greenpoint.
Sunshine Laundry.
Yeah, it.
It doesn't have the Shadow or Superman. They do have Elvira, though, I think.
(41:44):
Oh, I like all three of the Elvira tables. Sorry. I could talk about pinball forever. I'm gonna stop. But apparently 1994 is the answer of when that pinball machine came out.
Same year as the movie. Yes.
It was a tie in. Yeah. Okay. It was one of the ones that like early 90s. There was that whole like dot matrix, like big boom of pinball stuff. And there was a couple of machines that had like half a handgun as the plunger. The ball.
(42:13):
Yes.
The Shadow was one of them. Terminator 2, Terminator 2, Demolition Man.
I will say, as much as I love this tangent, and this is all staying in the actual episode for the record.
Good, good.
It doesn't have anywhere else.
So anyway, back to the radio play in case you wrote a great song.
(42:34):
Well, no, I mean, I just think that, like, I feel like we. We kind of have. I've covered the majority of what we wanted to say, but I'll give everyone a space for final thoughts.
Keith, what did you think about hearing it out loud for the first time?
Yeah, so it. So there. There's like the little bit of like, oh, man, I wrote this 20 years ago, and even though I've like, touched it up, like, I've never heard it out loud and there's like, Like just the. The weird nervous energy for it all that you was really cool. Like, you guys did such a great job like, bringing this whole thing to life. I can't wait to like. I. I guess it's sort of the one thing is that it's still like in the halfway spot right now with us talking, which is that I'm going to go through and I'm gonna put in Foley and I'm gonna like, cut this down and everything, and then that's gonna be the version that I really can't wait to hear and to. To really put it all together. I'm really excited for so like in the.
(43:28):
In the moment. I'm so excited. Cause I like, I have wonderful tools now in. In the. In all of your wonderful vocal parts to. To assemble this into a piece that I. I really am looking forward to, like, putting out there and having people check out. Because it's been just like a thing that's been sitting in the back of my brain for two decades. And like I said, there's just. There was just a ton of nervous energy going into it. Like, I was just like, antsy before we got on the call, and now it's it. But like, you guys knocked it out of the park and that Was just amazing.
(44:02):
It's nice. Network strategy is going to be really fun. And I. As I get older. Yeah. You don't have as many opportunities. That's fun. But thanks. Thanks, man.
Yeah, and thank you for asking. So on that note, why don't we have final thoughts from everyone? So we'll just go in the same sort of round the around the zoom call if. Give everyone space to say a final thing and then we can call this a tight little episode. So Rachel, what are your thoughts?
(44:31):
My final thoughts about the piece or just in general?
Like to end on?
Yeah. Oh, well, my only thing is a question. When are you gonna write a sequel? I'm ready. I'm ready for more.
That was my.
You stole my.
Or the 1510 minute sequels.
I gotta do this in full serial.
Yeah. I need to have the Margo Lane discovery of Superman is Clark Kent.
(44:57):
She needs to know the zany hijinks of Lois. Never quite hearing Margot over the whole thing. Just remaining.
Oh man, that could be a really fun one now. Well, you might be inspiring me since.
Margot knows the shadow. She's keeping that under wraps. Who knows Margot keeping Superman under wraps. Margot's hair is so big because it's full of secrets. Let's go. I'm ready. Born for this. Thank you, Case. This was so much fun. I love getting to read Saucy Maze.
(45:31):
Thank you so much for coming on for that one. Where can people find you and follow you?
Oh, please follow me on Instagram. My handle is at I AmRachel Quirky. And if you are so inclined, you may also check out the wrestler that I manage under the name of Charles Stunning. Also on Instagram under Arles Stunning. She fought yesterday and took a real big power bomb. And boy howdy, it was wild. And we. And we are. And we are literally not the same person. I want to make it abundantly. Are you sure that am not Charles?
(46:09):
Are you sure you're not Charles?
I think mohawks and we sound similar, but we are absolutely not the same. I am just her manager. That isn't.
Charles Stunning wears glasses.
Charles Stunning doesn't wear glasses. I wear glasses.
Rachel wears glasses.
I wear glasses.
Wait, wait. No. Oh, no.
(46:29):
Charles.
What's Charles Stunning doing here?
No. Oh, no. Definitely not. But yeah, please, if you would, please follow the wrestling career of Charles Stunning. That would be really cool because she's having a blast making wrestling happen.
Nice. Jeff. Where can people find you and follow you and what are your final thoughts?
(46:49):
My final thoughts are I would have gotten away with it too. If it weren't for the crossover of two great heroes. Ed, this was so very fun. Kayce, thank you so much for thinking of me and allowing me to be a part of this. This wacky nonsense. This wonderful wacky nonsense. I can't wait to hear the Margot sequel. But as for me, you can find me on socials. Jeffmakesnoise. Jeff is spelled G E O F F. And you can also hear me on the certain POV network as part of Fun and Games podcast, our video game podcast, where they let us talk about video games and talk to people about video games. And I am not going to disabuse anyone of the notion. And yes.
(47:34):
All right, J. Mike, final thoughts.
I want to be a voice actor when I grew up.
Me too.
I can't wait to do another one of these. Case, this is great. Also, I guess I'm part of the blood feud community now, so I guess we got that going against you starting.
A Discord chat or a WhatsApp.
(47:55):
I guess. I guess you have to look out next time I see you because, like, I could be anywhere.
Case, this is true. And you know where I live and I don't know where you are. Right. All right, Olivia, how about you? Final thoughts.
We were joking about it, but I am so curious to hear the ads from the sponsors you would write in this era. I think there is just so much potential to, I don't know, get a little bit more transgressive in the way that those pre code ads really could. It was an enormous amount of fun to do this case, especially to hear, I don't know, all the resonances after. I think it was closer to 15 years.
(48:41):
Yeah, yeah. Yes, this is true because, yeah, it was like 2000. It was like 2009. Yeah. So, yeah, like 15 years. Oh, my God.
And so at long last, it's tremendously fun to be here and hear all of you.
And where can people find you and follow you?
You can't.
Okay.
Actually, I'm not on socials.
(49:03):
I love that for you, actually.
Thank you. Well, do you have like a. Do you have like a webpage or anything that you. You want to direct people to?
Yeah, you can come check out my devised theater and Company of little weirds@bookclubtheater.org There we go.
(49:23):
People should check that out. Ben, how about you? Final thoughts. And where can people find you?
Echo Rachel's sentiment. I want to hear more. That's all, man. Super happy that I could do it. I meant it when I said that I Could have listened to all you guys for another half an hour and maybe someday we will. I write comic books that have been published. You can buy them online. You can find me@mrben au.com or not on Instagram. But then we have a Western. I wrote a western movie that's coming out or starting. Starting to film. And hell yeah. So that's good. Yeah. I write things, read some.
(50:10):
Yeah. So look up Ben Goldsmith and find the stuff he writes and case he.
Can dance at a fish concert. I found out this summer. Just so everyone knows.
Does Rue want that water bottle back or should I just toss it?
I think you should toss it.
(50:31):
Blood feud with the water bottle and blood feed.
Yes, yes, yes.
Just. Just racking them up. Just racking them up. All the blood feuds. Peter, you already had a blood feud with me where I did.
And I'm honest. I'm so glad that the fellowship of the blood feud is growing. I have so many accomplices now. Wonderful. Where can you find me on. On Instagram? I'm Peter. Brian Coleman. That's Brian with a Y, not an I. On. On Twitter. I refuse to call it X on Twitter. I'm Peter B. Coleman. And what's. What's going on? Oh, hey, starting on Halloween, I'll be in a series. I'll be in a podcast, a new take on Dracula, which I'm very excited for, and you can all look out for that. It'll probably be long story, short productions, something like that. But if you follow me, I'll post about it and that'll be all the opportunity you have to hear me do a bunch of different voices because me and a lady are playing all the characters. It's gonna be fun.
