Interviews with Director Fred Greenhalgh & Batman Group Editor Rob Levin

Summary

DC High Volume: Batman

Episode: Interviews with Director Fred Greenhalgh & Batman Group Editor Rob Levin
Host: Coy John Dreux (DC | Realm)
Date: October 23, 2025

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Brief Overview

This engaging episode of DC High Volume: Batman brings together two central creative forces behind the audio adaptation of iconic Batman stories: Rob Levin, Group Editor for all Gotham-related DC comics, and Fred Greenhalgh, director and co-writer of DC High Volume: Batman. Host Coy John Dreux delves deeply into both the editorial and audio production processes, exploring how Batman’s universe is maintained, reimagined, and brought to life, especially in the context of “Year One,” “The Long Halloween,” and “Dark Victory.” The episode shines a light on the collaborative “alchemy” of comics creation, the unique qualities of Batman and his rogues gallery, and what it takes to adapt such timeless material into an immersive audio experience.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Role and Challenges of a Group Editor (Rob Levin)

• What a Group Editor Does

  • Rob oversees the entire line of Gotham-related books, ensuring continuity, quality, and thematic coherence across multiple creative teams.
  • Troubleshooting artist changes, approving creative decisions, and reading every draft of every script in the line.
    • “A group editor is much like an editor, only you go to a lot more meetings. You have to oversee an entire line of books.” (Rob Levin, 02:33)

• The Alchemy of Comics Collaboration

  • Comparing the creative process to “alchemy,” Rob highlights that assembling the right writer-artist-colorist teams is a delicate, sometimes unpredictable process:
    • “It’s alchemy. You put these pieces together, and when it works, it’s amazing.” (Rob Levin, 05:10)
  • The best collaborations make his job “easy,” while failed combinations are unpredictable even with the best ingredients.

• Balancing Passion With Professionalism

  • Rob, a lifelong fan, emphasizes the love for the medium despite the business and logistical stresses.
    • “You can’t replicate [comics] in film or TV or novels. It’s its own unique thing.” (Rob Levin, 03:41)

2. Enduring Popularity and Elasticity of Batman

• Why Batman Lasts

  • Batman’s “cool factor,” elasticity, and relatability fuel his status as an enduring icon:
    • “He’s elastic. There’s a bunch of different takes… but the core mission doesn’t change.” (Rob Levin, 08:42)
  • Batman’s appeal grows as readers age, evolving from a childhood power fantasy to mature admiration for his choices and resilience.

• Batman as a Symbol and His Rogues Gallery

  • Batman’s brokenness “mirrors” that of his villains, making his enemies not just obstacles but mirrors of human struggle:
    • “He’s a broken individual, but he’s broken in a way that he is making into a positive for his city.” (Rob Levin, 09:51)
  • Gotham’s rogues have “pathos”—the best ones are complex and relatable, not just evil for evil’s sake.
    • “There are just a million ways for them to come at him and make you just understand what they’re trying to do, even if you’re rooting against them.” (Rob Levin, 10:26)

3. Current & Future Directions for Batman Comics

• The New Batman #1 and Relaunch

  • Only the fourth new Batman #1 in the character’s history, with a new creative team (Matt Fraction & Jorge Jimenez) aiming to balance tradition with innovation.
    • “It’s a lot of pressure… but I couldn’t be happier with the team… It’s the next level for both those guys.” (Rob Levin, 14:58)
  • A “brighter” Gotham, both literally and figuratively, underlines the desire for a fresh but recognizable tone.
    • “It’s not going to be all nighttime, all danger… it’s vibrant and alive.” (Rob Levin, 13:12)

• Continuity and “Banana Split” Approach

  • Each Gotham title has a unique flavor—readers can sample tones to their liking, not just duplicate experience.
    • “Our North Star is making sure you get something different in each book while also being true to the character.” (Rob Levin, 16:21)
  • Main Batman is the “mothership,” but each book gives a new “ice cream flavor.”

4. The Joy and Artistry of Audio Adaptation (Fred Greenhalgh)

• Falling in Love With Sound

  • Fred traces his passion for audio to childhood, evolving into a career after college through immersive experiences and early exposure to radio drama.
    • “Storytelling is the only actual superpower that humans have… we can somehow create some sort of vibrational frequency that projects an image into your brain.” (Fred Greenhalgh, 28:46)

• Why Audio for Batman?

  • Audio provides a unique way to honor comics, sticking closer to the source material than film or TV adaptations and letting both long-time and new fans experience classics anew.
    • “We can sort of be like… we’re the truest adaptation you’re gonna get because of how audio works.” (Fred Greenhalgh, 32:09)

• The Process & Collaboration

  • As director/co-writer/producer, Fred shifts constantly between big-picture logistics and intimate creative sessions—to him, working with actors and sound designers is a “flow state.”
  • Voice direction in audio strips away visual distractions, focusing entirely on what is communicated through sound.
    • “When you’re just hearing the voice, you… are really just listening. Like, what is your voice communicating?” (Fred Greenhalgh, 36:00)

• Adapting Timeless Stories

  • Audio enables a fresh yet faithful rendering of “Year One,” “The Long Halloween,” and “Dark Victory.”
  • Fred discusses the resonance and universal appeal of Batman’s journey, as well as the emotional arcs created through cumulative storytelling.
    • “The evolution of Bruce’s journey from ‘I shall become a bat’ to ‘I believe in Batman’…to kind of live in his psychology… is so cool.” (Fred Greenhalgh, 44:02)

5. Philosophy & Takeaways

• Relatability and Inspiration

  • Batman is someone who, despite privilege, acts against a broken world. Both Bruce Wayne and Gordon act in large part from personal trauma but channel it for good.
    • “If you don’t… like what’s going on within the world, you shouldn’t be waiting around for someone else to don the cape. You gotta put that cape on yourself.” (Fred Greenhalgh, 46:41)
  • Fred hopes listeners will feel empowered by Batman’s example to address their own flaws or challenges—“anyone can be the Batman of their own story.”

• The Future of Audio Storytelling

  • Fred sees DC High Volume as a bold map for fiction podcasting—advocating for more dedicated, high-production works for other superheroes and stories.
    • “There is only one DC High Volume Batman…this is what the future looks like.” (Fred Greenhalgh, 47:45)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

[03:41] Rob Levin:
“The business is sometimes hard and the job is sometimes hard. But…picking up a comic and reading a great story is still a really special experience you can’t replicate in film or TV or novels.”

[05:10] Rob Levin:
“It’s alchemy. Like, it is just—you put these pieces together, and when it works, it’s amazing.”

[09:51] Rob Levin:
“It’s not a healthy lifestyle. He’s a broken individual, but he’s broken in a way that he is making into a positive for his city.”

[14:58] Rob Levin:
“It’s a lot of pressure… but I couldn’t be happier with the team… It’s the next level for both those guys.”

[28:46] Fred Greenhalgh:
“Storytelling I consider is, like, the only actual superpower that humans have… We can somehow create some sort of vibrational frequency that projects an image into your brain.”

