The Audio File: Young Ben Franklin: Welcome to New York

Sometimes a great audio drama dies after only one season. Other times, an audio drama is specifically designed to be a limited series. Then, on rare occasions, there are shows that looked like they’d only last one season, but wind-up getting more seasons. We’re going to be taking a look at a show which falls in the third category. We’re taking a look at Young Ben Franklin: Welcome to New York. 

When we last left our hero, fourteen-year-old Benjamin Franklin was about to depart from Boston to either New York City or Philadelphia. I assumed it would be the later, but it would seem that I was wrong. New York is a vibrant, but also very seedy and corrupt, city in 1722. Ben’s going to need all of his wits and cunning if he’s going to stay out of trouble. Along the way, he’ll make some new allies, and several new enemies. There’s plenty of thrills and adventures to be had in the next exciting chapter of young Ben Franklin’s life.

Well, I have to be honest, I was not expect this to be the Gen-Z Media show to get a sequel. Don’t get me wrong, season one of Young Ben Franklin was absolutely fantastic, and I loved it. However, the ending felt like it tied everything together pretty well. There weren’t any dangling plot threads, or hints that a new season might be on the way. But then there’s been exciting things happen behind the scene at Gen-Z Media. Gen-Z Media was recently purchased by Wondery. They’re a podcast network that has help make several fantastic shows such as 1865, Imagined Life, Blood Ties, American History Tellers, and a pretty good adaption of The Handmaid’s Tale. To any parents reading this, I must here warn that most of the shows I just mentioned are decidedly not kid-friendly. 

Anyway, funnily enough, it wasn’t all that long ago that Wondery got purchased but Amazon. So, this means more money all around. And more money means more audio dramas. I wonder what other Gen-Z Media shows will be getting new seasons? I hope this means we won’t have to wait as long for season three of The Natureverse.

Some of you will probably note that Benjamin Franklin never visit New York City during his youth in real life. Old Ben notes, towards the end of the season, that this is one of the events that didn’t make it into the history books. So, you can view Young Ben Franklin in general as the untold story of the lost years of Benjamin Franklin. Well, assuming that Old Ben can be trusted, and isn’t embellishing/fabricating any details.

Ben makes new allies in the form of some local ne’er-do-wells called The Dirty Dogs. They’re pretty clearly a stand-in for Ben’s friends from season one, The Wharf Rats. Though, there are a few slight differences. The Dirty Dogs are headed by a charismatic Irishman named Danny Quinn, who doesn’t really have an equivalent within The Wharf Rats. Well, perhaps he parallels Ben himself to an extent. Danny is extremely quick-witted and can talk his way out of just about any situation. He also crafts incredibly intricate plans, often on the fly, but always manages to pull them off. I think my favorite member of The Dirty Dogs was Ruby. She’s the token girl of the group, but she’s streetwise and tough-as-nails. She’s can be a bit jerk at times, and is very snarky towards Ben, but is also kind of endearing. In fact, she’s the first person Ben encounters upon arriving in New York. She pretended to be in need of help, but then mugged Ben at knifepoint after she lured him into a back alley.

In other characters, there’s Hannah. She is a free person of color, and hopes to open the first school for black children in New York. Hannah is a fictional character, and thus, her plan is doomed from the start. Young Ben Franklin has its fun, and bends historical events slightly, but tries to be reasonably true to the historical record. But hey, her granddaughter gets to attend New York’s first school for black children in 1794, so, not a total bust. Overall, I thought that Hannah was reasonably well written. That being said, I found there were a few times the dialogue got a tad clunky. When Ben first meets Hannah, she sasses him around and launches into a lecture about how being a slave is very different from being an indentured servant. Okay, fair point, but it could have been delivered in a far more organically. I’m not a big fan of delivering messages didactically. I find to be lazy, and bad writing in general.

On the other hand, I liked how this season touched on more serious issues, such as the legacy of slavery in Early America. When we think of slavery, we tend to think of places below the Mason-Dixon Line, such as Charleston or New Orleans. However, many Northern states also practiced slavery prior to, and even several decades after, the American Revolution. Many streets of New York and Philadelphia were built using slave labor. The dockside of Manhattan used to be home to a fairly large slave auction. Quite ironic in the case of Pennsylvania, which later become a major stop on the Underground Railroad. New York granted gradual manumission starting in 1799. Full abolitions of slavery in New York was finally achieved in 1827.

Personally, I think that it is good that Young Ben Franklin touches on these issues. In many ways, America’s schools still don’t do a proper job teaching about slavery. Some people say that isn’t patriotic, but I disagree. It is perfectly patriotic to learn from the mistakes of our past. How else will we be able to build a truly better future for all Americans?

I won’t give away the villain of the season. However, I will say that the twist was both refreshing and genuinely surprising. I did not see it coming. So, hats off to Gen-Z Media for that.

