This week the Spider-Woman motion comic premiered, a good month before it comes out in comic form. This is part of a new initiative Marvel wants to take in order to move comics into a new medium. It’s a risky move and one that they are definitely unsure of. So, does the motion comic work?
I’ll say yes and no. This is the first part of an arc called Agent of SWORD, and it clearly isn’t even the full single issue. It runs at about 10 minutes or so, and features Jessica in England being approached by Agent Brand from SWORD before going Skrull hunting in Asia. So I guess, with the basics out of the way, we can start breaking it down further. As far as just a comic goes, I really liked it. The artwork looked great. I never really took Jessica Drew as a Brit, especially after Spider-Woman Origin (with the Luna Brothers), but I’m willing to go with it. The story was well paced and seemed like quite a logical place to go with in the aftermath of Secret Invasion, albeit a bit darker than her role in New Avengers.
As far as the motion comic goes, though, I was generally unimpressed. I’ll be honest: this isn’t a medium I’m really interested in. I like reading comics. I like the way they’re set up. I love buying the books and flipping through the issues at my own pace, going over the art slowly and studying backgrounds. The motion comic idea is an interesting one, but it really doesn’t interest me at all, and I’m not any more convinced of the medium now than I was before. It’s a good idea, but at the end of it I felt I’d rather have just read it, and as I was watching it I was just trying to imagine what it would look like in the book form.
That’s what I think. But Marvel really wants to go for a new and untapped market with this idea. So what about someone who doesn’t read comics on a regular basis think of this new idea? It is with this idea that I made a completely random person watch the motion comic, and then I took her thoughts on it:
So how aware are you of Secret Invasion? Do you know what it was?
Jessica: Barely. I don’t really know the backstory at all.
But do you know the basic premise of the whole story?
Jessica: No. I really don’t.
So without know the back story, what did you think of the story in the motion comic?
Jessica: I liked it. It seems like a… uhm… a good start to something they did it well enough to keep me wanting to see what happens
Did you feel like your lack of knowledge in the characters was polarizing at all?
Jessica: Maybe a little, but it seems like even if you don’t know the backstory of Secret Invasion it could be just as entertaining.
Which medium of story telling do you think you prefer after seeing just one episode? Do you prefer reading the story at your own pace or do you think you’d rather watch it in 10 minute intervals?
Jessica: Mmm… like the motion comic, but I think reading it at my own pace would be better. But both seem good enough.
Do you think the motion comic captured your over all interest more than just seeing a new Spider-Woman comic on the shelf would? As in, would you pass over the Spider-Woman comic in the store without having previously connected it to the motion comic?
Jessica: I probably would pass over it, just giving a motion comic a chance, it seems like a good start to even start reading it on your own.
So you want to know where the story goes from here, correct?
Continued belowJessica: Yes.
And over all, do you think you’d rather see the rest of it in a comic book or in the motion comic format?
Jessica: Well, since it’s not… what’s the word… a story of a character of someone I’m particularly fond of, I think the motion comics would have me… I guess, have me more intrigued to see how the story ends.
And if anyone is wondering, this is what my cat thought of it:
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