Wingman Takes Flight — And This Is Only the Beginning!

As the first six-part Wingman serial approaches its conclusion, creator Jack J. Ward looks back at how a comedy screenplay became a 1940s-style pulp adventure — and opened the door to more than six planned serials featuring Ohio's Greatest Defenders.

When Jack J. Ward first came up with Wingman, it wasn't supposed to be a dramatic audio serial at all.
The original idea was a comedy film script, something reminiscent of the wonderfully over-the-top Batman of the 1960s.
But there was a problem.

Before Jack could properly make fun of these heroes, he needed to know who they really were.
Who was Wingman? Who was Flyboy? And how did these two become Ohio's Greatest Defenders during World War II?
Suddenly there was a backstory that needed telling.

Inspired by the great radio serials of the past, particularly The Adventures of Superman, and by the modern pulp-radio spirit of Decoder Ring Theatre's The Red Panda Adventures, Jack began writing what would become the first Wingman serial.
With a solid cast assembled and Scott Mosher taking on production and editing duties, the story grew into a complete six-part adventure.
Something else happened along the way.
Jack had long considered himself most comfortable writing anthology-style audio drama: tell the story, finish it and move on to something completely different. Writing an ongoing serial seemed like an entirely different beast.

Then the Ace Aviator of the Skies took over.

As the six episodes developed, so did the world surrounding them. New villains appeared. New story ideas suggested themselves. Characters opened doors to other characters, and one adventure began pointing toward another.
The pulp-loving kid who grew up fascinated by the heroes and cliffhangers of the 1940s had apparently been waiting for his opportunity to come out and play.
Now, as the first Wingman serial approaches its conclusion, it's clear that this was never going to be a single flight.

More than six complete Wingman serials are already slated, with new heroes, new villains and increasingly grand adventures waiting in the wings.
The first mission may be coming in for a landing.

But for Wingman and Flyboy, the adventure is just getting started.
Watch the skies!