AudioComics and Action labs presents Jamal Igle’s MOLLY DANGER!
April 1, 2013 § 1 Comment
For immediate release:
In 2013, the audio movie studio AudioComics will release its second AC Kids title based on the forthcoming children’s graphic novel series from industry superstar Jamal Igle (Action Comics, Supergirl, Firestorm, Daredevil/Shi): Molly Danger! Produced in association with Action Lab Entertainment, and directed by AudioComics co-founder William Dufris, the first episode in the series will record in New York for a projected summer release.
Molly is “the princess of finesse,” the most powerful ten-year old in the world. Protector of Coopersville, New York from the villainous Supermechs, including Two-Fisted Tommy and Lil’ Cavey, she has legions of devoted fans, movies and merchandise bearing her name, and more fame than anyone can fathom. But what she really wants more than anything…is a friend. A family. And a real life.
Meanwhile, the forces of evil are converging to rock Molly’s world. For 20 years she has been led to believe that she’s an immortal alien whose family died when their ship crash-landed on Earth, genetically altered by the earth’s atmosphere. She also believes that she is the last of her people. She is wrong–very wrong…
As with AudioComics’ productions of Titanium Rain, Starstruck, and Honey West: Murder on Mars, the finished work will be available on both compact disc and pay-per-Mp3 digital download, with cover art by Igle, and for sale through AudioComics’ and Action Lab’s websites, iTunes, Amazon, and at comic book and sci-fi conventions.
“This is another exciting step in getting the Action Lab brand known to comic book fans everywhere,” explained Action Lab President Kevin Freeman. “Jamal is one of the nicest guys in the industry, and not only does Molly Danger look spectacular on the printed page, but it is perfectly suited for the AudioComics treatment. We couldn’t be happier.”
Igle introduced Molly Danger in a highly-successful Kickstarter campaign last fall, and the first hardcover edition, under the Action Lab banner, will be in comic book stores in July. There will also be a preview of the book released during Free Comic Book Day on May 4 in stores nationwide.
AudioComics, under the guidance of producers Lance Roger Axt, William Dufris, and Elaine Lee, provides superior audio entertainment with its professional full-cast audio theatre productions of both licensed properties and original works from the world of comic books, graphic novels, and related media, accessible in today’s market with today’s sound. The AudioComics team is working to establish relationships with top name comic book companies, sci-fi writers, sponsors and the entertainment industry in Hollywood and New York, and to give these audio theatre pieces worldwide exposure. Productions include Starstruck, the forthcoming Bad Planet, and the first part of Titanium Rain, which has been nominated for two Audie Awards from the Audiobook Publishers Association, and is the winner of AudioFile Magazine’s Earphones Award.
Action Lab Entertainment was founded in 2010 by a group of indie-maverick comic creators with the sole intent to bring the world the most action packed, most thought-provoking, most entertaining comics available, thereby ushering in a new age of world peace under the dominating, yet benign control of the Action Lab. Action Lab Entertainment is the public front for all the activities of the Action Lab and its members. Although most of the Action Lab’s activities remain classified, Action Lab Entertainment can disclose that two of its many functions are the marketing of comic books through various sales outlets, and the expansion of their domination into other mediums.
AUDIOCOMICS PRESENTS THE “GAMADIN” BOOK SERIES…
December 7, 2012 § 1 Comment
“GAMADIN BOOK SERIES” COMES TO AUDIOCOMICS
AudioComics’ first young adults title to record in 2013
For immediate release:
AudioComics and award-nominated author Tom Kirkbride invite you to embark on the wild ride known as Gamadin, as they present the audio adaptation of Book I, Gamadin: Word of Honor in Kirkbride’s young adult series in 2013. Adapted for audio by Elaine Lee and co-directed by Lance Roger Axt and William Dufris, “Word of Honor” introduces us to Southern California surfers Harlowe, Riverstone, and Wiz, whose act of heroism leads them on the adventure of a lifetime: the retrieval of Millawanda, an ancient Gamadin spaceship, and the most dangerous weapon in the known galaxy.
The Gamadin Book Series evolved from author Kirkbride’s love of science fiction and the desire to write a thrill-packed, character driven adventure. Since its release, the series has taken the young adults genre by storm, with the Gamadin Book Series recently joining the Harry Potter and Twilight series in the Accelerated Reader Learning program in schools nationwide. The AudioComics production will present the book in a new light, utilizing the production company’s signature cinematic approach to audio drama.
