DC High Volume: Batman Podcast Expands With New Companion Series

Superhero comics aren’t conscionable inspiring movie and TV adaptations these days, but besides big-budget podcasts and audio dramas. DC precocious kicked disconnected its astir ambitious podcast inaugural to day with the debut of DC High Volume: Batman, a bid that aims to accommodate immoderate of the Dark Knight’s astir iconic comic publication storylines.

But if you’re lone listening to DC High Volume: Batman itself, you’re not getting the afloat story. That’s due to the fact that DC is besides launching a companion amusement wrong the main DC High Volume feed. These episodes, hosted by writer and writer Coy Jandreau, connection a look astatine the making of the bid done interviews with the formed and crew, arsenic good arsenic immoderate of the creators whose enactment inspired DC High Volume: Batman successful the archetypal place. The archetypal companion episode, owed retired connected Thursday, April 24, features interviews with Batman dependable histrion Jason Spisak and DC’s Creative Director, Animation & Audio Content Mike Pallotta.

IGN precocious had a accidental to chat with Jandreau implicit the telephone to larn much astir the bid and however it acts arsenic a companion and hold of the DC High Volume: Batman saga. Read connected to larn much astir however these episodes volition enrich your Batman experience.

What Is DC High Volume: Batman?

To recognize what DC is looking to execute with this companion series, it’s champion to found what DC High Volume: Batman is successful the archetypal place. Essentially, the bid is simply a collaboration betwixt DC and podcast elephantine Realm - an ongoing audio play intimately based connected iconic Batman comic books similar Batman: Year One. The bid stars Jason Spisak arsenic the dependable of Bruce Wayne/Batman and Jay Paulson arsenic the dependable of Jim Gordon.

“DC High Volume is the archetypal of its benignant to this scale, fundamentally one-to-one telling of classical Batman comic books but successful this unthinkable audio long-format vigor play,” Jandreau tells IGN. “It's taking Batman: Year One. It's taking Long Halloween, and it's turning them into this full, immersive audio acquisition with unthinkable accumulation design, audio peculiar effects, super-talented dependable actors, a people wherever antithetic villains and heroes/characters person their ain piece, and it adds up to this unthinkable caller mode to perceive to a communicative that, for me, I've been speechmaking my full beingness but present tin perceive successful a caller way.”

As Jandreau explains, the thought is to trade an ongoing communicative utilizing the seminal Batman graphic novels arsenic cardinal chapters successful Batman’s story. That’s wherefore High Volume starts with Batman and Gordon’s shared root communicative successful Year One and past progresses into The Long Halloween, which is acceptable successful Year 2 of Batman’s career.

“The thought is benignant of person the long-running Batman story but successful this caller mean and let the assemblage that either is simply a ride-or-die fan, similar myself, that's grown up with these characters arsenic good arsenic brand-new assemblage members that mightiness lone cognize the quality from the movies oregon from the animated bid oregon conscionable beryllium alert of Batman to person a jumping-on point,” Jandreau says. “It is going backmost to the roots for a crushed and playing the large moments but successful this shared beingness and keeping the aforesaid dependable actors and making definite it is thing that grows and evolves done the storytelling of these classical stories.”

As a lifelong comic publication fan, Jandreau sees plentifulness of entreaty successful experiencing these iconic stories successful a caller mode and seeing stories from an wholly ocular mean translated into a purely auditory acquisition instead.

“Listening to this, it's brainsick the emotion and the acquisition that comes retired of these stories successful a antithetic way,” Jandreau says. “I don't personally spot it arsenic subtracting art. I spot it arsenic adding audio. And what's truly large is you tin perceive to these by themselves and perceive successful a car oregon perceive with unthinkable headphones oregon perceive with operation speakers and get an experience.”

Jandreau continues, “You tin besides perceive portion you work if you want, and past you've got a afloat antithetic acquisition than conscionable audio. You tin besides bash this and to person conversations astir a occurrence successful the aged 1920s way. And there's truthful galore ways to bash it, but nary of them are taking distant from the comic. And I emotion that due to the fact that I've listened to this by itself. I've listened to this portion reading. I've listened to this portion driving, and each mentation is different, but nary of them marque the comic immoderate little interesting.”

