Comics on the Radio Reviewed

This guest post was also written by our very own Will Truman.

Previously, I gave a rundown of who the GraphicAudio people are. If you’re interested, here is a rundown of what they’ve done and what I thought of them.

The stories come from a variety of sources and therefore often have a different feel. Some, like the JLA series, are intended for more of a PG audience, while a couple of the Batman are more PG-13 and a scene in the Countdown actually made my stomach turn. Ones marked “JLA Series” are from a specific series, so you can count on other JLA heroes making an appearance.

The titles are listed from favorite to least favorite:

Batman: Inferno – A firebug (but not The Firebug) is burning down Gotham and Batman has to figure out who and why. The Joker is also involved. While it’s not the best Batman story ever told, it’s what a Batman story should be. Grade: A

52 (Parts 1 & 2) – With Batman, Superman, and Wonder Woman away, other heroes try to hold everything together. The focus is on The Question, Booster Gold, Batwoman, and Black Adam. I am a fan of the Question and Booster and this did not disappoint. I was pleasantly surprised by the Black Adam storyline. It manages to handle the concurrent storylines pretty well. Grade: A

Wonder Woman: Mythos (JLA Series) – I give this one an A for the very simple reason that I don’t like Wonder Woman, but I liked this story. It was brisk and interesting. Wonder Woman has to help protect Themyscira from an island counter-part populated entirely by men. Grade: A-

Crisis on Infinite Earths – Given that they had to fit the entire thing into a single volume, they did a pretty good job with it with the focus partially on Barry Allen. They did a better job with this with less room than Infinite Crisis did. Grade: B+

Batman: The Stone King (JLA Series) – I’m a sucker for Batman, and this was the first one I ever heard, so I am biased in both respects. Even so, I thought it was a solid story all-around. Especially if one likes Batman. The basic plot is one of the civilian-finds-cursed-artifact variety. Grade: B+

Batman: Dead White – Batman vs white supremecists. I don’t typically like white supremecist stories and this one did not really change my mind. It wasn’t a remarkably interesting story, though it was well told. I wish they would release Fear Itself, with Scarecrow. Grade: B

Flash: Stop Motion (JLA Series) – It really reminded me of Mark Waid’s Wally West stuff. Wally goes up against a being even faster than he is and has to find a way to put an extra spring in his step, finding help from an unlikely source. If you like Wally West, you’ll probably like it. Grade: B-

Infinite Crisis (Parts 1 & 2) – It was better than I expected, but not as much so as Crisis on Infinite Earths. They had to try to fit in a lot of elements and did not do as good a job with it, in my opinion. If you’re a DC Buff, you’ll like it (I ultimately did), but only so. Grade: B-

Superman: The Never Ending Battle (JLA Series) – If you like Superman, you might like this. I’m not particularly fond of the character and unlike the Wonder Woman story, this didn’t really overcome that. The subplot with a dimestore villain was interesting, though. Grade: B-

JLA: Exterminators – A mysterious entity is giving superpowers to everybody and the JLA must figure out why. This one ostensibly had the entire JLA, though extra share was given to Green Lantern (Kyle Rayner) and Superman. There was nothing wrong with this story, but the multitude of characters made it lack focus. Grade: C

Countdown – An adaptation of the Countdown series. Since it’s leading into Final Crisis, it’s too much to expect it to be its own story, but I found it meandering and uninteresting, for the most part. I wanted to slap some of the characters upside the head. Grade: F (Subject to revision if/when I listen to Final Crisis)

Stuff I have not listened to yet:

Last Sons (DC Universe Series) – I’ve read a couple of the DC Universe novels and liked them, and I suspect I would like this one, too. It follows Martian Manhunter, Superman, and Lobo.

Trail of Time (DC Universe Series) – It has Etrigan, which makes me at least somewhat interested. The plot, involving an alternate universe, is somewhat less appealing. I really wish that they would release the two DC Universe ones that I have read: Helltown and Inheritance.

Green Lantern: Hero’s Quest (JLA Series) – It’s a Kyle Rayner story that I haven’t listened to mostly because I have it in CD form and am waiting until I am in a car that won’t let me listen to MP3 CDs.

Green Lantern: Sleepers (Parts 1-3) – One with Hal Jordan, one with Alan Scott, and one with Kyle Rayner. I look forward to listening to this one.

Final Crisis – With Countdown being the disappointment that it was, I am not really looking forward to this one.

Batman: No Man’s Land – This one hasn’t been released yet. But seriously, of all of the crossovers, why this one?! Maybe they can’t do Knightfall because of the BBC version.