Original Air Date
- August 15, 2023
Part 1 Begins
Hero Song (2:58)
- “I Wanna Live in a World Full of Heroes” by Kirby Krackle
- The Marvel Universe
- The Marvel Cinematic Universe (The MCU)
- The DC Universe
- The DC Cinematic Universe (The DCU)
Superhero Smash (0:30)
- 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 1: The Contest of Champions (1:00)
- This is, sadly, my last show of the summer
- But that means you’re in luck, loyal listeners!
- Buckle up for the ultimate Superhero Smash Team Up Show
- I’m going to play as many great superhero songs as I can in one hour
Audio Episode Theme 2: First, Some Kid Heroes (:30)
- Superheroes are for all ages, and in honor of those fabulous superhero kids shows, I’ve got 4 fabulous superhero theme songs coming up back to back to back!
Instrumental Theme Music (1:04)
Kid Superhero Music 1 (1:15)
Kid Superhero Music 2 (:47)
- “Perry the Platypus Theme” by Randy Crenshaw
Perry the Superhero? (1:00)
- Perry was a superhero in Phineas and Ferb: Mission Marvel
- His disguise was his hat
- Dr. Doofenshmirtz:
- “A plumber platypus?”
- Perry puts on his detective hat.
- “A Perry plumber platypus?”
- Perry takes off the plumber gear.
- “Perry the Platypus???“
Kid Superhero Music 3 (2:14)
- The Adventures of Captain Underpants--An Epic Novel by Dav Pilkey, beloved children’s author
- “Captain Underpants Theme Song” by “Weird Al” Yankovic
Part 1 Ends (@11 minutes)
Part 2 Begins (@11 minutes)
Audio Episode Theme 3: Smells Like Teen Spirit (1:00)
- From the kid superheroes, we progress to teen superheroes, who are just as fun
- And not quite a teen but not really an adult, either, I’ll start off with the theme song to The Tick animated series
Teen Superhero Music 1 (1:03)
- “The Tick (Animated)”
- Classic with his sidekick Arthur and his fearsome battle cry “Spoon”
- The 3 season animated series is hysterical
- The Tick was created by Ben Edlund who I met at New York Comicon and actually shared a cab with by total chance
Teen and Humor Superhero Music 2 (3:24)
- “Shell Shocked” by Juicy J, Wiz Khalifa, and Ty Dolla $ign and Featuring Kill the Noise and Madsonik
- From the Michael Bay live action film Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles released in 2014
- The new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem has been a surprise critical and commercial success since its release last week
Teen Superhero Music 3 (1:38)
- “Go” from Teen Titans Go! To the Movies by the whole Teen Titans Go! Cast: Greg Cipes (Beast Boy), Scott Menville (Robin), Khary Payton (Cyborg), Tara Strong (Raven), & Hynden Walch (Starfire)
- One of the funniest animated superhero shows ever
Teen Superhero Music 4 (4:01)
- “Save Me” by Remy Zero, the theme to Smallville
- Such a great version of Superman as a troubled high school teenager with Tom Welling playing Clark Kent, Michael Rosenbaum playing Lex Luthor, and Kristen Kreuk playing Lana Lang, Clark’s first love, and Allison Mack playing Chloe Sullivan
- It was a gorgeous cast in a fabulous CW show
Show ID: Superhero Smash (:30)
- WIUP FM 90.1
- Alternative music for 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 superherosmash2023@gmail.com
- Let me know if you will miss Superhero Smash and maybe I’ll come back during IUP’s Winter Break
Part 2 Ends (@22 minutes)
Part 3 Begins (@22 minutes)
Superhero Music 1 (:32)
- Who’s going to save us?