There are four mini-episodes that preceded that main episodes of Welcome to New York. They are an interview with historian, and Benjamin Franklin scholar, Dr. George Boudreau. He talks about all sorts of interesting facts about the real Benjamin Franklin. For example Benjamin Franklin invented the world’s first swim fins. This fact winds up getting working into the main show. Swimming was one Benjamin Franklin’s favorite forms of exercise. Another fun fact is that printing presses required a lot of upper body strength to operate. As such, Benjamin Franklin was quite muscular in his youth. We also learn about some of Dr. Boudreau’s own escapades. For instance, he once discovered one on Benjamin Franklin’s original lightning rods at an excavation at Liberty Hall in Philadelphia. He was moved to tears by the thought that he was holding something that Franklin himself once touched. Some tourist were walking by, including a small boy who said “Daddy, a fat man fell into a hole in the ground, and now he’s crying.” ‘

Dr. Boudreau also educates listeners about Benjamin Franklin’s personal failings. Later in his life, Benjamin Franklin spoke out again slavery, and was the president of an abolitionist society. Despite this, he also owned five or six slaves over the course of his life. And yes, they were slaves, not freemen. Franklin’s letters to his wife make that very clear. It is certainly important to praise Franklin for his achievements. Indeed, there is much to celebrate about the man. At the same time, it is also important to acknowledge his shortcomings as an individual.

Unfortunately, the main show fails to do the latter. True, Old Ben does mention that he regrets that he didn’t speak out against slavery sooner. However, he also fails to mentions that he owned five or six slaves. I get why Gen-Z Media probably did this. It would be kind of hard to root for Young Ben if the listeners know he will grow up to be a slave owner. All of his speeches about liberty and freedom would certainly ring a bit hollow. It would also give the unfortunate impression that he got sick of Hannah bossing him around, and tried to get revenge on her by proxy.

Overall, however, I was very pleased with Young Ben Franklin: Welcome to New York. It would seem that Young Ben will be on many more adventures in the relatively near future. In fact, we’ve got a Halloween Special on the way. I wasn’t expecting Young Ben Franklin to be getting any sequels, but I’m excited to see where the story goes. We need more quality historical fiction aimed at kids. Young Ben Franklin is certainly doing its part to bring a quality historical fiction audio drama experience for the whole family to enjoy.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Audio File: 1865: Season 2

I'd had this blog for a few years, but it didn't truly take off in earnest until I started reviewing audio dramas. So, here we are, reviewing the second season of the audio drama that started it all for me. There's really no more preamble to be added, so let's get to it. We're taking a look at season two of 1865.

Season two of 1865 begins where season one ended. Ulysses S. Grant has been elected the eighteenth President of the United States. Grant proved himself on the battlefields of the American Civil War, and has become a national hero. However, Grant is about to face a whole new set of challenges. Challenges that he might not be totally prepared for. There are white supremacist insurgency groups spreading across the South. Of particular note is a new group calling themselves The Knights of the Ku Klux Klan. Grant must try his best to clean-up the mess that Andrew Johnson created, and preserve the legacy of Abraham Lincoln. Grant must guide America through the tumultuous Reconstruction era. However, Grant will be hounded by accusations of corruption within his administration. He will find that, sometimes, his greatest allies can be his worst enemies.

I had been eagerly awaiting this season ever since I finished season one of 1865. I was blown away with what Steve Walters and Erik Archilla, and their team of voice actors and producers, achieved in season one. As it turns out, 1865 was originally planned to only be a single season long. It does tell a complete story, and the last episode of season one does carry a strong note of finality. However, thanks to overwhelming fan support, the team decided to make a second season. It would pick up where season one ends, and follow the presidency of Ulysses S. Grant. So, here we are.

Season two of 1865 differs from season one in a few key aspects. Season one start with the main show, and then released a three-episode prequel miniseries afterwards. Season two, however, begins with a trio of prequel episodes before diving into the main show. This trio of episodes serves to bridge the gap between season one and season two. They have a framing device where Edwin Stanton is having dinner with Charles Dickens. Stanton is telling Dickens about the things that occurred during the final days of the Johnson administration. Believe it or not this is absolutely historically accurate. Charles Dickens took a trip to America, and he did indeed have dinner with Edwin Stanton. Dickens was less than impressed by what he found in America. To be fair, it's not like he thought too highly of Britain. Dickens' novels included scathing critiques of the British upper class, and brought attention to the abysmal conditions of the poor and working class.

It is during these flashbacks that we meet Edmund Cooper. He was appointed as Secretary of the Treasury by Andrew Johnson. He served as one of Johnson's closest political advisors. However, he didn't appear during season one due to time constraints. So, Steve and Erik had to retroactively weave Cooper into the season one plotline for the sake of the prequel episodes. Personally, I'd say they did a good job. We'd briefly seen Johnson dining and wining with various Southern elites. You could argue that Cooper just happened to be away doing other things during the various scenes we see in season one.

