Comic Readers Rockin' Out With Writer Approved Spotify Playlists!

Whether it’s setting the Danny Elfman Batman theme as a ringtone or spam-listening to the DC Animated Universe music themes, music and comics have gone hand-in-hand for decades. And now, thanks to the music streaming app Spotify, the new DC Comics: REBIRTH launch has it’s very own playlists for the reading pleasure of DC fans everywhere.

MC Alfred is in the house! Source

REBIRTH marks the second time that DC has rebooted its stories, the first being the New 52 in 2011, which received very mixed reviews. The teasers of REBIRTH began late last year, when DC Comics co-publisher, Dan Didio, tweeted an image of a blue curtain with “Rebirth” plastered across it. The teasers (and outcry from exasperated fans) continued until May 25th, when DC Universe: REBIRTH #1 was finally released and met with great reception, even receiving 9.5/10 from IGN.

You know its good when ING approves it. Source

But where does Spotify come into it, you ask? Well you have the artists of the series to thank for that, specifically Gary Frank (Avengers, Supergirl, Superman: Secret Origins) and Joe Prado (Aquaman, Justice League, Green Lantern: Brightest Day), just to name a few. The Spotify playlists themselves were actually songs that these artists listened to while they worked on the REBIRTH comics. Some of the songs are less mainstream, like Higher by Creed and Runnin’ Out Of Fools by Neko Case, but some newer songs like Crazy=Genius by Panic! At The Disco, Psycho by Muse and Makeshift Love by Good Charlotte feature as well.

There’s actually a lot of significance behind the music that writers listen to. According to Dr. Susan Perry, author of Writing in Flow: Keys to Enhanced Creativity, music can increase a writer’s design capabilities due to its ability to evoke powerful emotional and physiological responses. Dr. Perry states that the change in a person’s design ‘flow’ is due to music freeing them from rationality and influencing their imagination through their emotions.

For example: Whitney Houston’s I Will Always Love You is synonymous with The Bodyguard, but what if it were Memory Remains by Metallica instead? How about the Game of Thrones score on Home and Away? All music provokes a reaction from a person and this sort of reaction is what gives writers, artists, and designers alike the drive and inspiration needed for their work.

Take Joe Prado’s playlist for example, especially the Metallica songs. These songs have very heavy, dark instrumentals to them, which is reflected on the dark, sinister art on Prado’s Batman and Aquaman covers.

Do you see the Metallica influence?
Do you see the Metallica influence?

So whether it be the playlists of artists or the masterful scores from movies, music and the comic book industry will always be united and, Spotify’s REBIRTH lists only strengthen the bond between the two.