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The first Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD motion comic came out today. Word like vibrant, dynamic and freaking sweet come to mind. This is the first in a series of five iTunes released motion comics from Marvel. Brought to us my the scribe of the century Brian M. Bendis, and with beautiful art by Alex Maleev. For those of you not in the know, a motion comic is just that. It's not a cartoon, or rendered 3-D animation, it's a comic with certain parts of its panels in motion, with voice acting and soundscaping. It sounds corny, but it is executed fantastically. There have been motion comics in the past. Leading up to the Watchmen movie, motion comics that represented the graphic novel were released, and other properties like the Peanuts and Dead Space prequel stories, have been adapted into motion comics. Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD represents the pinnacle of this craft.Marvel is "it" right now. They are at the top of their game in every aspect. Regardless of what you as a comic fan, and or pop culture follower in general, think about the company, you cannot deny their industry dominance. And what do you do when you're top dog in almost everything you do? Enter a new realm and dominate that one.
Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD takes place after the events that are chronicled in the Marvel event Secret Invasion. A cliff's notes version of this event is as follows; a shape shifting race of aliens named the Skrulls infiltrate the ranks of almost every super hero team in the Marvel universe and seek to upset the balance of the world in order to claim it in a religiously fueled crusade. And the leader of the infiltration, the Skrull queen, assumes the form of the aforementioned Spider-Woman. So when the Invasion is stopped, and the real spider woman returns, the world still sees her as the face of the invasion that almost destroyed the human race. Not a great home coming.
Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD will be the return of Spider-Woman, whose real name is Jessica Drew, into her life. And it will also be a story of revenge. She's pissed, and she wants to take down every Skrull she can get her hands on. S.W.O.R.D. (Sentient World Observation and Response Department) is a counterterrorism and intelligence agency whose focus is on extra terrestrial threats. They too were hit hard by the Skrull invasion and the head of SWORD, Abigail Brand, approaches Jessica Drew with a job offer; to track down, detain, and destroy alien threats to the earth.
This Motion Comic is visually stunning. Alex Maleev has never been my favorite artist, but after seeing the promo art leading up to the release of Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD, I was completely converted. What I saw in his motion comic today totally blew me away. I imagined that the panels, while being wonderfully drawn, would be mainly static with voice acting but what I saw was inspired. It's not a cartoon. I really want to make that clear. You're not going to seeing Spider-Woman doing black flips. What you will see is a dynamic portrayal of what goes on in the minds of creators brought to life.
Brian M. Bendis is my favorite comic writer, and his dialogue and pacing do not disappoint in this medium. Even his choice of voice actors sound like what I think these characters would sound like. Jessica Drew comes across as a strong woman, who has had her world completely turned upside down and is searching for a way to right it. I really hope that the standard set in this first comic will continue through the remaining 4 motion comics and into the standard paper comics that follow. Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD has set the industry standard for new avenues in which comics can reach a broader audience.
Will all comics eventually be digitized? Probably not. People love the collecting aspect of comics too much to allow the publishers to take there comics out of there hands. But if this Motion Comic does well we might see more comics getting the same treatment. It's only $.99 for the next two weeks so you should at least give it a chance. It wont be for everyone because it doesn't have a marquee character in the title, but the art alone is worth the minuscule price tag.
This Motion Comic is visually stunning. Alex Maleev has never been my favorite artist, but after seeing the promo art leading up to the release of Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD, I was completely converted. What I saw in his motion comic today totally blew me away. I imagined that the panels, while being wonderfully drawn, would be mainly static with voice acting but what I saw was inspired. It's not a cartoon. I really want to make that clear. You're not going to seeing Spider-Woman doing black flips. What you will see is a dynamic portrayal of what goes on in the minds of creators brought to life.
Brian M. Bendis is my favorite comic writer, and his dialogue and pacing do not disappoint in this medium. Even his choice of voice actors sound like what I think these characters would sound like. Jessica Drew comes across as a strong woman, who has had her world completely turned upside down and is searching for a way to right it. I really hope that the standard set in this first comic will continue through the remaining 4 motion comics and into the standard paper comics that follow. Spider-Woman: Agent of SWORD has set the industry standard for new avenues in which comics can reach a broader audience.
Will all comics eventually be digitized? Probably not. People love the collecting aspect of comics too much to allow the publishers to take there comics out of there hands. But if this Motion Comic does well we might see more comics getting the same treatment. It's only $.99 for the next two weeks so you should at least give it a chance. It wont be for everyone because it doesn't have a marquee character in the title, but the art alone is worth the minuscule price tag.
