This past June, Dave Sim of Kitchener, Ontario – arguably the father of independent comics – began a Kickstarter to solicit funding to finance the conversion of his best-selling black and white 1982 graphic novel “High Society” into Audio Digital format. In addition to digitally remastering all 500 pages from the original artwork, original negatives, and reconstructions (130 pages of the original negatives were destroyed in an apartment fire in August), Sim himself will be recording all-new audio, personally reading all of the narration and performing the voices of his entire cast of dozens of characters. High Society Audio Digital is perhaps indie comics’ most anticipated project.
Sim was looking for six grand from the Kickstarter to fund the project. He received more than ten times that amount, making it all the more likely that the entire six-thousand page run of his Cerebus series will eventually see the light of day in audio digital.
Dave Sim has long been a controversial figure. His unconventional views on religion, gender and politics have perhaps overshadowed his accomplishments in the sphere of independent comics. Still, with 300 regular issues published between 1977-2004, Sim’s self-published comic Cerebus still stands as the longest-running comic series ever, and quite possibly the longest persistent narrative in any medium in the history of humanity.
The project’s trailer can be viewed at http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/189735833/cerebus-high-society-special-audio-visual-digital, and the first 20-page installment of High Society will be available as a free download starting October 10 at www.cerebusdownloads.com.