Straight Arrow

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Straight Arrow
Straight Arrow 38.jpg
Straight Arrow #38 (Magazine Enterprises, September / October 1954); art by
Publication information
Publisher(radio) Mutual Broadcasting Company
(comics) Magazine Enterprises
First appearance(radio) Straight Arrow radio program, 1948 or 1949
(comics) Straight Arrow #1 (Magazine Enterprises, Feb. 1950).
Created by
In-story information
Alter egoSteve Adams
Team affiliationsComanche Indians
PartnershipsFury (Straight Arrow's palomino)[1]
Abilities
  • Skilled hand-to-hand combatant
  • Unparalleled horseman
  • Master archer, bowman and marksman

The Straight Arrow radio program was a western adventure series for juveniles which was broadcast, mostly twice weekly in the United States from 1948 or 1949 through 1951.[2] A total of 292 episodes were aired.[3]

Although first broadcast only in California, in early 1949 it was broadcast nationally on the Mutual Broadcasting Network.[4] All the programs were written by .

The protagonist, rancher Steve Adams, became the Comanche Indian, the Straight Arrow, when bad people or other dangers threatened. In fact, Adams was a Comanche orphan who had been adopted by the Adams ranching family and later inherited the ranch. His dual identity was known to only one friend, Packy McCloud, Steve Adams's sidekick.[4][5] Internal evidence places the ranch in the vicinity of the Colorado Rockies in the 1870s.[6] Howard Culver played both Adams and Straight Arrow.

The program was sponsored by Nabisco Shredded Wheat cereal.[2]

Comic book and comic strip[]

Like many other children's programs, this one soon had cross-over presence. The Straight Arrow comic book, published by Magazine Enterprises, first came out in February 1950,[4] running 55 issues until 1956. Most of the stories were written by Gardner Fox.[7]

In addition, there were two Straight Arrow comic strips. The first, a daily strip, ran from June 19, 1950 to August 4, 1951. Gardner Fox and Ray Krank wrote the strip, with art by Joe Certa (pencils) and John Belfi (inks).[8] The second, a Sunday strip, ran from September 7 to December 7, 1953. Walter B. Gibson wrote the strip, with art by Fred Meagher.[8]

There were also Straight Arrow collectible cards of Indian crafts inserted in the boxes of Nabisco Shredded Wheat cereal.[9]

In 2019, the rights of the Straight Arrow character including the trademarks[10] were transferred to Education Is Our Buffalo Community Centre, a Canadian based Indigenous organization. Education Is Our Buffalo has an active Indigenous-perspective Facebook group. [11]

Bibliography[]

  • French, Jack; Siege, David S., eds. (October 31, 2013). "Straight Arrow" author William Harper in Radio Rides the Range: A Reference Guide to Western Drama on the Air, 1929–1967. pp. 172–176. ISBN 9780786471461.
  • Harper, William (2007). Straight Arrow: The Definitive Radio Log and Resource Guide for that Legendary Indian Figure On the Trail of Justice. BearManor Press. ISBN 159393-065-8.

References[]

  1. ^ Straight Arrow. ComicBookDB.com. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  2. ^ a b Anderson, Roland. Straight Arrow. RolandAnderson.se. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  3. ^ Harper, pp. 172-176.
  4. ^ a b c "Straight Arrow Magazine Enterprises". Fury Comics. Retrieved July 7, 2019.
  5. ^ Straight Arrow. Comic Vine. Retrieved September 22, 2017.
  6. ^ Harper, pp. 174–175.
  7. ^ Harper, p. 175.
  8. ^ a b Holtz, Allan (2012). American Newspaper Comics: An Encyclopedic Reference Guide. Ann Arbor: The University of Michigan Press. p. 368. ISBN 9780472117567.
  9. ^ Harper, p. 176.
  10. ^ "Straight Arrow Trademark". tmsearch.uspto.gov. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
  11. ^ "Education Is Our Buffalo". www.facebook.com. Retrieved July 1, 2019.
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