10 Comic Characters You Did Not Know Were On The Radio

Ad For the NBC Archie Andrews radio series, from "Pep Comics" #54, Sept. 1945. 

When it comes to Golden Age kids' radio shows and comics from the same period, many people will remember scenes from A Christmas Story where Ralphie is a fan of the Little Orphan Annie radio series. The theme from the Red Ryder radio series is also heard in a dream sequence. It is interesting to note the many classic comic strips or comic books quickly made the transition from the page to the radio.

Buck Rogers - Regarded as Radio's first Sci-Fi series, Buck Rogers In The 25th Century premiered in 1932 on CBS radio. The series ran periodically until 1947. Buck would continue to have adventures in a 1939 movie serial, and two TV series.

Batman - While the Caped Crusader had two failed radio pilots (one in 1943, a second in 1950), he was a frequent guest on "The Adventures of Superman" radio program. Batman was usually portrayed by Stacy Harris or Gary Merrill. Robin was portrayed by Ronny Liss. Interestingly, Harris was the star of "This Is Your FBI", and Liss was occasionally cast as troubled juveniles in this series.

Flash Gordon - A year before Buster Crabbe took off to the planet Mongo on the serial screen, Gale Gordon brought the famous hero to life. "The Amazing Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon" radio serial also starred Bruno Hampton as Emperor Ming. The actress who played Dale Arden (and maybe Princess Aura as well) is still unidentified.

Blondie - Following the success of the first two Blondie films starring Penny Singleton and Arthur Lake, a radio series began on CBS in 1939. Lake was heard as Dagwood throughout the entire run which ended in 1950. While Blondie is one of the world's longest-running comic strips, it has yet to be adapted successfully as a TV series. The 1957 and 1968 versions both lasted one season or less.

Bob Hasting as Archie on "The Adventures of Archie Andrews". Images from Wikimedia Commons.

Archie Andrews - A long, long, time before "Riverdale", and even Saturday Morning's "The Archie Show", the comic teen was the star of a Saturday morning radio series. The most famous radio Archie was Bob Hastings. This was the first of his many pop culture roles. Hastings was also the voice of Superboy in the 1960s Filmation cartoon series, and Commissioner Gordon on "Batman The Animated Series". He even appeared as a cop in the 1977 Spider-Man TV movie.

Blackhawk - The DC Comics military team appeared in a short-lived radio program in 1950 that ran for an estimated 16 episodes. The lead character was voiced by Michael Fitzmaurice was also replaced Bud Collyer as the voice of Superman during that program's final season. No broadcasts of the program are known to exist today.

Superman - Mentioned earlier in this list the "Adventures of Superman" (1940 - 1951) is probably the greatest juvenile adventure program from Radio's golden age. The series introduced mainstays to the Man of Steel's legacy like Jimmy Olsen, kryptonite, The Daily Planet as the newspaper name, Inspector Henderson, and storylines where Batman and Robin actually work together (not just nice comic covers).

Popeye - E. C. Seger's spinach-loving sailor appeared in a popular radio series sponsored by Wheatena, a hot cereal. This led to many fun adventures where the famous sailor man got a boost from a hot wheat cereal instead of spinach. 

Blue Beetle -  The original Blue Beetle was Dan Garrett a police officer who fought crime with a costume made of bulletproof chainmail. He jumped from the comic to the air very quickly after Superman in 1940. 

Ad for The Blue Beetle radio series in "Blue Beetle" Comics #05, Nov-Dec. 1940.

Skippy - Probably the least familiar title on this list but very significant in comic history. A film adaptation that year became the first and only comic adaptation to win the Academy Award for Best Director. Along with Little Orphan Annie, Skippy was one of Radio's first serialized juvenile adventure programs. No episodes exist today.