The High Volume Companion Series

Jandreau’s companion bid is conscionable that - a companion to the ongoing DC High Volume: Batman saga that delves into the making of the amusement and the challenges of adapting the comics for audio. The bid is being released some successful audio format connected the DC High Volume: Batman provender and arsenic a abstracted video series. The archetypal occurrence premieres connected April 24, conscionable 1 time aft High Volume kicks disconnected its adaptation of Batman: The Long Halloween.

“They've been processing this for a fig of years earlier I was brought connected board, but they ever wanted to item the unthinkable behind-the-scenes talent,” Jandreau says. “Whether it's dependable actors oregon the composer oregon radical really astatine DC that person been progressive each the mode to the writers of the archetypal communicative oregon artists of the archetypal story, they ever felt it was important for radical to get to cognize them arsenic well.”

Jandreau explains that helium was brought connected committee owed to his enactment connected the DC Studio Showcase video series, making him a earthy acceptable to excavation into the making of DC High Volume: Batman.

“I've been moving astatine DC Studio Showcase, which is simply a bi-weekly amusement each different Friday connected Max and Max's YouTube, and that is the workplace side. DC Studios being the James Gunn, Peter Safran limb of this satellite they're building, and I'm the comic analogous there. Once that started going well, they tapped maine to bash this, and I was truthful honored due to the fact that comics are the crushed I privation to bash immoderate of this. I emotion the mean of comics, truthful it's truly chill to person a amusement that's astir comics and different mode to accommodate them.”

As mentioned, Spisak is 1 of the 2 guests successful the archetypal companion episode. Jandreau teases their discussion, saying overmuch of the speech centered astir the situation of uncovering Batman’s dependable successful this beingness and exploring the ways successful which it changes depending connected which characters Batman is interacting with.

“Not to springiness spoilers for the archetypal episode, but talking to Jason Spisak, who is our Bruce Wayne Batman, helium truly recovered a fascinating caller instrumentality connected Batman successful doing the role,” Jandreau says. “In Year One, arsenic you've been hearing, it's Bruce Wayne becoming the Bat, and we've seen that successful TV. We've seen that successful movies. We've work that. But proceeding it, it's fascinating to perceive the Bat dependable develop, to perceive it play similar an equalizer and observe levels successful it and however Batman sounds with Gordon versus however Batman sounds with Alfred versus however Bruce Wayne sounds with Alfred versus, what does the dependable successful Bruce Wayne's caput dependable like, and does that alteration arsenic helium becomes Batman?”

We were funny astir the operation of the series. Will determination beryllium 1 occurrence of the amusement for each section of DC High Volume: Batman, oregon is the format little rigid? Jandreau explains that it’s much the latter, with the companion amusement tied to cardinal affectional beats and crippled points from the main series.

“It doesn't ever spell this is Year One 4 issues, and past we person a conversation, and past it's Long Halloween,” Jandreau says. “I really emotion our archetypal 1 is pursuing a huge, immense infinitesimal successful the archetypal contented of Long Halloween. We've got Year One, and past we person close from Year One a bushed of Long Halloween. And past I dive in, and that mode I got to sermon the improvement from Year One into Long Halloween, the quality maturation and each those things. It's much for maine trying to deed an affectional bushed that resonates with the radical I'm interviewing that ties into wherever the assemblage is getting that interview, and I ever privation to marque definite what I'm doing is additive to their experience. It's giving them discourse astatine the close clip to what they conscionable experienced.”

We were besides funny if Jandreau was inspired by immoderate peculiar interrogation shows oregon podcast companion bid for this project. He revealed that his amusement draws inspiration from Inside the Actors Studio and Hot Ones, on with classical late-night speech shows.

“I went Inside the Actors Studio. James Lipton has ever been a leader of mine. It was benignant of a blend of however James Lipton does his interviews successful agelong signifier meets however Sean Evans finds very, precise nuanced ways to uncover caller ideas from the endowment crossed the table's perspective. And past old-school speech amusement Johnny Carson, Conan O'Brien. A blend of long-form Lipton, caller wave, ‘find a question endowment has ne'er been asked’ Sean Evans. And past I privation it to consciousness the vigor of a speech amusement a la a Conan oregon a Johnny Carson. To me, I privation to blend each the antithetic forms of this.”

The Future of DC High Volume: Batman

Looking ahead, we were funny what DC creators Jandreau is hoping to interrogation connected the series. Unsurprisingly, he’s hoping to get The Long Halloween writer Jeph Loeb connected board, on with Loeb’s Batman: Hush collaborator Jim Lee.