[32:09] Fred Greenhalgh:
“We can sort of be like…the truest adaptation you’re gonna get because of how audio works and how we’re able to approach it.”

[44:02] Fred Greenhalgh:
“The I believe in Batman at the end of Long Halloween is one of my favorite moments… even just the evolution of Bruce’s journey from ‘I shall become a bat’ to ‘I believe in Batman.’”

[46:41] Fred Greenhalgh:
“If you’re not comfortable…with what’s going on within the world, you shouldn’t be waiting around for someone else to don the cape. You gotta put that cape on yourself.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• What a Group Editor Does (Rob Levin): [02:33–04:30]
• Comics Collaboration/Alchemy: [05:10–06:12]
• Passion for Comics: [03:41–04:43]
• Batman’s Enduring Appeal: [08:42–10:26]
• Unique Tone of New Batman Series: [11:34–13:12]
• Managing Continuity (“Banana Split” metaphor): [16:21]
• Audio Storytelling Origins (Greenhalgh): [27:27]
• Philosophy of Audio Immersion: [28:46–30:24]
• Process of Adapting Batman in Audio: [32:09–33:39]
• Directing and Working with Talent: [33:39–36:00]
• Emotional High Points in Adaptation: [44:02–45:12]
• Takeaways/Themes for Listeners: [45:45–47:16]
• Audio Fiction Future: [47:45–49:03]

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Final Takeaways & Recommendations

• Comics as Lifelong Storytelling:
  The episode is a love letter to comics, their collaborative “alchemy,” and their power to connect across time, media, and individual experiences.

• Batman as an Inspirational Archetype:
  Both guests see Batman, not just as a superhero, but as an example that anyone can take initiative in their own struggles and for their community.

• Audio as a Fresh Medium for Classics:
  The creators convey a sense of excitement in using audio to give both new and veteran Batman fans a singular, immersive experience of well-trodden but ever-evolving Batman stories.

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Further Reading & Listening (As Recommended)

• Batman Superman: World’s Finest by Mark Waid & Dan Mora
• Robin: Year One by Chuck Dixon

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This episode is an essential listen for Batman fans and anyone interested in the art and craft of storytelling—through comics, through sound, or both.

Transcript

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[Coy John Dreux]

Hi, I'm Coy John Dreux and welcome to DC High Volume Batman. In this monthly companion series, we sit down with the cast and crew of DC High Volume Batman and Beyond. Where we last left off, we reached a very critical moment in the Batman mythos. We just experienced the oath, the moment that Batman swears in his Robin. That moment between Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson is so formative to the Batman lore and we've seen this adapted in so many different ways. We've seen it multiple iterations of comics, we've seen it in other mediums, but it was really special to me to experience it in an all new way through D.C. high volume Batman. To hear it and live it was so freaking cool. So today on this show, we're bringing in two very important people to the Batman mythos. We've got Rob Levin, who is the group editor of All Things Gotham. So he's got all the bat books over at dc and the man's name is practically Robin. It's right there. Rob Levin, very important episode to have him on. For the Robin episode, we've also got Fred Greenhalgh who directed All Things Dark victory here at D.C. high volume Batman V. Very excited to talk to him about directing the actors, about bringing things from page to screen to break down hall. That whole process works. Really excited to talk to Fred Greenhalgh as well. But first, let's bring out Rob Levin. Please join me in welcoming Rob Levin, who is the group editor for All Things Gotham in the Batman core title books. I am so excited to talk to you about all of the Machinations comics. How are you, man?

[Rob Levin]

I'm doing well. How are you doing?

[Coy John Dreux]

Good. I'm fascinated by what a group editor is because so many people pick up a comic and don't realize all those names in their titles. So could. Could you break that down for us?

[Rob Levin]

A group editor is much like an editor, only you go to a lot more meetings. You have to oversee an entire line of books. So in addition to the titles I'm editing, I'm also working with my team to keep an eye on everything they're doing, make sure all the books are fitting together in terms of continuity and quality and anything else. And also just troubleshooting. If they have a artist dropout, normally they'll check with me before they hire someone. Not because they can't. They just like to make sure, hey, is this the right choice? That kind of thing. So I'm there to support them and support the entire line. And obviously, the Gotham books have to fit in the larger, you know, DC universe, continuity, and serve a bunch of different masters. So it's a lot of books, a lot of meetings. I try to read every script and at least one version of the book when it's being, you know, lettered and have a full proof. And sometimes I read more than that, and on my books, I read more. But, yeah, it's a lot of work.

[Coy John Dreux]

Sounds like it's, like, very. An awareness of collaboration to a big extent. Like a web of monitoring all the different collaborations and all the different books and all that trickling down to the finished product. Are you a comic fan enough that you still love it, or how did this get started?

[Rob Levin]

Definitely, I love the medium. The business is sometimes hard and the job is sometimes hard. But I think at the end of the day, picking up a comic and reading a great story is still a really special experience that you can't replicate in film or TV or novels. Like, it's its own unique thing. So that is what is kind of the guiding light for me of just like, wow, this is great. Sometimes it's hard to be a fan. But I do think ultimately, why any of us do this, editors, writers, artists, readers, obviously, is because we love it. It's not a job you choose because you're like, I'm gonna make so much money making comics. You're like, oh, I'm gonna do this job. That's probably not the best decision for my life or my finances or my sanity, but it'll be fine. No, we do it because it's special. It's a really unique thing, and I love the intimacy of it. Comics are made by five, six, maybe seven people. Really small team makes your favorite comics, whereas movies are hundreds of people, sometimes thousands. You just can't replicate that anywhere else.

[Coy John Dreux]

I've always talked about, for me personally, seeing the soul of two to three individuals, like the writer, the artist, and the inker, depending on how strong the ingredients influence is. But you really see the soul of collaboration there, especially if you see artists that work together a lot and those relationships, like, you know, what Scott Snider and Greg Capullo have done and evolved together with, is beautiful. As someone that oversees those collaborations, what's it like to watch those sparks happen where you're like, oh, this is forming a unique bond here?

[Rob Levin]

I always describe it, and I stole this from someone. I don't know who, but I always describe it this way. It's alchemy. Like, it is just you put these pieces together, and when it works, it's amazing. And sometimes something that should work on paper doesn't. And you're like, how did that go wrong?

[Coy John Dreux]

If one plus one is two, Right.

[Rob Levin]

But sometimes you don't know, right? You'll be like, well, this colorist is no longer available. Let's try this person over this artist. And sometimes it's amazing. You're like, I can't believe I was right about that. And that really is what it is. You put pieces together, you hope for the best, and you don't know until it's there, but the proof is in the pudding. It's really cool, though, when you get to work with a team that either has worked together a bunch or is just coming into their own. It feels awesome. Like, my favorite books are the ones where I don't have to do anything. Not because I'm lazy, because they make me look good. You know, you work with Scott and Greg, everybody's gonna say, oh, it's a great book. You don't really get to take a lot of credit for that, but it's. Yeah, it's. It's an amazing thing to work with, you know, all of these creators and just see them, you know, find their rhythms, whether it's on a book or taking themselves to a new level. It's awesome.

