Episode 6 - "The Silver Clipper"

Listen Episode 6 - "The Silver Clipper" here!

Summary: This is it, kiddies, time to quit fooling around. The Silver Clipper has departed Denver, and lives are at stake if something isn't done to keep the Wolfe diverting the "crack train" into a watery, ouchy-filled grave. Superman has dropped off the two delirious, possibly dehydrated and sun-stroked locomotive crew at a nearby ranch, and with only twenty minutes before the Silver Clipper pulls a swan dive into oblivion, Superman shoots back just in time to- fly to a nearby town, switch back to Clark Kent and catch the local sheriff in his office. What?
   The Professor The Railroad Supervisor The Sheriff finds Kent's story a bit much to swallow, but is convinced to follow up on the lead given to him about the railroad men being found at the ranch. Kent explains to the sheriff (and to us) that his reasoning is that the Wolfe and Keno need to be caught in the act for any criminal charge to stick, proving that while Superman learned an incredible number of things in an impressively short period time, the definition of 'circumstantial evidence was evidently not one of them. With the local authorities compelled into action, Clark Kent excuses himself, walks out of sight and flies back to- haha, just kidding. He asks Professor Sheriff for the use of his phone to make a collect call. What?!
   Clark phones back east to Perry White, casually delivers a badass line about how he spent his afternoon, and makes White promise to hold the presses for the big break in the Silver Clipper story. White, possibly because of his pleasure with his new employee's story about the Limited Express' near miss, complies. With all of the pieces falling into place, Superman finally makes good towards the Silver Clipper. He has about 10 minutes to fly 40 miles to save a train load of people he could have probably rescued ten minutes ago, but wouldn't nearly be as dramatic, or frankly, give Kent a cover story, in all possible meanings of the term. Spoilers: he arrives with a minute to spare.
   Meanwhile, Keno and the Wolfe make some nervous chatter as they leave before 'something resembling the end of the world' occurs in the tunnel to the flooded canyon. The exit just in time to watch a man in a cape and tights undo the entirety of their plan with his bare hands. Pioneering what would be a long line of bad guys making the mistake of their lives, they rush towards him with Keno's guns blazing. Before it dawns on them that the man before them can't be shot, the train approaches and they decided to run to their car and get the hell out of Dodge. Superman finishes fixing the switch, wishes the Silver Clipper a safe journey as it roars past, and finishes the end game of his 'Wolfe hunt'.
   Superman decides to finish this fight passive aggressively by flying ahead of the Wolfe's car and standing in the middle of the road. In the aftermath you can probably imagine, he subdues the two with one hand and finishes wrecking the car to make it look like a proper accident. His work done, he darts off switch back to Kent before Professor Sheriff, who we left 40 miles back in the nearest town not long ago, shows up with the calvary. (It makes since how he can do this, since he also has jobs in  Indiana and Denver.)
   Back east, Mr. Clark Kent is the toast of the Daily Planet, as far as Mr. Perry White is concerned! He's ready to give Kent a new assignment, but before he can a phone call interrupts the two men. A cryptic man identifies himself as the Yellow Mask, the true master behind the Wolfe, and voices his displeasure of having his affairs meddled with. He swears that the Daily Planet building with be destroyed by the stroke of six that night.

Characters:

• Clark Kent/Superman
• The Professor The Railroad Supervisor The Sheriff
• Keno and the Wolfe
• Perry White

Notes:

• Superman, if you recall, is not in the business of making himself public, thus the rigmarole of setting up the Wolfe and Keno for a fall and getting legal authorities involved. The way Superman plays this out is actually pretty canny of him.
• Also on the subject, before you jump on the bandwagon (that I was driving) with the idea that Superman was playing with the lives of the people on the train by taking these side trips, keep in mind that it was he, as Kent, who suggested that the Silver Clipper not leave Denver at all. It was the Supervisor's call to let the train depart, and Superman respected the decision while working around it
• The real art of radio play has to be using dialog to establish action and surroundings. Sometimes you notice it, sometimes you don't. Here, when Superman has the two men with a single hand, I sure did.
• And no, not to spoil it or anything, it's not the last of Keno or the Wolfe.
• This is the end of the second week of Superman's original broadcast schedule. the next dozen shows will continue to have unique names, then switch to having multi-part cliffhanger story-lines. It makes it a little easier to track arcs.

Powers Introduced:

Invulnerability: Although he faked (as Kent) being beaten up by Keno earlier, this is the first time in the show where Superman shrugs off a direct hit from a bullet. Poor Keno. 

