Did someone say… “Legion Lost” for suggestions? I second it, if so.

Without actually seeing the finished product, it sounds a lot like those Digital Comics that Crossgen and Marvel put out a few years ago. Hopefully the end result is better. I’m intrigued.

Thanks for the post Mr. Levitz. Adding motion and sound is a natural evolution and I think it turned out quite well for the first “Watchmen” episode. But what about a cheaper non-frills version? Personally, I’d be happy to read DC Comics back-issues on-line or download that don’t have motion or sound and therefore don’t have the additional cost of “translation”. I don’t see why both versions couldn’t be digitally available. Motion Comics seems like a great piece of a larger digital business strategy and I look forward to more announcements.

I’m sure tons of people will suggest “Death of Superman” and “Killing Joke”, but I’d love to see the first arc of Blue Beetle (Jaime Reyes) and “Sinestro Corp War” show up in Motion Comics.

Good gravy! What an exciting time to be a fan!

Its an interesting concept, and I think offering books online via itunes is a step in the right direction. However, after watching the Watchmen chapter, my biggest concern is over the voice acting. I thought the acting was not very good and took away from enjoying the new format. If this is something you want to pursue, I would highly recommend hiring more accomplished voice actors to read the scripts.

I’m sure that this will be fun to watch and will raise the profile of the movie.
I still have to wonder, tho, why not just put out the books in downloadable format. Each week we see up to 1/3 of the content here on Newsarma or CBR or other anyhow. This is MUCH more then a trailer at that percentage, right?
AND if the books are available to set to music then they’re available, period.
I’ve got co-workers who USED to read comics and when I tell them the price for one it’s clear that they ain’t coming back no matter what I tell them. An informal poll of them indicates that they would indeed buy a digital comic at 25-cents (an arbitrary number, BTW). So, those 6 people, combined, have increased readership by 6 and have purchased a single “floppy” and are likely to buy more and recommend more, etc…

Bottom line?

No butt-kissing intended but I’d love to see “The Great Darkness Saga” adapted. Gosh, maybe a commentary track with you and Giffen.

CJG

I like the idea, if its well executed, my wish list:
something old: KINGDOM COME and THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS
and something new: like ALL STAR SUPERMAN and BLUE BEETLE

dont let us down Mr. Levitz, dont let us down

I would care a bit for Legion Lost, but I would salivate on Legion of Super Heroes, the nine-panel Keith Giffen groundbreaking run on the series. If there is a series that screams for “transmedia”, that’s the one.

Well, it can’t be worse than the awful Invincible effort along these lines, but I think any attempt at making video content shot directly from comics is doomed to look cheap, shoddy, and amateurish.

It’s amazing to see the disparity in reaction to the Watchmen motion comic… I loved it!

Personally, I thought it brought a cinematic feel to the comic, with the pacing, music, and change of focus that non-comic readers might not be used to imagining…

It might very well be a way to show an “adult” approach to reading a comic that would suggest that they’re not just for kids anymore.

I’ve been waiting for them to do something like this for years, to the point I started planning to do it myself. I thoroughly enjoyed issue 1 of Watchmen in MC format and I’m really looking forward to Mad Love. (Narrated by Mark Hamill, PLEASE.) I do, however, understand Alan Moore’s objections to the project, and I hope that in the future, they only give the Transmedia treatment to works in which all the creators approve.

My suggestions:
GL: Rebirth, then maybe Sinestro Corps
JLA: Tower of Babel
(The Killing Joke would be great, but let’s not put out Alan Moore too much.)

I downloaded and watched it. It was cool although I dont think I will pay for the others. Probably because I dont really care for Watchmen. Maybe if Kingdom Come is done I would. Or something brand new that would be nice. At least Dc got it right with going with Itunes this is the way to go dont try setting this up on its on site use the venues that already have the traffic built in.

My only two suggestions are (1) make sure Alan Moore gets paid and (2) who really cares about enhanced comics. Just get cheap digital comics out there so that they are plentiful and people can read them. There are always issues of readability, formatting and what type of viewer to use to read them, but it sounds like you’re trying to bring about comics 2.0 when comics 1.0 aren’t available yet.

iTunes is a good venue so is amazon.com.

