Industry | Sound design |
---|---|
Founded | 2010 |
Website | audiocomicscompany |
AudioComics Company is an audio production company that adapts comic books, graphic novels, and original works. It was founded in 2010, and expanded under the producers William Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, and Elaine Lee. [1] Their productions have earned critical acclaim and awards in the United States and abroad, and have been cited as a "game changer" [2] in the field of audio drama.
-Lance Roger Axt on the approach of AudioComics Company.
The company produces full-cast audio adventures, based on licensed properties and original works from the world of comic books, graphic novels, and genre fiction, and distributes them by MP3, digital download, and CDs. The company has its origins in Play it by Ear Productions, an audio theatre company run by producer/writer/actor Lance Roger Axt to adapt original plays for radio and digital mediums. [4] Producer/actor William Dufris, known as the voice of the cartoon character Bob The Builder , co-founded AudioComics Company with Axt in 2010 initially to adapt comics and graphic novels as audio productions, with full voice casts, sound effects, and musical scores. [5]
Their first production in 2010 was an adaption of the science fiction spoof Starstruck, [6] a stage play written by its director and star Elaine Lee and designed by illustrator Michael Wm. Kaluta. Lee wrote the new audio adaption, and participated in the voice cast along with her son, actor and comedian Brennan Lee Mulligan. After the success of this project, Lee joined Dufris and Axt as a co-producer in their successive productions.
Since 2010, the AudioComics Company has adapted comics projects like Starstruck, [7] Titanium Rain , [8] Molly Danger, [9] Perhapanauts , [10] and Locke & Key . [11] They expanded to production of new stories of Pulp magazine characters like The Domino Lady in 2012; [12] actor Karen Stilwell reprised this role in the 2013 adaption of Moonstone Comics' "Battle For LA", a team-up story starring other public domain heroes like The Black Bat, The Phantom Detective, Airboy, and Secret Agent X. [13] They continued into new pulp fiction starring detective Honey West, [14] adapted by Elaine Lee from a Moonstone Comics series she had created with artist Ronn Sutton. [15] The company branched into original genre fiction with adaptations of Tom Kirkbride's young adult book Gamadin [16] and Jeffery Deaver's thriller The Starling Project. [17]
Production | Writer | Audio Adaptation | Director | Composer | Producer | Year |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Starstruck | Elaine Lee | Elaine Lee | William Dufris | Dwight Dixon | William Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, Elaine Lee | 2010 |
Horrorscopes | Poe, Bradbury, Lovecraft, etc. | William Dufris | William Dufris | Willam Dufris, Lance Roger Axt | 2011 | |
Titanium Rain | Josh Finney | Josh Finney | William Dufris | Jonathan Sharp | William Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, Elaine Lee | 2012 |
Honey West: Murder On Mars | Elaine Lee | Elaine Lee | William Dufris | William Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, Elaine Lee | 2012 | |
The Domino Lady | Rich Harvey | Lance Roger Axt | William Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, Elaine Lee | 2012 | ||
Battle For LA | C.J. Henderson | Lance Roger Axt | Lance Roger Axt | William Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, Elaine Lee | 2013 | |
Molly Danger | Jamal Igle | Lance Roger Axt and Elaine Lee | William Dufris | Frankie Schulmyer | William Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, Elaine Lee | 2013 |
Gamadin | Tom Kirkbride | Elaine Lee | William Dufris | Mind's Eye Productions | William Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, Elaine Lee | 2013 |
Perhapanauts | Todd Dezago | Todd Dezago and Elaine Lee | William Dufris | Willam Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, Elaine Lee | 2013 | |
The Starling Project | Jeffery Deaver | Jeffrey Deaver | Willam Dufris | Shockwave | Willam Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, Elaine Lee | 2014 |
Locke & Key | Joe Hill | Elaine Lee and Fred Greenhalgh | Willam Dufris | Peter Van Riet | Willam Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, Elaine Lee | 2015 |
The X-Files: Cold Cases | Joe Harris | Dirk Maggs | Willam Dufris | Mark Snow | Dirk Maggs, Willam Dufris, Lance Roger Axt, Fred Greenhalgh | 2017 |
William Dufris, a noted voice actor ( Spider-Man , Bob the Builder ) and audiobook reader, [18] has contributed Direction and Sound Design for the company, as well as co-production.
Lance Roger Axt, the director of Play it by Ear Productions, has written, directed, and co-produced. [19]
Elaine Lee, an Emmy-nominated actor and writer of the Starstruck and Galactic Girl Guides comics series, has written and co-produced adaptations. [20]
Illustrators Michael Wm. Kaluta and Lee Moyer have contributed new artwork as covers for adaptions.