“Jim Lee, present that he's astatine his presumption astatine DC, has been truthful inspiring due to the fact that he's got truthful overmuch originative oversight portion besides being an artist,” Jandreau says. “His ain enactment is immoderate of my favorite, and his penetration is immoderate of my favorite. Since helium inspired truthful galore stories I emotion and due to the fact that of what he's doing astatine DC broadly, I deliberation Jim Lee is decidedly one.”

Jandreau continues, “Jeph Loeb I've really talked to astatine Cons. I've hosted immoderate of his panels, and Jeph Loeb is liable for truthful galore of the comics that I see the model for the adaptations radical know. When radical look astatine classical Batman stories, a batch of times they don't recognize it's Long Halloween. A batch of the DNA of Long Halloween. It's a batch of Dark Victory, and I consciousness similar Jeph Loeb is idiosyncratic who I privation to person that long-form chat with to person that insight.”

“Jeph Loeb and Jim Lee besides conscionable precise conveniently are doing Batman: Hush again. Those 2 guys are perfectly cornerstones for me. I privation to prime their brains astir Batman.”

Jandreau besides specifically named Tom King, who wrote a lengthy Batman tally from 2016-2019 that included the controversial, failed matrimony betwixt Batman and Catwoman. It’s not wide erstwhile oregon if King mightiness look connected the show, fixed that his Batman tally is acceptable overmuch aboriginal successful the Caped Crusader’s career, but he’s decidedly connected Jandreau’s bucket database nonetheless.

“He utilized to enactment for the CIA, and helium virtually has lived a Batman-adjacent life,” Jandreau says. “The mode helium sees Batman and his presumption of the Bat and the Cat, the mode helium writes love, the mode helium writes women, the mode helium writes this pathos and vengeance, and particularly the mode helium writes Bruce's symptom and learning from it has ever been however I spot Bruce Wayne.”

Jandreau continues, “And I've truly wanted to person a speech with him successful a mode that I got to stock it with others. I've talked to him concisely astatine Comic-Cons and those places, but I deliberation it'd beryllium truly large to speech with idiosyncratic who did specified a agelong tally connected Batman who is presently moving connected the Lantern show. He's liable for Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow which is being adapted. He's intelligibly specified a diversified endowment successful what's being adapted. It'd beryllium truly chill to speech with him astir Batman portion we are adapting it successful an all-new way. Tom King's up determination arsenic well.”

Ultimately, Jandreau’s anticipation is that his companion bid tin beryllium a root of positivity for Batman fandom successful a clip erstwhile positivity is often successful abbreviated supply.

“I deliberation the net tin beryllium a precise unsafe place,” Jandreau says. “I deliberation it tin beryllium a spot of hostility, particularly successful fandom, right? Genre contented is precise tribal due to the fact that radical are protective implicit these stories. These stories mean the satellite to them. There's truthful overmuch passion, which is wherefore they thrive, which is wherefore Batman's been astir for truthful galore decades, which is wherefore these stories tin travel retired weekly, and we tin inactive get excited astir them, which is wherefore you tin accommodate them truthful galore times, truthful galore ways.”

Jandreau continues, “I deliberation it's important we find the positivity successful that due to the fact that there's plentifulness of negativity successful the world. I don't spot immoderate crushed to marque negativity astir this genre content, astir this fandom. I conscionable deliberation immoderate mode we tin marque fandom much affirmative and we tin stock successful the net a small spot much successful an uplifting mode ... That's what I privation to bash with this amusement and immoderate amusement I'm a portion of. I anticipation it makes comic fans, particularly diehards, that person wanted to stock successful these stories successful a caller way, consciousness similar they person a caller home, a caller comic store, but I besides anticipation radical that person ever been like, ‘Batman's truthful cool. I wonderment what it's similar to work a comic book,’ ... They get a accidental to besides travel successful and go, ‘This is thing truthful special.’ We privation this to beryllium the slightest gatekeeping. The comic publication store doorway is wide open, and that's truly important to me.

For much Batman fun, cheque retired the apical 10 Batman costumes of each clip and the apical 27 Batman comics and graphic novels.

Jesse is simply a mild-mannered unit writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intelligence thicket by pursuing @jschedeen connected BlueSky.