Marvel Launches Video Comics
Every so often, someone tries to repurpose comic content for a presumed younger audience that wants more sound and motion in their entertainment. The latest incarnation is Marvel Video Comics, described as “an all-new visual storytelling format that combines comic-style graphic paneling with dialogue, sound, video editing, digital motion effects, and light animation.” They’re three-minute storyboards, basically.
So far, there are four — and I find it interesting that they’re posted at the Disney XD YouTube channel. (The Marvel Entertainment YouTube channel, at the time of this writing, only has the first, but it’s busy promoting Doctor Strange right now.) The Marvel Video Comics are also available on the Disney XD app.
Three of the four make up one story, “Spider-Man & Iron Man In… Training Day”.
Spider-Man (Cole Howard) stops some crooks from robbing a Stark Enterprises facility, so Iron Man (Brian Drummond) decides to provide some on-the-job training, but they wind up fighting Batroc the Leaper (Marc Oliver). Howard plays Spidey as younger than I expect, and the voice of Iron Man is pretty generic.
Credits are given as screenplay by Robbie Thompson, storyboards by Balak, and art by Javier Garron. Plus 11 different producers. I do like the line, when Spider-Man is nattering on about how he’s Iron Man’s friend, the bad guy says, “Who cares?”, to which Spidey responds, “The internet? Probably?”
The fourth is “Black Panther In… The Visitor”.
Black Panther (Omari Newton) is visited by envoy Everett K. Ross (Brian Drummond, hmmm) to discuss security for an international summit in Wakanda, but the supervillain Ghost (Marc Oliver) wants to steal the country’s treasure. Black Panther and the Dora Milaje (Evans Johnson) stop Ghost, showing Ross why Wakanda has never been conquered or invaded.
Screenplay is by Kevin Burke and Chris “Doc” Wyatt; storyboards by Geoffo and Balak; and art by Javier Garron.