(51:41):
Nice.
Sick.
Love that.
Nice. And Sarah, where can people find you, follow you and what are your final thoughts?
My final thoughts are. Thank you for having me. This was a lot of fun. I did not do the homework and read this beforehand because I got thrown in 10 minutes prior to the show.
Yes. Yes. Sam. Alice, my co host from another past was originally booked, but she has a migraine so we hope she feels better.
(52:05):
We love you, Sam. Yeah, we love you, Sam. I pulled a Jeff and last minute stepped in and it was really fun and to hear it in real time. I was experiencing the story just like all the listeners will be. Best place to find me. I'm associate producer on Fun and Games podcast with Jeff on the occasional episode. And that's the only place you can find me on the Internet. Much like Olivia, I have social media. But it's all private, though, so.
(52:29):
Yeah, Galler's so secretive versus, like, those of us who are, like, podcasters being like, find my podcast. Find my.
I said find the podcast. Just don't look at me.
That's true.
That's right.
Please notice me. I need it. Yeah.
I need your attention and I need your praise and I need your likes. I live off of them. Thank you.
(52:49):
You.
Yes.
That's how it works. And so, on that note, if. If you want to feed me with the likes and the praise and the whatnot or. Or if you just want to come at me because, like, let's be honest.
Like, with a blood.
Like, come. Come at me with a bl.
We are accepting applications, but you have to earn it.
It's. It's got to be on Blue sky, though. Blue Sky Blood Feud. It's got a nice.
Those are. That is the secret extra feature. If you hit the. The hamburger on the. On the right, like the top right of your. Your user profile, you can activate Blood Feud mode. It's a secret feature for Blue Sky. It's part of the federeverse. So, yeah, just. Anyway, so you can find me on Blue sky or on EEE or on any of the other platforms with AT signs Aase Aiken, except for Instagram, where you can find me at quetzalcoatl5. Because I am holding on to my AIM screen name from high school for dear life, and I was pretentious and didn't really care about spelling when I was in high school, so. So have fun with that one.
(53:50):
Wait, hold on. Is that not how you're supposed to spell?
No, no, it is. It is the appropriate spelling of Quetzalcoatl, the. The Aztec sun deity. But it is at the same time Difficult to spell 1. Q, u, e, T, C, A, L, C, o, A, T, L, 5.
As we all know, off the top of our heads, of course.
Naturally.
Absolutely.
(54:11):
Honestly, if anybody out there wants to use having to spell that as part of their blood feud with case, I will accept that as a valid obligation.
Ironically, Quetzalcoatl not cool on blood feuds and stuff. The whole deal was that, well, Quetzalcoatl is like, up in the sky. We can't murder anyone.
(54:32):
Dang.
Religiously at least. Anyway, so you can find me on those platforms at caseyagin or @quetzalcoatl5 for Instagram, or you can find me on the Discord for certain. Pov. There's a link in the description of the episode. I'M lying when I say that there is a link on our website. There's also going to be a.
(54:54):
Case broke.
Visit certainpow.com and find not only other amazing Certain POV podcasts, but a permanent invite link to our Discord server, where many of these conversations continue and the wackiness can ensue.
Jeff said it. He did it. Great.
He did it.
Watermelon. Watermelon.
It's nice when multiple people from the same network are on the call.
(55:15):
It's like how much of my usual my brain goes dead and I'm on autopilot spiel for the end of the episode because if I think about it, I'm going to get it wrong. Applies here. That does.
There we go. Anyway, so yes, check out our Discord. Check out everyone who is here because everyone here is a wonderful, amazing person who was so awesome to give up their Sunday night to do this reading and then come back for the next episode. But until then, stay super man. Find out when we return after a word from our sponsor.
(56:04):
Smoking.
It's good for the kids.
Mild on the throat.
10 out of 10 doctors.
Now with more vitamin C. Do you.
Find yourself playing older games and wishing that there were new discussions about those games? Enter Tales from the Backlog. Hi, I'm Dave Jackson and on each episode I'm joined by a guest to break down those games that may be stuck in your ever expanding backlog. Each episode looks at one game in depth, focusing on mechanics, story, music, and other aspects with no spoilers until a clearly marked spoiler wall in the middle. If you've played the game, go ahead and climb that spoiler wall and enjoy in depth story discussions. And if not, jump out when we warn you and maybe go play that game for yourself. We have over 100 episodes in the feed, everything from Disco Elysium to Tunic to discussion episodes about how to get into horror games.
(57:05):
And if games actually need to be fun or if they have more to offer, I guarantee that there's something in there for everybody. Once again, that's Tales from the Backlog, available wherever your podcasts are found.
Still rolling. This is still rolling.
It's fine.
Yeah, this is good for the cold open.
Still rolling.
Great for the cold open.
Oh yeah.
No, this is the what it's all about. Okay.
(57:26):
And the after credits.
Yeah, all of this is gold. Yeah, get the Listen, what we're getting now is the wild recording of the sirens that were passing by. I'm presuming Olivia's apartment. And so that way when the cops come in to investigate all of the crimes in this radio play.
We're just already getting Foley in advance.
(57:49):
It's live Foley courtesy.
It's.
It's Mick Foley.
Yeah, speaking of which. Also, I love that we have the Superman figure, like, moving just a little bit so we know it's not a still image. It's like we know he's really here in the room with us.
Benjamin, are you just holding your phone over it? Are you gonna be doing that the entire time, just holding your phone manually over the Superman figure?
(58:12):
No.
That would be so amateurish.
Of course I'm not going to do that selfie stick.
Oh, boy.
You can turn your camera off. You're not obligated to have it on.
Oh, really? Okay, y'all, I'm out of here.
And away he goes.
Everyone say, bye, Superman. Bye, bye, Superman.
(58:35):
You're the best.
And that's going to be the. The post credits right there.
Obviously, that owes me five bucks.
X.
Certainpov.
Com.
You can talk as much as you want, you can sit at that space as much as you want, but once the mic is hot, they know.
Yeah.
Yeah. Well, with Champion, especially because I did curse him.
And that is. That is the reason that our blood feud.
What?
Aren't you aware of the lore of certain POV that I am?
Deep lore.
Like I have cursed Champion the cat. And that is why Rachel and I have this ongoing blood feud, which is particularly emphasized by the fact that every three word review, I would always put a period in there. And that is part of the incantation. That is the curse that I have placed on her cat. And that causes the bad behavior of the cat.
(00:36):
Yes.
Out of context, that is insane.
I know, right? And I said it that way because the context is insane.
In our defense, it was really organic as we built it, and then once it was done being grown, you just look at the tree that you grew and you went, that's a fucked up tree. Huh? That's a real weird tree we've made.
(01:01):
I want to make the most cursed wizard staff out of that tree.
Curse another cat.
All right, let's actually start. Hey, everyone, and welcome back to the Men of Steel podcast. I am Case Aiken, and as always, I am joined by my co host, J. Mike Fson, in a world where.
(01:38):
That sound good. I'm trying to work my voice thing for the thing today.
Oh, yeah. We're not alone here, J. Mike.
I know so many friends.
