The Lesser Known Geek Hall Of Fame

Hi-Yo Silver! The mysterious masked man who has been an icon to TV and radio has made his way to the Geekville Radio Lesser Known Geek Hall Of Fame!

"What?" you may ask. "You said this is the LESSER Known Geek Hall Of Fame. Everybody has heard of The Lone Ranger. Why are you doing a show about a character everybody has heard about?"

That is a very good question. While it is true that the vast majority of people have probably heard of The Lone Ranger, how much is actually known about him? Do you know who the Ranger is? Do you know why he is called The Lone Ranger?

Seth "Zandrax" Zillmann and "Crazy Train" Jonathan Bolick open the doors to the Hall Of Fame to answer those questions and more.

The story of The Lone Ranger starts in Detroit Michigan during the 1930s. George W. Trendle, a lawyer, businessman, and overall renaissance man had invested in several Nickelodeon and movie theaters. In fact, he co-owned about 20 movie theaters in the Detroit area. When competition started rising in the theater industry, he sold the theaters for apprimately six million dollars. That's six million not adjusted for inflation. Six million in 1930 dollars.

After leaving the theater business, George invested in the radio business. He bought the CBS affiliate radio station WGHP, and changed it to WXYZ. Radio was arguably the biggest entertainment media at the time, since the television would not become a mainstay for another decade or two.

Enter Fran Striker, a writer from . He had actually written radio shows before, even some in the Western genre. Trendle hired Striker to write the episodes, a duty that Striker would continue for the next several years in many forms of media.

The rest, as they say, is history. Trendle went down in history as the creator of arguably the greatest Old West hero of all time. Striker would find steady work writing stories. And, most of all, fans would enjoy these stories on the radio, TV, print, even the movie theater.

What may surprise many people who may not know the full history of The Lone Ranger is his direct relation to another famous crimefighter who became an icon of his own.

And of course, there are the two failed attempts at relaunching The Lone Ranger as a feature film franchise. One of which was very controversial due to the treatment of the beloved actor synonymous with the role.

All this and more in a fun-filled podcast about the one and only Lone Ranger! Hi-Yo Silver! Away!

You have probably heard of The Phantom, and yes you've probably seen him in a newspaper comic strip. But do you truly know the origin of The Phantom? Seth and Crazy Train talk the creation of The Phantom, as well as his origin. Why is the character called The Ghost Who Walks?

A lot of people may not know how long The Phantom has been around. Creator Lee Falk started writing the character in 1936, and continued to write up until his death in 1999. That means he had a 63 year run writing Phantom, which could be a record for longest stint for a writer on a specific character. The Phantom has also been in print regularly since 1936, which is a record for oldest superhero title at 82 years and counting.

The Phantom also has several other notable accomplishments. He was the first hero to wear tights, and was the first to have a mask that removed pupils from the eyes. Not only that, the ongoing Phantom comic clocks in with a staggering 1,700+ issues!

If you want to learn more about The Phantom, check out the awesome Phantom Wiki, and listen to one of, if not THE only, Phantom podcasts at Chronicle Chamber.

You have probably heard of The Phantom, and yes you've probably seen him in a newspaper comic strip. But do you truly know the origin of The Phantom? Seth and Crazy Train talk the creation of The Phantom, as well as his origin. Why is the character called The Ghost Who Walks?

A lot of people may not know how long The Phantom has been around. Creator Lee Falk started writing the character in 1936, and continued to write up until his death in 1999. That means he had a 63 year run writing Phantom, which could be a record for longest stint for a writer on a specific character. The Phantom has also been in print regularly since 1936, which is a record for oldest superhero title at 82 years and counting.

The Phantom also has several other notable accomplishments. He was the first hero to wear tights, and was the first to have a mask that removed pupils from the eyes. Not only that, the ongoing Phantom comic clocks in with a staggering 1,700+ issues!

If you want to learn more about The Phantom, check out the awesome Phantom Wiki, and listen to one of, if not THE only, Phantom podcasts at Chronicle Chamber.

Welcome to our inaugural episode of The Lesser Known Geek Hall Of Fame, the latest channel for Geekville Radio. For our first episode, we decided to look at one of the earliest characters in pulp magazines, The Shadow. Follow along in these show notes for the podcast.

The earliest incarnation of The Shadow was on the radio airwaves in 1930, where he would introduce radio dramas based on issues of Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine. This was of course before television, where radio was the norm for advertising and entertainment. Thus The Detective Story Hour would be used as a vehicle to promote issues of The Shadow himself was not a character, but a host. Similar in vein to Rod Serling or The Crypt Keeper.

