Original Air Date
- December 26, 2024
Part 1 Begins
Hero Song (5:48)
- “Christmas Superhero” by Bobby D’Ambrosio featuring Billy Cliff
Show ID 1: Superhero Smash (0:30)
- Because fans demanded it, Superhero Smash has returned!
- Featuring the best in “Superhero Music and Comic Book Lore”
- Focusing on current superhero movies and popular culture events
- I’m your host, Dr. Gian Pagnucci, a.k.a. The New Professor X
- Playing great music about superheroes as well as music that is featured in superhero movies and shows
- Also talking about comic book history and heroism
- But no matter what cool stuff I discuss on the show, you don’t have to worry because this is a NO SPOILERS show!
Audio Episode Theme: Batman Noël Vol. 2! (0:30)
- I hope everyone had a great Christmas
- Also Happy Kwanza to those who celebrate that holiday season
- Kwanza is a celebration of family, community, and culture, especially African-American and Pan African culture, which begins today and ends January 1st
- Since it’s December 26, I’m hoping listeners are still in the holiday spirit
- On this episode, I’ll be playing a mix of superhero songs related to Christmas and Christmas songs related to superheroes
- And I’ll be talking about Batman because Batman Returns is set at Christmas time and there is also a great Max animated holiday special called Merry Little Batman for you to enjoys
- Lots to talk about, but first, let’s get a superhero holiday theme song in…
Instrumental Theme Music (3:17)
- “Carol of the Buy and Sells” from the the Hawkeye TV show by Christophe Beck & Michael Paraskevas
The Christmas Avenger (3:00)
- I hope lots of Superhero Smash listeners got to the Christmas holiday yesterday
- Christmas is a great time for family, friends, food, and, of course, lots of presents, which is why Hawkeye, which is set at Christmas time, has a theme song title “Carol of the Buy and Sells”
- As I mentioned last week, Hawkeye is a fantastic show with the fabulous Jeremy Renner reprising his role of Hawkeye from the Avengers
- Hawkeye also stars Hailee Steinfeld as Kate Bishop
- And, since it’s set at Christmas time, this is the perfect time to enjoy the Disney show
- At the start of the show, Kate Bishop is a young child when she gets saved by Hawkeye during the invasion of New York which occurred in the first Avengers movie
- Because of that childhood experience, Kate grows up wanting to be a superhero and training herself to use a bow and arrow
- Hawkeye was a bit of an underrated show
- The acting is great, the action sequences are fun, and it’s based on the Hawkeye: My Life as a Weapon comic book which was critically acclaimed and delved into Hawkeye’s real life challenges when he wasn’t being an Avenger
- The comic was written by Matt Fraction and drawn by David Aja
Christmas Song 1 (2:33)
- “It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year” by Andy Williams
- Another wonderful Christmas song featured in the first episode of Hawkeye
Part 1 Ends (@16 minutes)
Part 2 Begins (@16 minutes)
Show ID 2: Superhero Smash (0:30)
- WIUP FM 90.1
- Featuring the best superhero music and comic book lore in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DC Cinematic Universe, and our U-niverse too!
- Check out pagnucci.org and click the big Superhero Smash button
- Or email Professor X using the address SuperheroSmash2024@gmail.com
- I love to hear from the Legion of Superhero Smash Fans
Don’t Hurt Anyone with the Bow! (2:00)
- Hawkeye was always a bit of a joke hero
- He had a bow but, thanks to the Comics Code Authority which regulated comic books for almost 60 years, he couldn’t hurt anyone with the bow
- “Comics Code History: The Seal of Approval” by Amy Kiste Nyberg
- Nyberg traces the history of the code in her article
- Dr. Fredric Wertham published a book called The Seduction of the Innocent in 1954 which he explored the psychological problems supposedly caused by kids reading comic books
- Wertham is the one who came up with the idea that Batman and Robin were lovers, an inaccurate conclusion which completely misread the father/son relationship which was clearly developed in the comics over many, many issues
- But because of his pop psychology book, Wertham was asked to testifiy to Congress about how bad comic books were
- The Congressional hearings made comic book publishers worry about being regulated
- So to avoid government regulation, in October of 1954 the major comic book publishers formed the Comics Magazine Association of America and adopted their own regulatory code
- The code was enforced by the Comics Code Authority, which placed a bit letter A stamp of approval on every comic published
- While they were worried about kids’ reading habits, their use of a big A showed they had clearly not read Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, although at least this A was white and not red
- The Comics Code Authority checked every comic to make sure the fights were not too violent, which is how we get the Bam! Pow! fight graphics of the 1960s Batman T.V. show
- They also made sure that all romances were chaste and, even for heroes like Hawkeye, that no matter how many arrows he shot, there was no blood in the superhero world
Christmas Song 2 (4:45)
- “Blood Bank” by Bon Iver
- A good song which, among other things, might encourage you to donate blood during this holiday season
- Giving blood at your local blood bank really can help save lives
Don’t Hurt Anyone with Censorship! (3:00)
- Although it was well intentioned, the Comics Code Authority quickly became an overbearing censorship body
- Stan Lee himself once had a fight with the Authority when he tried to tell an anti-drug story in a Spider-Man comic because the Authority had a rule that there could be no drugs mentioned in comics even though Stan’s comic had a clear anti-drug message
- Stan had been asked by the National Institute of Mental Health to write a story about the drug problem, so in The Amazing Spider-Man issues 96-98 he wrote a story which explored the dangers of drug use
- In the story, Spidey says, “My life as Spider-Man is probably as dangerous as any, but I’d rather face a hundred super-villains than toss it away by getting hooked on hard drugs!”