We have a pretty big pressure here, digitally speaking, because today we're finally doing the navally gaziest of naval gazes that we're doing on this podcast. And we've already done one of these. We're looking at a script I wrote, and in this case, we're doing a crossover script because we're doing the shadow meets Superman in the searing silhouette. And so to have a look at the script, we are joined by a ton of wonderful people. So I'm going to go around on my zoom screen. And so, first up, we're joined by Rachel Corky Shank.
(02:26):
Hello.
Do you miss me? Did you miss me? Certain pov. What's up? I disappeared.
We missed you so much. I just could not help but just, like, scream in joy when you jogged on the zoom call.
I know my face hurts from grinning so much already because I'm now on a zoom call with you, and I'm one step closer to ending your existence.
(02:49):
Yes.
And so it begins.
Yes. No. So it continues.
It never ended. Listen, Screensnark may be over, but our blood feud Will never end.
And we've got Jeff Mooton.
Hi there, everybody. I've been on this show before. I'll be on it again. And I'm just happy to be here. And I have no publicly admissible blood feud with anyone on this call yet. And now it is in recording. Excellent.
(03:20):
No. Who laughed just now? That was Olivia Gilliot.
Hello.
It's very nice to be here.
Olivia, I'm so glad that you're here.
Here.
This has been a work in progress for a long time. And you and I used to work together in theater a decade ago, and this had been a thing that we had talked about. And when I bumped into you because you were involved, you directed a show that my friend Matt wrote, we got to talking, and this sort of sparked this whole thing happening again. So I'm so happy you're here.
(03:49):
I'm thrilled to be here then. Thrilled to hear that star. It's the spark of, I don't know, iteration or creation is a fun one.
Another person who has been involved in eventually making this actually happen is Ben Goldsmith.
Hi, guys. How are you? All in the POB land. That's right. I've known Case for a very long time. I read the original script of it, and I gotta say, my Batman tattoo is not happy with who I'm playing today.
(04:19):
It'll be the world's finest performance.
Oh, he did the thing. He did the thing.
We've got Peter Coleman.
Hi. Hello, everybody. I am pretty sure I may have, at some point been on this podcast before. Maybe, I don't know.
You've been on podcasts of mine, but I don't think you've ever been on Men of Steel.
(04:39):
Not this one. Oh, my God. Longtime listener, first time caller, very excited to be here.
Turn down your radio. Turn down your radio.
I also have a blood feud with Case Aiken.
Yes.
See?
See, I rack them up. Come on.
You're in good company.
When people. When people talk about Case Aiken, what they think is blood feuds, obviously.
(05:03):
So all I'm saying is.
All I'm saying is we can collaborate. The enemy. The enemy of my enemy. My friend. What's up, bestie? Let's go get Case.
Hey, new bestie.
Super villain. Team ups.
Perfect.
I'll duck behind him, you push him over. Okay.
(05:24):
And lastly, we have Sarah Moonan.
Hey, everybody. Excited to be here?
Yeah. All right. I probably should have said who you all are reading while I went down that list. So. Yeah. So Peter is doing the part of Lamont Cranston, AKA the Shadow. Ben is reading the part of Clark Kent, AKA Superman. Rachel is reading the part of Margo Lane. Olivia is reading the part of Lois Lane. Then we've got J. Mike Falson reading a variety of vocal parts, including Jacob Gallows and Jimmy Olsen. Jeff is reading a variety of vocal parts including Bernard Alden and Perry White. And then, Sarah, you are reading a variety of parts in this one as.
(06:08):
Well, including voice number three.
Voice number three? Yes. Wait, what?
She gets to voice number three.
Voice number three is actually quite important because the voice one, two and three are.
I retract myself.
Yes.
I was very excited about that. Although, Ben, does this mean we're in a blood feud now? Because you wanted voice number three.
I mean, I'm kind of jealous of all the blood feuds going on, so.
Yeah, our calendar just opened up.
(06:34):
Well, why don't we actually get into the reading? Oh, and. Sorry. And I'll be the narrator for this. For this reading and. Yeah, let's get into it. As we dive into. The Shadow meets Superman in the searing silhouette by P.K. Sagan III.
(06:57):
Who knows what evil lurks within the hearts of men? The Shadow knows.
Now a thrilling adventure of the Shadow and his relentless fight against the forces of evil. Demonstrating to young and old alike that CR does not pay. The Shadow, mysterious character who aids the forces of law and order is, in reality Lamont Cranston, wealthy man about town. Years ago, in the Orient, Cranston learned a strange and mysterious secret. The hypnotic power to cloud men's minds so they cannot see him. Cranston's friend and companion, the lovely Margolaine, is the only person who knows to whom the Voice of Shadow belongs. Now listen to the searing silhouette. Early one morning, at the major metropolitan law firm of Steven Smith and Gallows, senior partner Jacob Gallows was at work when he received a strange visitor.
(07:53):
Gallows?
Why, yes. Can I help you?
Quiet.
Is that a gun?
What does it look like, shyster?
Now, see here.
No, no. You see here. You're coming with me. Marianne, your secretary ain't around to help you.
What did you do to her? Did you harm her? If you did, so help me.
Relax. Unlike your kind, I don't attack the innocent. She's done nothing wrong besides working for you. And you've duped too many people for me to hold that against her.
(08:20):
What are you going to do?
You'll see.
Lamont, where are we going?
We're going into the city. My contacts with the police have alerted me of some peculiar details of a recent kidnapping. There.
Peculiar details?
The desk where the victim worked had the words. The evil of men shall know to fear the dark. Burned into it.
(08:47):
Burned?
Yes, burned. But that isn't what troubles me. What troubles me is that the only thing witnesses saw of the kidnapper was a shadow.
You don't mean.
I'm afraid that I do. The prime suspect the police have in this caper is the Shadow.
(09:10):
Extra, extra.
Shadow kidnaps wealthy lawyer. Read all about it. Elusive criminal threatened city.
Oh, Mont. Did you hear that?
Yes. Yes, I did. Marco.
Is there anything you can do to clear your name?
I'm going to wait until nightfall. Once the police coverage has lessened from the crime scene, the Shadow will pay a visit to the offices of Steven Smith and Gallows.
(09:34):
What will you do until nightfall?
I'm going to return to the hotel room. I have a feeling that every moment of sleep I can get will be precious.
In that case, I think as long as we're in the city, I'm going to look up my cousin.
Oh, I didn't know you had family here.
Oh, yes, but I haven't seen her in ages.
Where is she?
She works at the Daily Planet.
(09:54):
Oh.
As a secretary. Lamont, Margot.
Just because she's a woman doesn't mean she can't be a reporter. She's quite good too. Though she seems to have some fascination with this urban legend of a flying man.
Well, I hope you see her.
Thank you. Goodbye. Lamont.
Margot.
(10:20):
Later at the major metropolitan newspaper, the Daily Planet.
Excuse me. Excuse me. Would you happen to know where I can find Lois Lane?
Yeah.
Ms. Lane works over at the desk around the corner. Just take her right there and it's on your rack. You can't miss it.
Oh, thank you. Mr. Olson?
Jimmy Olsen.
Hi, I'm Marco Lane.
(10:40):
Nice to meet you, Ms. Lane. Wait, Ms. Lane?
Yes. I'm Lois's cousin.
Wow. Nice to meet you, Ms. Lane.
Nice to meet you too, Jimmy.
And I'm done.
Another front page triumph.
Mar, what are you doing here?
I was in the city and I had a few hours to myself.
(11:01):
I'm so happy to see you. Surprised, but happy. Actually, hold on a minute. I need to take this down to the editing so it can make print.
Oh, sure. Clark.
Clark, can you come here a moment?
Oh, sure, Lois. What do you need?
Clark, this is my cousin, Margot.