I just want to see it available in more outlets (such as on Sony’s Playstation Network) and outside the U.S. (as I’m in Australia).

Tom Riddle raises a couple of points I’m happy to clarify:

“Motion Comics” is Warner Premiere’s trademark for this new program, and WATCHMEN is the first in that line. The idea of taking original comics and manipulating the artwork isn’t new–long before the Dark Horse projects in Flash animation you cite, I recall coloring old DC titles for a pre-computer version of this in the mid-1970s for QUBE, one of the early ancestors of Nickolodeon on cable–and you can make a direct reach back to the 1960s Marvel cartoons for another ancestor. The distinctive qualities of “Motion Comics” are the approaches to the peparation of the artwork, and the way the whole package is integrated, using the best technology has to offer and the skills of the people involved.

As for the “whole history of BATMAN” on a disc idea, we’ve never been able to make that work because the amount of effort to prepare the older issues for digital use, and the legal and accounting challenges including paying fair royalties to the many, many talented people involved in the hundreds of issues overwhelm the economic opportunity. We licensed a beautiful set of MAD MAGAZINE on disc, where we could work from the black and white issues, and the talent historially had worked for premium page rates and no participations, and even there we weren’t able to clear every article for one legal reason or another.

Finally, while I have mixed emotions about the term graphic novel overwhelming comic books in the culture, it seems to be doing that, and the distinctions that are very important to some of us (collected editions vs. original graphic novels, for example) are much less important to our newer readers who are coming in through the graphic novel sections. At the current pace (fuelled by movie interest on top of its longtime role as one of the first comics suggested to new readers), more people will buy WATCHMEN in the next two months as a graphic novel than originally bought it as a periodical comic book, and over the years five or six times as many have already have. To me, whether digital or print, hardcover or “floppy,” they’re just comics, but I try to use the terminology that will help people find and buy them.

Mr. Levitz,

Your reply on a GIT Corp DVD collection is much appreciated, as is the reasoning of working out a fair royalty arrangement for creators, but what if the collection only had a few creators to compensate? A Batman in Brave and the Bold DVD collection would primarily be Haney and Aparo, or a Starman DVD collection would be Robinson and a few different artists.

Surely there are some DVD collections that could be compiled. I know I would buy any of them.

Joe

1. Done-in-one issues that introduce classic heroes and their supporting cast.

2. A week/10-day pass to a library of content - say “Justice League Unlimited”, combining both the motion comics and the animated episodes.

OK last point …

how about a system where every dollar spent at a comic book retailer gets you points which can be redeemed for a motion comic?

“Unfortunately, DC and Marvel are both in denial about this to a certain extent (one company more than the other)…. and both are absolutely terrified of angering the local comics shop owner, who would surely go bankrupt if they gave the market what it wanted.”

If/when DC and Marvel decide to create their own comics version of iTunes (soon, please), then comic shops are going to go the way of the record store. In many cases this won’t be much of a loss, either, given their downright disgusting store displays and presentation. Seriously, how many of us would never again darken the door of one of those hovels if we could get our comics online? Additionally, if we could download our comics, I guarantee readership would grow. How many people out there don’t buy comics because they don’t live near a shop, or have cut down their purchasing because they don’t want to also pay for the gas to drive to a shop? That’s my case: I live in a city of 100,000 people, but the nearest shop is 25 miles away. I’m not driving there just for comics, and don’t like waiting a month for mail-order comics. So I’ve severely curtailed my purchasing. I love Superman, Batman and GL, but if there’s no easy way to read about them, I’ll dig into my 20-year collection or go find a free webcomic to follow. Call me a fair-weather reader, but aren’t most people? And if something were at our fingertips, wouldn’t many of us find it ridiculously easy to restore and make permanent our comic-buying habit?
To continue the record-store/iTunes analogy, I think DC and Marvel have an advantage that the big record companies didn’t: They own the rights to the big characters, and those characters don’t change as do the popular-music buying public’s tastes. Those changing tastes made quick and easy the “democratization” of the music industry via downloading. It also made difficult the ability of the major record companies to maintain their market share. Any small-time label can put their albums up for sale on iTunes, cutting into the big labels’ market share.
On the other hand, an aspiring independent comic creator, like me, has to give his comics away and hope ad sponsorships eventually bring in some money. DC and Marvel can still dominate the comics industry — even by selling digital copies while little guys give their own away — because of the characters they own.
I have a hard time seeing how DC and Marvel could lose anything by going to online-copy sales. And they have a huge new market to gain.