- Because the Authority would not approve the story, Marvel published the comic without the big A
- And this became one of the pivotal reasons Marvel in 2001 and DC in 2011 withdrew from the Comics Code Authority and dropped the seal
- You can read more about this history in several fascinating articles:
Christmas Song 3 (2:42)
- “Spidey-Bells (A Hero’s Lament)” by Chris Pine
PSA: Visit the IUP Kathleen Jones White Writing Center (1:00)
- IUP Kathleen Jones White Writing Center
- Shout-out to Dr. Dan Weinstein, the Director of the Writing Center and LLW Associate Professor
Part 2 Ends (@30 minutes)
Part 3 Begins (@30 minutes)
Show ID 3: Superhero Smash (0:30)
- WIUP FM 90.1
- Featuring the best superhero music and comic book lore in the MCU, the DCU, and our U too!
- Check out pagnucci.org and click the big Superhero Smash button
- Or email Professor X using the address SuperheroSmash2024@gmail.com
- I love to hear from the Legion of Superhero Smash Fans
Collector’s Item Classic Comic Book (3:00)
- Last week I talked about Giant Superhero Holiday Grab-Bag Marvel Treasury Editions
- Let me give a shout out to an old friend of mine, Dr. David Henningsen, who is listening with his wife Min and their kids David and Anna out in Illinois
- Dave was on Superhero Smash last summer to talk about superhero leaders, and I’ll be bringing him back for another guest appearance in Summer 2025’s Superhero Smash Season III!
- Remember, you can stream WIUP FM 90.1 anywhere in the world, so tell all your friends!
- Dave reminded me that DC Comics published some Christmas books just like Marvel
- DC’s Christmas with the Super-Heroes
- Publication Date: 1975
- Value on eBay today: You can get it for about $55, almost double the price of the Marvel version!
- DC published a second oversized issue the next year with Superman carrying Santa’s sleigh
- Publication Date: 1976
- Like Marvel, these were reprint issues packaged in a giant format
- The 1976 issue even includes a story with Sandman and his sidekick Sandy entitled “Santa Fronts for the Mob”
- I’d like to get a copy just to see what that story’s about!
- In “A Treasury to Treasure: Christmas with the Super-Heroes!” Dan Greenfield takes us lovingly through the 1975 issue, and even discusses a story about an Angel and the Ape, a couple of heroes even I don’t know much about
Christmas Song 4 (3:58)
- “Jingle Bells, Batman Smells” by Superhero Second Line
A Batman Christmas (3:00)
- Max has a new animated holiday special out called Merry Little Batman
- I started watching it, and it is pretty funny
- Batman has a son named Damien who is still a little kid in the movie
- Batman gives Damian his own utility belt for Christmas, but then decides that Damian isn’t responsible enough to have it, so he takes it back
- This leads to Damian deciding he has to prove he is worthy
- And what’s the best way to prove you are worthy at the holidays? Why save Christmas, of course!
- The problem is that Batman is overprotective as a father, so he has already eliminated all crime from Gotham city and made it the safest place on earth!
- Luckily there are a still a few evil doers around to cause some problems for Damian
- The cast is really funny with Luke Wilson as Batman, Yonas Kibreab as Damian, and James Cromwell as Alfred
- Great entertainment for young kids and adults too!
- I’m only partway through, so you might even beat me to the finish, but this is a no spoilers show anyway!
