Today I'm going to review the Locke & Key audio play from Audible.com
It WAS free until November 5th but I will tell you now, as a HUGE fan of the comic series already, this is worth every penny.
Now if you have ever read the Locke & Key comic book series you already know what an amazing book it is. From the perfect storytelling to the amazing artwork, top to bottom it is one of the greatest comic book series' ever created and by far my favorite comic book.
You can actually find a review of the comic book series in an earlier post.
Now I'm not a huge fan of audio books. Not that I'm not interested in them I'm just usually listening to music or podcasts instead, so this was my first venture into that realm and I'm going to guess I'm going to be a little bit spoiled.
Locke & Key is considered an "audio opera" and classified as a performance on the audible.com website. It isn't just someone reading the words off the pages, it's the actual emotions visuals being acted out in an audio performance. Obviously with comic books being a visual medium, there are a few instances where the performance takes liberties with describing the events but it is only for the purpose of providing the full experience as if you were watching a movie or a TV show. There are sound effects to coincide with what is occurring in the story as well as a variety of emotions to really pull you in, almost as if it was a throwback to radio plays before the wonder of television.
The audio cast does a fantastic job with their performances. Lisa Stathoplosas' job as Nina Locke really stood out to me as she is a very emotional character who goes through many different experiences and feelings throughout the entire story. When she screams, I get the chills.
There are certain moments that stand out that can potentially take you out of the story due to the voice acting but nothing that will turn you off from the entire performance. I would have preferred an actual child's performing the role of Bode Locke rather than an adult female but that is the norm when it comes to vocalizing children in cartoons and Betsy Kenney adapts to the role and it's probably better to have an adult in that role once you get to the darker parts of Bode's journey.
Taking part in the voice cast of over 50 actors lending their talents to the performance are guest voices such as Haley Joel Osment as Sam Lesser, Tatiana Maslany from Orphan Black as the female voice of Dodge, and Kate Mulgrew from Orange is the New Black as Candace Whedon. A few other guests include Stephen King, father of Locke & Key author Joe Hill and legendary author, and Hill and series artist Gabriel Rodriguez also have a cameo.
Locke & Key has a run time of about 13 and a half hours, covering all 7 chapters of the comic book series in 35 chapters with narration from Richard McGonigle and a great musical score.
I of course HIGHLY recommend it as well as checking out the comic book series if you have not already. Go ahead and give it a listen HERE
A friend of mine has actually gotten his wife to start listening to it and just to get the full experience, she has started reading the comics as well.
You can check out my Locke & Key VR experience using the Oculus Rift from this year's New York Comic Con HERE
You can also check out the experience for yourself using your smart phone HERE
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Ok so thats going to do it for today and hopefully not for as long as last time.
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I'm Mike and take that all the way to the bank, brother.
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