The character became so popular that local newsstands would get requests for Shadow magazines. Street & Smith, realizing they had a hit on their hands, soon began publishing issues of Detective Story with The Shadow as the protagonist. This makes The Shadow unique, as most characters start in print before moving to media. Whereas The Shadow began in media before debuting in print.

Another historical significance is The Shadow's hypnosis ability, making him the first character with powers. Also, given the characters background, he helped forge the template by which many "street level" heroes were created with.

Not surprisingly, The Detective Story Hour became adventure episodes for The Shadow. The character was played by several notable actors over the years. The first two years, The Shadow was voiced by none other than up and coming actor Orson Welles. Throughout the years, the character was voiced by several actors.

Throughout the years, The Shadow had multiple comic book publications, varying from Archie to DC Comics. The latter even had a team up between Shadow and Batman.

In 1994, Universal Pictures attempted to revive The Shadow into a film franchise. While the movie failed at the box office, it did gain a measure of following in home release.

Currently, The Shadow is published by Dynamite Comics. And in the movie world, Sam Raimi has expressed interest interest in his own Shadow film over the years.

Welcome to our inaugural episode of The Lesser Known Geek Hall Of Fame, the latest channel for Geekville Radio. For our first episode, we decided to look at one of the earliest characters in pulp magazines, The Shadow. Follow along in these show notes for the podcast.

The earliest incarnation of The Shadow was on the radio airwaves in 1930, where he would introduce radio dramas based on issues of Street & Smith's Detective Story Magazine. This was of course before television, where radio was the norm for advertising and entertainment. Thus The Detective Story Hour would be used as a vehicle to promote issues of The Shadow himself was not a character, but a host. Similar in vein to Rod Serling or The Crypt Keeper.

The character became so popular that local newsstands would get requests for Shadow magazines. Street & Smith, realizing they had a hit on their hands, soon began publishing issues of Detective Story with The Shadow as the protagonist. This makes The Shadow unique, as most characters start in print before moving to media. Whereas The Shadow began in media before debuting in print.

Another historical significance is The Shadow's hypnosis ability, making him the first character with powers. Also, given the characters background, he helped forge the template by which many "street level" heroes were created with.

Not surprisingly, The Detective Story Hour became adventure episodes for The Shadow. The character was played by several notable actors over the years. The first two years, The Shadow was voiced by none other than up and coming actor Orson Welles. Throughout the years, the character was voiced by several actors.

Throughout the years, The Shadow had multiple comic book publications, varying from Archie to DC Comics. The latter even had a team up between Shadow and Batman.

In 1994, Universal Pictures attempted to revive The Shadow into a film franchise. While the movie failed at the box office, it did gain a measure of following in home release.

Currently, The Shadow is published by Dynamite Comics. And in the movie world, Sam Raimi has expressed interest interest in his own Shadow film over the years.

We are thrilled to announce the latest channel in the Geekville Radio spectrum, The Lesser Known Geek Hall Of Fame! What is this “Lesser Known” Hall Of Fame? Isn’t “Lesser Known” and “Hall Of Fame” an oxymoron? First off, google that word “oxymoron” if you don’t know what it means Secondly, yes it may seem … Continue reading The Lesser Known Geek Hall Of Fame Trailer

We are thrilled to announce the latest channel in the Geekville Radio spectrum, The Lesser Known Geek Hall Of Fame!

What is this “Lesser Known” Hall Of Fame? Isn’t “Lesser Known” and “Hall Of Fame” an oxymoron?

First off, google that word “oxymoron” if you don’t know what it means

Secondly, yes it may seem that way at first. But we here at Geekville Radio have started this new podcast to pay tribute to some of the lesser known characters with whom the history of Good vs. Evil might not be complete without.

Simply put, we won’t be talking much in the way of A-Listers such as Wonder Woman, Spider-Man, Darth Vader, or the like. We will talk characters who were trailblazers in their genre, and who may have influenced the creation of A-List characters like the ones mentioned above.

Don’t know who The Shadow is? Or maybe The Phantom? Or maybe you have and would like to know more? Well, that’s where The Lesser Known Geek Hall Of Fame comes in. The inspirational heroes (and yes, villains too) who could be mentioned in the same breath as some of the household names.

Coming Soon, the first episode of TLKGHOF which will focus on the character and creation of one of the earliest, if not THE earliest, pulp magazine heroes: The Shadow!