The theme of framing device in the prequel episodes is that Stanton knows he isn't going to be the hero of this particular story. This can be seen as the writers symbolically passing the torch to Ulysses S. Grant. Another way that season two differs is that it covers a much larger span of time than season one did. Season one, true to the show's title, stayed in the year 1865, barring the last two episodes. Season two, by contrast, spans all eight years of Grant's presidency. I'd assumed things would be more along the lines of season one, and that Stanton would at least get halfway through the season before dying. Instead, however, the first episode of the season proper ends with Stanton dying. I mean, I knew that this was coming. Season one ends with a reading of Stanton's obituary in 1868. Still, all the same, it was kind of shocking. It was in that moment it really became clear that Grant would be figuring things out largely on his own. Though, Stanton does briefly appear in a flashback set during the American Civil War.

Some might argue that the series title no longer makes sense, as season two is set after the year 1865. However, I'd argue that it still fits. Everything that happens in the season, and the series as a whole, is because of that fateful day in 1865. So, from a thematic perspective, it fits.

Season two also differs in that we go outside the halls of power. There are several episodes that include scenes set in South Carolina. So, we get to see how the Freedmen are doing under Reconstruction, and the opposition they face. This also gives the podcast an opportunity to shine a light on lesser-known historical figures. It is a sad, but true, fact that we just don't have a lot of primary sources about many of these black characters. We get to meet Jim Williams. He was the leader of a black militia who helped protect and enforce voting rights for blacks. He's a true American hero, but not one who is particularly well-known. Hopefully, he will become better known thanks to 1865.

Jim's wife, Rose, is also a significant character. She provides eyewitness testimony that the Ku Klux Klan is real, and helps convince Grant that he needs to commit troops to combat the Klan. Rose is voiced by Kelly Jenrette. She has had role on shows such as Grandfathered, The Handmaid's Tale, and the live-action adaption of the audio drama Limetown.

People often complain about how partisan modern news media has gotten. 1865, however, shows that this is nothing new. If anything, things were even more partisan in the 19th Century. You had Republican newspapers and Democrat newspapers that would report things in wildly reinforce the ways. For example, the Democrat papers claim that the Ku Klux Klan wasn't real, and that it was just a boogeyman that the Republicans invented. In other words, they claimed that the Klan was Fake News.

In other characters, we get to meet Joseph Rainey, the first black man elected to the House of Representatives. Specifically, he served as a representative for South Carolina. For reference, South Carolina was the very first state to secede from the Union, and kickstarted the Civil War. That's one of the many reasons why it was so important that Reconstruction go well. White Southerners, if left to their own devices, were not going to let blacks vote or run for office. Rainey is played by Sydney Harcourt, who starred in the hit musical Hamilton as Phillip Schuyler.

I also enjoyed getting to meet Ely Parker. He served alongside Grant during the Civil War, and Grant later appointed him Commissioner of Indian Affairs. Parker was Native American, specifically, a member of the Seneca, one of the six tribes of the Haudenosaunee people. Parker was the first Native American to be appointed Commissioner of Indian Affairs. His struggles to help the indigenous peoples is a reminder that blacks weren't the only minorities fighting for their rights during the 19th Century.

Let's talk a bit about Grant himself. Ulysses S. Grant is most famous for his time as general in the Union army during the American Civil War. He was an absolute genius on the battlefield, and lead the Union to numerous victories. In fact, Grant was the one who Robert E. Lee and the Army of Northern Virginia surrendered to after the Battle of Appomattox in 1865. This earned Grant the nickname The Hero of Appomattox. He was also known as Unconditional Surrender Grant. Confederates, and Confederate sympathizers, called him Grant the Butcher. They claimed this was because of how many people died under his command, and tried to paint him as a heartless monster. However, far more people died under the command of Robert E. Lee. Despite this, Lee is hardly ever painted as a butcher.

While we're on the subject, I should note that Lee encouraged his men to hunt down escaped slaves. He also encouraged them to go on raids against Free Blacks, so that they could be sold into slavery. Grant was a far superior general to Lee. To give on example among many, during the Battle of Vicksburg, ever man under Lee's command was either killed or captured. By contrast, Grant made it through the entire battle without losing a single man. Grant also felt an immense amount of guilt over the soldiers who died under his command. He struggled with alcoholism throughout his presidency. Pro-Confederate historians often used this to paint him as a worthless drunk. However, modern historians generally agree that Grant suffered from untreated PTSD, and used alcohol as a coping mechanism.

Ulysses S. Grant is played by James Black. He portrays Grant as personable and friendly, but also capable of being firm when he needs to be. He also portrays Grant as a bit reserved and soft-spoken. You get the impression that Grant is still haunted by his experience during the war. He's far less bombastic than Jeremy Schwartz was with his depiction of Edwin Stanton. This does help underscore how Grant is going to be a very different protagonist than Stanton was.

