Tuesday, April 1, 2025

New audiobook: Batgirl: To Dare the Darkness read by Drew Griffin

Drew Griffin has released a NEW audiobook reading for Doug Moench's novella "Batgirl: To Dare the Darkness."

For those that don't know, this is a fascinating little spin-off that came out in 1997. It's set after the events of Batman & Robin and sees Barbara Wilson having to use her computer skills to go up against Black Mask. 

Much like Alan Grant's Robin spin-off "Facing the Enemy", this one also has Barbara Wilson temporarily quit the crime fighting trio and go off to investigate Black Mask's crime spree in her civilian alter ego for much of the story.

Also, the book follows the template of the two Schumacher Batman films by having Black Mask (aka Roman Sionis) be a disgruntled Wayne Tech employee not unlike Edward Nygma and Pamela Isley.

There's a few tiny areas of continuity that don't quite line up (like how come Robin is back in his original red, green and gold costume) but nothing huge.

Once again, Drew has done a fantastic reading with top notch voice work. I particularly enjoy his voice for Robin, who pops up in the story a few times. For those of you wondering about his voice for Barbara Wilson - remember, she went to Oxbridge Academy so of course she's going to have an English accent!

The book was previously made into a very short 30 minute audio drama back in 1997 (link here) but Drew has done full unabridged version for the channel and I've got to thank him for making this. These things are not easy to record. This also means that we now have recordings of all the Schumacher films and their spin-offs.

Well, what are you waiting for. Press play.