That’s but a taste of the haunting 2008 graphic novel series Locke & Key brought to life. In this snippet, Kate Mulgrew (Red, Orange is the New Black) plays hateful grandmother Candice Whedon to Aaron Lockman’s mentally challenged Rufus Whedon. Locke & Key is the first of its kind, a graphic novel, written by Joe Hill and art by Gabriel Rodriguez, adapted into the audiobook medium. While Stephen King once described his attempt to write a modern radio play as a failure to reincarnate a dead medium, his son’s chilling tale has exceeded all expectations, joining the likes of successful audio dramas like the podcasts Serial and the immensely popular Welcome to Night Vale.
Ian and Jaime recording lines for Zack and Kinsey – photo by AudioComics
Part of what makes Locke & Key work is not only the fact that much of it was recorded in locations similar to that seen in the graphic novel instead of a regular studio to help actors get into character, but the phenomenal voice cast who bring the characters to life. For me, it was Ian Alan Carlsen’s menacing voicework as Dodge/Lucas Caravaggio/Zack Wells and Tatiana Maslany’s ethereal blend of menacing and inviting Dodge/Demon-in-the-Well that got me fully invested. Their combined understanding and performance of the villainous character made it all the more memorable and somehow added more depth to Dodge than was in the pages of the graphic novel. The rest of the Locke & Key players are also perfectly cast, from the guarded vulnerability of Brennan Lee Mulligan as Tyler Locke to the sweet innocence of Betsy Kenney as Bode Locke to the lovely Lisa Stathoplos as struggling alcoholic Nina Locke. I don’t even have words for Jaime Alyse Andrews’ rendition of Kinsey Locke, particularly at her delivery during the more emotional scenes between her and her mother.
Apprehension at listening to an adapted comic book versus an adapted a novel is understandable, as one wonders if something would be lost in transitioning the story from a visual medium to a purely audio format. Luckily those worries are dismissed withing minutes of listening. The effort in creating a higher production value is apparent as you listen, perhaps as a result of recording outside of a conventional venue. Peter Van Riet’s original score welcomes you to Keyhouse Manor with notes of foreboding, and makes the 13 hours of audiobook fly by. To help transition more fluidly, some scenes were briefly introduced by the narrator, and there were lots of neat sound effects, particularly for shadows during the Crown of Shadows arc. All together these helped replace a panel layout to better utilize your imagination when listening along.
Overall, it’s a feast for your fucking ears.
I finished the audiobook just in time to experience an immersive Oculus Rift experience at New York Comic Con this past weekend, courtesy of the Audible booth, where we got a peek at a pivotal scene from the comics between Bode and Dodge set to the performance in the audio book.
Be sure to keep an eye on AudioComics for future projects, subscribe to their Youtube, follow their twitter, and if you’ve had the blessed opportunity to listen to this amazing adaptation, leave a review over on Audible! After all, Locke & Key is free to download until November 4th, 2015…if you dare.
Knowing that graphic novels CAN be adapted to an audiobook whets my appetite for more properties to explore this medium. Rat Queens anyone? What would you like to see adapted in the future?
Leia Calderon
Editor
@ladyvader99
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Top 10 Comics of 2017
This year is winding down, which naturally means I’ve been reading like a demon to finish the few novels that I didn’t have time to read all semester. Good thing, too. There are some amazing books coming out in 2013 now that the world hasn’t ended. Here’s a few we’re really looking forward to:
Doctor Sleep-Stephen King
9/14/13
A sequel decades in the making, Doctor Sleep continues the story of Danny Torrance years after that little incident where his father went apeshit and tried to murder him in an evil hotel. Danny is now 40+ and works in a hospice helping the elderly pass on (his unofficial job, I’m sure). This was an especially exciting announcement because, before Stephen King decided that he had more to say on the boy with a touch of the shining, I hadn’t even known that Doctor Sleep was a thing that I should want, but now I do. I really do.