Erik and Steve took a very warts and all approach when it came to writing Ulysses S. Grant. They do acknowledge that Grant did a lot of good things that he doesn't get nearly enough praise for. It was during Grant's presidency that the Ku Klux Klan was founded. Grant spearheaded congressional investigation into Klan activity throughout the South. He then mobilized federal troops to take direct and decisive action against the Klan. It is thanks to Grant that the first incantation of the Ku Klux Klan was almost completely obliterated. Grant also fought to keep Reconstruction going, and to ensure that the rights of the Freedmen were protected. He did spend a good chunk of his presidency trying to fix the mess Andrew Johnson created.

However, Erik and Steve don't gloss over Grant's flaws and shortcomings either. Grant is depicted as, at heart, a good man. He sees the best in people, and wants to do right by everyone. However, this good will dipped into flat-out naivety on several occasions. It severed Grant well as a general, but it made him terrible at playing the game of politics. Grant seemed almost incapable of even considering that his closest allies could be doing shady things in his name. Many of his closest allies got involved in crooked backroom deals. Grant refused to even consider that his friends had committed the crimes, even when a mountain of evidence was starring him in the face. 

Grant also chose not to run for a third term. That might not sound bad, but Grant was pretty much the only thing keeping Reconstruction going by the end of his presidency. Remember, the South had been granted amnesty by Johnson. So, former Confederates, including members of the Klan, were opposing Reconstruction from within Congress.

Many blacks feared that, if Grant didn't run, the next president would end Reconstruction. Rather unfortunately, this is exactly what happened. Rutherford B. Hayes was a milquetoast candidate who nominated mostly so that Republicans could appease the Democrats. Naturally, the number one item on the agenda was an end of Reconstruction. White Southerners gained full control of the South, and implemented Jim Crow laws. The Freedmen were stripped of the gains, such as they were, they'd been able to make under Reconstruction. Equality became a dream deferred.

Why didn't Grant run for a third term? Well, he could have, but most presidents followed the precedent set by George Washington of not running for more than two terms. There was no official rule making it so, but it was kind of an unspoken rule. FDR was the first president to serve for more than two terms, and Republicans made damn sure that the two-term limit became law after he died. So, Grants view was, essentially, "I'm sorry, but rules are rules. Who am I to challenge Washington's precedent?" This ties back into what I said about him being a bit too honorable for his own good.

Now, in fairness to Grant, and as previously noted, he was dealing with the mess Johnson created. However, even if everything had gone right, I'm not sure that Reconstruction would have been able to last much longer than it did. Most Northerners opposed slavery on philosophical grounds. However, that didn't mean they believed that blacks ought to be equal members of society. They also weren't keen on their tax dollars being used to fund Reconstruction. The point is, the will to do a proper Reconstruction just wasn't there. Even in the absolute best-case scenario, things might not have been too different from how it happened in our world.

In fact, the end of Reconstruction, and its aftermath, was pretty similar to the recent pulling out of American forces from Afghanistan. It's a little strange that the 1865 Twitter account didn't pounce on the and draw parallels like it usually does. Maybe it was considered in bad taste or too soon?

The season ends with a reading of Grant's obituary, just as last season ending with Stanton's obituary. Fittingly enough, Grant's obituary is read by Jeremy Schwartz. The obituary gives Grant is due for all that he accomplished, but also emphasizes his short comings. The general tone can be summarized as "You accomplished a lot, but you could have done so much more. Why didn't you fight harder?"

And that was season two of 1865. It was exactly what I was expecting. I expected it to be absolutely fantastic, and it did not disappoint. The team has tentative plans for a third season. It will focus on John Mercer Langston, and how he became the first black man elected to the Virginia State Legislature. You might remember Langston from season one and two, where he is the head of the Freedmen's Bureau. Now, we don't know for sure if season three will happen. Then again, that's what they said about season two, and yet here we are. The main hurdle with season three will be scheduling. John Mercer Langston is played by William Jackson Harper. He's most famous as Chidi from The Good Place. So, obviously, recording would have to take Mr. Harper's busy schedule into account.

Still, you never know. Big things have been happening for the 1865 crew. Erik Archilla testified at his old high school when it was debating changing its name. It used to be called Robert E. Lee High School, but now has changed its name to Tyler Legacy High School. Though, the deciding factor was when numerous student athletes, in particular, a member of the track team, threatened to boycott unless the name changed. Still, glad to see Erik helped out, even if in a small way. In other developments, 1865 executive producer Lindsay Graham was on The History Channel. He was one of the talking heads on a recent episode of The Engineering That Built the World. I really enjoy the That Built series; The Food That Built America, The Machines That Built America, The Toys That Built America, etc. Good to see that The History Channel is still making quality historical documentaries that don't involve aliens or conspiracy theories. And good that Lindsay is taking part in such things.

