I bet all of you who actually check the site didn't expect me to return after almost 4 months with an informal essay, but it's my website and I'm way behind on scanning artwork. Rest assured, there is new artistic content en route. But for now, enjoy my final word on "Motion Comics"...
To begin, last year Warner Brothers (owner of DC Comics) started their "motion comics" initiative. The content of these products is essentially "animated" comic panels via zooms, pans, and narration/sound effects. The most well-known of these is the 12 episode presentation of Alan Moore & Dave Gibbon's "Watchmen" which was released in Itunes and DVD format to coincide to with the release of the recent film. Warner/DC has led the charge thus far, with "Watchmen", various Batman and Superman shorts, and an upcoming batch "Peanuts" shorts, but now Marvel has put their offering on the table with last week's release of the first episode "Spider-Woman" on Itunes and an announcement that Joss Whedon & John Cassaday's "Astonishing X-Men" run will get the "motion comics" treatment.
So now that the big 2 have flexed their game and entered the arena, I'm compelled to take a definitive stand on this new advent of the industry. Before I begin, it's at least worth noting that these methods for animation were routinely utilized, albeit in analog form, to create many of the Marvel cartoons of the 60s and 70s and the genesis of what we're seeing in today's "motion comics" is right there in the MTV animated adaptation of Sam Kieth's "The Maxx" only 15 years ago. However, "Maxx" did cross the line by having genuinely animated scenes, and by this I mean "real movement" of characters, objects, interspersed with what we're seeing in "motion comics" today.
My opinion is that to their credit, these "motion comics" are basically a clever way for comics publishers to sell their printed content to people who are one of 2 ways...
A) People who are too passive or unimaginative to read the stories as they're meant to be read. The atrocious voice acting for "Spider-Woman" make it all too apparent how much Bendis (series writer) has lost a step in the dialogue department and should just be an editor. But there ARE instances where this does work, at least when infused with familiarity, like with Kevin Conroy (voice of Bats from the 90s "Batman:The Animated Series") voicing some of the Batman B&W shorts. Some people just plain hate to read, some people view the comics page as some kind of puzzle, and others just like to sit and watch with no cognitive dissonance crowding up their head...
B) I understand Group B a little better as a guy who's into comics, knows a bit about their history in America, and tries to almost no avail to make sure folks know that not everything in this medium is Archie and Superheroes. Group B is comprised of mostly people who are afraid of the stigma that STILL exists with respect to printed comics and their acquisition. How many "casual readers" do you really think frequent a direct market comic shop? Uh, not many... Publishers might bag a few of these folks a week at Barnes & Noble, but it's the exception to the bookstore demographic (at least until those "Twilight" comics hit) and a lucky break for the comics industry.
Let's just be no-nonsense about this, most lowest common denominators and even a significant chunk of more culturally-enlightened Americans 25 years and older would think comics were a completely valid form of entertainment in the same league as books, film, television if the print medium of comics, its entire history, and most importantly its association with their childhood were somehow erased and these "motion comics" OR their printed source were to appear out of the ether as some bold new storytelling medium. Of course, we all know this is impossible but think about it the next time you see someone checking out content on their Kindle or Iphone that isn't completely text based.
To conclude, my problem with "motion comics" lies more with terminology and the erosion of its source art form's perception than it does with with the sanctity of the printed work . Heck, I think it's great that publishers are taking this low-cost chance to rake in new fans. I only hope that they have the same mindset that I do in that I believe purity of expression will prevail when these folks, should they have the opportunity, compare the analog oasis to its digital mirage.
These products are not comics, they are animation made on-the-cheap specifically for view on mobile devices. Comics, on the other hand, is a unique and complex storytelling language that demands equal participation on the creator's part in producing the work and the reader's part in being fully engaged in what is a highly stimulating and interactive reading experience should they desire one.
In essence, unless we plan on calling all regular comics "still films" or something equally absurd and disrespectful to its source medium this conversation (at least for awhile) is over.
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