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Column: Letters from the Editor   Infinite Crisis: The Audio Comic Book By Louis Vitela Published: 2007-07-09

I first started listening to audio books when — before my lovely wife and daughter came on the scene — I took myself on solitary road trips, trips designed to give myself a “writer’s” weekend away. The good audio books were really good, and the miles passed quickly, and the bad ones never made it past the first side of the first tape. Although those solitary trips are a thing of the past, I still find the urge to listen to the occasional audio book. Thus I found myself intrigued when I received an email solicitation from Graphic Audio. They had produced a “dramatized audio production” based on DC’s Infinite Crisis and were offering it up for review here at ComicCritique.Com. My inner geek grinned and rubbed his hands together with nerdish glee. While I often throw such offers out to our excellent contributors, I planned to keep this one to myself.

Louis’ Recommended Audio Books My recommendations fit squarely in the realm of science fiction, fantasy, and comic books, and are not in any particular order. · Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy: This is NOT someone reading Douglas Adams’ multi-volume “trilogy,” but rather the original BBC radio show, which seems difficult to find these days. This is a full-cast production outstandingly written and performed. · Star Wars: Another BBC production (The BBC will make one more appearance in this list), this version follows Lucas’ novelization of Star Wars (as did the original Howard Chaykin Marvel comic book version) more than it does the film version. · The Hobbit: Not everyone loves this BBC production, but I thought it was as perfect a full-cast audio drama of The Hobbit as can be made. · Just a Geek: Wil Wheaton’s all grown up from his Star Trek: TNG days and has become a very compelling writer. This audio version of his autobiographical book Just a Geek benefits from his considerable acting and comedic talents. I made excuses to drive around just so I could listen to this book without interruption. · Any Harry Potter Book: J.K. Rowling’s books are not presented as full-cast dramas, but the outstanding Jim Dale completely immerses the listener in the wizarding world. · Any Artemis Fowl Book: Artemis Fowl is the anti-Harry Potter; he’s an evil genius bent on stealing impossible-to-steal items, and he hasn’t reached puberty yet. The audio books are excellently voiced by actor Nathaniel Parker. · Thief of Time: ANY of Terry Pratchett's audio books are outstanding, and a must-read for fans of both humor and the fantasy genre, but for me Thief of Time stands above the rest. Of the other audio books on this list, this book is most similar to the Graphic Audio production of Identity Crisis in that a cast of voice actors bring this piece of prose to life. I’ve listened to this book ten times, easy.

Part of my attraction to Graphic Audio’s production was that they had employed a full cast of actors to aurally render Infinite Crisis. I was very curious how this would work. Would a narrator’s booming voice intone, "Panel 1, Page 1," and describe the art and characters? Would it be a radio-style drama with special audio effects? After I started listening I realized this was clearly not based on the sequential art version of Infinite Crisis; there was too much narrated prose. Indeed, a quick search at Amazon.com turned up Infinite Crisis: The Novel, written by Greg Cox, and a visit to Graphic Audio’s site eventually turned up the not-easily-found promotional page for Infinite Crisis, which clarified that this audio book was indeed based on Greg Cox’s novel. (Greg Cox has also penned the just-released 52: The Novel, a few Star Trek books, and other pieces that fall directly in the pop-culture realm.)

It took a while — maybe an hour — to get used to experiencing a superhero story in this way. I initially took issue with Cox’s unnecessarily detailed descriptions of iconic characters and locations, and those same descriptions led me to believe he (or his editor) targeted certain passages at too broad an audience. How many non-comic book readers will read or listen to this book? Even so, after that first hour I found myself pleasantly involved in the story, to the point that I was reluctant to interrupt it even when I had to move on to my next task.

Graphic Audio did an excellent job of using all that the medium has to offer. Background music is well-placed, and appropriate effects on the voices (like reverb) place the listener in the room with the outstandingly-voiced characters. Of special note is the wicked speedster Zoom’s appearance. If you’re listening via headphones, you’ll hear Zoom’s voice zip from left ear to right ear and back again as he runs circles around his opponents. I found this very entertaining, and it gave me the sense that Graphic Audio really cared about telling this story in the best way possible. Interestingly, Graphic Audio seems to employ an entire cadre of voice actors who apparently all participate in the company’s various productions, making them as much a theater company as anything else.

If you’re new to audio books, brace yourself for a serious investment in time. While the longest movies (that I’m willing to watch) can weigh in at four hours, be prepared to spend up to twenty hours or more listening to a complete and unabridged audio book, and both parts of Infinite Crisis will take up fourteen hours of your life. Still, many big-city commuters easily spend fourteen hours a week traveling between home and work, and audio books are a nice way to pass the time, whether you’re driving or taking public transportation.

Infinite Crisis has been released in two parts, available separately for purchase and download from www.graphicaudio.net. Graphic Audio knows its customers own twenty-first century electronics and accordingly offer their books in several formats. Although I listened to the “.wma” review copy on my handheld, I’m partial to MP3 CDs (which Graphic Audio does offer), which allow hours and hours of an audiobook to all fit on a single MP3 CD and all play very nicely in most new car CD players. Graphic Audio also has instructions for burning your purchased book to a standard audio CD, which should meet the needs of just about everybody who wants to listen.