Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome

Batman Post-Crisis #50

by Dirk Maggs, Simon Bullivant

Michael Gough, Garrick Hagon and Bob Sessions star in this thrilling radio drama featuring the Batman.

‘This is the Batman. Treat what you are about to hear in the strictest confidence - my associates must be protected at all costs. By night in Gotham City you knew me as the Batman. What you never knew was....’

The Batman is dead. Police Commissioner Gordon has received a recording by the Batman that reveals his real identity. But who is the occupant of Wayne Manor? It soon becomes a desperate journey into the background of Gotham City’s famous vigilante to find out who killed the Dark Knight.

This fantastic full-cast adventure stars Michael Gough as Alfred, Garrick Hagon as Bruce Wayne, Kerry Shale as Dick Grayson, Lorelei King as Selina Kyle, and Bob Sessions as The Batman, and it comes from the renowned producer Dirk Maggs, of Superman and The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy radio fame.

This stunning audio production was first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, and this all-action adventure can now be heard remastered - complete with dazzling sound effects.

©2010 AudioGO Ltd (P)2010 AudioGO Ltd

Genres: Comics, Audiobook, Dc Comics, Superheroes, Batman, Crime, Thriller

1 pages, Audiobook

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Dirk Maggs, a freelance writer and director working across all media, is principally known for his work in radio, where he evolved radio drama into "Audio Movies," a near-visual approach combining scripts, layered sound effects, cinematic music and cutting edge technology. He pioneered the use of Dolby Surround in BBC Radio. He was among the first nominees for the Directors Guild of Great Britain Outstanding Achievement in Radio Award, and in 2005 he was invited to become one of the first Honorary Fellows of the University of Winchester for his work in the dramatic arts.

From 2003 to 2005, Maggs produced new episodes of Douglas Adams' science fiction comedy series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, adapted from the novels based on the original radio series that Adams wrote. The books that Maggs adapted were written after the radio series ended its original run.

He co-founded Perfectly Normal Productions Ltd (PNP) with Paul Weir and Richard Adams to create compelling high quality popular audio drama in serialized form for delivery to personal digital players and cell phones.

Early in his career Dirk became known for directing adaptations of comic book storylines. He started in 1988 with the 50th Anniversary Man Of Steel docudrama Superman on Trial, carried on with a 50th birthday tribute to the Dark Knight: Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome. This was followed by The Adventures Of Superman, Batman: Knightfall, The Amazing Spider-Man and his final BBC Radio superhero series, Judge Dredd in 1995. Along the way his production of Superman: Doomsday and Beyond ("Superman Lives" in the USA) won the 1994 Audie Award for Best Dramatisation from the American Booksellers Association and Spoken Word Audio of The Year from Publishers Weekly.

Reviews

[Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a thirtieth anniversary special written for BBC radio. Its pretty much what you'd expect for a celebration of thirty years worth of comic book adventures with a small plot just to showcase some of the main rogues gallery. Its fun and sound design is great.

[Dale · Rating 1 out of 5]

A 44 minute mini-story that tried to do too much in too short of a time and ended up doing not much at all for this listener.

Published by BBC Worldwide Unlimited in 2010.
Multicast Performance
Duration: 44 minutes

Even though I enjoy the comic book movies and I listen to a few comic book-based audiobooks, I am not a serious comics fan. I dabble. I haven't even been into a real comic book store. I know the big names and their back stories and that's about it.

But, the title of this story ruined the story for me. If you know about the Lazarus Pits then there was no mystery at all. This was just one more problem in a problem-filled audiobook.

First things first, let me be clear that none of the problems in this audiobook come from the actual performance of the book. It is performed like an old-fashioned radio play and the BBC performers did a great job. Sadly, the story itself does not live up to the performances of the actors.


In this story, Batman is supposed to be dead. He hasn't been seen in a while and Commissioner Gordon receives a tape from Batman that was to be delivered when he died. In the tape he confesses his true identity.

Meanwhile, Bruce Wayne is selling off Batman properties at fire sale prices. Want an old Batmobile? Bruce Wayne will sell it to you.

Read more at: http://dwdsreviews.blogspot.com/2016/...

[C.A. Bryers · Rating 3 out of 5]

More evenly-paced than the frantic Batman: The Complete Knightfall Saga radio drama, The Lazarus Syndrome, while short (only 45 minutes), does feature some of the same cast (including the Burton/Schumacher Alfred, Michael Gough) as its more famous successor. The story is interesting, but lacks that necessary punch that you'd expect in a Batman radio drama. As a result, it's more an unfolding mystery than the sound-effects laden orgy of action that Knightfall turned out to be. Still, worth a listen for Bat-fans.

[Abby · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a BBC radio drama, with a full cast of actors--more of a production than your average audiobook. It's a short story (45 minustes) involving Commissioner and Barbara Gordon's investigation into the disappearance of Batman. And of course, with a title like "Lazarus Syndrome," you can guess who the villain is.
It's not a mind-blowing mystery, but it is entertaining enough for a one hour radio theater drama. The performances are good, if a little old-fashioned in the interpretation.

[Vojtěch · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tak tohle bylo sakra velký zklamání.

[Rainsadventure · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was very rushed and poorly written. The story had potential but you could tell the mystery from the start. It was more of a silly recap of a portion of his career.

