The popular pulp action hero The Shadow was made popular via classic radio series and pulp magazines but in 1940 the character had only one singular venture into the world of serials – following the likes of Flash Gordon and Captain Marvel – where he received very mixed reviews, which is probably why this serial…
Tag: serial
Atom Man vs. Superman (1950) – Review
The 1948 Superman serial was an incredible success for Columbia Pictures, so successful that it was even released in theatres not known for showing serials, which meant a sequel was pretty much a foregone conclusion. And while that first one featured the nefarious plotting of the femme fatale known as the Spider Lady, who was…
Superman: The First Serial (1948) – Review
There have been many adaptations of Superman over the years but it was Columbia Pictures who brought the world its first “live-action Superman” to theatres – Max Fleischer at Paramount was technically the first one to bring Superman to the big screen but his was an animated version – and while Columbia’s superhero serial was…
Tarzan and the Forbidden City: Edgar Rice Burroughs – Book Review
Originally published as The Red Star of Tarzan as a six-part serial in the pages of Argosy Magazine 1938 this story has the unique distinction of starting out as a radio play, and only later adapted by Burroughs. The radio play it was based on was called Tarzan and the Diamond of Asher, written by…
Tarzan and the Leopard Men: Edgar Rice Burroughs – Book Review
Tarzan has taken on many villains over the years, and in most cases, they are fictional creations from lost cities or are villainous treasure hunters, but in Tarzan and the Leopard Men, we get our hero tangling with a secret cult that actually operated in West Africa in early-to-mid 20th Century.