The work will record in Monterey, California in the spring of 2013, with casting to be announced in late winter. As with previous productions of Titanium Rain, Starstruck, and the forthcoming Bad Planet and Perhapanauts projects, the finished work will be available on both compact disc and pay-per-Mp3 digital download, through the AudioComics and Gamadin websites (http://www.gamadin.com/), iTunes, Amazon, and at book festivals and comic book/sci-fi conventions.
Can the fate of the galaxy rest in the hands of three California surfer dudes? YES! And the rumble comes to audio in 2013…
About AudioComics:under the direction of producers William Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, and Elaine Lee, AudioComics professional full-cast “audio movies” based on stories from comics, graphic novels, and genre fiction. We offer top-notch entertainment: the best stories from the best writers, brought to life by a brilliant company of gifted actors, professionally engineered, mixed, and mastered for today’s audiences with today’s sound.
AUDIOCOMICS PRESENTS…THE PERHAPANAUTS!
November 11, 2012 § 1 Comment
The AudioComics Company to bring the Image Comics title to the world of audio drama
For immediate release:
The AudioComics Company announces its plans to produce and distribute a series of brand new audio adventures featuring the creations of writer Todd Dezago (Sensational Spider-Man, Tellos, Young Justice) and Craig Rousseau (Impulse, Batman Beyond, Spider-Man Loves Mary Jane): with equal parts “X-Files” and classic Saturday morning cartoon, The Perhapanauts are the agents of BEDLAM, charged with fighting the forces of supernatural and sending them back to whence they came. The twist: the Perhapanauts are themselves supernatural beings, including a Sasquatch, a Chupacabra, the Mothman, and a ghost!
Dezago will script the audio adventures of BEDLAM’s team of wild and wonderous misfits, these being new stories over straightforward adaptations of the existing material published by Image Comics, thereby expanding the universe of these characters into other avenues of media. Casting for the first Perhapanauts “audio movie” will be announced in 2013.
As with AudioComics’ productions of Titanium Rain, Starstruck, and Honey West: Murder on Mars, the finished work will be available on both compact disc and pay-per-Mp3 digital download, with cover art by Rousseau, and for sale through AudioComics’ and The Perhapanauts’ websites, iTunes, Amazon, and at comic book and sci-fi conventions.
Todd and Craig’s The Perhapanauts: this one’s gonna knock you sideways! And then frontways. And possibly a few other ways as well.
The AudioComics Company, under the guidance of producers Lance Roger Axt, William Dufris, and Elaine Lee, provides superior audio entertainment with its professional full-cast audio theatre productions of both licensed properties and original works from the world of comic books, graphic novels, and related media, accessible in today’s market with today’s sound. The AudioComics team is working to establish relationships with top name comic book companies, sci-fi writers, sponsors and the entertainment industry in Hollywood and New York, and to give these audio theatre pieces worldwide exposure.
BATTLE FOR LA…now with more AIRBOY!
September 7, 2012 § Leave a Comment
We’re happy to announce that casting has been completed for our upcoming production of Battle for LA, based on the Moonstone illustrated prose novel by CJ Henderson and Mark Sparacio. Our 12-person cast is:
The Phantom Detective: Josh Pollock
The Black Bat: John Strain
The Domino Lady: Karen Stilwell
Airboy: Christopher Britt
Secret Agent X: Matt Morris
General Todd McAlister: Geoffrey Mutch
Col. Kevin Meares: Kevin Donnelly
“Silk” Kirby/ensemble roles: Lance Roger Axt
Gen. Hiramasi: Ryota Saito
High Priest/ensemble roles: Perry Aliado
Ensemble roles: George Q. Nguyen
Announcer: Christopher Mills
Now, you have probably noticed by this point that we have replaced a pulp character from the book, G8, with a comic book character from the 1940′s, Airboy! While G8 will be in the book, Airboy will be in the audio. Okay, so, “who’s Airboy?” you ask.
Created by writers Charles Biro and Dick Wood and artist Al Camy for Hillman, Airboy was the lead character in Air Fighters Comics, circa 1942. His real name is David Nelson, the son of an expert pilot and, despite his youth, a crack flyer himself. His guardian, inventor and Franciscan monk Brother Francis Martier, had created a highly maneuverable prototype aircraft that flew by flapping his wings. Martier is killed during the test flight, leaving “Birdie” to David, along with a uniform that had been in Martier’s family since the days of the French Revolution.