Well, there you have it. Season two of 1865 was just as amazing as we all imagined it would be. Give it a listen if you haven't already. I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Audio File: King Kirby

In many ways, comic books and audio dramas aren't as different as they might seem. Sure, comic books are very much a visual medium, whereas audio dramas are auditory oriented. However, both mediums are very much team efforts. Oh, you can make a comic or an audio drama all on your own. However, more often than not you get by with a little help from your friends. Sometimes that means that the real hard works, and the real movers and shakers, might not get as much credit or attention as they deserve. This ties into the audio drama we'll be reviewing today. We're taking a look at King Kirby.

You may not have heard of Jack Kirby, but you're probably familiar with his work. Pretty much every major Marvel Comics character ever, besides Spider-Man and Doctor Strange, was first dreamed up Jack Kirby. But before he was the king of comics, he was just a kid from Brooklyn with big dreams. King Kirby follows the life and career of Jack Kirby, from his humble beginnings, to time serving in World War II, to his time at Marvel, and everything that followed.

I first became aware of this audio drama when I was perusing the r/audiodrama subreddit. They have a weekly thread about newly released audio dramas, complete with brief descriptions of each show. King Kirby looked promising, and now here we are.

King Kirby started life as a stage play, created by Crystal Skillman and Fred Van Lente, for a theatre festival. It did fairly well, and it even became a New York Times Critic's Choice Pick, but the team wanted to bring it to a wider audience. The play was funded via Kickstarter, and as a reward to the backers, the team recorded a reading of the play at Midtown Comics in Manhattan. So, they had the initial audio sitting around for a while before they got the idea to make it into an audio drama. So, Crystal and Fred hired Bobby Cronin to compose some music for the podcast. And thus, an audio drama was born.

I suppose it's rather fitting that things worked out this way. Fred Van Lente has world on several comics including The Incredible Hercules and Action Philosophers. Crystal Skillman has written plays such as Rain and Zoe Save the World, Open, and Cut. By the way, that's three plays; Open and Cut are two separate plays. I got confused on this point when I was researching for this review, so I'm just putting that as a point of clarification. Also, the Marvel Comics version of Hercules is yet another Jack Kirby creation. He premiered in The Mighty Thor, also a Kirby creation.

Anyway, it was only natural that Fred and Crystal, who are a married couple, would combine their skill to make an excellent audio drama. This does provide an amusing parallel to the life of Jack Kirby, who famously never made any creative decisions without input from his wife Roz.

Speaking of which, let's talk about the man himself. Jack Kirby came from humble working-class origins in Brooklyn. Yet he always dreamed big and loved to draw. His favorite was always stuff with spaceship and larger than life heroes. He didn't go to college, but that was hardly unusual for the time he lived. One new thing I learned from this audio drama is that one of Kirby's earliest jobs was in animation. He helped to animated Popeye the Sailor Man cartoons. Specifically, he was the guy who draw the transition frames. They're the frames that are necessary to make the characters move around. Unsurprisingly, this is fairly tedious work, and he quickly grew to despite Popeye. It was never outright stated, but we should probably assume his opinion of spinach was also severely soured by the experience. I knew that Kirby did animation work on The Super Friends at Hanna-Barbera later in his life, but I wasn't aware I did work on Popeye.

Another thing I found interesting is that this audio drama really empathized Kirby's relationship with Joe Simon. Usually, it's Kirby's relationship with Stan Lee that gets emphasized. Now, we do eventually get to that, but not til episode four. For reference, the podcast in only four episodes long. It was with Simon that Kirby created the first of his many great superheroes: Captain America. That first iconic cover of Captain America socking Hitler came out in March of 1941, a good nine months before America officially entered World War II. Of course, once America entered the war, Kirby did not hesitate to enlist. But before he did, he left a mass backlog of comics just so that things wouldn't fall behind in his absence. Seriously, the man was a comic book drawing machine. Kirby fought the forces of evil both in the pages of comic books and on the battlefield. It is safe to say that the man lived a life.

Of course, once the war is over, it is time for the Marvel Age to begin. When we first meet Stan Lee, he's a sweet, if slightly quirky, teenager. By the fourth episode, however, he's metamorphosed into a far more familiar, if rather sleazy, form. I would say that, overall, King Kirby's depiction of Stan Lee was reasonably fair. The famous Marvel Method was where Stan came out with an outline, sometimes merely an idea, for a story and had Jack draw art based around that. After that, Stan came up with the dialogue and filled-in the word balloons. In practice, however, this meant Kirby did most of the heavy lifting in terms of storytelling. Many times, Kirby would even write suggested dialogue on the sides of the page. There were also times when the "outline" was pretty much just a single sentence. The famous Galactus trilogy of The Fantastic Four came from Stan going "Hey, wouldn't it be cool if the Fantastic Four fought God?" As such, Kirby wrote the whole thing, plot and dialogue, all by himself. An unofficial part of the Marvel Method was that Stan always wrote his name first and biggest on the cover.