The Ocean at the End of the Lane– Neil Gaiman
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6/18/13
“A novel about memory and magic and survival, about the power of stories and the darkness inside each of us.” I have to admit that the only one of Mr. Gaiman’s solo novels that I have read, American Gods, didn’t really do it for me. However, since we’ll be getting a new Sandman miniseries, I’m willing to give this book a shot. I’m not sure if that reasoning makes any kind of sense, but there it is.
NOS4A2-Joe Hill
April 2013 (hopefully.
Sound it out. Try again (it’s okay, it took me a few times). The King family is looking forward to a great new year (Joe is Stephen King’s son), but Hill has earned a mention on this list all on his own. I have read both Horns and Heart-Shaped Box and have nothing but the highest of expectations for Hill’s third full length novel. The book is about a “very bad man, with a very bad car.” I can dig it.
Earth Afire-Orson Scott Card
6/04/13
If you’re not familiar with Card, you will be very soon. The film adaptation of Ender’s Game starring Harrison Ford (among others) will hopefully do the war/scifi-featuring-battle-hardy-children-genre justice. This book, however, is the second in what should be an epic prequel trilogy featuring the major players in the first formic(scary bug-alien) war. I say should be because Earth Unaware, the first book in the trilogy, remains one of those pesky 2012 publications that I haven’t gotten around to reading yet.
Star Wars: Scoundrels-Timothy Zahn
1/1/13
I actually just saw this book available in a store and was very confused because it’s not due out for a few days. The official release date is the first however, so it just squeaks in to this list. Zahn’s probably the name most associated with the literary Star Wars EU, and it’s so freaking exciting for his next title to feature everyone’s favorite scoundrel (sorry, Lando, but you can come too). “To make his biggest score, Han’s ready to take even bigger risks. But even he can’t do this job solo.” Brilliant.
Dead Ever After-Charlaine Harris
5/7/13
The final Sookie Stackhouse Novel! Thirteen will hopefully be a lucky number for us and our favorite Southern waitress. Events in the books have long since ceased to have any bearing on the crazy directions the HBO show takes, but I’m still pulling for Sookie to get her viking in the end, once and for all.
Books we wish were coming out: Winds of Winter. Come ON, GRRM!
Kaitlyn
Staff- Writer
@deadrabbit92
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Road Rage
Story by Joe Hill & Stephen King (Adapted by Chris Ryall) with Art by Nelson Daniel
I’m gonna start off by saying that I’ve wanted a team-up between father and son for ages. Ever since I first cracked open Locke & Key (a comic you SHOULD be reading) and then realized Joe Hill is Stephen King’s son, this has needed to happen. Thankfully, the seven gods have answered my prayers and given be Road Rage, a comic based on their short story, Throttle. I also love Sons of Anarchy so this motorcycle club based story delivered the crime filled intricacy I’ve come to expect. The story begins with a wife beater wearing young man named Race leading The Tribe, the club he runs with his father, Vince, to a small town to find money the invested in a meth lab that went bust. As Race and Vince argue about the path the club should take (Race wanting his money back and Vince wanting to just let it go), Vince notices a truck driver driving off, noting he may have overheard them, but oh well. The group head to a bar where Vince and an associate named Lemmy discuss the members, many of which Lemmy feels are going to leave as soon as they can. They’re both torn over what Race is going to do and they head back out, catching up to the same trucker who may or may not have heard the earlier conversation between Vince and Race. This irks Vince for a reason he can’t peg down but he pushes the thought away, finding comfort in the fact they’ll be leaving the truck far behind. It isn’t long before the truck catches back up to them and starts crushing the riders, one by one. As The Tribe’s numbers whittle down to five, Vince utilizes Morse code to signal the others to break away from the truck. Race, headstrong young chap that he is, fails to get the signal and the comic ends with the truck right on his tail.
I’ve never seen the movie that inspired this story, Duel, because it probably came out when I was a baby and didn’t know awesome from crap. I DO think Daniel does wonderous things at bringing these characters to life. There are no soft edges here but gorgeous line art and the sandy, dusty tones of desert. It’s rough and tough and I appreciate the added effect all of the art adds to the fulfilling story.
Pick this up!
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