Oh, it's a pleasure to meet you.
It's nice to meet you too, Clark.
I need to run this down to editing. Can you entertain Margo for a moment?
(11:24):
I suppose so, Lois.
Wonderful.
Just reg her with Tales of the Nightlife In Smallville, Kansas.
Smallville?
Lois likes to kid about where I'm from. To her, any place in Kansas is Smallville.
Oh, I see.
To tell you the truth, I don't think I've ever actually told what part of Kansas I'm from.
(11:46):
That's Lois.
Yes. Yes, I suppose it is.
Now, you are a reporter also?
Yes. Actually, I've been partnered with Lois on a number of stories. The chief seems to think we work well together.
And you disagree?
I enjoyed working with Lois just fine. But Lois tends to like working alone. She wants it to be her story.
(12:07):
I see.
I hope Kent didn't bore you to death.
Oh, no. He was perfectly delightful.
Well, I have some work to do.
Okay. Goodbye, Clark.
He seemed nice.
Kent. I suppose he is, in that spineless sort of way. So you had dinner? It's getting late.
Yes, it is getting late. It has come the time for the Shadow to make his move.
(12:31):
I slipped by the policeman outside easily enough. Now, onto the office. This office seems to be well looked over. I doubt that they've missed too many clues.
Hey, who's there?
Blast. I've alerted the policeman. I best leave. This place has enough shadows. But I think a visit to the police headquarters is in order.
(12:59):
What was that?
Just the wind. It's getting late. I think we got all the information we can from you. Let me just go get a few forms and you'll be all set to go, ma'am.
Thank you.
H. This woman was a witness of the crime. I wonder. Just as I thought. The witnesses only saw a shadow because that was all that was there to see. Whoever kidnapped Gallows possessed my ability to cloud men's minds as well. The confusion and disarray of her mind is enough to indicate that I must see their files on this case.
(13:36):
Sorry about that. Now, just sign these forms and you're. You'll be all set to go.
Thank you.
This case.
What? Where did the file go? Did that shadow just move? It did. Shadow, I know you're here. If you think you can just steal our information on this, you're wrong. We know it was you. Sarge. Sarge, get over here. The Shadow just stole our case files. Really? The Shadow? Isn't he a myth? Yes, I know we've run stories about a mysterious flying superman but those have witnesses. The shadow's only consistent description is that people didn't see him. Okay, that's what the police statement has. Get Kent and Lane up here.
(14:32):
Lois went out to dinner with her cousin.
What? Who said she could do that?
You did, sir.
Oh, then get me Kent.
You wanted to see me, Chief?
Yes, but don't call me Chief. Shut that door right now. Listen, Kent, I just got a call from Grayson down at the police headquarters. Remember the kidnapping from yesterday?
(14:55):
Why, yes, Chief, sir.
Right.
Well, it turns out that the Shadow just stole the case files for it. It seems that crazy notion of the Shadow pulling the job has just been confirmed.
But I thought the Shadow was just an urban legend, like the Superman.
Yes, well, apparently the Shadow has been a bit more public than the Superman. Notes and such have been left with the police in the past.
(15:21):
Assuming he is real, haven't the stories about him indicated that he was just assisting the law?
Until now, it seems.
I see.
Kent, I want you to investigate this. You have a knack for uncovering details about the unexplainable. And I want to see if it will play out on this.
Okay, Chief.
(15:42):
And don't call me chief.
Now, just into this empty storeroom because this looks like a job for Superman.
What will the Shadow do when confronted by the man of Steel? Find out when we return after a word from our sponsor.
(16:03):
Video games are a unique medium.
They can tell stories, immerse us in strange, fantastic worlds. Blur the very boundaries of our reality. But at the end of the day.
Video games are fun. Whatever fun is to you.
I'm Jeff Moonan. And I am Matt, AKA Stormageddon. And on Fun and Games, we talk about the history, trends and community of video games.
(16:26):
It's a celebration of all the games we play and all the fun we find with.
And there's so many more games out there, so we hope you'll share in that conversation with us. Fun and Games podcast with Matt and Jeff.
Find us on certainpov.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
And happy gaming.
(16:47):
Yes. Faster than an airplane. More powerful than a locomotive. Impervious to bullets.
Up in the sky, look.
It's a giant bird.
It's a plane.
It's Superman.
And now Superman. A being no larger than an ordinary man, but possessed of powers and abilities never before realized on Earth. Able to leap into an air an eighth of a mile at a single bound. Hurdle A 20 story building with ease. Race a high powered bullet to its target. Lift tremendous weights and rend solid steel in his bare hands as though it were paper. Superman, A strange visitor from a distant planet. Champion of the oppressed physical marvel. Extraordinary. Who has sworn to devote his existence on Earth to helping those in need. Yes, folks, it seems that for once in their long history of fighting the forces of Evil. The Shadow and Superman may finally cross paths.
(17:36):
I hope this Shadow doesn't think he can get away from me. Because he has another thing coming to him if he thinks that anyone can escape Superman.
It says here that before joining Stephenson, Smith Gallows was a solo practitioner. A successful one too. Only lost one case between passing the bar and becoming partner. I can't see any reason to kidnap him. He seems to be a perfectly upright citizen. And there was no ransom note, so it's not as if someone was trying for money. His wife or two daughters would better targets for that anyways. Maybe something to drink would help. Pool Refreshing water. That name of his client in the one he lost, it seems familiar. Richard Alden. Richard Alden. Richard Alden. Of course, Richard Alden. He was another pupil of the master when I studied in the Orient. Alden would have been able to cloud the minds of all witnesses of the kidnapping. It says that he was on trial for murder and Gallows was his defense.
(18:52):
It seemed like there was no way a talented young lawyer like Gallows could mess it up. But for some reason, the jury found Alden guilty and sentenced him to death. So it couldn't have been Richard Alden. Even though that would be the only possible culprit. Wait. It says here that Alden left a wife and 10 year old son. Could the son have been taught to blind men to his presence by his father beforehand? I must check the city records on this individual.
(19:20):
Foreign.
Here's the scene of the initial kidnapping. I'll bet anything that there's some sort of trail here.
Using his X ray eyes, Superman scours the room for any clues that the police might not have uncovered.
Hello. What have we here? It looks like a boot print. It doesn't match any of the standard police shoes. Nor does it look anything like a businessman would wear at work. It's recent, too.
(19:53):
Superman bends over and uses his mighty lungs to capture the scent of the boot.
I have you now, Shadow. Now up.
Up. With that, Superman takes off, leaping an eighth of a mile into the sky. Red cape flowing in the whistling wind.
Anywhere you go, I can follow. Now, Shadow. You may escape the police, but you'll never escape Superman.
(20:17):
Man alive, Alden. Why can't I find you?
Looking for someone else to kidnap, Shadow?
Who are you?
Someone who doesn't take too kindly to kidnappers and thieves. Now, what have you done with Gallows?
Nothing. I'm investigating his kidnapping.
Trying to save your skin, are you? Well, it won't work. And just so you know, that little mind trick of yours doesn't affect me, so you may as well stop trying. You may disappear in the normal light, but still emanate heat. And your body glows brightly to my x ray eyes.
(20:51):
It seems that you're that superman that everyone in the city is so taken with. You remind me of a doctor friend of mine. Well, if I can't just block normal sight, let's see if we can rectify the problem.
The plane.
What? All I did was try to hide myself from your other senses as well.
(21:14):
Please fail.