After fixing “Birdie,” “Airboy” works with the Allies during World War II, taking on not only German and Japanese pilots, but also villains of a bizarre nature, including the pre-Swamp Thing swamp creature The Heap, the mysterious Misery (whose flying Airtomb imprisoned the souls of dead pilots), and his most prominent nemesis, the sensual German aviatrix Valkyrie (nemesis, that is, until she defects to fly alongside the good guys). In the 1980’s Eclipse Comics brought Airboy into the present day with a 50-issue series scripted by writing machine we know and love as Chuck Dixon (with Tim Truman, certainly no slouch himself), as well as numerous spin-offs (featuring the modern and classic Air Fighters) and one-shots, and in 2009 and 2010, Moonstone released two one-shots (again scripted by Dixon) featuring the character in the 40’s.
Airboy has always held a very special place in the hearts of comic book fans, especially those who discovered or re-discovered the character through the Eclipse series. Which bring us to November of 2010:
I, along with a talented cadre of actors, am re-enacting scenes from Starstruck as part of a CD release event at Atlantis Fantasyworld. At the end of the event, I asked the crowd to tell me what they might like to hear from AudioComics in the future. I get more Starstruck requests and Invincible from that one guy who won’t read anything but Robert Kirkman. But then, out of nowhere, I get a request from a fan, one who must’ve been in his late forties/early fifties: “Airboy. Do something, anything, with Airboy.” Airboy…I hadn’t thought about him…or for that matter Valkyrie or the Iron Ace, Skywolf, the Black Angel…
And promptly forgot about Airboy once we began talks with other creators about their licensed materials. But that request must have been hiding somewhere in the back of my head, because I recently found myself back in Atlantis Fantasyworld…in 2010.
So, G8’s cameo now goes to Dave Nelson and his amazing aircraft. And who knows…this could lead as a launchpad (pardon the pun) for other Airboy AudioComics productions… (not including the 1980’s Eclipse series, as Eclipse’s assets were bought years ago by McFarlane Productions many moons ago…sorry) Plus, we have a great actor in the form of Christopher Britt taking on the voice of the 20-year old flying phenom. And if that one lone voice from Santa Cruz is reading this…your wish is granted! (For now, anyway.)
I would be very remiss if I didn’t bring up our fifth pulp hero, whose appearance is likewise brief, but integral to the story: Secret Agent X, played by Matt Morris. Like Airboy, X entered the public domain long ago, but he is as loved by pulp aficionados as Airboy is by comics fans (well, comics fans with a long memory). Secret Agent X’s real name was…well, we don’t know. To this day, no one knows his real name, save newspaper reporter Betty Dale, and his handler K-9. (And they ain’t talking!) All we do know is this: he is a master of disguise, known to adopt different identities and voices in every adventure. While he is an undercover operative for the U.S. government, the police at large consider “X” an outlaw (surprise, surprise).
One last thing: I need to give props to Karen Stilwell and Perry Aliado for their casting assistance, and for Karen and Tom Spingola for volunteering their time once again to film the behind-the-scenes action! We will have another promotional video…which will go very well on AudioComics’ forthcoming YouTube channel…
More news and views:
June 11, 2012 § Leave a Comment
First and foremost, mastering has begun on our second Batsons piece, The Trouble with Fang! We should have it ready to go in the next week; my thanks to those who pre-ordered Fang! a while back and have been patiently waiting; you folks will find a little something extra as a “thanks for holding on” gift with your download. And for the rest of you, yes, Fang! will be available through many of the usual suspects this month; here’s a shot of the artwork, care of the Fonteseses:
Also, you can now find The Domino Lady: All’s Fair in War through CDBaby: here is the link (you will note that with CDBaby, it’s one continuous piece over three separate tracks; simply put, it was easier to enter it as a single).
Titanium Rain and Honey West CD’s are almost done and will be in the mail before too long. We’re happy to say that our good friends at ZBS will be including the CD’s and Mp3 releases of these two titles as part of their online catalogue, as well as (again) CDBaby. Links to come!
Titanium Rain Kickstarter/IndieGoGo contributors: be checking for updates! That means your inboxes and spamboxes!
Finally, we are proud to announce that Bill Dufris has won his first Audie (the audio book equivalent of the Oscars) from the Audiobook Publishers Association. No longer can he say “always a bridesmaid…” His award is for the reading of the non-fiction title The Murder of the Century by Paul Collins, published by AudioGo. NICE JOB, BILL-O!
