tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1243661303845968536.post1300521106942261415..comments2023-11-23T04:26:01.790-08:00Comments on Gone & Forgotten: TRULY GONE&FORGOTTEN : THE WHISTLERCalamity Jonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01800364546694770009noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1243661303845968536.post-66738556157778776602017-01-21T02:05:03.792-08:002017-01-21T02:05:03.792-08:00We all know that the Shadow began as an announcer/...We all know that the Shadow began as an announcer/narrator much like the Whistler, but quickly morphed into a crimefighter while the Whistler remained in his role as one-man Greek chorus. I wonder if someone at Quality felt the producers of The Whistler were missing a bet by not following suit and figured that if THEY weren't going to run with the idea Quality might as well. John Mayerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11983143666564306999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1243661303845968536.post-46185864050153604042017-01-21T01:48:51.264-08:002017-01-21T01:48:51.264-08:00As we all know, the Shadow started his on-air care...As we all know, the Shadow started his on-air career as an announcer/narrator very much like the Whistler, but quickly morphed into a crimefighter in his own right, while the Whistler remained in the role of one-man Greek chorus. I wonder if somebody at Quality decided that the radio Whistler was missing a bet in not following suit and figured, well, if THEY'RE not going to run with it, we will. <br />John Mayerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11983143666564306999noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1243661303845968536.post-57538974356360680572017-01-19T11:28:23.923-08:002017-01-19T11:28:23.923-08:00That's something I certainly wish I knew but, ...That's something I certainly wish I knew but, as you can imagine, I imagine that Quality's Whistler wasn't a significant enough character to warrant even a footnote in most comic book histories (everyone is welcome at Gone&Forgotten, of course). I think the odds are even that some sort of legal notice might have been handed down somewhere, but also just as likely is that it wasn't a very well-known or popular character and it vanished without much fanfare...I'll see what I can find out, though.Calamity Jonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01800364546694770009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1243661303845968536.post-12842858117614633792017-01-19T10:51:48.231-08:002017-01-19T10:51:48.231-08:00As a fan of old-timey radio shows (Sirius XM's...As a fan of old-timey radio shows (Sirius XM's Classic Radio channel can be the best thing ever on long car trips), I wondered whether there was a link between the radio character and comic book character. And when I got to your final paragraph, I had to wonder what the hell Quality was thinking if they didn't have rights to use the name, or was that a factor in the shortness of his run?<br /><br />The radio's Whistler ran on the radio for thirteen years and had a series of feature-film spinoffs, several of which were directed by William Castle (yeah, the same guy who became famous in the '50s for publicity stunts like selling life insurance policies at the movie theatre or stationing women in nurse outfits in the lobby--because that's how terrified you'll be when you see this movie!). So he wasn't exactly an obscure character and publishing comics featuring "The Whistler" seems like a pretty obvious attempt to pull one over on the public and the owners of the original IP. (It looks like Quality's Whistler came out two years after the radio series started and a year after the first of the Castle films--the height of the radio show's popularity, probably.)<br /><br />I'd be curious to find out if you know whether Quality's Whistler was killed by a cease-and-desist letter.Erichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18275812152895151542noreply@blogger.com