Very well. But only if you listen. Well, I have evidence that indicates that whomever kidnapped gallows used the same trick of the mind to hide himself and gallows from witnesses. Which limits the number of people who it could be to less than a dozen. In gallows records, I have found links to a now deceased father named Richard Alden, who would have fallen within that dozen. He was an adventurer himself, but the law rejected his help and named him a criminal. I have reason to suspect that the son of Richard Alden has kidnapped Jacob gallows.
(21:52):
Have you any idea where this man may be?
No. But you might. How did you find me?
I followed your scent of your boot print in the gallows office.
And you didn't try the burned writing on the desk?
It didn't give me any idea of where to look. The only scent that came off it was a copper. But there are a number of places that could come from. Your boot print was more specific.
(22:16):
Hopper. Where in this city could we find copper?
The pockets of every man, woman, and child. It's everywhere.
Is there any factory that processes wire.
On the east side?
Is it anywhere near where Gallows was kidnapped?
Maybe six blocks from the office.
(22:37):
Okay. From what I've heard, you've been associated with helping people and solving crimes for the last few years. Now, I've also heard that you can fly. Can you get us there quickly?
Yes, if we're not too late already.
Taking the shadow into his arms, Superman leaps out through a window and onwards. A streak of blue and red intertwined with a wisp of black, soaring through the night sky.
(23:06):
I thought you could fly.
Can only leap tremendously. Perhaps, but only a week.
How good is your hearing?
Good enough to hear that nothing is going on inside. Except one man breathing as though he were asleep.
Let me go. You don't strike me as the most subtle individual.
All right, go.
(23:29):
Hello, Mr. Cranston.
I see you know both who I am and how to detect me.
I wouldn't have taken up against my father's killer if I hadn't you inspired me. You, using the gifts we had learned from the master to fight evil and injustice. I had no father to guide me through much of my life. But I had a role model in you.
(23:53):
But there was no grave injustice done upon you.
What? Surely you know that Gallows sold my father out. He refused to aid him in the case and provided horrible counsel so that he wouldn't step on too many toes so that he could make partner. My father was framed, and Gallows was part of it. My father trusted him and was betrayed.
(24:16):
How do you know this?
Because I read his mind.
You're lying to me. I can see it as plain as day that you can't do that. For all your skill, it is focused by anger and hate, which blocks you out of the minds of others.
You don't support me, but you have to. This is right. I am acting as you would in my shoes.
(24:40):
Gallows tried to counsel your father, but the case was unwinnable. Assuming your father was framed.
Assuming? Are you trying to tell me that you don't believe that my father really was innocent?
That's not what I'm saying.
You know what? You're right. I am focused by anger. So much so that I learned to make evil burn at my touch. Now die suddenly.
(25:03):
After overhearing the turn in the discussion, Superman races in.
Hold on there. I gotcha. Let's watch what you do with that hand.
Now. What did you do with Gallows?
Can't you guess? I brought him here to see the error of his ways. But when he wouldn't accept his guilt, he knew my touch.
Neuter Barber.
(25:25):
I did nothing wrong.
You slew a man that you suspected of doing a poor job long ago in his career. You had no grounds for your accusations. You killed a man. The weed of crime bears bitter fruit. And you are the bitterest fruit of all.
He was a murderer himself.
(25:46):
That is not for you to decide.
With that, the Shadow closed his eyes and dug deep within the mind of Bernard Aldin. He went down into the darkest recesses and tugged.
What are you doing to me?
Stripping you of your powers.
(26:06):
No.
You will never be able to harm those as you have ever again.
Then Bernard Aldin fell unconscious. The Shadow notified the police of their location and parted ways with the man of Tomorrow. Later, at the hotel room of Lamont Cranston in Margo Lane.
And that was how I met the Superman.
(26:27):
Oh, Lamont. That's so amazing. He's actually real.
I know. So did you see your cousin?
Yes. But now I almost wish I had Gone with you instead. To have actually met the real Superman. What I would give.
Yes. Well, he was nice in a spineless sort of way. Not all that impressive, really.
(26:53):
You son of a. Unbelievable. Calling me spineless.
Got you with the last word, mofo.
It was a callback.
Both versions of him were spineless.
Can I tell you guys something? I. That ended way too soon for me. I could have listened to you guys go on for, like, another half an hour, I swear.
(27:15):
Honestly, Same.
It was. I was the entire time just sitting there, so happy to be listening to you guys. That was great.
This is fun.
Yeah, this was fun, right?
Thank you guys for doing this. It's been. I actually have never listened to this read out loud, and so I'm really happy for you all.
(27:35):
That was the first time.
Yeah, yeah. Like, I've had people read it before, but never just, like, out loud.
Full cast, all that stuff. Yeah, yeah.
Just. Just wait till your daughter gets a little older, and then you can always read all your stuff out loud together.
Oh, that's a super cute act on that. But, yeah, I wanted to open the floor to you guys. I mean, again, I wanted to thank you for. For being here. But, you know, if anyone had questions or things they wanted to talk about or themes. I mean, for me, this was my first time listening to it out loud. And, you know, it's kind of wild. I wrote this in college as a. For an assignment for a creative writing course. And this was like my freshman year. And so, like, while I've, like, touched it up a little bit, and at one point I, like, had, like, filed the serial numbers off so that it could be a. Like, it could be a non specific Superman shadow piece. Yeah, I. You know, I have a Superman podcast.
(28:32):
It made sense for me to, like, flip it back this way. So, like, it's gone through a couple of versions. But like I said, I've just. I've never had a table read with it. It's just a thing that I've always had sitting in my back pocket that I wanted to do something with, and this seemed like a good opportunity. So again, thank you all for. For being here on this one. And. Yeah, like, what stood out to anyone on this one?
(28:57):
First of all, thank you so much, Case. This was a delight to read. I will say, when I first read the script, I popped a little with the callback of Clark is kind of spineless. Superman's kind of spineless. And I just went, oh, in my head. Canon Margo knows now Margot's like, wait a minute. Wait a second. That's how that one guy was described at the Daily Planet.
(29:28):
And in a city of 8 million people, there's only one spineless person?
Only one spineless six foot four man.
Yes, well, it used to be a popular way to be described, but it's fallen out of favor if they're being described that way. It's very specific. I actually enjoy the fact that this is a specific era of radio plane, a specific era of Superman. The fact that without making it a big deal and almost playing into the rumor side of things, there's like, no, this isn't the Superman that you expect in 2024. You hear Superman, who can do a thousand things. No, this is the extraterrestrial circus strongman. That was from way back when. And I Love that.
(30:10):
The 1938 Superman.
Yeah. Yes. Yeah. I wanted to lean into that, like, early Superman with like, the jumping aspect of it. Like, the radio show is why the radio show in the cartoon are like the two reasons why, like, the jumping became a flight thing. And I wanted to sort of like play around with that all. Like, I, I, I don't think it's a surprise to anyone. I, I've mentioned this before on the podcast, but anyway, everyone here, I, I listened to a ton of the Superman radio show and a ton of the Shadow. And so it was always like in the back of my mind to like, bring those together. But, like, some of the pieces of that were always like, well, this is the larger Superman stuff that was going on at the time. I'd love to do that.
(30:51):
Or to like, I have a reference to Doc Savage in here where it's like, you remind me of a doctor I know. And that's more of a Pulp Fiction kind of thing for the character.
I was wondering, I was gonna ask specifically about that reference. What does it mean?
Yeah, yeah. So that's a reference to Doc Savage, who is sort of a prototype character for Superman. He was called the man of Bronze because he was a six foot, something like perfectly tanned giant super scientist who had a team of associates that he would travel around with and do stuff. And he had a place called a Fortress of Solitude that was his, like, you know, his lair, which, you know, was then copied over for Superman. And his name was Clark.