Highlights: 

Perry White: Kent! Good Lord man, I thought you were dead! Where've you been all day?!

Clark Kent: Tied up in a cellar, but I broke out.

Clark Kent: bespectacled bad-ass.

Keno: Come on boss, let's beat it!

The Wolfe: A very sound idea, Keno. In five minutes, or something less, this tunnel will be a most unhealthy place!

Keno: Whadda mean?

The Wolfe: Something resembling the end of the world, Keno! Screaming brakes, raping steel, billowing steam! Yes, decidedly we should move, friend, come.

Say what you will, you can't say the Wolfe can't turn a phrase. Also: 'something like the end of the world' seems to come up a lot in this show.

Superman: Sorry to disturb you gentlemen- don't try to get away!

The Wolfe: Who are you?! Put me down!!

Keno: L-let me go! Let me go!

Superman: In one moment! Just now, while I hold both of you with one hand, I got something else to do!

God help me, I heard this, wondered what he was doing with his other hand, and started cracking up.

Clark Kent bad-ass-ry: From here on out, I'll make a note when Clark Kent does something openly brave or amazing in front of other people, who (of course) don't know he's Superman. There's a reason I'm compiling this list, which you'll see later. Clark Kent, at least here on the early days on the radio, is not a meek coward in the slightest.

• He was confined to a cellar by bad guys and escaped on his own.

In the next episode! It's terrorist attacks all over again as backlash against Clark Kent is threatened to be taken out on the entire Daily Planet, but that's the least of his worries. Now he must go face to face with a force that can ruin him utterly; yes, you guessed it, kids - LOIS LANE. Also, there's an "Atomic Beam Machine" involved, too. See you Friday!

Episode 5 - "Locomotive Crew Freed"

Listen to Episode 5 - "Locomotive Crew Freed" here!

I'm starting to think that these episodes were named with after-the-fact disregard for any possible spoilers.

Summary: We join Clark Kent in the belly of the Wolfe's lair underneath a railroad yard in Denver. Kent faces his most daunting task to date, namely pretending that Keno's interrogation technique actually hurts. (Seriously, if acting isn't considered one of Superman's powers it really should be.) In walks the Wolfe, and after some wordplay with Kent, he announces his intentions to make the silver clipper disappear as threatened. With typical villainous flair, the Wolfe leaves Kent to starve to death in the basement vault, but not before announcing his destination and how remarkibly solid the vault is constructed. Exit the Wolfe and Keno, stage doomed.
   Kent, of course, recovers from being "knocked out" by Keno and switches over to Superman. He makes short work of his handcuffs and then chills for twenty, to give the Wolfe a sporting head start, apparently. Meanwhile, Keno and the Wolfe head out of town by car, pausing to watch as the Silver Clipper departs Denver.
   With the head start over, Superman flips the flock out on the Vault, peeling out of it as if it were tinfoil. Free, he makes a beeline for the roof of the building, stopping to do a little extra property damage in the form of a locked skylight, first of many fated to be punched by a fist of steel. Superman takes to the night skies bellowing one of the most iconic catchphrases for the very first time.
   Back on the road, the Wolfe explains the entire setup to Keno: by exploiting an old forgotten mining camp's rail system, he can divert a train off of the main line, through a hidden tunnel, and into the bottom of a flooded canyon, which he has already done to the engine and tender that so vexed the rail supervisor the episode before. Proving he has some sort of fetish for leaving people to die slowly and horribly, the Wolfe has captured the crew of the doomed engine (they managed to jump off just in time) and chained them to some rocks at the top of the tunnel.
   Superman, meanwhile, has already caught up and is literally one step ahead of the Wolfe and an increasingly paranoid Keno. He breaks off spying on the two to rescue the locomotive crew, because "they are just the evidence we need!" and, y'know, save their lives but I guess that was implied. He quickly spots the bound and delirious potential witnesses in the dark, frees them, and makes way to a ranch house to leave them. It's a diversion that may cost him, because the Silver Clipper is less than 20 minutes away and already the pieces are falling into place for the Wolfe's watery deathtrap.