Jack Kirby made Marvel Comics as in the characters, but Stan Lee made Marvel Comics the company. Stan's real strength wasn't in his storytelling, but in his ability as a businessman. Well, that's not completely true; he was a slick talker, and he was very good had crafting a public persona. He was also young, hip, and photogenic. Kirby, by contrast, looked like a longshoreman. This often caused the media to assume that Kirby was dumber than he actually was. That really was unfair of them; as I said, Kirby only had a high school education, but he wasn't stupid. In fact, he was quite intelligent and well-read on numerous subjects such as history, mythology, religion, and science. Stan did try to correct the media on this point, but many argue he didn't do it as much as he could and/or should have.

Stan also took the lion's share of the money earned from the comics, while Kirby and the other artists only got pennies by comparison. Unsparingly, Kirby eventually reached his breaking point and went to work for the Distinguished Competition. Of course, much as Kirby would hate to admit it, he needed someone like Stan to convince editors that his ideas could work. The fact that most of Kirby's work at DC Comics got canceled after only a few issues does lend support to this. The main exception being Kamandi: The Last Boy on Earth. Kirby's work at DC does, I think, show that he was the main creative driver at Marvel. I've read his DC work, and I can easily see it being published at Marvel.

Anyway, getting back on track, episode four really climaxes with Kirby deciding to leave Marvel after Stan Lee screws him over. We do get glimpses into Kirby's post-Marvel life, but they're fairly brief, as the show needed to wrap things up. As previously mentioned, the original stage play was part of a theatre festival. The festival rules stated that all entries must be no longer than seventy-five minutes. This necessitated that certain aspects of the story being condensed for the sake of time. And to be fair, it is possible that a lot of Kirby's post-Marvel life wouldn't translate very well onto stage.

That having been said, I still found the ending to be a bit rushed. I also think there was still plenty of interesting material that could be mined. You can talk in-depth about Kirby jumping ship to DC Comics, and how he eventually had to come back to Marvel. You can talk about the time he worked at Hanna-Barbera, or the time he cameoed on The Incredible Hulk television show. Yeah, Stan Lee wasn't the first to make cameos in Marvel adaptions. Specifically, Kirby played a police sketch artist, who drew a picture of Hulk in the style of the comics. You could talk about his participation in the Iranian Hostage Crisis. And you can talk about how, towards the end of his life, he kick-started the creator-owned comics movement with his work at Pacific Comics.

I don't want to sound overly negative here. It was clear to me, from that very first episode, that a lot of love and dedication went into King Kirby. They referenced more than just the typical well-known Marvel stuff Kirby worked on. For example, at one point they mention Tiger 21. He was an idea Kirby worked on, but never got around to publishing. Not too many people, outside of hardcore Kirby fans, tend to know that one. I only knew that because I read the comic Kirby: Genesis. Excellent comic; a true love letter to the works of Jack Kirby. I will have to review it sometime. There was also brief mention of New Gods, and how it didn't sell as well as Kirby hoped. I always thought that was a damn shame, because New Gods is excellent. The point is, Fred and Crystal clearly knew their Kirby history.

An audio drama is nothing without a talented team of voice actors. I once looked up a news clip of Jack Kirby from the 1980s out of curiosity. I don't know what I was expecting. I guess I maybe expected him to have a deep authoritative voice. Instead, he just sounded like a regular guy. In fact, he kind of reminded me of Martin Crain from Frasier. I really felt that Steven Rattazzi captured Kirby's personality. He doesn't try to do an impression of Kirby, but he was reasonably close. He captures the essence of who Kirby was as a person. Likewise, Nat Cassidy doesn't sound quite like Stan Lee, but he was at least ballpark correct. He really nailed the sleazy businessman depiction the play was going for. And sounding a little off kind of worked out. It, if unintentionally, hints that Stan's publish persona is a sham, and not reflective of who he truly is.

Amy Lee Pearsall voices Roz Kirby with almost stereotypically Jewish New Yorker accent. But again, she really captures Roz's stand-willed and independent personality. And hey, for all I know, Roz Kirby really did sound like that. Really, all the actors did an excellent job bringing the characters to life. I also really appreciated that the team added music and sound effects to the audio drama. I always appreciate those who go the extra mile to create a truly immersive audio experience.

I concede that a play has to end somewhere. Ending the audio drama where it does ties into the themes and framing device. I should have mentioned this earlier, but the show begins with a framing device of an auction of Kirby's original drawings. The sounds of the auction fade away and we get a monologue from Kirby himself, presumable from beyond the grave. He muses on the nature of legacy, and about his life, and what it all means in the end. By the end of the last episode, we return to the auction and Kirby's musings. As Roz notes, Kirby is everywhere. His art is on lunch boxes, backpacks, and of course on the newsstands. And yet he is also nowhere, because he receives no credit, and hardly any payment.