I think the idea has a lot of potential. It just depends mainly on how its marketed and what channels of distribution you try to do this with. I think Cross gen tried doing something similar before it folded but it fell flat because of the half heart marketing effort. Levitz is right that this has the potential to expand the market and bring in a bigger audience. I think i even saw bits of this in execution when i watched: History Presents Batman Unmasked The Psychology of The Dark Knight. So i know it can be done. I remember feeling a slight thrill watching the comics in motion during that documentary.

Mr Levitz i think the best thing to make sure the marketing effort works is to do a test. Test market the product in a few regions and study the feedback and see what kind of improvements can be made. From there, once you get the kinks worked out do a roll out for motion comics and aggressively push the idea. I think once you engage the comic book fans and win them over as well as the kids market you should have a sustainable segment to keep generating revenue and continue the operation. It’s nice to see that DC is working to raise the bar and evolve the industry. Change is something that should be embraced and not resisted and i applaud you and DC for doing that Mr Levitz.

Going away from the philosophical feedback and more toward the content-oriented feedback, so far I think this is great. I’ve watched the “Watchmen” episode and enjoyed it. I was initially wary as the animated art took a minute to get used to, but really got into it. The part that ruined the experience for me was the narrator doing the voiceover for Sally. A deep-voiced male can not do the voice for a female. Please get a full voice cast (or at least a woman for Sally) for the rest of the episodes. DC/Warner has done the right thing so far, treating this more like an animated adaptation rather than a web-comic with animations (I’m looking at YOU “Invincible: The Series). Go the whole way though and get different actors for the different characters, or at least 1 man and 1 woman to handle both genders.

There are two things that should be done to bring DC Comics into the online age and one of them is not Motion Comics.

First, as suggested by many posts, make current comics available as a download for a reasonable price ($.99, $1.49???). Work out a deal with iTunes to distribute them weekly. Maybe on Thursday instead of Wednesday so you don’t immediately kill Direct Market retailers as some will still want print versions and will be willing to go to the store to have them a day before. Or vice versa to encourage online distribution (download on Tues, Print on Wed).

Second, move all of the lower tier comics directly to online or download only. Some people want to see these comics but DC could save on printing and the other costs associated with print media if they moved some of the lower tier comics direct to online. And perhaps since it is a lower cost they would be able to keep comics that were lower performing in print going longer in digital format. So instead of a reboot of Legion every couple years to see if there is an audience bring it online to a whole new world and audience. You have a format in Zuda that could easily be translated and with some manipulation advertising around the Zuda reader could offset costs. I am not saying replace Zuda with this but rather take the Zuda format and reader and put it into play for lower tier comics.

One or both of these things could push DC far ahead of other publishers. We want simple and easy to read online comics. Period.

While I haven’t checked out the Watchmen book (site is blocked at work), I want to add my voice to the people suggesting DC goes the GIT Corp/DCU route. There are too many options to getting digital comics illegally. I think one of the reasons is there isn’t a viable option for digital books out there except what has been done by GIT Corp, and unfortunately, Marvel pulled out of that venture. DCU is a fair alternative but I don’t believe it offers the entire Marvel library (and, of course, it doesn’t give users the option to download books permanently). The GIT Corp option of hundred of digital books on DVD was a fantastic idea because of the low cost, the ease of use, the ability to have a complete run of a title, and the small size of a DVD compared to long boxes of back issues.

I understand royalties are an obstacle in DC putting out back issues digitally, but unfortunately the more time DC spends on this issue, the more the illegal comics market will spread. The music industry adapted to digital; the comics industry needs to find ways to as well.

“How was Marvel able to handle the legal complexities of comics on CD/DVD, but not DC?”

I don’t believe they are paying the original creator’s royalties.

