One Of CBS's First Sci-Fi Series Began As A Long-Running Radio Show

The pioneering series "Captain Midnight" owed its beginnings to the Golden Age of Radio. From 1954 to 1956, the CBS show "Captain Midnight" followed the titular leader (Richard Webb) of the Secret Squadron, an organization of aviators who battled a varied list of dastardly villains. While the adventure series was a first for TV in many ways — the advanced tech highlighted in "Captain Midnight" pushed the show into the realm of science fiction, a genre that had only recently begun to emerge on American television — it was far from the first appearance of the "Captain Midnight" character. The origins of "Captain Midnight" can be traced back to the late 1930s, when the character was first introduced in the popular radio serial of the same name.

Throughout its decade on the air, the "Captain Midnight" radio program became a runaway hit that also captured a tumultuous time in world history. Although he was modernized as a veteran of the Korean War for the CBS TV show, the Captain Midnight of radio began as a WWI vet who concealed his true identity from everyone around him, including his Secret Squadron colleagues. When the United States entered WWII in the early 1940s, the protagonist of "Captain Midnight" quickly became involved in the war effort, engaging in valiant aerial battles against the Axis forces. After the conclusion of WWII, fading interest in the daredevil flying ace led to a cancellation of the radio drama in 1949, five years before "Captain Midnight" would find a new life on CBS.

The legacy of "Captain Midnight" would ultimately extend far beyond the CBS series and its radio predecessor. Columbia Pictures adapted the adventures of the daredevil flying ace into a 15-part serial film in 1942, which later aired on television under the banner of "Captain Midnight's Adventure Theatre." The "Captain Midnight" franchise has additionally spawned multiple comic book adaptations over the years. The Secret Squadron leader headlined a multi-issue arc written by Josh Williamson for Dark Horse Comics as recently as 2012.

Just as the CBS adaptation of the aerial hero pushed boundaries by helping to introduce sci-fi elements to American television, Williamson's "Captain Midnight" rendition made unconventional strides in resurrecting a character who had, at that point, been absent from pop culture for multiple decades.

"It was crazy to think that this super popular character just disappeared and that no one remembers him now," Williamson told the comics podcast iFanboy in a 2012 interview. While Williamson and the team behind the "Captain Midnight" resurgence faced some challenges in adapting the pilot for a modern-day audience, many aspects of the character still proved timeless. "It's still a book where a guy kills Nazis," Williamson explained to Comics Gaming Magazine in 2013. "How can I not love that?!"