Sadly, it really wasn't until relatively recent times that Jack Kirby received the recognition that he rightful deserves. Well, outside of diehard comics fans, that is. Jack Kirby was officially declared a Disney Legend, alongside Stan Lee, in 2017. Fittingly enough, this would have been Kirby's 100th birthday. People have also slowly begun to reassess both the founding myth of Marvel Comics, and of Stan Lee's more questionable business practices. This is especially true now that Stan Lee is dead, and isn't around to defend himself.

I always founded it sad that Jack Kirby never lived to see the rise of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. And yet the legacy of Jack Kirby, and his work, surrounds us. So, here's to Jack Kirby. One of the few people who can truly be called a Renaissance Man, and one who will hopefully get more of the credit he deserves someday.

And here's to everyone who worked to make King Kirby possible. It was an absolute joy to listen to from start to finish, and I loved every minute of it. Give it a listen today, you'll be very glad that you did.

Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.

The Audio File: The Resistible Rise of J.R. Brinkley

 I'm guessing by now that you guys know the drill. Well, one of the drills that we have around here. I'm happy to review any podcast that I am asked, but I also don't hesitate to give my honest opinion. With all of that in mind, let's jump right into it. We're taking a look at The Resistible Rise of J. R. Brinkley. 

The Resistible Rise of J.R. Brinkley tells the story of rise and fall of Populist politician John R. Brinkley. He was a "doctor" from Kansas who developed a "cure" for impotence by transplanting goat testicles into impotent men. In case the quotes didn't make it obvious, he was actually a quack and a snake oil salesman. However, enough people bought into his supposed cure for him to eventually going into politics, with his ultimate goal to become president. We are taken along for all the ups, downs, twists, and turns in the story of one very crazy would-be politician. 

I first became aware of this audio drama when I was browsing the r/audiodrama subreddit. Series creator Edward Einhorn was asking for people to review his new audio drama. It was adapted from a play he had written, and he didn't have much experience figuring out how to get reviews and promotions of audio dramas. I was quite pleased when I saw that another commenter listed me along with several other individuals who review audio dramas. The subject matter of the podcast seemed up my alley, so I volunteered my services. 
 
The audio drama alternates between dramatic reenactments from the life of J.R. Brinkley, and a host segment where Edward talks about how the podcast came together, and interviews various experts on the subjects ranging from Populist Politics of the 1920 to the history of Country Music. Edward is joined by his co-host Dan Butler, who you may remember as Bulldog from Frasier. 
 
Edward described the reenactment segments as taking place in the theatre of the absurd. Whenever I hear that term, I always think of the 1966 Adam West Batman TV series. It's fairly fitting for description for the reenactment segments. They're very over the top, melodramatic, and campy; but in a tongue-in-cheek, self-aware sort of way. I hadn't heard of J.R. Brinkley before I listened to this audio drama. From my own preliminary research, he certainly seems like a larger than life, over the top sort of figure that might seem like he couldn't possibly exist. Sometimes the truth really is stranger than fiction. Also, I always appreciate it when audio dramas team me about historical figures that I hadn't known of before. 
 
One would think it would have been fairly obvious that Brinkley was a quack from the start. After all, if transplanting goat testicles into people did work, then there should be significantly more satyrs and fauns running around in America. As we all know, most American satyrs volunteer at summer camp on Long Island, and the fauns hangout in an Ancient Roman city in California. For those who don't get it, that's a Percy Jackson reference. 
 
Of course, Brinkley was hardly the only snake oil salesman in 1920's America. This was the age when radithor was a popular new beverage. Radithor was made by combining distilled water with radium drops. It too was claimed to cure impotence, among other things. Obviously, this was a load of horseshit. In fact, one man named Eben Byers drank so much radithor his lower jaw fell off. He had to be buried in a lead-lined casket. When they dug him up in 1965 his corpse was still incredibly radioactive. Still, at least his death led to a strengthening of the FDA. There are several skulls from people who took radithor that have huge holes in them due to all the radiation. 
 
Now, before we judge the people of the 1920s too harshly, let's not forget that there are still many examples of medical quackery and pseudoscience still running around to this day. You've got people who push things such as homeopathy and crystal healing, or those Internet ads that tout the wonders of various fruits that supposedly burn fat. Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose; that is, the more things change, the more they stay the same. 
 
It's pretty much impossible to talk about The Resistible Rise of J.R. Brinkley without comparing it to another audio drama: 1865. In both cases, they're historical fiction audio dramas that deal with events in American History that resonate in the president day. Both series also feature commentary from their creators and experts on the relevant subject matter. Albeit, there are some fairly significant differences. 1865 takes a much more serious approach to its subject matter, and any humor is of the decidedly unintentional variety. Similarly, the parallels within 1865 to the present day were unintentional. By contrast, the parallels to the present day, specifically to the presidency of Donald Trump, are baked into Resistible Rise by design. 
 
