Live Retro Sci-Fi Radio Comic Book Stage Show

July 22, 2012 6:23 AM

"In a genre of its own—Live-Action Graphic Novel—The Intergalactic Nemesis saga is a hilarious, uplifting adventure of heroes-by-circumstance overcoming impossible odds. But the telling is what makes the experience of The Intergalactic Nemesis so incredibly unique: while three actors, one Foley artist, and one keyboardist perform all the voices, sound effects and music, more than 1,250 hand-drawn, full-color, hi-res, blow-your-mind comic-book images blast from the screen, all performed live."

"To set the stage: It's 1933, there's a Pulitzer Prize-winning reporter, an evil hypnotist, a time-traveling librarian and alien sludge monsters. The radio play, says producer and director Jason Neulander, started simply, with scripts, a few actors and some crazy noises." - NPR

Show excerpt
Conan O'Brien February appearance
National tour promo
More background via Wikipedia

posted by TheSecretDecoderRing (9 comments total)

There's a group in the Somerville, MA area that does these sorts of shows -- The Post-Meridian Radio Players. They've been doing it for a few years. It's a fun format, and I'm glad more folks are doing it.
posted by rmd1023 at 6:44 AM on July 22, 2012 [3 favorites]

(to be clear, the prmp doesn't have the video stuff)
posted by rmd1023 at 6:44 AM on July 22, 2012

I love different ways of approaching live performance. This is absolutely terrific, thanks for posting!
posted by xingcat at 7:24 AM on July 22, 2012

Yet another reason why I wish I still lived in Austin.
posted by Saxon Kane at 10:01 AM on July 22, 2012

Austinite here. I've seen Book One and the recently premiered Book Two. If you get a chance to see this, I totally recommend it. I'm glad this is getting coverage on the blue!
posted by hanoixan at 11:03 AM on July 22, 2012

I first heard about it on the NPR story, and was extremely surprised it hadn't been mentioned here yet, even after their bit on Conan.

I'm still not sure if I like the comic visual aspect. Maybe they should at least be in black and white.
posted by TheSecretDecoderRing at 11:23 AM on July 22, 2012

TheSecretDecoderRing: I'm still not sure if I like the comic visual aspect. Maybe they should at least be in black and white.

I saw the Second Book at a pre-show before they showed it to a larger audience, and they were accepting suggestion cards. Coincidentally, my suggestion was pretty similar--the color palette is kind of garish and modern, and I wish it felt more like a golden-age comic, with pencil lines I could see, or something more organic. It'd be very difficult to do them over, but I think you could get a huge improvement with some PS macros ;)

The story, voice acting, sound effects, and music are still pretty ace in my book though.
posted by hanoixan at 11:39 AM on July 22, 2012

I had the opportunity to participate in a pre-show panel discussion with comic book researcher Peter Coogan and the show's creator, Jason Neulander, when the last tour came to St. Louis. The show was really great, and I'll definitely catch the tour when it comes to Rolla.
posted by jedicus at 12:25 PM on July 22, 2012

I saw Book One earlier this year when it was on tour in my city.... Can't wait for Book Two to go on tour. It's soooo much fun, and the crowd at my showing had a blast.
posted by brand-gnu at 9:37 AM on July 23, 2012