A short history of Blackstone's radio show, and a little more about the comics.

Blackstone, the Magic Detective

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

EC Comics' Blackstone the Magician Detective Fights Crime (Fall, 1947)

Blackstone, the Magic Detective was a 15-minute radio series which had a tie-in with several comic books. The program aired Sunday afternoons at 2:45pm on the Mutual Broadcasting System from October 3, 1948 until March 26, 1950.^[1]

Radio

Starring Ed Jerome as "the world's greatest living magician," the radio series was based on real-life magician Harry Blackstone, Sr.
The series was announced by Don Hancock from October 1948 through June 1949, and Alan Kent from July 1949 through to the end of the series in March, 1950. The background organ music was supplied by Bill Meeder. Scripts were mostly by Walter B. Gibson, the ghostwriter of Blackstone's books, and Nancy Webb, who worked with Gibson on Chick Carter, Boy Detective.^[2]

Characters and story

The show usually opened with Blackstone (Ed Jerome) and his assistant Rhoda Brent (Fran Carlon) talking with a friend of theirs, either Don Hancock or Alan Kent (played by the episodes' announcers in-character as themselves) or John (Ted Osborne). A past adventure of Blackstone's would come up in conversation, and that mystery story was then dramatized as a flashback.
After the mystery's climax, the narrative returned to the three main characters as Blackstone performed a magic trick. After a commercial break handled by the announcer, Blackstone returned to demonstrate and explain the trick so that listeners could perform it for the amusement of their friends.^[3]

Comic books

Gibson also created EC Comics' Blackstone the Magician Detective Fights Crime in 1947. The comic book series continued as Timely Comics' Blackstone the Magician (#2) and Blackstone the Magician Detective (#3, #4). The character of Rhoda Brent, Blackstone's assistant in the comics, was carried over into the radio series.

References

Jump up ^ "Blackstone, the Magic Detective Episode Log". Retrieved 2008-02-20.
Jump up ^ "Blackstone, the Magic Detective". Retrieved 2009-09-24.
Jump up ^ Dunning, John (1998). On the Air: The Encyclopedia of Old-Time Radio. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-507678-8.

External links

Blackstone, the Magic Detective episodes at the Internet Archive

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I thought that the comic books were because of the radio show, but it seems is was the other way around. The Blackstone comic book series at Street and Smith began in 1941. They changed publishers a couple of times before the radio show began.

The blonde girl in the comics was based on a girl named Mary, they changed her name to Rhoda in the comics and the radio show.

An ad for the EC comic book of 1947.