When fellow podcast critic and friend brought a show to my attention, something in my brain flickered. A memory, not too distant, but not recent either, coming to the forefront. It’s called the Comic Sans podcast and it’s a venture between Andas Productions and Realm. The format is two people talking about comic books. One is an expert; the other is new. Their banter is infectious and their knowledge both informed and growing. However, this is not a review of their podcast. Not entirely at least.

Blending information with opinionated criticism is what separates great reviews from good ones. As a critic of audio dramas, I often don’t have time to listen to other more traditional podcasts. Even the ones I’ve enjoyed long before starting this site, I usually watch and listen to in snippets. Rarely do I finish a 60-minute podcast (audio drama or not) in one-sitting, often forgetting about the episode’s contents while listening to other shows in the review queue or elsewhere.

About the Comic Sans Podcast

Beginning in 2023 and just getting into its third season, the Comic Sans podcast is unique in its premise. Typically in comic book podcasts everyone is an expert on one character, company, format or has general knowledge about the art form. Nathaniel “Nat” Mah on the show, has little knowledge of comic books outside of knowing what they are. Slowly, his co-host “Yan” is giving him breadth and depth in the world of comic books. They tackle iconic characters as well as the lesser known ones. One of their recent episodes is on the five-issue comic book called “These Savage Shores” published by Vault Comics.

A bit more background before diving into the review proper, the people who makes this podcast—Andas Productions—are no strangers to audio drama. They’re the creators of the award-winning fiction podcast “Temujin.” A show I’ve listened to within the past year or two, and enjoyed. Nat was also the sound designer/audio engineer for “Temujin.” The company has also produced two other audio dramas called “Sayang” and “Fever Dream.”

Graphic Audio Comic Adaptations

Once we made contact with each other, how we were going to pull of a blend of audio drama and comic book — two very different types of media — in a review. At least that was my objective. Thankfully, the folks at Graphic Audio did most of the heavy lifting, having already adapted the comic book series into their famous “movie in your mind” format.

With the decision made, it was off to the races. Little did I know, those races would be short. Having reviewed other Graphic Audio comic book adaptations in the past, I thought I knew what to expect. Since the title isn’t mainstream like a Batman or Captain America, maybe the net benefit of adapting the story into audio wasn’t high enough to warrant a more passionated input. More people know Marvel and DC Comics than the lesser-known titles from publishers like Vault Comics.

To say my initial impression of the audio dramatization wasn’t ideal would be an understatement. There’s so much narration, my ears started to filter it out as noise. The audio equivalent of ones eyes glazing over. If you aren’t a fan of setting description found in a Tolkien-lite story, this dramatization probably isn’t for you. At least by itself. When combined with the graphic novel, it becomes much more enjoyable.

Comic Sans Podcast: These Savage Shores Episode

Before I even began my third venture into this comic book audio drama (yes, it took me three times to understand the basic story), the Comic Sans podcast released their episode on the graphic novel. It renewed my interest in continuing the slog I was currently enduring at the time. Without it was doubtful I’d give it another shot. The hosts managed to spark something inside of me with their knowledge banter and witty interpretation of the comic book. It felt like I was in a college class on comic books with one of the most popular professors in the English department. Think a Robin Williams movie where he blended the serious and the comedic. Comic Sans manages to make both versions of Williams work together, when they’re usually not in the same story. it’s either serious or fun, not both.

I briefly took a comic book class in college before I needed to drop it to focus on my degree. Based on what the episode of Comic Sans focuses on, “These Savage Shores” feels like something we would’ve listened to and dissected in the class. The whole conversation over panel numbers, the image placement in those panels, and even the unique way it’s read. More on that last one below.

Vampiric Themes and Adapting the Comic

Focusing in on the story, the tone of “These Savage Shores” feels like a combination of Netflix’s “Castlevania” show and Audible’s “Impact Winter” series. All three stories involve vampires, but only two use the lore to make a statement. In “Castlevania,” there’s a queer character — a former man of the clergy — on the side of Dracula. The Netflix animated series takes a modern-day prejudice around LGBTQIA+ conversation and applies it masterfully to the past. “Spider-Man: Across the Spiderverse” and the implied trans allegory in Gwen’s characterization accomplishes a similar feat. Something that is so obvious in retrospect, you aren’t sure why the connection wasn’t made earlier. At least in Spider-Man’s case.

“Impact Winter” is the odd one out. There’s no statement political or otherwise despite having two women make love in a scene from season three. Granted I’ve only finished the first two seasons and that was a while ago. Currently, I’m on episode eight. Having no theme doesn’t make the podcast bad. The show just lacks subtext needed to elevate it.

From Comic to Audio: Adapting These Savage Shores

In terms of the dramatization, this was the first Graphic Audio adaptation where I read as I listened. Through this experience I noticed different choices regarding how the story was adapted. The dialogue follows the graphic novel closely, replacing certain words with synonyms. The setting description the narrator speaks will sometimes come before the dialogue. Others, the description will come after the setting. There are creative liberties taken in what characters are thinking and feeling. Most of the time, the descriptions are accurate to how they are portrayed in the comic. Other times it’s a stretch what the narrator says. Overall there’s a nice blend of starting with an opening shot and zooming in and starting closer and widening out.

Again it took me two times going all the way through before deciding to read the comic and listen to the dramatization. if it weren’t for my library having access to the comic book digitally, I wouldn’t have bothered with a third attempt. Even more grounded in the story than previous attempts, the pacing felt slow until the last chapter where we get a fight between two vampires. One is from Europe. The other comes from the Middle East. An embodiment of the conflict between two peoples. The whole middle section of this story has little to do with the plot regarding a third vampire’s murder early in the story. The scenes with the love interest Kori and Bishan, and Bishan and a young prince adds more emotional depth to the story. When the time comes near the end, you feel for the main character of Bishan.

Final Thoughts

Wrapping up this review, I think I would’ve enjoyed reading the graphic novel by itself. The pace of the audio dramatization just felt slower than necessary. It’s in the same way some listeners need to speed up an audiobook because their eyes are faster than the narrator(s) reading the story. While I would’ve missed a lot of the big picture and meta details talked about in the Comic Sans podcast episode, I could at the very least read at my own pace. Lastly, based on that episode, I think Graphic Audio read the story in a traditional western way. That method being from left to right. According to Yan, you sometimes read in the shape of an “S.” Something I don’t believe Graphic Audio did when dramatizing the story. At this point, it’s hard to remember and listening for one more time could push me into disliking it more than I do at this moment.

Rating: Low Internally Consistent (7.5+/10 Stars)

Check out the Comic Sans podcast if you haven’t already.