The Mysterious Traveler was an anthology radio series, a magazine, and a comic book. All three featured stories which ran the gamut from fantasy and science fiction to straight crime dramas of mystery and suspense. [1]
The Mysterious Traveler was an anthology radio series, a magazine, and a comic book. All three featured stories which ran the gamut from fantasy and science fiction to straight crime dramas of mystery and suspense. [1]
Written and directed by Robert Arthur and David Kogan, the radio series was sponsored by Adam Hats. It began on the Mutual Broadcasting System, December 5, 1943, continuing in many different time slots until September 16, 1952. The lonely sound of a distant locomotive heralded the arrival of the sinister narrator (portrayed by Maurice Tarplin), who introduced himself each week in the following manner:
The narrator also took an active role in two episodes. In "The Accusing Corpse", he appears as a coroner named Roger. In "The Good Die Young" he appears as a general practitioner named Doctor Smith.
Cast members included Jackson Beck, Lon Clark, Roger DeKoven, Elspeth Eric, Wendell Holmes, Bill Johnstone, Joseph Julian, Jan Miner, Santos Ortega, Bryna Raeburn, Frank Readick, Luis van Rooten, Ann Shepherd, Lawson Zerbe and Bill Zuckert. Sound effects were by Jack Amrhein, Jim Goode, Ron Harper, Walt McDonough and Al Schaffer.
"Behind the Locked Door", a popular, much-requested episode which took place in total darkness, was repeated several times during the years. Two archaeologists discover a century-old wagon train that had been sealed in a cave following a landslide. When their Native American guide is mysteriously and brutally attacked, the two, now lost in the darkness, conclude that the descendants of the wagon train are still living in the cave.
Only 75 of the original 370 Mysterious Traveler episodes still exist. The popularity of the series spawned other supernatural shows, such as The Sealed Book . With scripts by a Mysterious Traveler writer and Tarplin as host-narrator, The Strange Dr. Weird was a nearly identical program. [2]
Grace Publishing's 1951–52 Mysterious Traveler digest-sized magazine ran for five issues with cover paintings by famed pulp illustrator Norman Saunders. The publisher was David Kogan, and managing editor Robert Arthur also contributed many stories. [1] The first issue (November 1951) carried a welcome from the Mysterious Traveler himself:
| Tales of the Mysterious Traveler | |
|---|---|
 Tales of the Mysterious Traveler #7 (March 1958) | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | Charlton Comics |
| Schedule | Bimonthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | vol. 1: Aug. 1956 – June. 1959 Vol. 2: Oct. 1985 – Dec. 1985 |
| No. of issues | Vol. 1: 13 Vol. 2: 2 |
| Main character(s) | Mysterious Traveler |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Joe Gill Steve Ditko |
| Artist(s) | Steve Ditko Dick Giordano Rocco Mastroserio |
| Editor(s) | Joe Gill |
Trans-World Publications' one-shot Mysterious Traveler Comics #1 (Nov. 1948) had a direct tie-in with the radio series, including the story "Five Miles Down", taken directly from an episode scripted for the radio program. Only a single issue was published. [3]
Charlton Comics published a separate Tales of the Mysterious Traveler comic book for 13 issues from 1956 to 1959, [4] followed by two more issues in 1985 shortly before the company went under. [5] Steve Ditko illustrated many stories in this title. Stories intended for future issues saw print in Renegade Press's Murder. In 1990, Eclipse Comics published a large-format paperback collecting 19 Ditko stories from the Charlton title. [6] Some of those stories were reprinted in Pure Imagination's Steve Ditko Reader.
Anthony Boucher's 1950 detective story anthology, Four-and-Twenty-Bloodhounds, paired each story with a brief biography of the detective. In the case of "The Big Money" by Robert Arthur, Boucher apologized to the reader:
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See also: 1964 in comics, 1966 in comics, 1960s in comics and the list of years in comics
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