This is probably my favorite week of the year, the year when my two biggest passions -- comic books and audiobooks -- collide in San Diego at the San Diego Comic-Con.
For those of you who aren’t aware, long before I narrated my first audiobook, I spent three years writing for the comic book press, turning a lifelong passion into a great way to make a living. I had a blast during those three years, during which I wrote about 300 articles for various comic book and science fiction related publications. (You may remember that the subject of a previous blog from last year was my favorite comics-related article I ever wrote, “Who Killed Gwen Stacy?” If not, you can check it out by clicking right here.)
Well, imagine my surprise when I saw that audiobooks were making their way into this here comic book-centric experience.
Makes sense, actually, since the Comic-Con has long since become more of a pop culture event than merely a comic book convention. Those who’ve braved the convention floor have seen everyone from role-playing gamers to steampunk costumers grab booth space. And around five years ago, the major print publishers started showing up as well -- folks like Random House, Penguin, Del Rey and others. Before I knew it, audiobooks had made their way into the hallowed halls of comicbookdom.
And believe me, I couldn’t be happier.
The great thing is that there are actually times I get to combine my two passions at work, as well. I’ve been able to do a handful of audibooks that are comic book-related, including IT’S SUPERMAN! by Tom De Haven, and the novelization of SUPERMAN RETURNS by Marv Wolfman. While narrating those titles, I couldn’t believe my good fortune, getting to talk all day long about my favorite heroes, I mean how cool is that? Then you add to the mix a book like THE BOOK OF LIES by acclaimed novelist and comic book writer Brad Meltzer, a murder mystery that centers around Jerry Siegel, the man who created Superman, and my joy is complete. In many ways Brad was born to write that book, and I felt like I was born to narrate it. Getting to combine my passions that way was a dream come true.
Well, the reason I bring all this up is that I’m going to be doing a few panel discussions in San Diego this weekend, so if you’re going to be in the area, I hope you’ll stop by.
The aforementioned Brad Meltzer has put together an amazing panel, the sequel to a panel we did two years back, one that actually made the list of this “10 Don’t Dare Miss Comic Con Panels” by the Washington Post, of all places. I’ll be shameless and reprint the panel description from Comic Con’s website:
Comics Across all Media (Saturday, July 24, 12:30-1:30 PM, Room 24ABC
Paul Feig (creator of FREAKS & GEEKS), Chip Kidd (SHAZAM!: THE GOLDEN AGE OF THE WORLD'S MIGHTIEST MORTAL), Whitney Matheson (USA TODAY's Pop Candy blog), Brad Meltzer (THE INNER CIRCLE), and Michael Uslan (THE DARK KNIGHT) are five superstars who make headlines in television, the graphic arts, journalism, novels, and film. But they all have comics in common. As they reunite for another visit, join them for a discussion of all things nerd. It'll be like a 21st century Breakfast Club -- but with even better references. Moderated by audiobook star Scott Brick (THE CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT).
(I didn’t write that bio, by the way, so I didn’t put in that “star” line, that was all them. And God bless them for saying so.)
And just about an hour later, I’ll be doing another panel, this one specifically about audiobooks. Again, I’ll refer to Comic-Con’s website:
Comic-Con How-To Session: Scott Brick (Saturday, July 24, 3:00-4:00 PM, Room 18)
Award-winning audiobook voice artist Scott Brick will present information on the acting and audio narration process, which will include how to break down a page of script into a narration format.
And just for good measure, it looks as though I’ll even be moderating a panel on Friday, when I interview legendary comic book artist Jim Lee in Room 18 when he spends an hour doing another how-to session.
So if you’re like me and want to spend a weekend hanging out with other fanboys, I hope you’ll make sure and stop by the panels I’ll be on and say hello. I’ll have copies of those two Superman novels I mentioned earlier that I’ll be signing, and I’ll even be offering a special 20% discount for the various audiobooks I’ve got for sale here on my website, such as THE CHRONICLES OF THOMAS COVENANT and THE PHOENIX LEGACY trilogy.
But for those of you who can’t make it to San Diego, or who are too intimidated to face a hundred thousand comic book fans -- you know who you are -- you too can get those self-same Superman audiobooks or the coupon code for our titles for sale here at Scott Brick Presents. If you’d like signed copies of either IT’S SUPERMAN! or the SUPERMAN RETURNS novelization, just email me here at the website
and we’ll shoot you the details, or if you’d like to take advantage of the Comic Con discount code, you can plug in the word "comiccon2010" (without the quote marks) into the coupon field and receive your 20% discount for any book we sell. And even though the Comic Con only runs this coming weekend, that coupon code will be good through the end of July.
Well, that’s it for now. Got to head back to the studio so I can finish up PLAY DEAD, Harlan Coben’s very first novel, before I head south to the convention. Hope to see you there!
Thanks for listening,
Scott Brick
