Get Involved, Internet: The Thrilling Adventure Hour has a graphic novel and big plans
Regular Podmass readers and fans of podcasting in general are probably familiar with The Thrilling Adventure Hour, a comedy podcast with a sprawling cast presented as an old-timey radio play. How sprawling? Its players include Paul F. Tompkins, Busy Philips, James Urbaniak, John Ennis, Paget Brewster, and a cavalcade of guest stars that’s included everyone from J.K. Simmons to Gillian Jacobs. It’s an ambitious, frequently hilarious production and understandably one of our favorite podcasts.
Speaking of ambition, on Monday Thrilling Adventure Hour creators Ben Acker and Ben Blacker announced a new Kickstarter project that has more options than Frank and Sadie Doyle’s wet bar. The primary project: a 136-page hardcover graphic novel anthology that collects stories set in the various worlds of the show, each story illustrated by a different artist. (Possibilities include Ben Edlund, Jackson Public, Randy Bishop, Chris Moreno, Dustin Weaver, and many more.) If the Kickstarter reaches its $55,000 goal (as of today, it’s already at $36,000), Achaia Entertainment will print and distribute it.
Beyond that, The Thrilling Adventure Hour has some stretch goals, including a scripted web series going behind the scenes of the show (for $35,000 beyond the book goal, or $90,000 total), a 3-D motion comic version of a story from the book ($125,000), and a concert film ($200,000). If and when a stretch goal is reached, Acker and Blacker will share with backers previously unreleased Thrilling Adventure Hour content like alternate takes, videos, and that kind of thing.
All of this and more is available over on the project’s Kickstarter page, including a panoply of rewards packages for varying levels of donation: $15 gets a digital copy of the graphic novel, whereas $9,999 or more basically buys The Thrilling Adventure Hour (or new iPad with everything the show has done and personalized content from creators and stars of the show).
So there’s your new mission, podcasting fans. In the meantime, Podmass will work on a Kickstarter for a Marissa Wompler Comedy Bang! Bang! spinoff.