[Coy John Dreux]

I feel like passion, as you mentioned, is such an integral part of loving comics. Being in this industry. You're not, hey, Mom, I'm gonna be a group editor. It's a tricky thing is, what does that mean? I'll watch this video and explain. Groove after. So with loving comics that much. Was it a medium that you were drawn to as a kid that stuck with you? Did you discover it later? What was the impetus for loving it and then seeing the professional option?

[Rob Levin]

I had no idea it could be a career. I had cousins who are like six and eight years older than me, and they lived in Florida, and we'd see them around spring break sometimes. And they had every comic. Like, I tore open the Death of Superman issue, tore open the pilot bag and read it. You know, read the entire thing. But, like, didn't even think twice about it. They said I could.

[Fred Greenhalgh]

It was funny.

[Rob Levin]

But so I had access to comics and then I really started reading around. I guess it was 91 when Jim Lee relaunched X Men. That was sort of like at a time where I was like, oh, I can go to a shop and get these on the regular. So I just fell into it and never stopped. And then I came out here to film school and was looking for just opportunities like internships. Found out that Top Cow was out here, applied to be an intern, came in, was handling Mark Silvestri new X Men pages physically in my hands on day one.

[Fred Greenhalgh]

Incredible.

[Rob Levin]

And again, it just felt so cool and small and intimate that I was like, oh, this is great. But that's one of the great things about the industry is, like, I've gotten to work with legendary people from very early on in my career through now and again. I couldn't just imagine that could be a thing. I didn't know how comics were really made until I was at Top Cow and actually helping the process from making copies and sending books out racing to FedEx. We used to send books on burn CD.

[Coy John Dreux]

Wow.

[Rob Levin]

It used to cost more money to use the FTP to upload than to ship it via FedEx. So things have really shifted in my 21, 22 years in comics. So, yeah, it's so funny.

[Coy John Dreux]

My brain went, you mailed them? And then now it's digital. Like, I didn't consider there was a physical arbiter between those eras, but a CD would have totally been a phase.

[Rob Levin]

Yeah.

[Coy John Dreux]

And all industries evolve so quickly. But I do feel like comics, with this huge shift in adaptation and with the awareness of them, like, there's such a. I mean, look at Comic Con. Like, it's a different culture. It was a little thing for us, and now it's the thing of the year. And what do you think it is about, specifically Batman that has not only lasted the test of time, but only grown in pop culture and popularity?

[Rob Levin]

Not to put too fine a point on it. But, like, Batman's the coolest character in comics. It just. It really comes down to that. And not only is he cool and he's a badass, but, like, he's elastic. There's a bunch of different takes from, you know, early comic takes to the Batman 66 TV show to all the modern takes, including the movies and the comics and everything else. Like, he just kind of fits so many different molds, but the core mission doesn't change. He's somebody who was hurt when he was young. He lost something, and he wants to help people not feel that pain in their lives. And it's just very relatable. It's always kind of a protective vengeance story. Words I've never said, but I'm saying now. But that's the kind of thing is he has a noble mission, and it comes from this great trauma, and I think people just respond to it. Plus, he's cool. He's got all the gadgets and the toys and everything else, and, you know, he's a billionaire. He's just. It's very. No one wants that life, but they're like, I see how you can make the most of it.

[Coy John Dreux]

We want to watch that life.

[Rob Levin]

Yeah.

[Coy John Dreux]

Like, it's a character I think is really interesting when you're a kid, I think, or at least for me, I wanted to be Batman so bad. And the older I get, the more like, I admire Batman and his choices. Like, over there, I'd like to appreciate.

[Rob Levin]

Yes, it's not a healthy lifestyle. He's a broken individual, but he's broken in a way that he is making into a positive for his city.

[Coy John Dreux]

And that's what I think makes his rogues gallery so interesting. He's often revered, justifiably so, as the greatest rogues gallery in comic books. And I think his brokenness tying into their brokenness is what's so interesting. What do you think it is about the rogues gallery? Individually or as a sweeping array of characters that is fun to work with, like, to oversee books and be able to play the chessboard of, like, what's over here and there. That's a unique position. What's it like to be in charge of seeing all that?

[Rob Levin]

Daunting, to say the least. But, no, I think he does have the best rogues because they all have pathos. You can understand where all of them are coming from, at least the best ones, the villains that you can understand and empathize with, Even if you hate what they're doing, it makes sense. Or in the Joker's case. It doesn't make sense, but the chaos works. I think they're fascinating, the way he is, the way he has this endless war. There are just a million ways for them to come at him and come at the city and make you just understand what they're trying to do, even if you're rooting against them. And I think that's a really key thing. It's no mustache twirling. I'm gonna blow up the Earth. It's people who have problems or have been hurt or look a certain way or have something wrong with them lashing out. And Batman is the response to that. He's sort of the antidote for the city to stop that. And I think it's an amazing rogues gallery, and it's cool to play with them.

[Coy John Dreux]

Looking ahead, there's a huge shift right now in Batman books. We're at a precipice, a big start of things. What are you most excited about with Gotham and Batman and the way things are going, this big surge of momentum right now?

[Rob Levin]

Well, we just relaunched Batman with a brand new number one, which is only the fourth time we've ever done that. So that's a little bit of pressure. And that's a new series from Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez, who's also back with Tameo Mori, the colorist, and Clayton Cow is the letter. And that's trying to push Batman in a new direction that is both faithful to everything that's come before, but also carving out its own niche. So we've got him in a. He's got blue back in the costume, so we've got some color. The city, we're taking a much different look at it in terms of the color and the. It's just brighter. It'll be recognizable but reinvented. And I think the way we're approaching Batman is the same way where this is the character. You know, all of his backstory and trauma are there, but we're really looking at it in a way that I think pushes the character forward and does some new things that we really haven't seen, I hope, ever, but certainly in a long time. And I'm really excited about where that book is going and the entire line. All the Gotham books relaunched in September, not with Number Ones, but with the idea that all the timeline is caught up to itself. We're all on the other side of Hush 2. So it's a great jumping on point where you can read any of those books, dive in whether you want to read the whole line. Individual character, just A Batman book. We also got Detective and Batman and Robin and Harley and Poison Ivy, and.

[Coy John Dreux]

On and on and on.

[Rob Levin]

We have many books. We're really excited about where everything's going, and I hope readers are going to keep feeling that way for a while.

[Coy John Dreux]

So you mentioned a different Gotham, a different feel and a brightness even. And I'm curious what that feels like, because Batman usually, very consciously, is not a day lit character. So what does that Gotham feel like?