Characters:

• Superman/Clark Kent
• Keno and the Wolfe

Notes:

• God knows I cherish the Wolfe's voice actor, but he really hams up some of his lines.
• Yes, this is the first time Superman utters the words 'Up, Up and AWAY!'
• Superman manages to do some serious property damage. First one trolley in Indiana, then a broken vault and skylight in Denver.
• For a one time character, that conductor sure gets a lot of references made about him.
• Superman seems to be going out of his way to downplay his involvement by making it appear that the railway men escaped and crawled to a ranch house on their own, rather than take them to a hospital. It might come off cold, but remember that Superman has vowed to be an observer of mankind before he becomes publicly known. His practical reason, then, is taking the men to a more plausible location. Contrast the 'boy scout' Superman of later years.

Powers Introduced:
X-ray vision: Argue all you like about the physics of it, Superman can see in the dark and through things. He uses it to locate the railway men in almost a passing manner, like how one might casually remind himself he can breathe oxygen.

Highlights:

Superman: Handcuffs, eh? It's a good thing for you I wasn't feeling PLAYFUL!

 This is the single most chilling line I've heard Superman utter yet.

Superman: Now what's this? A skylight! (laughs) Padlocked? Here goes!

Sound of glass breaking

No comment.

In the next episode: Has Superman playing coy put an entire train of people at risk of a watery grave? Will he manage to return in time to stop the Wolfe? Can Superman save... "The Silver Clipper"!

Episode 4: "Clark Kent captured by the Wolfe!"

Listen to Episode 4: "Clark Kent captured by the Wolfe!" 
Summary: Keno the Wolfe make it their hideout overlooking the railroad yards, and Keno tries to convince the Wolfe that the landslide covered the tracks with 100 feet of rock. The Wolfe mocks him, comparing his story to that of the conductor who reported seeing a man in blue tights clear the tracks. But no matter, there's work to do, by Godfrey!.
   The Wolfe has a keen interest in Kent, who seems to have come from the east suspiciously fast. There's word that Kent's at the district supervisor of the railroad's office, so he sends Keno there with a telegram, complete with a messenger's uniform, yet.
   Meanwhile, at the superintendent's office, we meet the Professor the Superintendent. He's not only granting Kent an interview, but permitting him pretty much total access to the case. Kent suggests the sensible thing - to keep the Silver Clipper from leaving Denver tonight - but that tidbit of common sense is rejected by the Superintendent. The Silver Clipper must leave on time. As an alternative tactic, Kent has baited the terrorists with the idea that Kent knows more than what he printed, he'll expose himself to capture. The Superintendent, naturally, blown away by the sheer force of Kent's giant brass balls. He pleads with Kent not to put himself at the mercy of people who have shown that they're not above killing an entire train full of people should the opportunity arise. Kent starts telling him not to worry, but is cut off from explaining further when the Superintendent notices "messenger boy" Keno in the doorway.
   Keno delivers the (fake) telegram and bluffs his way out of the office before suspicions rise. The fake telegram is a taunting riddle from the Wolfe, mentioning that an engine has gone missing. A call informs the Superintendent that an engine has indeed gone missing - completely without a trace - and induces a minor nervous breakdown in the old man. Kent excuses himself out of the room and briefly changes into Superman, flies around until he spots Keno heading into the Wolfe's hideout, and switches back as Kent to wander around conspicuously.
   Works every time. The Wolfe and Keno notice the reporter snooping around and knock him out. They drag him down into a sound-proof basement, not even beginning to realize the size of the angry hornet nest with which they are now playing.

Characters:

• Superman/Kent
• Keno and the Wolfe
• The Professor The Superintendent of the Railroad

Notes:

• The narrator does a particularly nice job recapping here.
• The Wolfe is the only one who seems it odd that Clark Kent went from Metropolis to a west-bound train just outside of Denver peculiarly fast.
• The Wolfe's voice actor seems to have improvised some lines when talking about the conductor.One has to wonder just how much Keno gets paid to blow stuff up AND go undercover. I don't want to know where the hell he got the messenger uniform, either.
• This episode marks the first time (of many) Clark Kent has scoffed at the idea that Superman exists.
• Oh hey there, Professor. Didn't know you moonlighted for the railroads in Denver. That must be a hell of a commute from Indiana.

Highlights:

Wolfe: [Kent] was assigned to cover the story back east. He seems to have arrived out here incredibly soon.

Keno: He musta flown.

No comment.

Superintendent: Look here, Kent, I've checked with your paper back east, and they tell me that it's all right, that you're here what to do what you can. Now, what do you want to know?

Yes, back then journalism was considered a respectable, helpful profession.

Kent: Do? I'm going out to hunt wolves!

Hell. Yes.