If DC really wants to take their game to the web, and make one hell of an impact - one that benefits fans as well as creators, then they should build a new kind of business model for the web, one that would bring in a wealth of talent from every corner of the internet.

Rather than relying on past materials, such as PDFs of older comics, DC could build a stable of creators with existing comics, and allow those people to keep, at least, 50% of the rights to their work. Not only would this attract some very talented creators, many of whom value the rights to their creations more than ever - especially at the web, it would allow those creators to work independently, bringing out fresh new ideas and stories. People want a piece of the money their creations and their work bring in; not as many creators, especially webcomic creators, are too keen on a work-for-hire model. It’s hurt Platinum’s reputation, that’s for sure.

There’s a wealth of originality on the web already, but the big two have yet to embrace it to its maximum potential. There is an ever-growing number of webcomic creators that do that job for a living - wouldn’t it make sense to follow their model, or at least bring them in as consultants? They know the web audience, and they know the business of webcomics. Trust me, don’t listen to what Wizard magazine has to say, folks - they don’t even recognize webcomics as “real” comics.

Putting together a collection of great, independent creators and giving them room to work, while allowing them at least half the rights to their work would bring in talented people. It would also allow DC to address different audiences, including the enormous webcomic community, which has actually found some of Marvel and DC’s digital exploits laughable. (Hate to say it, but it’s true.) So many creators ready to break out prefer to explore avenues like Image before other publishers because they own the rights to their work; it’s just that important now.

Zuda’s a step in the right direction, but it has problems, among them the horrible viewer. A simple link to a full page image would better showcase the work, and would let those creators work in infinite canvas, something unique to digital comics. I honestly think it would have a huge and immediate impact, and bring a new excitement to Zuda. Print is a bonus, but if you’re going to commit to digital, exploit that by letting the creators explore the medium. You might be amazed at the results.

Gotta admit the idea of the motion comics are cool, though. But that might be more of a novelty than a sustainable business, though.

Make em available either as a website thing like marvels digital or as $1 downloads.

Marvel’s digital comics is pretty good although I get frustrated when I read three issues of Infinity War and find I’ll have to dig out my old comics to finish it. I think that unless the price doubles I’ll probably stick with it next year. There is just to much good stuff to read there.

The downloads are more expensive than the website but they have a lot of advantages. You can pick and choose. You wouldn’t have to access the internet to read em. Which means I can read em anywhere on a laptop or even my pda depending on the format.

I’m trying to say this without voicing my frustration. I can just about guarentee you, that I will never buy another comic. I have thousands of them and just can’t see doing it. On the same tone, if you make online issues available I can just about guarentee you I will download or buy a subscription (Im in the marvel one already).

Really what do you have to lose? Old content that you probably wouldn’t have reused anyway(other than using it to make the occasional movie, which is a completely different thing entirely). All the issues you will be selling are back issues. They do not require any time from your artists or writers. They are a complete item in themselves without any recoloring or animation. Your artists will be needed to make new comics, thats what your in the business for. These back issues will be additional revenue. Why protect comics that you probably wouldn’t have used for anything anyway? I mean really, how much do you make from hardback reprints?

I can’t imagine that if you have an MP3 player, you can’t see the benefit of having them available like this. For a dollar a song I sometimes download the same one twice just so I don’t have to hook up my old computer and transfer it to my new one. Comics are probably not as reuseable as MP3s but I still believe you can make more money from this.

The last point I’d like to make is this. I have a friend that is a bit insecure. He feels embarrassed about going to the grocery story and picking up the latest batman or superman. What he does is he walks past the aisle wondering what is going on with his favorite heroes. If there were a website that sold the content he would go there and buy them. When the internet first smart industrious people found that people who were to embarrassed to buy porn at a store would buy it over the internet where no one would judge them. Comics have the same type of stigma tied to them. I know that is something comic publshers are trying to shake and I wish em luck in this. The general perception is that people that read comics are less intelligent/mature than people that don’t. Anyone that has an open mind knows that isn’t the case but the stigma is still there. This allows closet comic nerds to get their fix. I recommend that you make them available, in whatever format, if not for me than for my “friends” sake