(31:38):
And this guy was a character on the Shadow.
He's a Pulp Fiction character that was a, a contemporary of the Shadows, Pulp Fiction stuff. So, like, they often get paired together in the way that as a Superman Batman of the Pulp Fiction era, before we get to the comics. I mean, he's human, but he's as far, like, he's as close to superhuman as you can get and still be human. And like, is in the grand tradition of like the romance novel kind of hero finding, you know, lost cities and, you know, going on those kind of adventures.
(32:10):
When you say bronzed, do you mean literally like Adam Warlock?
No, no, he looks like he's made of bronze because he's like so perfectly tanned. Okay. And they call him the man of Bronze. And also, like, his hair is supposed to be like the exact same shade. So he just like looks like a bronze statue wherever he goes.
(32:31):
It's funny.
Yeah. I feel like also it's the kind of thing where if you made a reference to someone moving, like a phantom or a ghost who walks, it would also wouldn't be too out of place in this kind of era and things for similar reasons.
Yeah, I mean, like, it's supposed to be cheeky fun. Like the fact that the reason why Lois Lane and Margo Lane get together is the fact that their last name is Lane. And it's always just been kind of a fun detail that like, never amounted to anything. I was like, well, obviously they're cousins.
(32:55):
I mean, what it was that.
That makes a lot more sense to me than, wait, your mommy's name is Martha? My mommy's name is Martha. Let's be friends.
Why did you say that name?
Why did he say that name?
Yeah, yeah. So that was fun and I'm so glad that I got to have. I mean, like, so there's some stuff in here like, that was specifically me poking fun at like, radio stereotypes and like, some of it was the casual sexism of radio shows. So, like, that's why I did, like, it's a little over, you know, it's a little heavy handed. But at the same time I was like, no, I, like, I need to comment on all this stuff. And it was fun to sort of explore that with Lois, who is a really cool character and was very cutting edge when she was introduced and who kind of got reined in over time. Like the radio show. She became much more of like a damsel in distress over the course of its run.
(33:48):
And the comics also, it became more of like romance comics and love story books.
Yeah, no, an earlier Men of Steel episode got me to watch the Fleischer cartoons. And Lois Lane is unhinged.
Yeah. Very much rules anything for a story. And like, that's such a cool element.
Yeah.
(34:08):
And like, you know, it's. Obviously it's not a huge. So this is written as two. Two episodes, like an episode of the Shadow and an episode of Superman, which. So it theoretically could be like a back to back slot kind of situation. I don't know what the actual. Like. Like, for one thing, I don't know which channel each of them were broadcast on. Off the top of my head, I want to say CBS is one of them, but I couldn't tell you for sure. But yeah, I wanted it to seem like it was doing those two episodes. And like, those episodes are really short. Like, I think they typically run 10 to 15 minutes. So I wrote it that way.
(34:46):
And then later when I actually was like, looking at possibly like putting these out as separate chunks, I realized like, oh, God, it's like perfectly like. I think it's page seven or eight where the. The Superman, like, intro, like, comes in and it's like. Yeah, no, that's. That's exactly what I wanted. Yeah. Yeah.
(35:07):
And it kind of feels like for a radio drama of the time, you could have easily broken it up with a follow the story on Superman at 7 or, you know, whatever it is coming up.
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Like, that was my hope. It made me think of, like, network crossovers. Like when, like ABC did the. NBC, pardon me, did the Friends single guy and I forget all the other and Mad about you, like, crossover where they all had a blackout in the first season of Friends. Or like when Baby Buffet's.
(35:40):
Sister Ursula crosses over.
Yeah, yeah, exactly.
Yeah.
Stuff like that where it's like, oh, it just feels like, oh, well, we're the same network, so we can have those kind of like, crossover kind of elements.
Yeah, a bunch of networks did that with like, their late. Their. Their primetime tv.
Yeah, I'm.
I think CBS said one too. Like the Nanny was part of it or something.
Yeah, or like USA back when they had like, a lot of like, kids cartoons, including, I remember Savage Dragon and I want to say Wing Commander had like a crossover character who just like fell through realities appearing in all the different, like, series that were coming out at the time. And it was like just weird crossover kind of stuff like that. That's a long story.
(36:15):
Yeah, like when icarly crossed over with Victorious on the Disney Channel.
An important moment in all of our.
Lives, deeply important in a moment in pop culture.
Or when Apple showed up on. On Full House.
We love it.
Yeah.
Yeah, exactly. And. And so that's felt like the kind of convenience of the Lane kind of crossover and then having these two episodes that again, are pretty short, but like a real. Both the Shadow and Superman. And Superman more so because it's like super serialized. Like, the individual episodes are extremely short, but, like, the actual stories are like seven part stories, typically very long collections. Like, they still move pretty fast because it's only like an hour, but is like I said, like, individual episodes are like, you know, boom, boom. You're done.
(37:07):
Yeah. Yes. I've talked about this a bunch when I've been on the show in previous episodes. When I was in college, I was part of our, you know, radio theater troupe. And one of the things that we did, we would mostly do, like, standalone horror stuff and we did Christmas Carolyn, et cetera, but we would usually end it with an episode from a Superman serial. And we never got through the entirety of one of them because they were short episodes, but there's so many of them. Yeah, it's the wildest thing.
(37:37):
Yeah. So, J Mike, I did. Did you get a chance to read this before. Before we actually. Okay. Sorry, that wasn't like a leading, like.
Hey, did you call me out?
No, no, no. Like, I'm. I'm curious about your thoughts.
You're about to start a blood feud.
Oh, my God.
(37:57):
Another.
I'm Paul K's blood feuds.
Akin a blood feud.
Would you like to have a blood feud?
I like that a lot.
Would you like to do some rides?
It could be a sacrifice, a wonderful sacrifice. We could do it all tonight or.
(38:19):
Nailed the rhyme.
There you go.
All right. But no, J Mike, as co host of the show, like, is there any observation that you have that you think is, like, good to bring?
I was laughing when were reading this because, like, man, we did the. Many episodes ago, we did the crossover radio show event with like, Batman, Superman.
Oh, yes.
Where they went to, like, the carnival or the fair or whatever. And then was it Jimmy, Lois and Dick got kidnapped at one point. And I was like, oh, man, this is bringing back so many good memories.
(38:51):
Well, and obviously, like, I'm super influenced by that particular collection because that's such a fun story and was like one of the early, like, collections of radio tapes I had for Superman.
Also, I gotta say this, Peter, when you were doing the whole reaching into his mind, you were doing like the Dr. Xavier, like, mind touch thing. And I was trying really hard not to laugh because, like, I saw it and I was like, he's doing a thing. Oh, my gosh.
(39:16):
Take a moment and just give like, mad Props to Peter for reading, like, the clunkiest of dialogue that I could have possibly thrown your way. You had, like, paragraphs of just, like, raw exposition, which is very in keeping for the. For the series. But, like, thank you so much for doing this part.
It was.
Thank you.
It was my pleasure. I. I've loved the Shadow ever since that Alec Baldwin movie came out in the 90s. I watched that movie so many times as a kid, I jumped at the chance to do this.
(39:45):
Yeah, no. So, like, listeners, like, Peter is a great voice actor, and I was trying to, like, put the people I. I had that were, like, good for doing, like, a lot of parts on the. Lot of parts, like tracks. And then he was like, no, I gotta be the shadow. And I was like, okay. Obviously.
Thank you for letting me live out my childhood fantasy case.
(40:06):
That was awesome.
