Webcomics, Print, and Animation

In response to Marvel's latest press release concerning their new animation online (aimed at kids), I wanted to reiterate what I mentioned in an earlier entry, where Lisa (Sequentially Speaking) and I were discussing Marvel's new move of making print comic books available online.

I just wanted to be clear: this is not what I meant by "webcomics," though this is technically Web content. This is simply animation hosted online. Once again, in this model, the Internet is nothing more than the distribution method; in this model, the Internet plays the part of the television or movie theater and nothing more - it is the way/place [where] you view the medium and not the medium itself. So, this is not what I meant when I spoke of webcomics and exclusive web-specific content.

Now, I am in the unique position of knowing this subject and wanting to explain it, but being unable to do so. See, The Weirding is going to do a lot of web-specific content, so for me to elaborate on the form here would be shooting myself in the foot. After all, if these cats haven't figured it out for themselves yet, why should I explain to them how it's done? Especially since they have far more resources on-hand than I, meaning they need simply to read how it's done and do it before I ever get the first page written! And I think it's obvious that someone is reading, even if just to make sure we got the PRs right.

Not for nothing, but I have been in this game for years now and I have been ripped-off more than once. Plus, you can't trademark an idea. While it would technically be my copyright once I wrote it, that shit doesn't go far because large companies have tons of money to fight huge legal battles and their tactic is always the same: draw it out until "the little guy" can no longer afford to fight the good fight and gives in. Having said all that, I do not at all mean to imply that Marvel would, or ever has, ripped me off - that's not at all the point; the point is that simply making a medium available online does not constitute Web-specific content. And since I have a handle on what does and intend to implement it on my own site for my own commercial gain, I just can't go much further into the discussion of it here.

But I did want to point out that while it's great that Marvel is making animated shorts exclusively for the Web, that is not Web-specific content; that is Web-exclusive content. And there is a difference.