I have a new review up on GreenSpotBlue today.  This one is a find I am really excited about, as you will see from my review. In many ways, Graphic Audio are bringing life to an artform I thought was dead and that is, in my humble opinion, awesome.  Here is the beginning of my review:

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This may sound like the beginning of a bad country song, but when I found Graphic Audio, I was not looking for love just a way to pass the time.

See, in 2011, my daughter was born and after the experience of her older brother I knew I needed something to help keep me awake and focused during late night feedings… or even afternoon feedings (something about holding a sleeping baby that knocks me out every time).

When I found one of Graphic Audio’s DC Comics audiobook titles at the library, it felt like a fun way to help. First off, it would help me in knowing more about superheroes (my four-year old son’s favorite pastime) and I might be able to learn some obscure facts about heroes that I could startle my more nerdy friends with.

Yet, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. What started as a way to pass the time though quickly grew and I was listening more than just during bottle time; I was listening in the car, while jogging, and, then, in the evening before falling asleep. They had me hooked and I listened to every one of their comic book adaptations over the course of last year. Sadly, right now, I am caught up on their recordings and I am going through withdrawal.

I like to think I know a bit about radio drama and performances. I first discovered radio stories via an AM radio station in Grand Rapids, Michigan when I was 12. I began collecting episodes of The Jack Benny Show, The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, The Charlie McCarthy Show, on cheap tapes and wondering why people stopped working in radio. I saw myself creating in that medium (dreaming of bringing radio back to the masses) and wrote radio episodes myself that my friends and I would perform as part of my evening late hours on my private college’s radio station. In 2001, after being honored by the Midwest Radio Theater Workshop, a production company made my series THE DANTE EXPERIENCE, a 10-episode comedy series set in Hell. It went on to win a series of national awards for Mind’s Ear Audio Productions, but by that point I was living in Los Angeles, getting my Master’s in writing at USC, and dreaming of being the next Woody Allen and moving on from my radio ambitions.

Oh, Graphic Audio how you took me by surprise with your productions! I didn’t know anyone out there was still producing radio work of this caliber. Yet, saying “this caliber” for what they are doing isn’t fair to their work. Their achievement goes beyond just simply performing comic books. They are doing far more. They are bringing life to the cells that always seemed very sterile to me growing up. I can’t explain it but superheroes while fun on screen and in books, live “better” in your imagination with sound. It’s a great fit and I think new listeners will be surprised how much they will care and understand these characters that can many times be little more than symbols on the screen or page.

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You can read the rest of the review here. I recommend you check it out and then look into Graphic Audio. Their work feels really important to me.