[Rob Levin]

Part of it is really figuring out how the city works. I know there's been a map in the past. We've gone in, we've built a new map internally, and we've really tried to figure out where does everything function, how does this city relate to itself? And some of that is also giving Jorge the opportunity to really reinvent things. So it's not a Gotham you won't recognize. It still feels like Gotham, but it's not going to be exactly the same color palette. It's not going to be all nighttime, all danger. It's also not going to be the city is under siege and someone's gonna blow it up. It's very much like everybody says, the city is a character. And I do think Gotham is actually that in all Batman stories. Like, you take Batman out of Gotham, doesn't quite feel like a Batman story. And so I think what we really wanted to do is take Gotham and just kind of look at it slightly differently and make some small tweaks. It is, like I said, very recognizable. But we wanted to give Jorge the opportunity to put his stamp on it and really set the tone for hopefully the next 10, 20, 30 years, the way that so many artists that preceded him did, and just make it vibrant and alive and, I think, interesting. Make it feel fresh without completely destroying it and building it back up. It is the city, you know, but seen through a new lens.

[Coy John Dreux]

Two things really stood out from what you just said. One, that there's only been four number ones in, what, 80 years of Batman. That is a near impossibility in comic books. That's such an impressive feat. What was it to find out that was coming just for you personally? Knowing how much you oversee, knowing what it is to be a group editor, seeing all that and going like, okay, going to be spearheading the fourth time this has ever happened. It's Batman. It's.

[Rob Levin]

It's a lot of pressure. Like, I'm not going to lie. It is the kind of thing where it's daunting. I'm still. I'm still daunted as you can maybe tell, but, you know, I couldn't be happier with, with the team. Jorge I worked with on Justice League my first time around at D.C. and he's been on Batman for a few years now. Came off for Hush 2 and is back. And he is just, I think, the definitive modern day Batman artist and is pushing himself further and further with every issue, as is Tamayo on the colors. It won't look like what he was doing with Chip or what they were doing with James before that. It's the next level for both those guys. But, yeah, I feel like I'm just thinking about being daunted and hoping that as more issues come out, people aren't just like, yeah, we're done with that. I hope we're getting another 85, 86 years of Batman on the backs of what we're doing now.

[Coy John Dreux]

I also just hit me that measuring continuity and measuring all these timelines and pacing, and I read every bat book. I adore what's happening with Poison Ivy and I love what Batman and Robin is and how that relationship with Batman and that Robin feels different than Batman and this Robin. All the books feel much like going to a spinner rack and choosing your own adventure, your tone of book. But when you've got something that's coming that has to land a certain timeline, what's your, like, Beautiful Mind chart? Like, how do you keep tabs on, like, how everything's going to get to a point?

[Rob Levin]

Matt and I have actually lost our minds a little bit trying to game this out and using the right format, the right software. I'm not even sure we found it, but we have, we have a method that's working. But, you know, ultimately it's. I think the main Batman title is sort of like Mothership Batman. And that is the more solo, focused title. So we get to say, hey, this is the Batman and Bruce Wayne book. And the goal for me, and I think for the rest of the group, is that each book has its own identity, right? Everything has a reason to exist so that each book can give you a different flavor. It's not just, I like Batman, I want the same. I want three scoops of the same ice cream. It's like, no, you get a mana split, you get three different ice creams. So that's, that's the goal. I don't know if we always hit it, but it's certainly what we're trying to do. That's kind of the North Star is making sure you get something different in each book while also being true to the character, which helps when Batman is so malleable, so he helps make it easier for all of us.

[Coy John Dreux]

That's a fair point. Hadn't considered. I love Batman. So I never went back and went, why do I read so many Batman? But I think it is something to the banana split, because you don't get halfway through a banana split and throw it away. Or I don't. It's like, oh, I will keep going forward and find the next flavor. And it is good when it's different. And I think that what Batman brings in comic form is that universality. Like, anyone can pick up a Batman book whether they've read a comic or not. And the excitement of this number one and this whole tone is that approachability. But when you are reading this new creative team, do you get any moments in this. I don't even know if you'll be able to. To feel if you do or not. But do you get to read a Batman book ever? Or are you thinking about, I put that team together, I know this is coming. I.

[Rob Levin]

No, I mean, you do, because every new script is like, it's the possibility of what it's going to be. And I think the thing that's frustrating about this new Batman book is like, I'm living in the future, and I'm so excited for people to get there. Like, I'm excited for Jorge to draw this future issue, and I'm excited for it to be done so people can read it very early on. Like issues four and five, it's mostly we're doing standalone stories, so they all build to a larger narrative, but each issue is kind of self contained. And then four and five is our first two parter. And I love it so much. And I've just been like, that's not gonna be until I can't do the math. You know, December, January, until anybody reads it. And I'm just like, it's just gonna keep getting better. Like, if you think 1 and 2 are good, just like, just wait. We're building. And as you start to see all these connections pay off and as the story gets bigger and bigger, even while staying standalone, it's really, really satisfying. And Jorge is already great. I'm not gonna say he's leveling up with every issue, but he's pushing himself. He's doing different stuff. And so I think each issue of this book to say something very cliche, is my favorite. And then I'm really excited for the next one because I know the possibility of what it could be. And I want everyone to read it sooner. But also, please don't speed up my production timeline. It's very hard to make comics. They take a long time.

[Coy John Dreux]

Yeah, I love that as a Batman fan, you still get to be a Batman fan. Like, I always worry about people when they're working at that high level with so many moving parts, There is still joy in it. So it's good to hear that you still read the books and get to be, oh, Batman's adventuring. And with Batman there, there is an element of universality, which we've talked about. But how do you find these pairings that you find suit each other well? When you see someone like a Matt Fraction and Jorge Jimenez, and how do you, in your mind's eye, go like this style and this writer's ideas, they would coalesce well, how do you map that out in the future?

[Rob Levin]

I mean, a lot of it is you hope it's going to work, right? Matt is super talented on his own. Jorge is super talented on his own. But you don't know if they're going to gel. It's the kind of thing where until you're actually doing it and producing it, and sometimes pretty early, and I think we did here, but sometimes it might take a few issues. You're like, it's not quite what I thought. But then you get to issue three or four or five, you're like, oh, they found it. And some of that is the alchemy. And some of that is also people learning to work with each other. Because a writer writes a script, ideally thinking about the artist in mind and the artist interprets it. But in seeing that interpretation, hopefully the writer is then going, oh, I see what I need to do to play into this strength or avoid this weakness or whatever it is. Those guys don't really have a lot of weaknesses. So this makes my job a lot easier. But I think a lot of it is adaptability on both sides and trying to say, okay, as a writer, I want to tell this story. But like a script, a comic script is a terrible document. Even the best written comic scripts, they're not comics. They're blueprints for a thing. The artist brings so much to the table, and the choices they make inform whether your brilliant script is actually brilliant or did it make a bad comic with wrong choices. So it's that balance and each person sort of figuring out how they can allow the other person to do their best work. And it's a lot of conversation back and forth. But sometimes it's really easy, like on this book. So They've made my job easy. So if you like the book, I'll say thank you if you give me credit. But mostly I'll just point that direction. Matt and Hori and to my own Clayton, all the credit. Yeah.