[Lukasz · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's basically poor man's Hush, recapping Bats history and featuring a plethora of guest appearances. Voice acting varies, doesn't always ring true, but neither does the writing often. Still the audio production was pretty good and I must admit I was pleasantly surprised as a fan how deeply connected to post-Death In The Family Batman's history this play was.
And of course Michael Gough is always great;)

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

I realise that I am complaining about the literal function of an audiobook here, but: I would have preferred to read this as a comic.

I could picture clearly in my head how I would lay out the pages, what scenes I would match to the audio. That did enhance my listening experience, admittedly, but yeah; I deeply desired to be reading this as a comic book.

Still, it was an enjoyable listen, even if I didn't love some of the voice acting choices. Barbara Gordon was boss, as always.

[Brandon Nichols · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fine. Good. Passable.

Fun to hear Michael Gough be Alfred again. (Thanks, old friend, RIP.)

The story hit its marks. A bit predictable, but fair enough.

It does make you feel smarter than most of the Bat-family for about 2/3 of the time.

It only asks for 45 minutes of your time. Any longer wouldn't be worth it.

[Yousseif Abdellatif · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not gonna lie, I rolled my eyes a couple of times at Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome. Some of the lines try way too hard to sound deep. But Dirk Maggs also lands a handful of moments that got me right in the chest, and those carried the whole thing. Worth a shot if you can forgive some overreach, pass if cheesy bugs you.

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 3 out of 5]

42 WORD REVIEW:

A nostalgic fiftieth anniversary celebration, authenticated by Michael Gough’s appearance as Alfred but with a storyline more suited to comic book form than audio drama. Commissioner Gordon hears word that the Batman is dead. Bruce Wayne, meanwhile, seems not to be himself...

[Nicholas Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK without being great. This is a lightly padded retelling of the Batman's origin; production is good, as is acting but it generally feels slight. Alright without being at all essential.

[Christina]

The Foley work was just a little too loud for me. Somehow, this just didn't do it for me.

[Bimal Garg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow!
Better than I expected.
4.1/5

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good little tale.

Lots of production value with this one!

Happy Reading, everybody!

[finn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Barbara Gordon with a southern accent omg

[Steven Brandt · Rating 4 out of 5]

In addition to listening to a lot of audiobooks, I have also dabbled a bit in radio dramas, although Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome is the first that I’ve written up for Audiobook-Heaven. If you think radio dramas are a thing of the past, you’re not entirely right. True, they’re not nearly as popular as they were before the television era began, but they are still around.

This radio drama was a lot of fun to listen to. There are different actors who play the various roles, although sometimes the actors play more than one role using different voices. There are also lots of neat sound effects: punches being thrown, footsteps walking across a room, cars going by, etcetera. This one also featured a sound for the batmobile, which sounded like a jet racing by. My favorite moment of Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome was when Commissioner Gordon paid a visit to Selina Kyle’s (Catwoman’s) apartment. You hear a cat screech, and then Gordon says, “Damn it Selina, isn’t there any way to sit down in here without squashing a cat?” That one made me laugh.

The thing that I enjoyed most about listening to this Batman radio drama is that it allowed me to reconnect with a part of my life that I really miss. Before I went blind, I collected a lot of comic books, and loved to read, and re-read them. Batman was always my favorite. Audiobooks are great, but I miss my comics. This was a nice way to bring those two worlds together.

Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome was published by AudioGo, formerly known as BBC Audiobooks America. Yes, it’s the same BBC that you’re thinking of. They have lots of the BBC’s radio dramas available on CD, and I was very happy to discover this one on their website.

This multicast production of Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome features Bob Sessions as Batman and Bruce Wayne, Michael Gough as Alfred, Paul Maxwell as Commissioner Gordon, Garrick Hagon as Ra’s al Ghul and Thomas Wayne, Kerry Shale as The Joker, Shelley Thompson as Barbara Gordon, Lorelei King as Selina Kyle and Martha Wayne, and Alan Marriott as Dick Grayson. It’s a talented group of voice actors and I thought they all did a good job in their various parts.

Steven Brandt @ Audiobook-Heaven

[H. Givens · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off with Gordon getting a posthumous tape from Batman revealing that he's Bruce Wayne, so I thought I was in for something cool. Then it spent 40 more minutes doing basically nothing, with a lot of flashbacks, no scene lasting more than a few lines of dialogue, and a one-line backstory for every character ever. There's no point in setting up all these characters if no one ever does anything. A waste.

[Nessie McInness · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm an old lady inside, so I loooooooove radio dramas.
And a Batman radio drama? Well, that's just perfect!!

I really like anything to do with Ra's al Ghul, so this was a must read (listen!)
Also, it was a really nice surprise to see (hear) Michael Gough as Alfred, he is always the image that pops in my head whenever I think of Mr Pennyworth!

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

This audio drama was fine though not fantastic. A snippet in the life of Bruce Wayne and those around him months after Jason Todd is "killed" by the Joker and Barbara Gordan is paralyzed and no longer Batgirl but Oracle.

[Kara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, but old fashioned in its details, and the story doesn't do much besides rehash Batman's origins. Major bonus points for giving me chills when the Joker laughed.

[Jacqueline · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bad audio quality mixed with a confusing and over acted opening made this a DNF.

[Evan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another radio drama-style audiobook of a Batman comic series. Excellently produced, and features one of my favorite Batman villains, Ra's al Ghul.

[Mladen · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was ok 'cause it's Batman, other than that - plain awful.

[Mandy Ortega · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got to hear the radio special... AMAZING!!!!