Dude. You crushed it.
Everybody crushed it.
Stop it. I mean, most of my knowledge of the Shadow and even the Alec Baldwin movie is I always play the pinball game whenever I see it.
Oh, nice.
That's my fault.
Where can I play this pinball game?
(40:28):
How often do you get down to Asbury Park?
You know, it's been a minute, but I. Every once in a while. Oh, the pinball arcade.
I know the Silverball Museum in Asbury Park. It's my favorite place in the whole world.
Wait, is it that old of a pinball machine?
They have new here, too. Like, they're. They're. They have, like, history and everything. Up for everything. So it's. No, I meant the oldest and far from the newest. So, yeah, it's there.
(40:50):
The Shadow. Okay, you know what? All right, that's it. I'm going back to Asbury. I know what I'm doing, listeners.
You should be going to Asbury Park.
They don't have a Superman pinball machine. Give them hell for it.
Really?
They have one.
They have one at Not Weird Beach Fun spot in Lacunia, New Hampshire, which has, like, a whole bunch of old pinball tape. They have the Superman one from the 70s. And, guys, I think for an episode, Kay should play them both and just play the audio.
(41:16):
Well, we did the board game for Superman.
Incredible.
Yeah, we did, which was a lot of fun. But the. The outtakes was just us, like, swearing at each other. Sorry, Rachel. You're. You've been winning.
Yeah. I wonder if that. That secret pinball arcade behind the Laundromat in Greenpoint.
Sunshine Laundry.
Yeah, it.
It doesn't have the Shadow or Superman. They do have Elvira, though, I think.
(41:44):
Oh, I like all three of the Elvira tables. Sorry. I could talk about pinball forever. I'm gonna stop. But apparently 1994 is the answer of when that pinball machine came out.
Same year as the movie. Yes.
It was a tie in. Yeah. Okay. It was one of the ones that like early 90s. There was that whole like dot matrix, like big boom of pinball stuff. And there was a couple of machines that had like half a handgun as the plunger. The ball.
(42:13):
Yes.
The Shadow was one of them. Terminator 2, Terminator 2, Demolition Man.
I will say, as much as I love this tangent, and this is all staying in the actual episode for the record.
Good, good.
It doesn't have anywhere else.
So anyway, back to the radio play in case you wrote a great song.
(42:34):
Well, no, I mean, I just think that, like, I feel like we. We kind of have. I've covered the majority of what we wanted to say, but I'll give everyone a space for final thoughts.
Keith, what did you think about hearing it out loud for the first time?
Yeah, so it. So there. There's like the little bit of like, oh, man, I wrote this 20 years ago, and even though I've like, touched it up, like, I've never heard it out loud and there's like, Like just the. The weird nervous energy for it all that you was really cool. Like, you guys did such a great job like, bringing this whole thing to life. I can't wait to like. I. I guess it's sort of the one thing is that it's still like in the halfway spot right now with us talking, which is that I'm going to go through and I'm gonna put in Foley and I'm gonna like, cut this down and everything, and then that's gonna be the version that I really can't wait to hear and to. To really put it all together. I'm really excited for so like in the.
(43:28):
In the moment. I'm so excited. Cause I like, I have wonderful tools now in. In the. In all of your wonderful vocal parts to. To assemble this into a piece that I. I really am looking forward to, like, putting out there and having people check out. Because it's been just like a thing that's been sitting in the back of my brain for two decades. And like I said, there's just. There was just a ton of nervous energy going into it. Like, I was just like, antsy before we got on the call, and now it's it. But like, you guys knocked it out of the park and that Was just amazing.
(44:02):
It's nice. Network strategy is going to be really fun. And I. As I get older. Yeah. You don't have as many opportunities. That's fun. But thanks. Thanks, man.
Yeah, and thank you for asking. So on that note, why don't we have final thoughts from everyone? So we'll just go in the same sort of round the around the zoom call if. Give everyone space to say a final thing and then we can call this a tight little episode. So Rachel, what are your thoughts?
(44:31):
My final thoughts about the piece or just in general?
Like to end on?
Yeah. Oh, well, my only thing is a question. When are you gonna write a sequel? I'm ready. I'm ready for more.
That was my.
You stole my.
Or the 1510 minute sequels.
I gotta do this in full serial.
Yeah. I need to have the Margo Lane discovery of Superman is Clark Kent.
(44:57):
She needs to know the zany hijinks of Lois. Never quite hearing Margot over the whole thing. Just remaining.
Oh man, that could be a really fun one now. Well, you might be inspiring me since.
Margot knows the shadow. She's keeping that under wraps. Who knows Margot keeping Superman under wraps. Margot's hair is so big because it's full of secrets. Let's go. I'm ready. Born for this. Thank you, Case. This was so much fun. I love getting to read Saucy Maze.
(45:31):
Thank you so much for coming on for that one. Where can people find you and follow you?
Oh, please follow me on Instagram. My handle is at I AmRachel Quirky. And if you are so inclined, you may also check out the wrestler that I manage under the name of Charles Stunning. Also on Instagram under Arles Stunning. She fought yesterday and took a real big power bomb. And boy howdy, it was wild. And we. And we are. And we are literally not the same person. I want to make it abundantly. Are you sure that am not Charles?
(46:09):
Are you sure you're not Charles?
I think mohawks and we sound similar, but we are absolutely not the same. I am just her manager. That isn't.
Charles Stunning wears glasses.
Charles Stunning doesn't wear glasses. I wear glasses.
Rachel wears glasses.
I wear glasses.
Wait, wait. No. Oh, no.
(46:29):
Charles.
What's Charles Stunning doing here?
No. Oh, no. Definitely not. But yeah, please, if you would, please follow the wrestling career of Charles Stunning. That would be really cool because she's having a blast making wrestling happen.
Nice. Jeff. Where can people find you and follow you and what are your final thoughts?
(46:49):
My final thoughts are I would have gotten away with it too. If it weren't for the crossover of two great heroes. Ed, this was so very fun. Kayce, thank you so much for thinking of me and allowing me to be a part of this. This wacky nonsense. This wonderful wacky nonsense. I can't wait to hear the Margot sequel. But as for me, you can find me on socials. Jeffmakesnoise. Jeff is spelled G E O F F. And you can also hear me on the certain POV network as part of Fun and Games podcast, our video game podcast, where they let us talk about video games and talk to people about video games. And I am not going to disabuse anyone of the notion. And yes.
(47:34):
All right, J. Mike, final thoughts.
I want to be a voice actor when I grew up.
Me too.
I can't wait to do another one of these. Case, this is great. Also, I guess I'm part of the blood feud community now, so I guess we got that going against you starting.
A Discord chat or a WhatsApp.
(47:55):
I guess. I guess you have to look out next time I see you because, like, I could be anywhere.
Case, this is true. And you know where I live and I don't know where you are. Right. All right, Olivia, how about you? Final thoughts.
We were joking about it, but I am so curious to hear the ads from the sponsors you would write in this era. I think there is just so much potential to, I don't know, get a little bit more transgressive in the way that those pre code ads really could. It was an enormous amount of fun to do this case, especially to hear, I don't know, all the resonances after. I think it was closer to 15 years.
(48:41):
Yeah, yeah. Yes, this is true because, yeah, it was like 2000. It was like 2009. Yeah. So, yeah, like 15 years. Oh, my God.
And so at long last, it's tremendously fun to be here and hear all of you.
And where can people find you and follow you?
You can't.
Okay.
Actually, I'm not on socials.
(49:03):
I love that for you, actually.
Thank you. Well, do you have like a. Do you have like a webpage or anything that you. You want to direct people to?