[Coy John Dreux]

What we're doing, adapting Year one and the Long Halloween and Dark Victory, it keeps striking me that listening to it and experiencing it in a new way. For me, who's memorize these stories, they're some of the most timeless stories in my opinion in comic books. It strikes me how timeless they are, but how specific to a time they feel, depending on the lens you're looking at them through. And there's an element of timelessness, I think, to almost all Batman stories because of what we talked about as malleability. What do you think it is about any one of these, you know, Long Halloween, Dark Victory that makes these stories so timeless and so approachable to new viewers or returning comic fans?

[Rob Levin]

I think they all to talk about all three of them, they all speak to the core of the character. And I think they don't require any prior knowledge. They just are. Do you want to understand what Batman's about? You could read any of them. Doesn't matter in what order. You could just check it out and be like, I understand who this guy is. And I think Year one is a really great example of that. By being an early Batman story is you go from this guy who's been out in the world training for years, putting on a bat costume and fighting crime in like a terribly crime ridden city, and you see him fail and you see him succeed and you see how he operates and how he changes his approach. Like that is just, you know, Batman doesn't have superpowers, as we all know. He has money and training and that's it. And that's a book where he just has to say, like, I have to use all my training to like not die out there so I can do my mission, which is to help people from getting hurt to clean up the city. And I think that's extremely relatable. Even if you or I aren't gonna put on a costume or just fight crime in general, costume or not, it's just like, oh, this guy's really doing this. And he's not perfect and he has weaknesses and vulnerabilities and yet he overcomes. That's sort of the great strength of Batman is even without any of the powers, any of the get out of jail free cards, he just keeps going and he finds a way to win and to, you know, help people and stop bad things from happening.

[Coy John Dreux]

Last question for you. I love that Dark Victory is approachable, but also a legacy book like you can go the journey we've been on where it's the third act of this ongoing story, but also could be something you just find your way into being someone that is so versed in all things Batman. If someone's never been in a comic book store and they've just gone on this journey with us, any advice, any books or any telltale ways into comics you'd recommend people check out or anything.

[Rob Levin]

In specific on the books front. Not to toot Jeph Loeb's horn, but obviously there's the Catwoman when in Rome series and the Long Halloween. The Last Halloween, which is the final story in the Long Halloween saga, is a great starting point. But also Hush that he did with Jim Lee. Obviously we did a sequel to that. Hush2 Some people may have heard of. But Hush is a real gateway drug for a lot of people because it's a great Batman story. It features the entire rogues gallery, most if not all of the bat family at the time. It's a real like, you want to just get a taste of everything Batman. It's an excellent book and obviously it's beautiful and super well written and relevant since we did a sequel. Sure, those are definitely some books you can start with, but I think really any of the Batman number ones, the Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo New 52 version, the Tom King and David Finch rebirth, even the start of James Run, which I can't tell you the issue number offhand. 88, maybe 85. 86 sounds right. 86, yeah. I think there is a way to read those as if they're number ones, but the number ones are just easier to find. But if you're Looking for Books, Volume 1 by James Tynan and Jorge Jimenez and Guillaume March and all the other artists on that book. But how to find comics is really just go to the shops. I think a lot of people, even if they have access to comic shops, they think there's something really like there's a huge barrier to entry or no one's going to help them when they get to the store. Most shops actually want to help people. They want to give you a reading experience you like, but also convert you into a customer that's going to come back and say, hey, I really liked this book. What else do you have? And they'll be more than happy to recommend, I'm sure. You know, from doing what you do.

[Coy John Dreux]

I'm so Happy.

[Rob Levin]

The best thing in the world is somebody says, hey, I want to read more comics. You say, oh, start with this. And they come back to you more excited than when they first asked. And they say, what else you got? And you see it's in them now. They're alive.

[Coy John Dreux]

So special.

[Rob Levin]

And I think that's. You can get that from comic shops. And so it's just go to the shop and say, hey, I read this or I listened to this. What else do you have? And I think you'll be able to get a ton of recommendations and hopefully become a lifelong comics reader.

[Coy John Dreux]

I love the books you're putting out, man. I know you don't take too much credit for them, but overseeing the so many varied tones and collaborations and the nature of all these books and the consistency of what you're doing is so impressive, and I really appreciate it, man.

[Rob Levin]

Thank you.

[Coy John Dreux]

Like to thank Rob Levin for joining us today. It was fascinating to hear what a group editor does, how many books he oversees, what it is to look at all of Gotham. Now let's bring out another man who had to look at all of Gotham with Dark Victory, our director, Fred Greenhalgh. Today we're sitting down with Fred Greenhalgh, the director and co writer of DC High Volume Batman. You know him for Harley Quinn and Joker for X files cold cases 4 lock and key. So much great work. How are you, man?

[Fred Greenhalgh]

I am having a great time. I love, I love what I do so much as you can hear in some of the work and love talking about about it, so. And all the stuff you do coy on this and the other DC podcast, so what a fun thing we get to do, dude.

[Coy John Dreux]

We get to talk nerd stuff for a living and make nerd stuff for a living. It is so special that, like, all roads led. I remember hiding my Batman T shirts and now it's this era. How did you get started in audio? Like, but I want to get to nerd stuff after. But audio, you are so honed in. You're like a legend in the audio space. How did that get started?

[Fred Greenhalgh]

Well, you know, when I was 10, there's a large blob that attacked my town and I found out if I use the microphone into a pa, I could blow it into bits. And then it became Microphone Man. No, but I, I did actually, you know, I have a lot of. I do like to really connect past, present and future, which maybe is actually a good segue to our project too. So I found one of the Superman records on vinyl of one of the Old time radio errors, I don't know when they were shipped. So I, I don't know that as a kid I was like cognizant of like what that was, but it was, it was a thing that I partook of. And then there's stuff like, you know, what Dirk Maggs was doing with Batman Nightfall that came out in the 90s that I kind of rediscovered while I was in college. So I think I was always baked to be a storyteller, but I didn't know audio was a thing you could do very randomly. In college I ended up with some sound guys shadowing, doing location recording in the French quarter of New Orleans. And like after that day I was like, whoa, you can like create a world with sounds, man. And I think since then it sort of like, like altered my brain in a way and, and I've just kept, kept going 20 years. So here we are.

[Coy John Dreux]

It's so fun to hear people love their work and clearly loving the work. What is it about this medium that keeps you creatively fulfilled? Like, what is it about that keeps you wanting more and more and more?

