For those who prefer to do their reading with their ears, Dark Horse has you covered. The publisher today announced a multi-year agreement with two different audio producers, Graphic Audio and Recorded Books, to bring more than a dozen of Dark Horse’s comics and prose novels to the audiobook format. Graphic Audio will handle the audio adaptations of the comics, while Recorded Books will tackle the prose audiobooks.
Among the first slate of Dark Horse titles to make the jump to audio will be Christopher Cantwell & Patric Reynolds‘s The Mask: I Pledge Allegiance To The Mask and volume 1 of Duane Swierczynski & Eric Nguyen‘s X in September 2021, and Kelly Sue DeConnick, Phil Noto, & Jenny Frison‘s Ghost: In the Smoke and Din and Mike Richardson & Ben Stenbeck‘s Living with the Dead: A Zombie Bromance for November.
In a statement announcing the deal, Kari Torson, Dark Horse’s director of international licensing, described audio as the next step in the publisher’s expansion beyond print:
“From film to tabletop role-playing games, Dark Horse is always looking for new ways for fans to experience the worlds our brilliant artists and writers create, and audiobooks offer such a unique opportunity in that regard. We’re thrilled to partner with Graphic Audio and Recorded Books to bring these classic Dark Horse heroes and villains to life.”
Anji Cornette, Graphic Audio’s Vice President, also expressed their excitement at the announcement:
“We are thrilled to be partnering with Dark Horse and to be entrusted to produce dramatized audio versions of their proprietary graphic novels such as “The Mask,” “X,” “Ghost,” and “Living with the Dead. We look forward to expanding the Dark Horse universe into audio over the next few years.”
Dark Horse is the latest publisher to expand their content into an audio format. DC, Marvel, and Archie have all announced deals over the past few months to develop podcasts based on their properties, and Realm (formerly known as Serial Box) has been producing audio books based on Marvel Comics characters since 2019. Graphic Audio has also teamed with Archie for audiobooks based on the “Archie Marries Betty/Veronica” and Vampironica storylines, as well as with Dynamite for an audiobook based on Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson‘s The Boys.
Look for the first titles from Dark Horse, Graphic Audio, and Recorded Books to arrive in September 2021.
Completely unsurprising this happened; Graphic Audio lost the rights to do DC and Marvel adaptations, which was a big chunk of their business. They’ve gotta make it up somehow.
Frankly, I’ve never been a fan; DC and Marvel fans flocked to their titles because of their IP addictions. Graphic Audio was never known for this thing called “restraint” in their productions, and the full-cast audiobooks are over-produced to hell. I’ll stick with “The Sandman” on Audible.
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