Dynamic Duo—Radio and Superheroes

Red Panda Adventures. Written and Directed by Greg Taylor. Performed by the Decoder Ring Theatre cast
Review by Kerey McKenna

[Organ music]

“OLD TIMEY” RADIO ANNOUNCER: And now Decoder Ring Theatre presents the continuing adventures of Canada’s greatest superhero, that scourge of the underworld, hunter of those who prey upon the innocent, the marvelous masked mystery man known only as THE RED PANDA. The Red Panda, mysterious crusader for justice, hides his true identity as one of the city’s wealthiest young men, in his never ending battle against crime and corruption. Only his trusted driver Kit Baxter, who joins him in his quest in the guise of the Flying Squirrel, knows who wears the mask of the Red Panda!

The adventures of the titans of the 1930’s-1950’s Golden Age of Comic Book Super Heroes weren’t always bound up on the printed page. Many of their stories where carried by the dynamic duo of comic books and radio. The Shadow, the Green Hornet—even Superman himself (a mere 2 years after his debut on newsstands)—all had beloved and long running radio dramas. Radio and comics make an odd yet complementary pairing: Comics are a visual medium that can only convey noises through artistic cues. Radio uses voice acting to paint vivid pictures in the mind’s eye. The radio shows of yesteryear weren’t merely ephemeral tie-ins chasing the success of the comics. They made significant contributions to the lore of each hero. It was Orson Welles’s chilling performances that promised listeners that the mysterious Shadow knew what evil lurked in the hearts of men. Radio introduced such mainstays of the Superman mythology as Kryptonite, Daily Planet editor Perry White, and photographer/cub reporter Jimmy Olsen.

However, when radio dramas by and large left American airwaves, eclipsed by the post-war television boom, superheroes either jumped on the exodus to the small screen (a la Superman, Green Hornet, and Batman) or returned to the comic books, newspaper strips, or pulps from whence they came. Fortunately, a small audio dramatic group based out of Canada, Decoder Ring Theatre, has resurrected the radio superhero serial with Red Panda Adventures, a long running series of super heroic adventures, in the form of radio plays, available for free streaming or download from their website, and the subject of this week’s installment of “I Read this…with my Ears.”

The Red Panda himself is equal parts Green Hornet and the Shadow. With a dapper suit, fedora, and red domino mask, his genius-level intellect and vast family fortune allow him to deploy an arsenal of weapons in his war against crime, such as a personal auto gyro, static shoes that cling to walls, and miniaturized radio equipment that is cutting edge for the 1930’s. But his greatest weapon against crime is his powers of hypnosis. In an homage to the Shadow, the Red Panda, after years of study abroad in the mystic arts, has the power to influence the minds of others. He can taunt and confuse criminals by making phantom doppelgangers of himself appear all over a room to sow confusion and draw their fire. Like the Green Hornet, the Red Panda goes into battle with his martial artist valet. In this case, that's his driver, Katya “Kit” Baxter, a sassy redhead who is as aggressive on the road as she was in her father’s boxing gym. Much of the humor of the series comes about because Kit would like to be partners in more than just crime fighting with her employer and mentor (The Red Panda is voiced by series creator Greg Taylor and Kit is voiced by his wife Clarissa Der Nederlanden-Taylor).

The series begins in the Great Depression as the heroes defend Toronto from crooks, gangsters, and costumed supervillains, giving the city a fighting chance to recover from the economic downturn. Next, World War II, a weird war where Nazis have deployed ancient magic, dinosaurs, and all manner of sci-fi weaponry to fend of the Allies’ Super Services (the superheroes and adventurers of the combined Allied nations). Eventually the postwar years arrive. Mystery men bow out into retirement and hand the keys to the city to the garish “caped crusaders” of the Silver Age.

Red Panda Adventures are fun for casual listeners and a must-listen for fans of audio drama or superheroes. It’s got the corny earnestness of the classic Adam West Batman series, the morals of classic Dragnet, and the romantic banter of the Nick and Nora Charles mysteries. From the intro music to the Foley sound effects, the Decoder Ring Theatre audio drama troop are dedicated to putting out rip-roaring superhero adventures on a shoestring budget. Like the radio plays of old, a small band of actors plays a large cast of characters. An actor playing a friendly beat cop one week may be featured as a supervillain the next. And in a time when superheroes of the big screen might be considered indifferent to the plight of civilians in the cities that they blow up, the Red Panda and the Flying Squirrel are unambiguous about why they don their costumes. The Red Panda began his crusade out of a sense of noblesse oblige. The Flying Squirrel, who grew up in Cabbage Town, the working class section of Toronto, knows what it’s like to be one of the downtrodden masses; she wants to put a well-placed punch to the face of any racketeer, supervillain, or otherworldly dimensional terror that would make life harder for the blue collar masses.

If, after listening to a few episodes, you decide that Red Panda Adventures scratch your itch for superhero thrills, I also recommend the four prose novels available for purchase. These are available in print, e-book, and audiobook; the latter is narrated by the author and Red Panda himself doing an excellent one-man rendition of the entire cast. The creators have also begun a series of proper comic book adventures available for digital download from Comixcology.com but they assume a bit of familiarity with the characters that would best be appreciated by people with a couple of seasons of the radio show under their utility belt.

So if you’re ready for excitement, turn your dial to Red Panda Adventures. Only at DecoderRingTheatre.com

Kerey McKenna is a contributing reviewer to Nerds who Read and SMOF for the annual Watch City Steampunk Festival in Waltham, Massachusetts. Learn more at www.watchcityfestival.com.