Denise Poirier, the voice of Æon Flux, played the lead villain in the Starstruck audioplay.
Comics artist Jamal Igle ( Supergirl ) created artwork for the audio adaption of his creator-owned character, Molly Danger.
Alfred Molina ( Raiders of the Lost Ark , Spider-Man 2 ) played the lead role in Jeffery Deaver's The Starling Project.
The adaption of Locke & Key , based on the horror comic series by writer Joe Hill and artist Gabriel Rodriguez, received widespread coverage noting the participation of actors Tatiana Maslany ( Orphan Black ), Haley Joel Osment ( The Sixth Sense ), and Kate Mulgrew ( Star Trek: Voyager ). [21] [22] [23] [24] [25]
Contributor | Production or Role | Year |
---|---|---|
Elaine Lee | co-producer, writer, voice actor for AudioComics Company | 2010-2015 |
Michael Wm. Kaluta | cover artwork for "Starstruck" | 2010 |
Denise Poirier | performing in "Starstruck" | 2010 |
Brennan Lee Mulligan | performing in "Starstruck" and "Locke & Key" | 2010 |
Lee Moyer | cover artwork for "Honey West" [27] | 2012 |
Mark Sporacio | cover artwork for "Battle For LA" | 2013 |
Jamal Igle | cover artwork for "Molly Danger" | 2013 |
Tym Stevens | cover artwork for "Gamadin" [28] | 2013 |
Alfred Molina | performing in "The Starling Project" [29] | 2014 |
Haley Joel Osment | performing in "Locke & Key" | 2015 |
Tatiana Maslany | performing in "Locke & Key" | 2015 |
Kate Mulgrew | performing in "Locke & Key" | 2015 |
Stephen King | uncredited cameo in "Locke & Key" [30] | 2015 |
Since 2010 The AudioComics Company has received several award nominations and awards, most notably in 2013 when it was nominated for and won awards for its production of Titanium Rain. The company has also won noted industry awards for Honey West, Perhapanauts, and The Starling Project.
Award | Organisation/Year | Nomination | Win |
---|---|---|---|
Audie Award | Audio Publisher's Association/ 2013 | Best Audio Drama: Titanium Rain, Vol. 1 | Nomination [31] |
Audie Award | Audio Publisher's Association/ 2013 | Best Original Work: Titanium Rain, Vol. 1 | Nomination [32] |
Silver Mark Time Award | The American Society for Science Fiction Audio/ 2012 | Titanium Rain, Vol. 1 | Won [33] |
Earphones Award | AudioFile Magazine/ 2013 | Titanium Rain, Vol. 1 | Won [34] |
Communicator Award of Excellence in Audio | Communicator Awards/ 2014 | Honey West: Murder on Mars | Won [35] |
Silver Ogle Award | The American Society for Science Fiction Audio/ 2013 | Perhapanauts | Won [36] |
Earphones Award | AudioFile Magazine/ 2014 | The Starling Project | Won [37] |
About the AudioComics Company adaption of Molly Danger, Major Spoilers wrote, "the creators did an excellent job of bringing the world of Molly Danger to life between the ears. There’s solid acting from everyone." [38] Geekquality wrote, "Olivia DuFord as Molly Danger manages to capture a perfect blend of childlike sweetness and sad world weariness that are to be expected from a 30-something living as an eternal pre-teen." [39]
The Chicago Tribune wrote of The Starling Project, "this smart production makes full use of all that audio allows, employing actors who create distinctive voices" [40] AudioFile Magazine wrote of the production, "With its hypnotic musical score and sound effects of gunshots, squealing tires, and all-too-close explosions, listeners may believe they’re listening to a movie soundtrack." [41]
Of the adaptation of Locke & Key, Paste Magazine wrote that the audioplay was "an immersive sonic experience brought to life by a top-flight cast of voice actors including genre icons Kate Mulgrew, Tatiana Maslany, and Haley Joel Osment." [42] io9 wrote, "The production is a stunning adaptation." [43] SFFaudio wrote, "it’s a great story as a graphic novel, and this production successfully captures it, the flawless cast and rich sound adding a new and welcome dimension to the whole." [44]
Starstruck is an American science fiction comic book series. It is based by the off-Broadway stage play of the same name written by Elaine Lee, with contributions from Susan Norfleet Lee and Dale Place. An audio drama has also appeared.
Elaine Lee is an American actress, playwright, producer, and writer, who specializes in graphic novels. She has also received recognition and awards for her work as a creator and producer of audio books and dramas.