Now THIS is cool.
January 27, 2012 Comments Off
REALLY, REALLY COOL. http://www.hitchhikerslive.com/
We are now taking pre-orders for Titanium Rain, Vol. 1, Honey West, The Domino Lady, and The Batsons! The link to purchase is here!
…WITH FLYING COLORS!
November 9, 2011 Comments Off
A lot done, a lot more to get to, so let’s get to it:
On November 5 and 6, The AudioComics Company recorded the first volume of Titanium Rain and Honey West: Murder on Mars at The Studio in Portland, ME with marathon sessions for each recording, and endurance levels at their highest for both director and cast. And yes, boys and girls, it was a blast.
It began with a marathon read of both pieces the day before at Bill’s home, with Honey West up first, followed by Titanium Rain, with Elaine Lee, and Josh Finney and Kat Rocha all in attendance to hear the straight reads (an hour for each…not bad!). A lot of new faces, and a few old friends from Starstruck showed up as well (wait a sec, isn’t that Brent Askari, or Kalif Bajar, as has-been teen idol Ricky Valentine from Honey West? I think it is!) From 1963 to 2031 in the same night…
(Yes, reading graphic novels is research…)
Moving into The Studio for Titanium Rain the following day, our Marines were given a crash course in the proper way to say “OOO-RAH” as the testosterone levels exceeded acceptable levels for the ground sequences; nope, nobody was facing music stands for this show! Bill went so far as to stage how the Marines in the piece stood, squatted, and fired weapons at Chinese soldiers. Internal monolgues and radio reports were read in different iso booths; pilots sat and stood at attention before commanding officers; the poker was played, now with real poker chips; and everyone was ready to collapse at the after-recording dinner!
Most importantly, Josh and Kat were pleased; when you get the seal of approval from the writers regarding the creative process that goes into a audio drama recording. Here we delved into the book of Maggs (DIRK Maggs, that is), whose voice-over sessions are legendary for the physicality that goes into every read from every actor. A few tweets from the happy creators:
“Lance Axt was excellent as Alec. I was impressed how he could keep up such a level of intensity after 10 hours.”
“The cast selected by AudioComics was damn near perfect. And the brit who flew out to voice Happy? This woman is going to be famous. Serious.” That would be Elizabeth Knowelden. AND WE TOTALLY AGREE.
“Had to also explain it ALWAYS had to be “OOO-rah” and never “HOO-raw” because that mistake could get your ass kicked.”
“One regret? I really wish Major Graves had more scenes because the actor AudioComics got to play him took a handful of line & MADE it art. Well, at least Major Graves has a lot of scenes in book 2. Yes we are already discussing it as an audio drama.” Word to Chris Price: we’ve got more work for you!
“Creating smoking holes gives our lives meaning and increases our manliness!”
“Actor Colin O’ Leary totally rocked his role as Piso in the Titanium Rain audio drama.”
“Seeing the AudioComics Company in action, I can honestly say they are on to a VERY good thing. Titanium Rain is in good hands.”
Moving on to…or maybe we should say back to…the groovy sixties for Honey West as Carrington MacDuffie went undercover to find the killer of B-movie starlet Zu Zu Varga. People were amazed with my stamina, how about Carrington’s? After eight hours, she was still on the mark for every read. And yes, we have started a trend! What trend? Bringing in members of the comics community to do supporting roles! Gary Guzzo, former publicist for Marvel, joined us to play Charlie April, Honey’s right hand man, the bookie with a heart of gold.
So, yeah, it was a great weekend!
We want to thank everyone involved: Elaine, Josh and Kat, Jim Begley, our cast members from Maine, Los Angeles, and Austin, Phil and Maria for the photos, and Fred for the video support. Oh yeah, and we want to again thank our Kickstarter supporters as well, without whom, The Studio would not be possible.
Like I said, a lot done, but a lot more to do! A Pulp Adventures update for you soon!