[Fred Greenhalgh]

Yeah, I think there, you know, people talk about different like learning styles or way that different humans like interact with the world. And what you don't necessarily hear about a lot are people who sound really like, kind of like see the world through sound. And that's something I, I didn't even have a name for it until I started to hang out with other weird sound people. And so I mean, to go back one level further just to like storytelling in general. Storytelling I consider is like the only actual superpower that humans have. Like, we're not the fastest or smartest animal on the planet, but we have this unique ability to carry forward stories and you build knowledge over time, which is so cool. And I think for me then connected with how does sound work and how. Because I really, you know, truly believe on the kind of the physiological level it can, it affects us and you know, and music is so important to human culture. And so I think there's just so much that's possible. Nothing ever feels like it's always new because there's, there's even having done this now for 20 years this may there, it's really feels like we're just getting going. We're still discovering new stuff. There's new technology to play with, there's new ways of approaching things and, and when you hear a listener, someone who's like, I really like, was transported into this world through like sound effects, you're just like that is such a cool thing. Like, yay. So, yeah, I think, I think people, other people in the show have used the word magic before. And I do. It is like the magician and I'm the magician who will tell you all the tricks. I know because it's still so powerful that we can somehow create some sort of vibrational frequency that projects an image into your brain. Like that's.

[Coy John Dreux]

Yeah, I, I totally. And I so rarely hear people. I say this all the time. It's not our opposable thumbs. It's the combination of empathy and storytelling. It's the fact that we can build cumulative knowledge. And that's why I love comics. Because comics are this long form, decades long, almost century long running story that only builds on the human experience. And I love that this is a new way to tell that story and, and to tell stories I've been in love with for decades. What is it about DC high volume Batman that drew you in and how did you first get involved with this particular story?

[Fred Greenhalgh]

Yeah, so, you know, I've had been very grateful and blessed to have had the chance to work with the DC team and get to know them, you know, over time and across different projects and. Yeah. And you know, we mentioned Harley Quinn and the Joker Sound Mind with Eli Horowitz. That's a really, really fun show to work on. And this idea that though the things that are in year One Long Halloween, Dark Victory in particular have affected, have had their own adaptations in some sort or affected adaptations, but the true kind of canonical version of it doesn't yet exist, was just really such a fun idea. And so it was sort of a different kind of creative challenge. But one is just very humbling too because I think as a creative that was always, you know, and I've heard other people in the show talk about how we use the graphic novel references and really treat them like kind of as our scripture here, because that's always the job is like, how do we truly honor what's here and create an experience that feels fresh and is uniquely for audio, but is not like a take on this original thing. It's the honoring the original thing. And so, you know, and I guess there's one other layer to this. So, you know, I previously worked on Locke and Key. I worked on these two, what are ultimately called X Files Cold Cases and X Files Stolen lives, which were IDW comics in the X Files universe as well as ElfQuest. And what I thought was really cool is how these audio adaptations can stay very, very close to the source material. So Then when you do have a film or TV adaptation and it does new stuff, like, that's fine. And like film and TV always has to do that because it's just such a different medium. And so we, but we can sort of be like. But we're like the truest adaptation you're gonna get because of, you know, just because of how audio works and how we're able to approach it. And so that, yeah, it's just a really fun. It gets me really excited because you look at like, just how vast comic stories are and how many storylines there are to tell, and it's sort of like this is just a completely additive other dimension of storytelling that can exist. Like, I also watch plenty of animation and live action, et cetera, and that stuff is going to keep being made and keep doing cool things. But there's also, this is something that's very uniquely powerful in audio that both allows people who are familiar with the original material to experience it again and people who have not gotten to the original material for some reason to find their way in. And that's just such a rewarding thing to be able to do.

[Coy John Dreux]

Now, I know on this big of a project, you're already a man of many, many hats. Director, co writer, producer. What's it like to wear that many hats? And what's a day in the life of that role, like, or roles?

[Fred Greenhalgh]

So I, I am involved in a lot of different things, I think. I think you hear about this, like, and, you know, good film directors is that they kind of know what everybody on set does to some extent. Like, and if anything, that gives them a lot of respect for each person. It's not like, oh, I could do your job, because I know a little bit about being a dp, but it's more about just having a real deep respect for what everybody does. And so that's sort of definitely my, my point of view and it's sort of like as a team leader and so. And also I do have the skills to go in really granularly. So, like, for example, yeah, like yesterday we were with one of the performers recording a couple little extra bits. Like I had. There were really specific ideas about why we recorded those specific extra bits. So rather than like, have someone else be like, why did you record this? Where is this going? Like, I chop up 13 files and tell people exactly where they go. Other times I'm doing way zoomed out, high level, like, you know, how do we make these things, you know, with 12 people involved for the timeline that we need? And, and Getting into the, you know, necessary but less fun bits like budgeting and the logistics with like, you know, we have a cast that's north of 40 people at this point. So I, I kind of. It's like, it's a. It changes moment by moment. I'd say probably my happy place is always working is really the talent. Like, that's probably my. Where it's really like a flow state where you're like, you're just there on this project. It was a lot of one on one records just, just because of the way it was set up and the way the stories were structured. But then to just have these moments where you're just. You had Jason Spiessak on earlier and we're just like, we're just talking about the Batman voice, just two of us and he's. It was funny to see him on, on here, on, on, on our, on our, you know, the companion show in his, like, in like a nice, well lit studio. And like, and I told him, like, I'm used to you in your like, dark cave. Bruce came out to the world. Like, he's his, like his, his, his creative space where he does his voiceovers is such a, Is a very, very moody and I'm just used to us. And it's like, it's also really fun. Like sometimes we have the cameras on, other times it's nice to have cameras off when we, you know, do a lot of these directing sessions over zoom. Because when you're just hearing the voice, you really, you don't get distracted by this other stuff. You're really just listening. Like, what is your voice communicating? And am I in my head? Am I, am I experiencing the picture that I want the listener to have? And so, so it is now it.

[Coy John Dreux]

Seems like I already know the answer to this, but how big a Batman fan were you beforehand? Like, the, the nerdiness seems strong, but were you like a devout bat guy or what was the level?

[Fred Greenhalgh]

Well, yeah, on some level I, I'm not any. I'm not like a constant Batman reader. If I'm going to confess. I think on some level I'm kind of like a good. I definitely get passionate, enthusiastic for lots of things. And so it's just like, oh, why me up? Let me go. But like, yeah, like I grew up, like, probably, you know, the Tim Burton Batman movies were the ones that were like, in the culture when I was young. And so that was probably my first exposure to it and you know, getting the Batman Happy Meals and all that sort of thing. And so I would say, yeah, it's actually within, you know, the last 10 years that I've actually started getting into the comics. So. Yeah, that's. That's my confession about that. Yeah, you were saying earlier about, you know, stories and how the comics have been going on for, you know, 100 years. Like, that's what's really fun, actually, especially now that, like, on this project, I've read, you know, much more Batman from different eras, and to really see issues of the times, like, kind of, you know, getting addressed in the comics and then us going back to saying, okay, this is. This is like 80s 90s title. Gosh, is this. It's amazing how much is still relevant from, like, 40 years ago now. But also, like, can I make. Is this. You know, how do we make this all still work? So there's. There's a lot of. Yeah, there's a lot of fun in and. Yeah, and kind of connecting to the larger history as we go through the stories.

[Coy John Dreux]

You were talking about reading more now, has that changed your actual approach to reading? When you're reading the panels that you're not adapting, do you still see sound cues? Do you hear the voice actors? Like, has it changed your read?

