Batman: The Lazarus Syndrome Audio CD – Unabridged, October 19, 2010

Almost $15 dollars for 45 minutes of Batman? Not really a good bargain when there are plenty of places you could have illegally downloaded this title. Yes.. I bought it because I was a Batman fan... however if you are going to do 45 minutes of audio.. please look at places like Graphic Audio and other fine audio book makers for a pricing point. Was VERY ticked at the time.

First off it's only 45 minutes long. Second the voice of Batman, Bob Sessions, is marginal at best. If you are looking for a really great audio experience anything from Graphic Audio is far and away a better value.

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. 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 full cast 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.

I was really looking forward to this one. The premise seemed great, but there is a decided lack of action throughout this story that kills what momentum it could have had. The biggest problem I have is that it's a Batman story but you don't actually get Batman in it like you would expect until the story is almost over. Add to that the decidedly out-of-character actions of Bruce Wayne, Dick Grayson, and Alfred (just watching as Bruce sells all the Bat-gear off and not saying anything? Doesn't sound like Alfred to me). When the villain of the story is revealed at last it's just plain weird because his motivations are crazy--even for a comic book story. I don't know if this was taken from an actual comic book storyline or not, but it's missing something (a LOT of something) that would make it really great. Worth listening to once, I guess, but not something to own.

Happy with my purchase.

A strong story well told with a good voice cast. The only problem is with the voices for the young bruce wayne which is annoying and the joker which could be toned down a bit.

44 mins long with about 10mins explaining the origins for a number of characters.The acting is not really up to Knightfall standard with, unfortunately, Batman being the worst.Weak story with little action and plot holes (neither Alfred nor Dick Grayson spotted an accent change?). I know it's taken from comic books but it's Batman... it's supposed to be serious.It didn't really help that Media Player played the chapters out of order but still pretty poor.

many thanks