Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Ben Acker, Ben Blacker, boom, boom studios, HRL, m.j. erickson, thrilling adventure hour

The Thrilling Adventure Hour Comes to BOOM! Studios for New Comic Book Series

Published Tue, 27 Mar 2018 12:40:14 -0500

BOOM! Studios is publishing a new comic book based on the old-timey radio drama styled stage show and podcast Thrilling Adventure Hour. From creators Ben Acker and Ben Blacker and artist M.J. Erickson, the new series launches in July. From the press release, a synopsis:

Frank and Sadie Doyle are the toast of the upper crust – headliners on the society pages…and they see ghosts. When one night of having a drink (or ten) with friends goes horribly, and perhaps predictably, wrong at a haunted house, the Doyles find themselves in a situation beyond belief.

Acker and Blacker, two men named Ben who decided to launch an old-timey radio drama podcast when they discovered that their last names rhymed, have developed a permanent psychic rapport which allows them to speak in unison, as the following press release quote from both men at the same time illustrates.

"We're utterly thrilled to call BOOM! Studios the new home for Thrilling Adventure Hour comics," said Acker and Blacker. "In addition to collecting our previous, heretofore uncollected, TAH comics work, we're excited to bring new stories featuring married mediums Frank and Sadie Doyle, Sparks Nevada, Marshal on Mars, and more. We're looking at the first arc of this new Thrilling Adventure Hour series as an opportunity to re-introduce these characters and bring forth the fun, the humor, and the grounded storytelling that we love about the show and the podcast. We think new readers, as well as existing Adventurekateers, will fall in love with these characters (all over again)."

"I've been a fan of the Bens and the Thrilling Adventure Hour for years, so I'm excited to be a part of the latest addition to the comics," said artist M.J. Erickson. "The characters are vivid and hilarious, and I love the show's mash-up, no-limits approach to classic genres. I'm also passionate about history and literature, so I can't wait to expand on the nostalgic and creative visuals that have been explored in the previous comics."

But that's not all, and here's where things get complicated, so let's go to the press release to explain BOOM! plans to publish a collected edition of another Thrilling Adventure Hour classic:

Also in stores July 2018, THE THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR: A SPIRITED ROMANCE DISCOVER NOW EDITION is a comic shop-exclusive collection of The Thrilling Adventure Hour Presents: Beyond Belief limited series (previously published by Image Comics) from Acker, Blacker, and artist Phil Hester (Green Arrow), which introduces readers to Frank and Sadie Doyle for the first time. This collection carries an MSRP of $14.99 and features an all-new cover by Hester.

In October, a standard edition of THE THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR: A SPIRITED ROMANCE, featuring a different cover and including additional behind-the-scenes material, will be released to comic shops and bookstores worldwide, with an MSRP of $14.99. While this standard version will remain in print, THE THRILLING ADVENTURE HOUR: A SPIRITED ROMANCE DISCOVER NOW EDITION will be strictly limited to the initial print run and then never reprinted again.

Got it? Good. Look for The Thrilling Adventure Hour #1, as well as The Thrilling Adventure Hour: A Spirited Romance Discover Now edition, in stores in July, and the regular edition of The Thrilling Adventure Hour: A Spirited Romance, which is for losers who don't have the super cool limited edition version, in stores in October.