PUBLISHER: PENGUIN AUDIO AND REBELLION PUBLISHING| RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
The Ballad of Halo Jones is considered one of Alan Moore’s best sci-fi tales, so it was perhaps inevitable that Penguin Audio and Rebellion Publishing would pick this popular story as one of the first 2000AD graphic novels to get an audio book treatment.
It is the tale of Halo, a young 50th Century woman trapped in generational unemployment on an Earth that has become ruined thanks to hyper-capitalism and war. The story begins with Halo being presented as one of history’s legends; a Robin Hood or Dick Turpin like figure for whom the legends never stop. The truth is much more fantastic and mundane. Halo is an ordinary woman who became part of extraordinary things.
The comic strip has been collected into a graphic novel format many times since its original run, and though Alan Moore’s writing is incredibly strong, the story owes an awful lot of Ian Gibson’s art; his smooth lines and eye-catching art builds Halo’s gritty and failing world; so the challenge here was how does one tell such an obviously visual story as a full-cast audio drama. The result is simply stunning.
The answer was to through an awful lot of very good voice talent at the production. Sheila Atim completely nails the role, bringing Halo’s humanity to the forefront of the drama. Halo is just a girl in a world bigger than she can ever be and Atim gets the voice and strength of the character perfectly. The production and flow of the story is brilliantly done and this is easily one of the best adaptations of the story we’ve ever seen.
They are a handful of highly visual moments that are handled very well by the sound design and acting, though those familiar with the text may find the pay-off in these moments less powerful. Such is the cost of relying purely on audio to tell the story.
The story originally appeared in the pages of the Galaxy’s Greatest comic, 2000AD way back in 1984. This more considered and steady tale is widely cited as one of the stories that took 2000AD away from being a collection of power fantasies for an adolescent audience and into the realms of something more memorable. Halo Jones is a story that everyone should experience and if you’re simply not a comic book reader (and you missed the stage play), then now is your chance to discover this science fiction classic.