Yeah, you can come check out my devised theater and Company of little weirds@bookclubtheater.org There we go.
(49:23):
People should check that out. Ben, how about you? Final thoughts. And where can people find you?
Echo Rachel's sentiment. I want to hear more. That's all, man. Super happy that I could do it. I meant it when I said that I Could have listened to all you guys for another half an hour and maybe someday we will. I write comic books that have been published. You can buy them online. You can find me@mrben au.com or not on Instagram. But then we have a Western. I wrote a western movie that's coming out or starting. Starting to film. And hell yeah. So that's good. Yeah. I write things, read some.
(50:10):
Yeah. So look up Ben Goldsmith and find the stuff he writes and case he.
Can dance at a fish concert. I found out this summer. Just so everyone knows.
Does Rue want that water bottle back or should I just toss it?
I think you should toss it.
(50:31):
Blood feud with the water bottle and blood feed.
Yes, yes, yes.
Just. Just racking them up. Just racking them up. All the blood feuds. Peter, you already had a blood feud with me where I did.
And I'm honest. I'm so glad that the fellowship of the blood feud is growing. I have so many accomplices now. Wonderful. Where can you find me on. On Instagram? I'm Peter. Brian Coleman. That's Brian with a Y, not an I. On. On Twitter. I refuse to call it X on Twitter. I'm Peter B. Coleman. And what's. What's going on? Oh, hey, starting on Halloween, I'll be in a series. I'll be in a podcast, a new take on Dracula, which I'm very excited for, and you can all look out for that. It'll probably be long story, short productions, something like that. But if you follow me, I'll post about it and that'll be all the opportunity you have to hear me do a bunch of different voices because me and a lady are playing all the characters. It's gonna be fun.
(51:41):
Nice.
Sick.
Love that.
Nice. And Sarah, where can people find you, follow you and what are your final thoughts?
My final thoughts are. Thank you for having me. This was a lot of fun. I did not do the homework and read this beforehand because I got thrown in 10 minutes prior to the show.
Yes. Yes. Sam. Alice, my co host from another past was originally booked, but she has a migraine so we hope she feels better.
(52:05):
We love you, Sam. Yeah, we love you, Sam. I pulled a Jeff and last minute stepped in and it was really fun and to hear it in real time. I was experiencing the story just like all the listeners will be. Best place to find me. I'm associate producer on Fun and Games podcast with Jeff on the occasional episode. And that's the only place you can find me on the Internet. Much like Olivia, I have social media. But it's all private, though, so.
(52:29):
Yeah, Galler's so secretive versus, like, those of us who are, like, podcasters being like, find my podcast. Find my.
I said find the podcast. Just don't look at me.
That's true.
That's right.
Please notice me. I need it. Yeah.
I need your attention and I need your praise and I need your likes. I live off of them. Thank you.
(52:49):
You.
Yes.
That's how it works. And so, on that note, if. If you want to feed me with the likes and the praise and the whatnot or. Or if you just want to come at me because, like, let's be honest.
Like, with a blood.
Like, come. Come at me with a bl.
We are accepting applications, but you have to earn it.
It's. It's got to be on Blue sky, though. Blue Sky Blood Feud. It's got a nice.
Those are. That is the secret extra feature. If you hit the. The hamburger on the. On the right, like the top right of your. Your user profile, you can activate Blood Feud mode. It's a secret feature for Blue Sky. It's part of the federeverse. So, yeah, just. Anyway, so you can find me on Blue sky or on EEE or on any of the other platforms with AT signs Aase Aiken, except for Instagram, where you can find me at quetzalcoatl5. Because I am holding on to my AIM screen name from high school for dear life, and I was pretentious and didn't really care about spelling when I was in high school, so. So have fun with that one.
(53:50):
Wait, hold on. Is that not how you're supposed to spell?
No, no, it is. It is the appropriate spelling of Quetzalcoatl, the. The Aztec sun deity. But it is at the same time Difficult to spell 1. Q, u, e, T, C, A, L, C, o, A, T, L, 5.
As we all know, off the top of our heads, of course.
Naturally.
Absolutely.
(54:11):
Honestly, if anybody out there wants to use having to spell that as part of their blood feud with case, I will accept that as a valid obligation.
Ironically, Quetzalcoatl not cool on blood feuds and stuff. The whole deal was that, well, Quetzalcoatl is like, up in the sky. We can't murder anyone.
(54:32):
Dang.
Religiously at least. Anyway, so you can find me on those platforms at caseyagin or @quetzalcoatl5 for Instagram, or you can find me on the Discord for certain. Pov. There's a link in the description of the episode. I'M lying when I say that there is a link on our website. There's also going to be a.
(54:54):
Case broke.
Visit certainpow.com and find not only other amazing Certain POV podcasts, but a permanent invite link to our Discord server, where many of these conversations continue and the wackiness can ensue.
Jeff said it. He did it. Great.
He did it.
Watermelon. Watermelon.
It's nice when multiple people from the same network are on the call.
(55:15):
It's like how much of my usual my brain goes dead and I'm on autopilot spiel for the end of the episode because if I think about it, I'm going to get it wrong. Applies here. That does.
There we go. Anyway, so yes, check out our Discord. Check out everyone who is here because everyone here is a wonderful, amazing person who was so awesome to give up their Sunday night to do this reading and then come back for the next episode. But until then, stay super man. Find out when we return after a word from our sponsor.
(56:04):
Smoking.
It's good for the kids.
Mild on the throat.
10 out of 10 doctors.
Now with more vitamin C. Do you.
Find yourself playing older games and wishing that there were new discussions about those games? Enter Tales from the Backlog. Hi, I'm Dave Jackson and on each episode I'm joined by a guest to break down those games that may be stuck in your ever expanding backlog. Each episode looks at one game in depth, focusing on mechanics, story, music, and other aspects with no spoilers until a clearly marked spoiler wall in the middle. If you've played the game, go ahead and climb that spoiler wall and enjoy in depth story discussions. And if not, jump out when we warn you and maybe go play that game for yourself. We have over 100 episodes in the feed, everything from Disco Elysium to Tunic to discussion episodes about how to get into horror games.
(57:05):
And if games actually need to be fun or if they have more to offer, I guarantee that there's something in there for everybody. Once again, that's Tales from the Backlog, available wherever your podcasts are found.
Still rolling. This is still rolling.
It's fine.
Yeah, this is good for the cold open.
Still rolling.
Great for the cold open.
Oh yeah.
No, this is the what it's all about. Okay.
(57:26):
And the after credits.
Yeah, all of this is gold. Yeah, get the Listen, what we're getting now is the wild recording of the sirens that were passing by. I'm presuming Olivia's apartment. And so that way when the cops come in to investigate all of the crimes in this radio play.
We're just already getting Foley in advance.
(57:49):
It's live Foley courtesy.
It's.
It's Mick Foley.
Yeah, speaking of which. Also, I love that we have the Superman figure, like, moving just a little bit so we know it's not a still image. It's like we know he's really here in the room with us.
Benjamin, are you just holding your phone over it? Are you gonna be doing that the entire time, just holding your phone manually over the Superman figure?
(58:12):
No.
That would be so amateurish.
Of course I'm not going to do that selfie stick.
Oh, boy.
You can turn your camera off. You're not obligated to have it on.
Oh, really? Okay, y'all, I'm out of here.
And away he goes.
Everyone say, bye, Superman. Bye, bye, Superman.
(58:35):
You're the best.
And that's going to be the. The post credits right there.
Obviously, that owes me five bucks.
X.
Certainpov.
Com.
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