New audiobook - Robin Facing the Enemy read by Drew Griffin

In the run up to the release of the Batman & Robin movie, two short books aimed at kids were released alongside Michael Jan Friedman's novelisation - "Batgirl To Dare the Darkness" by Doug Moench and "Robin Facing the Enemy" by Alan Grant. Both of whom were noted comic book writers at the time. 

While the Batgirl story is set after the 1997 movie and sees her going up against Black Mask, the Robin novel is set in between the two Schumacher films and sees him finding his feet as Batman sidekick (by going off on his own... again).

It's a short, fun read and I'll do a little video with more of my feelings on it at some point in the future. There's some references to the events of Batman Forever but they aren't huge. It's maybe a stretch to call it a full fledged interquel. More of a solo spin-off.

While the Batgirl novel received a short 30 minute "audio drama" in 1997, the Robin novel didn't receive anything. 

Thankfully that has now been corrected by our resident audiobook reader - Drew Griffin (so all thanks to him, not me!) - who has done another great job and brought this story to life. I hope you all enjoy it.

Have a listen to it in the link below. It's two hours of your time and it breezes by:-

Miscellaneous Content: Batman Forever Book adverts

Short and quick post. I found this cool advert for the novelisations and their respective audiobook adaptations. Just a reminder, both audiobooks can be found on my youtube channel.

TW Kids adaptation of Alan Grant's junior novelisation.

Time Warner audiobook of Peter David's novelisation - read by Rene Auberjonois.

Batman Forever Merchandise Review – Audiobook by Time Warner

Although I posted the Batman Forever audiobook a couple of years ago (click here if you missed it) I've not yet posted my thoughts on it so here's a quick review.

Obituary: Actor Rene Auberjonois dies aged 79

Sad to report that Rene Auberjonois, the actor who played the role of Dr Burton in Batman Forever, has died aged 79 after a battle with metastatic lung cancer. He was probably best known for his role as Odo on all seven seasons of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

His role in Batman Forever was a brief cameo at the end accompanying Dr Chase Meridian as she visits Arkham Asylum to see if Edward Nygma still knows Batman's true identity.

Auberjonois also appeared at the beginning of the film when Dr Burton goes to Two Face's cell and discovers he has escaped. This sequence was deleted from the film but is available on the special edition DVD and Blu-ray.

The role was a nod to Tim Burton, director of Batman 1989 and Batman Returns, and as such his hair was styled in Burton's distinctive, manic, whirry look. And Auberjonois adopted a raspy voice that perfectly fits the gothic location.

But of far more importance, Auberjonois also read the audiobook adaptation of Peter David's novelisation of Batman Forever from Time Warner. If you haven’t heard this, please find a link below.

At 3 hours, it is actually longer than the film but has a lot of fun differences. Not least a couple of prologues featuring a teenage Edward Nygma riddling some bullies and Harvey Dent meeting Batman for the first time before becoming disfigured.

Rene Auberjonois' performance was first rate. He particularly excelled at making a much creepier sounding Edward Nygma than Jim Carrey's more live wire performance. Giving us a glimpse at what a more serious version of the film would have felt like (bear in mind this was probably recorded before or as the film was being shot so Auberjonois only had the script and whatever direction he was given to work from).

It takes a great actor to be able to read an audiobook and give distinct and memorable portrayals of all the characters. Batman Forever was even more of a challenge given that each character has a dual personality! As far as I am concerned Rene Auberjonois did a first rate job in his reading.

My thanks go to Rene for such a great performance that has given me so much joy over the years.

Miscellaneous content: TW Kids Batman Forever audiobook

In addition to the audiobook read by Rene Auberjonois, another audiobook was released to coincide with Batman Forever.

Released by TW Kids it was 1 hour long and released on a single tape cassette. It's more of an audio drama than a narrated book. Accompanied by audio effects and music.

When Batman & Robin was released in 1997 they did a similar audio drama on CD (though that was only 35 minutes long).

Anyway. it's an interesting listen and hard to get a hold of. Hope you enjoy it.

Miscellaneous content: Batman Returns audiobook - read by Michael Murphy

Merry Christmas readers. Here's a little gift for you (I know, I know it's not Batman Forever related but it's close enough).

If you haven't already, check out the Batman Forever audio book here.

Miscellaneous content: Batman Forever audiobook - read by Rene Auberjonois

Here's a treat for you all. Here's the audio book for Batman Forever. It appears to be an abridged version of the novelisation by Peter David.

The book is read by Rene Auberjonois who played Dr Burton in the film (and is probably best known for playing Odo in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine).

There's a few interesting differences at the beginning. First to note is that it begins with the Danny Elfman theme (I guess Elliot Goldenthal hadn't recorded the score yet?).

Chapter 1: Bruce discovering the batcave as a boy.
Chapter 2: Edward Nygma being bullied as a child at school (reminiscent of his first comic appearence in Detective Comics 140).
Chapter 3: Harvey Dent (pre-disfiguration) waiting for Batman to turn up on the Police Rooftop.
Chapter 4: Dr Chase Meridian getting her purse snatched on the streets of Gotham. Dick Grayson and his father, who happen to be nearby, stop the thief and get her bag back.

The rest of the book proceeds as per the film.