WTF is a Motion Comic? We’ll Find Out When SPIDER-WOMAN Comes to iTunes.
by E. Christopher Clark | Monday, February 9, 2009
As far as I’m concerned, one of the most interesting announcements to come out of this weekend’s New York Comic Con was the announcement that Marvel is getting into the “motion comics” business. Their debut motion comic will be Spider-Woman by Brian Bendis and Alex Maleev, and it will apparently be distributed through iTunes for a price yet to be determined.
Now, if you’re like me, you’re going, “What the hell is a ‘motion comic’?” What immediately springs to mind for me are a couple of cheesy He-Man videocassettes that my brother and I had way back in the day that, instead of being traditionally animated, were still drawings panned over and zoomed into in the style of Ken Burns. If that’s what this is going to be, then I want no part of it.
Listen: I’m all for seeking alternate methods of distribution for comic books. There are thousands—maybe millions—of potential readers out there who aren’t close enough to a local comic shop to become steady readers. So, yeah, I get that part. But, please, couldn’t we just get digital versions of comics as they are now? That’s what so intrigued me about the comics trading going on via BitTorrent a while back—they were just scans of the books that I could have picked up down at the store, had I any money—and that’s what I was hoping to one day see come to iTunes. Not this schlock.
What say you, constant reader?
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Comments
E. Christopher Clark says:
Yeah, I think it could be cool. But I’m not sure. I still prefer to read comics the old-fashioned way, and I think I always will.
Anyway, good points. I don’t think I knew about those HBO children’s specials. Would be curious to see them.
Jeremy Couturier says:
Yes I am perplexed why you can’t purchase digital issues of comic books. There is no need for this motion nonsense, I just want to read them. I can imagine the amount of money that would be saved and having a new “issue” arriving on my computer is pretty cool. Yeah the brick and mortar comic shops are going to suffer but I imagine the whole industry needs a shift to keep things going. I too love the feel of comics in my hand but thats mostly the older stuff that I like to collect for sentimental and historical value (like my EC’s)
E. Christopher Clark says:
Money would definitely be saved by the company, but I doubt that money would be saved by the consumer. If anything, I’d expect the publishers to charge us exactly what they charge us at the newstand, and maybe more.
But maybe I’m just being pessimistic tonight. What do you think?
Jeremy Couturier says:
whatever it takes to sustain the biz, and expand the audience. I think if the format caught on maybe down the road additional content and extras might follow. Yeah why wouldn’t they charge the same price, I dunno. We can all see what’s happening to brick and mortar retailers like Blockbuster and they will eventually be driven out. Im perfectly happy with that, I’m loving my Netflix. Hopefully this will open up opportunties for a level playing field for smaller comic publishing companies. I’m probably just rambling now…
kbaringer says:
Agreed, agreed, agreed! HBO has had childrens specials in the format where still images fade in and out with narration telling the story. It works for simple storytelling, where there is one narrator, but if you add the complex story-lines and multiple voices of a typical comic book then I think it would become too convoluted and simply not enjoyable. It would feel like a comic-art montage with a radio-play going on behind it.
However, if they are talking about a navigable, digital comic book then I’m psyched. It’s possible that the “motion” term means that the comic will automatically play itself, like a slide show, so the reader can get through it without touching their keyboard or mouse. Such a format would obviously need to have a manual override, so faster readers can skip to the next page when they’re ready and slower readers set their own pace. Still, it’s a worthwhile discussion, and brings up a lot of possibilities, so hopefully this will become an exciting new medium that will bring comics to many new readers ... rather than a misguided attempt to present online comics as a narrated storyboard.