(Liz heading back to Hollywood…sniff…)
Odds and ends…
October 12, 2011 Comments Off
We’re back, if only for a brief interlude:
The next month-and-a-half is about to be a busy one, to say the least, with four projects being recorded, not to mention Lance’s work with the NATF in less than two scant weeks, and the remaining days of our crowdfunding extension, so let’s get to it:
First, we want to give a big thanks to those who supported Titanium Rain on IndieGoGo:
James Cornell, Algernon D’Ammassa, Caine Door, Thaddeus Howze, Elizabeth Knowelden, Patrick McEvoy, Judy Molner, Keith Reagan, Stephen Edward Vale, JK Woodward, Rodger Axt, David Hammond, Karen Stilwell, Michael Thomas, Adam and Comfort Withers, Lewis Davis, Craig Foley, Bryan Glass, Fred Greenhlagh, Christopher Schager, Sandy Sherr, Kevin Donnelly, Mike Rocha, and Kevin Lansford (along with our “anonymous” contributors).
Right now we are just over two weeks into our Kickstarter extension at http://kck.st/p93Hg7. Currently we are at 43% funded, and eleven days remaining; make a contribution! And remember that a $10 contribution can go a long way and is thoroughly appreciated, not to mention you are pre-paying for your digital download of Titanium Rain!
All names from both campaigns will eventually find their way to the AudioComics Company website, which is undergoing a slow make-over. In the next few months expect to see more pages and a different layout, all on a different server, courtesy of our wonderous web designer Kat Rocha.
On November 5 and 6, The AudioComics Company will re-enter The Studio in Portland, ME to record Titanium Rain on Saturday, and Honey West on Sunday. Bill Dufris will direct both works, with Jim Begley, one of the best engineers in Maine, supervising in the control room. Josh Finney and Kat Rocha, and Elaine Lee will all be in attendance, and our acting company for the weekend currently includes Lance Roger Axt, Carrington MacDuffie, Elizabeth Knowelden, Phil Wells, Brent Askari, and Gary Guzzo (with more actors to be announced later). Maria Myshrall will also be hand as our official photographer.
Then on November 19, Lance Roger Axt will take the director’s chair at Broken Radio in San Francisco to record the first two Pulp Adventures pieces, The Green Lama and the Curse of Liberty Island and The Domino Lady: All’s Fair in War. The previously announced third piece, The Green Lama and the Case of the Forgotten Gods, will record in 2012 (also in the Bay Area), giving writer Algernon D’Ammassa more time to re-work the script (he’s a very busy guy right now). The cast features the previously announced Craig Neibaur as The Green Lama and Karen Stilwell as The Domino Lady, as well as Perry Aliado, Mandy Brown, Peter Carini, Bill Chessman, Kevin Donnelly, Suzan Lorraine, and Peter Papadopoulos.
In addition, Lance is co-producing the upcoming National Audio Theatre Festivals Tony Hawkins Advanced Workshop in Los Angeles October 21 – 23 focusing on voice-over in the animation industry, with workshops (in and out of the studio) with Lucien Dodge (Pokemon), Corey Burton (Thundercats, Star Wars: The Clone Wars), and comics/animation legend Mark Evanier (The Garfield Show, Dungeons and Dragons, Scooby and Scrappy Doo). There are still a few slots available, but only a few: you can register at https://www.regonline.com/audioartofanimation. Plus Elaine is working on several other scripts and an exciting Starstruck project, Bill is editing and mixing and editing and mixing, and Lance is working on the adaptation of …okay, we can’t talk about that yet.
It should also be noted that the planned audio adaptation of the romance webcomic Somewhere in Between has also been moved to 2013, as creator/writer/artist Megan Levens, much like Green Lama writer Algernon D’Ammassa, is inundated with projects (as are we) and thus we’ve moved the piece up a bit (okay, A LOT) to accomodate everyone’s schedules.
Finally, we can announce that in late February, we will take pre-orders for the digital downloads of The Batsons: Carmilla’s Crush, The Batsons: The Trouble with Fang!, The Domino Lady: All’s Fair in War, Titanium Rain Volume One, Honey West: Murder on Mars, and the compact disc releases of Titanium Rain Volume One, and Honey West: Murder on Mars, all of which will be released in spring. Then we gotta start prepping for the rest of the year!
So it’s going to be a busy-as-hell month-and-a-half for everyone, but we can’t wait for you to hear the results!
Finally, the Kickstarter link one last time: http://kck.st/p93Hg7!
A Batsons Family Photo Album!
August 8, 2011 Comments Off
Yes, the word from Bill Dufris is that things went swimmingly at Mind’s Eye Productions for The Batsons!
What? Don’t believe us? Then take a looksee! Yes, it’s The Batsons Family Photo Album!