Christmas Song 5 (3:40)
- “Father Christmas” by The Kinks
Part 3 Ends (@45 minutes)
Part 4 Begins (@45 minutes)
Show ID 4: Superhero Smash (0:30)
- WIUP FM 90.1
- Featuring the best superhero music and comic book lore in the DCU, the MCU, and our U too!
- Check out pagnucci.org and click the big Superhero Smash button
- Or email Professor X using the address SuperheroSmash2024@gmail.com
- I love to hear from the Legion of Superhero Smash Fans
Batman: Noël (2:00)
- A modern adaptation of A Christmas Carol starring Batman
- Written and penciled by Lee Bermejo
- Batman is cast as Scrooge who has become cynical and joyless
- When a poor resident of Gotham city named Bob (ala Bob Cratchet!) finds a bag of stolen money accidentally dropped by criminals, Batman decides to use the poverty-stricken man as bait to catch the Joker on Christmas Eve
- Batman is injured during the story and has a vision of civilians killing criminals in cold blood
- This helps him learn an important lesson about the value of mercy
- Great art and an interesting update of the classic Charles Dickens story
Christmas Song 6 (2:56)
- “You’re a Mean One, Mr. Grinch” by Thurl Ravenscroft
Romantic Interlude (2:00)
- Batman: Returns
- This was a film set at Christmas time and featured The Bat, the Cat, and the Penguin
- Michael Keaton as Batman, Michele Piffer as Catwoman, and Danny Devito as The Penguin
- Keaton was great returning to the Batman role in this summer’s The Flash–He was the best thing in that movie and DC should let him star in Batman Beyond as an older Bruce Wayne, a plan they foolishly dropped
- A stylish fairytale by Director Tim Burton
- The Penguin replaces Santa Claus, making a list of children he plans to harm as he seeks revenge for his parents having abandoned sent him floating down a river in a basket because he was so ugly
- An allusion there by Burton to the Moses story too
- But it is the scenes between Batman and Catwoman that light things up
- Catwoman has a fantastic black costume with white stitching, more interesting and realistic than the Halle Barry costume for the disappointing Catwoman film
- Catwoman steals every scene she is in and her chemistry with Batman is electric
- But many fabulous actresses have played Catwoman
- Most famous of all would be the inimitable Julie Numar, who even had a 1995 film which focused on her called To0 Wong Fu, Thanks for the Memories, Julie Newmar
- It’s a very moving film, but definitely for adults
- But I want to mention another great Catwoman, the actress Ethra Kitt
- Kitt replaced Newmar in the role of Catwoman for Season 3 of the 1960’s TV show Batman
- Julie Newmar had been cast as the Native American outlaw Hesh-Ke for the western film Mackenna’s Gold starring Gregory Peck and her movie shooting schedule conflict with shooting for Batman
- Kitt portrayed Catwoman as more serious and ruthless than Newmar had, and she left a lasting impression on audiences
- Kitt’s casting was not considered controversial at the time, however, because she was black and there was much racial bias during the time period, the shows writers greatly toned done Catwoman’s flirting with Batman, something that had been much more prevalent while Newmar was playing the role
- It’s a shame, too, because Kitt, who was also a professional singer and dancer, might have used her sultriness to overpower Batman
- Just listen to how she gets Santa to give her everything she wants in the next song
Christmas Song 7 (3:27)
- “Santa Baby” by Ethra Kitt
- In the song, Kitt wants a ring, and maybe she would have gotten a wedding ring out of Batman if she had been given the chance
Show ID 5: Superhero Smash To Be Continued Next Issue (2:00)
- Same Bat Time, same Bat Channel: 11:00 a.m. next Thursday, January 2nd!
- It’s getting colder, so it’s time for an episode on everybody’s favorite winter villain, Captain Cold!
- Superhero Smash will be back on WIUP FM 90.1, and you can check my website, pagnucci.org and click the big Superhero Smash learn more about the show
- Listeners are also always welcome to contact me, the new Professor X, via email: SuperheroSmash2024@gmail.com
- And always remember: “You don’t need superpowers to be a hero. The only thing it takes to be a hero is the courage to do what’s right when someone needs your help.”–Gian Pagnucci
End Credit Song 1 (3:37)
- “What Christmas Is to Me” by Evan and Jaron
To Be Continued Next Issue (0:10)
- And for the final word on the holiday…
End Credits Song 2 (0:36)
- “Christmas with the Joker” by Shirley Walker
Part 4 Ends (@60 minutes)