Stay Tuned, True Believers!

July 1, 2010 7:35 PM

Is there such a thing as Comic Books On Tape? What are some sources of (free-ish) audio material to occupy my young son on a road trip?

I have a 4-year-old son who loves superheroes and loves stories but hates long car trips. Seriously. "Are We There Yet?" has no culturally ironic meaning for this child.

Are there any sites (paid or preferably free) that post MP3s of comic book stories (or even old radio shows of Batman and Superman) that I could snag for my MP3 player to listen to on the road? I have a recollection of Stan Lee reading Spiderman stories on old 45s that would do the kitschy trick.

He also likes Knights, Scooby Doo, Buzz Lightyear and all manner of interesting narrative. Folktales and Fables have not done the trick so far. Is there anything pop-culture-y that is floating around on those interwebs I've heard so much about?

posted by Overzealous to Computers & Internet (15 answers total)

There's a sizable audio books section in the children's area in my local library - maybe yours too? Which, conveniently enough, I can search online and reserve and all that great stuff. That's what I do for my son - I don't know about comic book stories, but I have to imagine they'd have some. They have spongebob, I know that much :)
posted by lemniskate at 7:41 PM on July 1, 2010

I don't know if your library offers this but mine has downloadable audiobooks [bit of a pain to get through all the hurdles, but decent stuff] and browsing the kid's section I'm seeing stuff like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Curious George and Where the Wild Things Are. I was hoping to find something like Captain Underpants but I did not. You might want to see if your library has anything similar.
posted by jessamyn at 7:42 PM on July 1, 2010

Best answer: Have you looked through the archive for Kiddie Records Weekly? I love The Great Gildersleeve reading "Gerald McBoing Boing". Bugs Bunny, "My Favorite Martian" and Dick Tracy are in there too.
posted by MonkeyToes at 7:44 PM on July 1, 2010 [2 favorites]

Superman from Archive.org. They have lots of other Old Time Radio stuff as well.
posted by theichibun at 7:44 PM on July 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

Response by poster: Oh man, Monkeytoes. Kiddie Records Weekly is good stuff. Keep 'em comin'
posted by Overzealous at 7:59 PM on July 1, 2010

Graphic Audio specializes in precisely what you describe! Check out their DC collection, for example.
posted by mayhap at 8:00 PM on July 1, 2010 [2 favorites]

Not to be a jerk but... how about books?
posted by dirtynumbangelboy at 8:19 PM on July 1, 2010

Response by poster: Not to be another jerk Dirtynumbangelboy, but he can't read yet and I'll be driving a car.

Don't get me wrong, we read tons of books every day (those bold "I Read To My Child" bumper stickers are genuinely shocking to me...they might as well say "I Breathe The Air" or "I Eat Food" in my household), but in the car I'm looking for somebody to help me out.
posted by Overzealous at 8:42 PM on July 1, 2010

Have you considered recording yourself performing some of his favorites? Most computers are capable of this. Plus, what a treasure for him later!
posted by ColdChef at 9:13 PM on July 1, 2010

They Might Be Giants Podcast for Families, big hit with my (at the time) 5 year old nephew.
posted by artlung at 10:32 PM on July 1, 2010

Maybe Jim Dale's audiobooks of the Harry Potter series? It's a name you son's probably familiar with, Jim does a great job on the books - doing individual voices for all the characters, and you can probably check one out free from your local library.
posted by word_virus at 6:51 AM on July 2, 2010

Blatant self-link, but there be free audiobooks by Daniel Pinkwater online.
posted by greatgefilte at 8:50 AM on July 2, 2010

Seconding Graphic Audio and, in fact, I happen to know the voice of Superman. These are exactly what you are looking for although they might be a little violent for a four year old.

I must admit it is fun to ask my friend to say things in the voice of Superman.
posted by josher71 at 9:20 AM on July 2, 2010

Response by poster: I took a look at Graphic Audio and I think the future/13-year-old version of my son will be way into them, but I think the stories are a bit too mature for my current audience. Thanks though, this is pretty much exactly what I asked for (even if it is not exactly what I'm looking for).
posted by Overzealous at 11:29 AM on July 2, 2010

Response by poster: A couple more have been tracked down: This site has lots of great old Power Records 45s digitized. See also this site called Power Records Plaza.
posted by Overzealous at 5:22 AM on December 11, 2010