[Fred Greenhalgh]

Yeah, it has. Well, I'll say you did remind me, when I was very young, I did like, I used to. I went to a public school that, frankly, wasn't super challenging. And so I would, like, be in the back, like, doodling in school, and I would make sound effects. So I didn't know that I was going to be like this, but I did. And so I think, like, I don't know what this is actually. Probably an interesting comic book fan question is, do people hear those sounds? Because I definitely always did. If I ever were to see a comic panel with, like, either sound effects literally written on the page or just implied in my head, I am 100% going boom, smack, Pam, etc. And so it's sort of plus one on that. Yes. So now, especially now that I have the voices of this. Of these people, and that's another really cool thing. And we. Is the world that we're really building with DC high volume. Batman is. Is. Is like. We're kind of taking this, like, repertory theater approach to building out the. The world, and it sort of, you know, builds, you know, volume by volum. And so can I read a Batman comic without hearing the voice of one of her performers in my head? No, it is. It is, Mel. It is. You know, my brain chemistry can't get that out of there anymore.

[Coy John Dreux]

I Definitely on a monopoeia too. Like, I. I experienced the. The journey of the. The audio of the visual is such a key part of the comic read for me, even if it isn't there and that. I think it's. One of the things that drew me to this was I'm now getting to hear what other people's versions of that are. Like, the design of it. I would not have necessarily known Harumph to sound like the way that Jason might do it, but now I'm like, oh, I've got that cue. When you're playing around with the different levels, is it the directing of those audio cues? How much does it change between the day and then the final product? When you're hearing the mix, like, do you kind of have a mapped out version of how you hear it in your head versus the. The full sound mix? And then is it surprising when you hear the full cinema come together?

[Fred Greenhalgh]

Yeah, both of those things are true. So I definitely, when I approach something, have sort of a sense of how I think it will sound, and I would say that's greater now. So having, you know, we're now wrapping up, you know, Dark Victory, which will be 30 episodes of this. And so definitely on the earlier, like, the Year One phase, there was a much more trying to figure out what the tone should be or how we were going to do this. There was quite a bit more experimentation to sort of lock in kind of the feel of it. And then I would say, like, the experience of directing Dark Victory was, you know, there. It adds and expands so much, but, you know, there's a little bit more of, like, I think, like, I would. I would read the script. I kind of hear Jason's voice, and I kind of think this is what he's going to do with it and that. But then there'll be like a few. There's some really specific things that were fun to try to go in different directions. So I think, like, one of the things that's really distinctive of Dark Victory is the relationship with Selena and Heartbreaker and. And both. And. And choosing, like, how. How emotionally guarded is Selena gonna be? Or is she gonna be more like, you know, bruce, you sucker, or is she gonna be more like, you know, is she. What. What emotional response would you have with her? So there definitely were things that we. And sometimes we discover those in the room. Like, you know, I'll have an idea, but I'll never finish a session with an actor. Would I be like, is this. Is there any ideas you want to try? Or is there Anything else to try here? So I'm always like, always like asking for yes ands from everybody we're working with. And the same is true of the sound design team and especially Sam Ewing with the music just always surprises me. So I think that's the right. The joy is that if you kind of get the right people in the room, the end product is this piece that's elevated beyond what any of us originally could have envisioned on our own. And that's, that's the best thing in the world.

[Coy John Dreux]

All of their magic blending with yours.

[Fred Greenhalgh]

Like this is like the super group that has happened form Voltron.

[Coy John Dreux]

And you've got a whole thing now with Locke and key being almost 10 years ago now. How have technological swings changed and how do you think you've most changed going through the process of DC High Volume Batman?

[Fred Greenhalgh]

Yeah, I mean, that was a very pioneering project. Again I mentioned earlier, like Dirk Mags going back at least to the 90s and you know, early radio serials from the 5th and you know, oral tradition since time immemorial. So, you know, all we're doing is continuing to reinvent storytelling. But for its time, Al, AK and Key was very innovative. It was before Audible Originals were called Audible Originals. We did get to do something very cool on that project, which was to record it on location. And so we actually had actors in a spooky house running around recording it and getting that kind of like very visceral physical reality of being in a house. And Brennan Lee Mulligan, who's gone off to do all sorts of wonderful things, he was shoved in the trunk of a car for one scene and just some real visceral approach to capturing the sound, which is not what we're doing on this project. And I don't know, I think my big lesson of having been doing this for a long time is that there are just so many ways to do it. And each project is unique and has its own unique approach. And so I just try to be super open minded and yeah, bring all the like, years of experience, but always kind of come with that sort of Zen beginner's mind because you don't know like what unique challenges a specific project would have. And so, yeah, so I think, yeah, just how much fiction has been embraced since then and the fact they're able to do something like DC High Volume is tremendously exciting. And, you know, the unique challenges of doing it, committing to like a weekly show and, and being so integrated with, with D.C. has been wonderful. So it's, it just feels like, yeah, it's just been a real wonderful ride to have been part of this industry kind of growing and morphing and evolving with, with all the changes in the world now.

[Coy John Dreux]

This is a project with so many highlights and so many big moments. From the listening standpoint for me, I had never felt, and I've talked about this before in the show, but I've never felt the moment of Baby Gordon quite the same. Like that to me was so transformative in audio. Do you have any from the other side moments that you, when it all came together, like a highlight moment of oh, we did it. This is something special.

[Fred Greenhalgh]

The I believe in Batman at the end of Long Halloween is one of my favorite moments because it's like, I mean, even just the evolution of, you know, Bruce's journey from I shall become a bat to I believe in Batman and then how, you know, Batman can't be alone by the end of Dark Victory, like to kind of sort of live in his. The psychology of like being cognizant that you're creating a mythology around you is so cool and to sort of. I think those moments work because it's not just like that moment. It's like that you've been listening to this thing and building this world and all these things have happened for like that 10 second scene and that. And it's sort of like that scene is sort of like, like a capstone. So yeah, those are, those are, those are, yeah, I think those two. And we're in Dark Victory. I don't know. I mean, I think. And I think the last scene with, with Dick Grayson slash Robin is pretty, pretty profound. So yeah, I think, you know, they, they each of these really speak to each other. They're really, it's a really cool, you know, if you want to call it a trilogy, a really great opening, you know, salvo of what, of what this world can all be about.

[Coy John Dreux]

I agree in the build is strong. Like you get different themes and elements, but they do feel cumulative.

[Fred Greenhalgh]

Well, I have to have to thank the editors at dc have put in so much thought into, into that because. Yeah, a lot of it is. Yeah. The cohesion of the stories and how the stories interrelate and how they build on each other in really satisfying ways is a really big part of that.

[Coy John Dreux]

In that same vein, what would you want folks that are new or veterans of Batman to get out of this three story journey? Like, what themes or, or morals or elements do you hope people take away from DCI volume Batman?