In the next episode, Clark Kent is given a once over by Keno and the Wolfe, then left to die. Golly, I WONDER IF HE GETS OUT OKA- oh, right. Well, tune in anyway, as Superman saves some railroad men, in "Locomotive Crew Freed"! Sunday night!

Episode 3 - "Keno's Landslide"

Listen to Episode 3 - "Keno's Landslide"
Summary: Superman has defenestrated the Daily Planet for his very first time, giving the building its first Clark Kent-related water-cooler story. Cashless and carrying only the clothes on his back (and his secret identity's clothes God knows where else), he's en route to the American West, to investigate the threats against the Silver Clipper, great American 'crack train' from Denver to Salt Lake City. He declares the Wolfe better watch out, because the other side has Superman. Hell. Yes.
   Meanwhile, we meet the Wolfe and his henchmen, Keno Carter ('gunman, gambler, bad man of the Southwest) who are hiding out in a small cabin somewhere in Colorado. It's hinted the two of them get their orders from a higher power, and those orders are 'paralyze the American railroads'. The Wolfe plans on showing the railroads he's dead serious about destroying the Silver Clipper, by sending a landslide onto of another train, the Western Limited. Keno blanches at the idea of murder, but agrees with the plan. He seems aware that defying orders is a terrible career move at Wolfe, Inc. They hear the Limited in the distance.
  Superman happens to notice the Limited as he flies over. He debates getting on the train, a slower mode of transport for a super-man, but decides to get on anyway and look things over as Clark Kent (hey, everything is shiny and new to him, remember?). Just before he flies down and boards, he notices Keno up ahead heading up to set off the explosives that will trigger the landslide. He boards and thinks up a way to stop the train and decides to pretend, as Clark Kent, that he's lost his ticket, so they will stop the train and throw him off. Retrieving his suit from his codpiece, he enacts this plan flawlessly, to the point where the conductor will give him the benefit of the doubt... until they reach town. Whoops!
   Clark then finds a better way to stop the train, by committing his first (possibly second) crime ever - pulling the emergency cord on the train. The train screeches to a stop, and Kent vindicates himself to a furious conductor when a landslide thunders down in front of the train moments later. Close call. Kent then makes a dash for it, changes into Superman, and sets to work clearing the tracks.
   The Wolfe, meanwhile, is back in the cabin overlooking the tracks, and lighting up his 'mission accomplished' cigar. Keno busts in and tells him the bad news - the plan failed. He then explains how he pulled off the most balliest manuever ever attempted in the field of professional henching - he snuck down into the crowd that emerged from the train and found out that it was a reporter named Kent responsible for averting the disaster. The Wolfe is incredulous, more so when the train suddenly started heading west, the tracks now clear. Clark Kent just made a powerful enemy, swears the Wolfe. They make for Denver by plane.

Characters:

• Superman/Kent 
• The Wolfe 
• Keno Carter (Karter?) 
• The Conductor 

Notes:

• Keno and the Wolfe are Radio Superman's first villains, and are worthy, competent ones at that. The Wolfe has set up an elaborate plan that has baffled railroad investigators and potentially cripple the nation's transportation network. Keno is effective at carrying out orders, skilled at the art of the bluff, and doesn't scare easy. Keno has a conscious; the Wolfe, less so. You should see the heartlessness of the guy they get their orders from (and you will). 
• As before, it is stated fog and sleet grounded the as of yet unnamed city of Metropolis. It's mid-Februrary in the show, too. 
• Notice that Superman is raring to check things out on the train as Kent, despite being on a time budget. 
• Yes, pulling the emergency stop on a train under false pretenses is a crime. Sure, Clark had a good reason, but how was he going to explain it to an angry conductor? 
• This is the last we hear from the conductor, but not the last we hear of him. Poor guy was just doing his job. 

Powers Introduced:Super-Speed - Superman manages to effortlessly fly hundreds of miles over the span of a few hours. Fittingly, he himself states that he's faster than a locomotive.

Highlights:

Conductor: "Oh, is it? What makes you think so?"

Kent: "Goodbye, Conductor! I'll see you later!"

I know he's new at this whole interacting with people thing, but damn, that seems creepy - especially how he abruptly breaks off the conversation. I get the image of Kent never breaking eye contact and fading backwards into the shadows.

On the next episode, Clark Kent proves himself a brave man, baiting the terrorists to capture him and reveal their secrets. Will his plan work? Listen to the next spoiling-titled episode, "Clark Kent captured by the Wolfe!" Friday 7 PM! And check back before then for a bonus article about Bud Collyer, the talented actor who gave Superman his voice!