- Tony Stark is building his Iron Man suit to save himself and all of us too
- “Tony Stark Hammering”
Collector’s Item Classic Comic Books (3:00)
- Marvel Superhero Contest of Champions #1-3
- The story was originally going to be a celebration of the 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, but that plan was torpedoed when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan and the U.S. then boycotted the Moscow games in protest
- The story was revised and then eventually published in 1982
- Went on to become a popular video game
- It was the first big massive teamup of superheroes that I had ever seen as a kid
- Whole series on ebay: $20 plus shipping
- Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1-12
- Published in 1984
- Saw the introduction of Spider-Man’s all black costume, mostly because the artists were tired of drawing all the web lines on Spidey’s costume
- The black suit eventually became the symbiote known as Venom
- DC’s Crisis on Infinite Earths #1-12
- Whole Series on eBay: $81 plus shipping
- Published in 1985 to compete with Marvel
- Writer Roy Thomas wanted to clean up the DC multiverse’s continuity
- This series saw the deaths of Barry Allen a.k.a. the Flash, Supergirl, and many lesser known heroes
- It was really shocking for me as a kid to see any superhero die
Superhero Music 2 (2:03)
- All those heroes means it’s time for a run of theme songs
- In honor of Supergirl’s passing in the comics, I’ll play her cousin’s theme song from Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman which starred Dean Cain as Clark Kent and the oh so beautiful Teri Hatcher as Lois Lane
- Followed by X-Men: The Animated Series theme song
- Even animated, Wolverine is a force with which to be reckoned
Show ID: Superhero Smash (:30)
- Your listening Superhero Smash on WIUP FM 90.1
Superhero Music 2 (1:14)
- As angry as Wolverine can get, you wouldn’t like this next hero when he’s angry…
- The spectacular Bill Bixby playing David Banner (for some reason his name was changed from the comic version Bruce) and Lou Ferringo as The Incredible Hulk from the 1978 TV series
Part 3 Ends (@29 minutes)
Part 4 Ends (@29 minutes)
Who’s the Greatest Superhero? (2:00)
- With so much great superhero music and so many great superheroes, you might ask, who’s the greatest superhero?
- If you want to know the answer, you’ll need to get a copy of Comic Connections: Analyzing Hero and Identity edited by Sandra Eckard who was a guest on Superhero Smash a few weeks ago
- I have a chapter in that book entitled “Who Is the Greatest Superhero? Using Comics to Explore the Concept of Heroism”
- I had students debate the topic when I taught a course on comic books at Indiana University of Pennsylvania
- And this is a good time to give a shout out to any of my English 101 students who might be listening to the show; they’re a really great class
- To find out who the greatest superhero is, you’ll have to read my book chapter
- But, I will tell you that the greatest musical superhero is definitely Superman
- After a summer of researching superhero songs, there is no one who has more songs that reference him than Superman
- So here’s one of those songs now
Superhero Music 3 (3:14)
- “One Call Away” by Charlie Puth
Superhero Music 3 (3:54)
- “Kryptonite” by 3 Doors Down
Superhero Music 4 (4:31)
- “Superman’s Song” by the Crash Test Dummies
- This fantastic band that is still going strong
- I saw them this summer at the State Theatre in State College
- This is one of the all time best Superman songs, and the Crash Test Dummies performed it live!
Part 4 Ends (@43 minutes)
Part 5 Begins (@43 minutes)
Show ID: Superhero Smash (:30)
- Your listening Superhero Smash on WIUP FM 90.1
Romantic Interlude (2:46)
- I have time for one last Romantic Interlude
- I’m going to play “Runnin’ Home to You” by Grant Gustin from the special “Duet” Episode of The Flash TV series (Season 3, Episode 17) in which the Flash and Supergirl must escape a world where life is a musical after they are trapped there by the Music Meister
- I got to meet Grant Gustin at GalaxyCon in Raleigh, NC this summer, and he told me that Superhero Smash “sounded cool!”
- So in honor of the best Flash, I’m playing this song by Gustin
The End of the Adventure (1:00)
- Well folks, I’m afraid, as Tony Stark said in Avengers: Endgame, “Part of the journey is the end”
- I’ve loved hosting Superhero Smash all summer, and I hope you have enjoyed listening
- If you’re sad to see the show go, drop me a line, Dr. Gian Pagnucci, a.k.a. the new Professor X
- My email is SuperheroSmash2023@gmail.com
- And you will find all kinds of pictures and informational links on my website, just go to https://pagnucci.org and click on the big Superhero Smash button
Superhero Music 4 (3:17)
- In honor of the greatest of all superhero teams, The Avengers, I want to play “Portals” by Alan Silvestri
- The song is the background to the incredible scene in Endgame in which Dr. Strange teleports all of earth’s heroes together for the final battle against Thanos
End Credits Song (4:07)
- Songs with Stephanie is coming up next
- I’m going to finish with my favorite superhero song, “Something Just Like This,” by The Chainsmokers and Coldplay
- I played this song to start the first episode of Superhero Smash and I want to conclude the show with it as well
- In the song, the guy says, “I don’t see myself upon that list” of heroes
- His girlfriend replies, “I’m not looking for somebody with some superhuman gifts”
- Take her words to heart, friends
- “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
Part 5 Ends (@60 minutes)