I bring this up because I feel that there are a few things Resistible Rise could learn from 1865. For example, I found that presentation of Resistible Rise to be disjointed and uneven. It didn't like how it constantly fluctuated between the reenactment and commentary segments. Certain comments Edward made suggest that this was not the case for the stage version of Resistible Rise. His comments suggest that the reenactments played as a continuous whole, and then the commentary happened once the show was over. I really think that's how the podcast should have gone. Alternatively, you do the 1865 method. Play a whole reenactment episode, and then do a behind the scenes companion episode. Either way, it would help things flow better. As it stands, the podcast almost feels like a demo reel made in hopes that the show will get picked up by a big-name producer. 
 
Another issue is the way Resistible Rise presented its views and information. Like I said, from conception Resistible Rise was conceived as a commentary on the presidency of Donald Trump. To this end, Edward alerted some quotes from Brinkley by splicing them together with quotes from Donald Trump. This was a terrible idea. I would have preferred if they'd just presented Brinkley quotes as they actually are, rather than splicing them. Let the audience draw their own conclusions and parallels. Your audience is not dumb, respect their intelligence. This also had the unfortunate side-effect of making the message of the podcast as subtle as a baseball bat to the face. Again, the audience isn't dumb, they can smell a moral coming a mile away. 
 
I really hate to have to compare Resistible Rise to 1865 again, but I think this is another point Resistible Rise could learn from. Basically, it comes down to allegory vs applicability; with 1865 favoring applicability vs. Resistible Rise going with allegory. You can certainly see parallels to the Trump presidency, but the story of 1865 can be applied to more than just that. By constant, Resistible Rise is attached to Trump at the hip. I can see 1865 being talked about and listened to for year to come, but I'm not so sure Resistible Rise has the same sort of legs. 
 
Let the audience draw their own conclusions. There are some areas of overlap, and areas of contrast, between Brinkley and Trump. They were both populist candidates who lead surprisingly successful political campaigns, and both attempted to run for president. Trump was obviously more successful, but Brinkley did pretty well for a write-in candidate during the Kansas gubernatorial election of 1930. Both men were also endorsed by some very unusual country singers. Brinkley had The Blind Cowboy, who he promised he could cure with goat glands. Obviously, this didn't happen. Trump had the support of The Naked Cowboy. He's a performer in Time Square who plays the guitar in nothing but a cowboy hat and two pairs of tighty whities. Under New York City law, one pair of underwear is nudity, but two pairs constitute clothing. 
 
They both also made some rather derogatory comments about people of other races. Brinkley was anti-Semitic, which was in large part motivated by how one of his biggest critics, Dr. Morris Fishbein, was a Jew. Though, later in life, Brinkley did come to admire Nazi Germany and its anti-Semitic policies. One of his goals in running for governor was to gain controls of the Kansas State Medical Board and staff it with yes-men loyal to him. Also, just as an aside, I wanted to say that I really enjoyed all of the parodies of popular country songs that appear throughout the show. 
 
So, then during one of the host segment, Edward and Dan are joined by Seth Cotlar to discuss things, and the topic of people who voted for Trump. Seth says, basically, "I'm not saying they're all racists and deplorables, but they're all a bunch of racist and deplorables." Now, this was unscripted, and Edward tells me this doesn't reflection his own views on the matter. All the same, yikes, that probably going to piss some people off. While I do commend Edward for wanting to keep thing uncut, perhaps it would have been prudent to keep that but out. I will also add that there is a Brinkley supporter named Jimmy who is presented in a sympathetic light, which does help a bit. 

Now, while it does have a few significant flaws, I do think that at its core, Resistible Rise is a good audio drama. I feel like it was taken out of the oven before it had a chance to fully bake. Perhaps it could have benefited for a bit more workshopping and tinkering with. There is nothing more disappointing when a promising audio drama wastes its potential.  
 
So, would I recommend The Resistible Rise of J. R. Brinkley? Uh...hmm, let me think about it for a minute. It does have a lot of really good moments; the musical numbers were fun, it tells the story of a fascinating yet not widely known individual, and occasionally does have some nice interview moments. On the other hand, it suffered from the disjointed plot structure, at times its social commentary was a bit too on the nose, and the interviews were a bit hit-and-miss at times. I’ll give a tentative thumbs up for now. I certainly hope that, if Edward has future plans for the show, he considers refining and expanding it. Resistible Rise is only four episodes long. So, even if you don't like it, at least you won't have lost too much time. Give it a listen and decide what you think.  
 
Well, I think that should do it from me for now. I will see you guys next time.