Tatiana Gabriele Maslany is a Canadian actress. She rose to prominence for playing multiple characters in the science fiction thriller television series Orphan Black (2013–2017), which won her a Primetime Emmy Award (2016), a TCA Award (2013), two Critics' Choice Awards, and five Canadian Screen Awards (2014–18). Maslany is the first Canadian to win an Emmy in a major dramatic category for acting in a Canadian series.
The Vault of Horror was an American bi-monthly horror comic anthology series published by EC Comics in the early 1950s. Along with Tales from the Crypt and The Haunt of Fear, it formed a trifecta of popular EC horror anthologies. The Vault of Horror hit newsstands with its April/May 1950 issue and ceased publication with its December/January 1955 issue, producing a total of 29 issues.
Alex Hyde-White, also credited as Alex Hyde White, is an English-born American film and television actor. In 1978, he signed with Universal Pictures as one of the last "contract players" in Hollywood, in a group that included Lindsay Wagner, Andrew Stevens, Gretchen Corbett and Sharon Gless.
Brad Neely is an American comic book artist and television writer/producer known for his work on television series such as South Park, China, IL and Brad Neely's Harg Nallin' Sclopio Peepio, the web series I Am Baby Cakes and The Professor Brothers, and Wizard People, Dear Reader.
Tony Lee is a British comics writer, screenwriter, audio playwright, and novelist.
Paul Sun-Hyung Lee is a Korean Canadian actor and television host. He is best known for his roles as Randy Ko in the soap opera Train 48 (2003–2005) and as family patriarch Appa in the 2011 play Kim's Convenience, and particularly its television adaptation, with five seasons having been filmed.
William Duffy known professionally as William Dufris, was an American voice actor and audiobook narrator.
Play it by Ear Productions was an audio theatre production company devoted to the development and distribution of original plays for radio, the internet, and compact disc; the company was founded in 2002 by actor/playwright/producer Lance Roger Axt in New York City, New York. From July 1, 2003 - December 31, 2010, Play it by Ear Productions was based on the Central Coast of California.
Bloodletting & Miraculous Cures is a short story collection by Vincent Lam, published in 2006. The book, inspired by Lam's own experiences in medical school and as a professional physician, is a volume of interconnected short stories about the lives and relationships of Fitzgerald, Ming, Chen and Sri, four young medical students in Toronto.
The Domino Lady was a masked pulp heroine who first appeared in the May 1936 issue of Saucy Romantic Adventures.
Titanium Rain is a limited series published by Archaia Studios Press, written by Josh Finney, with art by Josh Finney and Kat Rocha.
Locke & Key is an American comic book series written by Joe Hill, illustrated by Gabriel Rodríguez, and published by IDW Publishing.
Epic Comics was an imprint of Marvel Comics from 1982 to 1996. A spin-off of the publisher's Epic Illustrated magazine, it published creator-owned work unconnected to Marvel's superhero universe, and without the restrictions of the Comics Code. The name was revived by Marvel in the mid-2000s for a short-lived program inviting new writers to pitch series proposals to the publisher.
Starstruck is a 1980 science fiction comedy play written by Elaine Lee, with contributions from Susan Norfleet Lee and Dale Place. It was performed in New York City in 1980 and 1983, and spawned a graphic novel and comic book mini-series in 1984-85 and audioplays.
Lee Moyer is an American painter, illustrator, graphic designer, and web designer. Notable works include posters for musicians Tori Amos and Melissa Auf der Maur, as well as Laurel and Hardy paintings for the covers of their DVD box set collections, and the cover for the documentary Lovecraft: Fear of the Unknown.
Orphan Black is a Canadian science fiction thriller television series created by screenwriter Graeme Manson and director John Fawcett, starring Tatiana Maslany as several genetically identical human clones. The series focuses on Sarah Manning, a woman who assumes the identity of one of her fellow clones, Elizabeth Childs, after witnessing Childs' suicide. The series raises issues about the moral and ethical implications of human cloning and its effect on identity.
Molly Knox Ostertag is an American cartoonist and writer, known for her webcomic Strong Female Protagonist, her middle grade graphic novel series, and for her work on the series Tales of the Night Watchman. She was named one of Forbes magazine's 30 Under 30 in 2020.
Daniel Maslany (/məˈslɑːni/) is a Canadian actor, producer and composer. He is known for playing Bondurant Smit in CBC's offbeat and absurd comedy series Four in the Morning, Llewelynn Watts in the series Murdoch Mysteries and Townes Linderman in the series Impulse on YouTube Premium.