[Fred Greenhalgh]

Yeah, well, one thing, I mean, you know, we Live in a world where, like, not all the problems are fixed. And what's. And it's interesting, I think at the end of the day, like, yes, Bruce Wayne is a billionaire and he has all these things going for him, but he's a guy who decided that, you know, the world's kind of screwed up. I need to do something about it. And like, especially in the story of year one, that's sort of the story of Gordon too. And Gordon is not a guy without his own moral failings and the way that those are. They're treated with such humanity. And, you know, I don't know, I find it very, very inspiring because I think that's, you know, whatever world way we. We are ourselves out in the world and, and dealing with the world's problems, to be like, hey, I. It's not to say that there isn't a Batman out in the real world, but I'm the Batman.

[Coy John Dreux]

I'm the. I'm the.

[Fred Greenhalgh]

Or the Batgirl or whatever you want to be, but someone has to. If. If you don't. If you're not comfortable, like, with what's going on within the world, you shouldn't be waiting around for someone else to, like, don the cape. Like, you got to put that cape on yourself. And so I, In a weird way, I. The kind of like, Yeah, I find it very inspiring actually to like, be like, okay, I didn't like what happened to my parents and I gotta do something about it and I gotta have a bunch of cool toys to do it. But it's like that there's a real. And then like, the way he sort of adopts the city over time. And it's just a really. Yeah, it's. I don't know, Very inspiring material, actually.

[Coy John Dreux]

I totally agree. And I really think the variations of Batman show how, like, absolute Batman right now, like, it's a. It's a Batman without the billions. And Scott Snyder's writing a take that you can go like, like, all right, take that away. He's still Batman. And I think there's an integrity to the character that is so interesting that you can be so flexible with him. But in the medium of audio, DC high volume Batman and beyond, where do you see things going? Since you've got such a 20 year experience in May, you said that journey, where do you see things going next and how do you see things evolving?

[Fred Greenhalgh]

Yeah, I mean, I hope this is a excellent roadmap and I applaud Everybody at D.C. because it takes a village or maybe a small city to make One of these. And to have people really, truly believe in this concept, to build it out as big as we have, I think, yeah, if you're anyone with any cool stories out there, you should be looking at DC High Volume and saying, why aren't we doing that? Because it's, I think, you know, the podcasting space. I listen to plenty of talk podcasts myself, but there's like, there's a lot of talk podcasts out there. There is only one DC High Volume Batman or, you know, or very, very few things that are, you know, this level of. Of commitment to, you know, putting out new material and at this level of production values and do. And just doing it in a really way. Way that's really smart and really integrated with a lot of other things that are happening. And so I just, I just think this is, to me, yeah, having done this for a while, there's been a lot of projects like, hey, as a lark, let's do this cool little thing. But I didn't really feel like it was building like the infrastructure to like, really be like. But we could do. You could do this for every superhero. You could do this for all sorts of com. Like, this is. This is. This really. To me, this is like, yeah, this is what the. This is a. You know, what the future looks like is more things like DC High Volume Batman.

[Coy John Dreux]

Yeah, I really, I agree. I'd love to see more fiction. I'd love to see more of these stories. I'd love to experience it because this has been so special and in large part thanks to your work, man. So thank you so much for loving on this character. Thank you for being someone who experiences the world through audio to bring to us and the work. All shows here. It's beautiful. I really appreciate it.

[Fred Greenhalgh]

It. Oh, well, I mean, it would. Wouldn't mean anything without people who, who, who listen to it and appreciate it. And yeah, I think it's just a. A real win. Win for everybody.

[Coy John Dreux]

Oro Boris and nerd demands. We're just making art. I'd like to thank Rob Levin and Fred Greenhal for joining me today. It is incredible talking with passionate bat fans always. And especially when they're so creative and make such cool art. Speaking of cool bat art, let's go from last month's Dick Grayson centric recommendations to this month's Robin centric recommendations, because we've seen that arc happen now through Dark Victory. So let's do some Robin Rex. First up, this might not sound like a Robin wreck, but trust me, it is. I want to recommend Batman Superman World's Finest, which is publishing right now. It is the current Batman Superman World's Finest run from Mark Wade and Dan Mora. And it is so good and there's so much great Dick Grayson Robin in it. That feels so immediately classic. Whether it's Mark Wade's writing, which is like you see that name, you pick it up, up, or Dan Mora's art, which is so immediately iconic and classic and important. This feels like a formative Robin story. This is the first use of the Flying Graysons in this canon and it is so wonderful to behold with that Dan Mora art. It is such a great decrease and story. In addition to being a Batman Superman story, their names are on the title. But this Robin stuff, really good. Check it out. Highly recommend it also check out Robin Year one. Chuck Dixon is another name like Mark Wade, where if you see Chuck Dixon, you get that book. Pick up Robin Year one. To this day, some of the most iconic visuals of what I see Dick Grayson Robin as. That yellow cape in this book is still how I see Dick Grayson Robin when I picture any era of the character. So highly recommend. Chuck Dixon's Robin Year one, as well as Mark Wade and Dan Mora's Batman Superman World's Finest. You can get both of those books on the DC Universe Infinite app, which is DC's online comic book catalog. Tens of thousands of comic books. All incredible. So much great DC stuff, lots and lots of Robin, but so much to explore on the DC Universe Infinite app. But also if you want to be your Robin to your neighborhood and you want to support the Batman of your neighborhood. It's a thin metaphor, but that Batman is your local comic shop. They're fighting for justice and vengeance and they're doing their best day in and day out. They are the the probably more altruistic vigilantes of the neighborhood. Go be Robin, support them, go to your local comic shop, help them out, be a sidekick to your community by buying some comics and you might find me there. I love going to local comic shops. Anytime I travel, the moment I land, I hotel and I look around and if it's in like five miles, I'm going to that shop and then I walk back reading comics. So find me at your local comic shop. And if you can't find me at your local comic shop because I'm not there that day, I hope I'm there. But if I'm not there, please, please find me online at coyjonreau, on YouTube, on Instagram, on TikTok, on far too many apps, frankly. It's exhausting. But I would prefer to meet you at a con or a comic store. But if you can't find me, hunt me down online. Message me, let's talk comic books. Please find me there. And this might conclude this batch of DC High Volume Batman interviews. But keep a keen ear peeled for more of this voice that you've heard right here on D.C. high volume Batman in a different way. A little future Easter egg. And when you hear it, when you find it, send me a message on the aforementioned social medias. Thank you. I really appreciate you guys being here for this journey. I will see you very soon somewhere and you'll hear me somewhere. I'd say I'd hear you, but that'd be creepy. But yes, find me on the Internet. Much appreciated. Thank you for listening. And thank you as always to Comic Books for existing. Thank you for joining us in this special episode of DC High Volume Batman. Executive producers for Realm, Carly Miliori and Roshan Singh Sambi. Executive producers for DC Mike Palata and Victor Diaz Producer Adam Boffa Technical director Insung Huang Engineers Jason Gambrell and Echo Mountain. Hosted by me, Koi Jondreau. Special thanks to Fred Greenhalgh, Kailyn West, Olivia d', Arienzo, Sam Ewing and to Comic Books for Existence Casting.