New life for old Batman comic

(Credit: Warner Premiere)

Ever since I picked up an old, 1970s Batman comic when I was 12 years old, Batman has been my favorite comic book character.

While my first love was Wolverine, it was harder to relate to someone who could heal from any wound, and had an unbreakable skeleton and foot-long claws that could cut through anything. Even though Bruce Wayne was a rich boy, he had a childhood wrought with tragedy, and there is just something immediately endearing about a superhero with no powers who simply trained himself to be the best.

Since then I've been a fan of all things Batman. That is, when it's done well, i.e. The Dark Knight, and not offensively, i.e. Batman and Robin. Batman: Black and White was Batman done well. Originally published in 1996, it was a four-issue miniseries collection of short, black-and-white Batman stories written and drawn by some of comics greats like Paul Dini, Alex Ross, and Dave Gibbons.

On Tuesday, Warner Premiere announced the debut of its latest motion comic, Batman: Black and White. Warner Premiere is the same company responsible for the Watchmen motion comic that I've covered here and here. Motion comics basically take the original comic and add sound effects, music, and voice, as well as animation to a certain extent. So far, the results with Watchmen have been impressive.

Tuesday's release includes five episodes with two stories in each. Each episode is available on iTunes for 99 cents. Also available is a free podcast with Alex Ross discussing motion comics and the release of Black and White in motion comic form.

Here's a short preview clip of the motion comic. I'll be back with some hands-on reviews of the episodes once I've gotten a chance to take them all in.

[DarkHawke]

Interesting. Reminds me of what Marvel tried a few years ago, but to much poorer effect. I was looking forward to something like the old Power Records efforts of the '70s (yes, I'm just that old), where they gave you a comic to read along with an audio dramatization (on a 45!). Unfortunately, the voice "acting" in this modern effort was so lifeless they could have hired corpses for the job and saved cash. The sample above, however, looks kinda cool. Please do report back once you've seen the full effort.

[rpm_1337]

2 sylables: Awe-some

Batman is truly my favorite comic book hero, too. My friends all say I have an obsession. Knowing that these are on I-tunes makes my glad that I always get an I-tunes git card for christmas.

[lazy-bum]

"That is, when it's done well, i.e. The Dark Knight, and not offensively, i.e. Batman and Robin."

Wow Eric! "That is" three times in one sentence! Maybe you were looking for an e.g.? (Unless you really mean that The Dark Knight and Batman and Robin are the only instances of done well and offensive.)

[solitare_pax]

Looks a bit like Monty Python animation - but with better are, worse vocals, and no humor.