Titanium Rain Audio Comic

Now this is pretty exciting. Titanium Rain is a great, near future war series, published a while ago by Archaia before it went on hiatus. Now it’s getting a new life as an audio drama. With its more grounded, believable sci-fi edge, this could really work. Official details below.

TITANIUM RAIN COMES TO AUDIO
The AudioComics Company to adapt Glitchwerk Studios property as a full-cast radio drama

To be alive is to be at odds with the world. Man against nature. Man against man. The instinct to survive is what has made us who we are.

The AudioComics Company is excited to announce that they will be adapting Glitchwerk Studios’ graphic novel series Titanium Rain as one of their next full-cast audio theatre productions, with the first book in the trilogy recording this fall for a winter 2012 release, with parts two and three to be recorded later that year. The work will be adapted for audio by co-creators Josh Finney and Kat Rocha, and directed by AudioComics Company Co-Producer William Dufris.

Currently published by Archaia Entertainment, Titanium Rain is a sci-fi war epic set in the year 2031 where a civil war in China has escalated into a global conflict that has decimated entire nations and millions of innocent lives. And for many, like US Air Force pilot Alec Killian, survival in this new age means that man and machine must exist as one. In the spirit of films such as Ghost in the Shell and Blackhawk Down, Titanium Rain follows Killian’s journey through mankind’s worst, only to discover its best.

“Titanium Rain is the antithesis of the post-apocalyptic ‘trend’ we’re seeing today in film, on television, in comic books. That’s part of the reason why it’s such an appealing audio project, the idea that we can rise above our mistakes rather than be dragged down by them is one worth exploring,” says director William Dufris, who also directed The AudioComics Company’s premiere production, Starstruck. “Also, it’s a great character-driven book. Actors are always looking for roles they can really sink their teeth into, and TR is chock full of great character studies.”

Co-creator Josh Finney: “From Titanium Rain‘s initial conception I had always wanted to hear the story translated into an audio production, going so far to actually commission a full-blown soundtrack by musician Jonathan Sharp (New Mind, Bio-Tek). Now with the AudioComics Company onboard this dream is finally shaping into a reality. Stay tuned. This is going to be amazing.”

The first volume of Titanium Rain has been a consistent best seller, both in the US and abroad. The title was also the center of a controversy when the first volume was delayed when Chinese printing companies refused to print the book due to Titanium Rain‘s so-called “politically sensitive” content, leading to Archaia Entertainment’s decision to manufacture their books elsewhere.

In addition to adapting the work, both Finney and Rocha will attend the voice-over recording sessions for Part One of the audio trilogy, and will have a hand in casting the project as well. The completed piece will be available on compact disc and pay-per-Mp3 downloads; Jonathan Sharp’s soundtrack for Titanium Rain will also be available as a separate Mp3 download, to be released concurrently with Part One of the TR audio production.

Glitchwerk Studios is the combined talents of husband and wife team Josh Finney and Kat Rocha. Glitchwerk specializes in science-fiction/fantasy art, concept art, and graphic design. Their style features a fusion of 3D modeling, digital painting, and traditional art techniques. In addition to their original comic book properties Utopiates, Titanium Rain, LD30, and the forthcoming World War Kaiju, Glitchwerk’s art has been featured in the acclaimed UK magazine Interzone, on several CD album covers, in numerous collectable card and online games, and on television (Star Trek: Enterprise). Titanium Rain is one of the few graphic novels on the comics landscape created entirely by a married couple.

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. Their debut production of the original play script of Elaine Lee and Michael Kaluta’s Starstruck has received critical acclaim from comics and audio professionals alike.

June 19, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, New To Comics?, News . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Ewww…Plastic Man

I picked up 2 debut issues from DC’s alternate universe Flashpoint epic this week. There are so many that it’s always a gamble, but I really enjoyed both of these.

Grodd of War #1 has an intriguing premise behind that cool title. Starring the evil, telepathic Gorilla Grodd as a bored leader, the opening narration of the powerful primate tells you all you need to know. “Aquaman sinks half of Europe and he’s considered to be the most dangerous being on the planet. I slaughter half of Africa and most people don’t even know my name.” Written with gusto by Sean Ryan and superb art by Ig Guara, this is a dark tale, to be sure, but the creative duo do a remarkable job of making the grotesque gorilla a somewhat sympathetic character. Not an easy job seeing he kills Congarilla, and later Catman in combat, and forces a human boy to kill his fellow rebel soldiers, before telling him to, “spend every minute of your life planning and thinking about how you’re going to kill me.” This desperation for a worthy foe to ease his boredom, now that he’s ruling all of Africa, finally sees him make a possibly suicidal plan to travel to Europe to take on the mad Aquaman and Wonder Woman. I can’t wait to see where this goes next.

Legion of Doom #1, like Grodd’s title, is a villain centric mini-series. Written by Adam Glass, with art by Rodney Buchemi, it’s not as entertaining as Grodd of War, but it does have a few nice surprises, and a plot that also makes me curious for what comes next. The fire loving baddie gets foiled by Cyborg after killing half of the Firestorm duo, and catching fire and winds up in jail, and even gets the traditional toilet dunking welcome. The prison is divided into normals and metas, and JLA enemy android Amazo is one of the guards. At least the prison looks cool (from the outside) as it resembles the semi-circle swamp base from the ’70s Superfriends cartoon. Throughout the issue, Heatwave boasts that he has a plan to get out, and we see it play out in rather gross way in the last 2 pages, as Plastic Man climbs out of his cell mate’s gut! I wasn’t expecting that, but Plas used to be a crim in the proper DC Universe, so it makes sense to see him all evil. It’s not a bad issue and the plot works well, despite Heatwave’s OTT Bond villain exclamations such as his love for fire being a hunger burning in his gut and, “I’d marry it if I could.”

June 19, 2011
Categories: Comic Art, Comics, Reviews . Tags: . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: Leave a comment

Spewing Bile

Or something. In this week’s issue of Batman, Dick Grayson (who won’t be Batman come September, due to the relaunch) hits one of Riddler’s goons in the gut, after descending upon Enigma (Riddler’s daughter). Bats mentions that she doesn’t like to get her hands dirty, “or should I say, bloody?” I must say, Tony Daniel has come a long way as both a writer and an artist on this title, but this panel seems a little…off.

The assumption is that the henchman (who has it bad enough, with the bowler hat/ tutrtleneck combo) is spewing blood. If he is though, that’s an awful lot of blood from one Bat punch to the gut. Of course, it’s the wrong colour to be “bloody” but maybe no-one told colourist Ian Hannin, or in fact, they did, as it was perhaps too gross for a comic without a “mature readers” tag on it and he had to make it brown. I doubt that though.

I like to think that this goon was enjoying a nice, thick chocolate milkshake before Batman jumped through the skylight and ruined his day.

June 19, 2011
Categories: Comic Art . Tags: , . Author: Kris Bather . Comments: 1 Comment