More and more I’ve been seeing comic creators turning toward YouTube as a way of promoting their comics and teasing upcoming events. Sometimes the commercials are nothing more than a pan or tilt across the comic panel, while others cut the panel up to create a “motion comic.” Then there is Dreamkeepers, an indie publication by David Lillie, that created a fully animated commercial.
I’ll be honest, and say that watching the bit worked, and I ended up going to the website to find out more about the series. And this brings us to the Major Spoilers Question of the Day:
Do video commercials teasing upcoming issues get you more or less interested in the comic being advertised?
Use the comment section below to share your thoughts.
4 Comments
I think it definitely interest me – especially with the animated commercial, which gives you some pretty tantalizing glimpses of the character design in action. But at the same time, it seems to matter more HOW the commercial is used than WHAT it is. TV commercials are so expensive it’s something only the Big 2 can afford (like Marvel’s recent AvsX campaign), and I don’t know the ad space is really worth it. Viral marketing is a lot more effective – but even more difficult to bank on. So answering your question, they make me more interested in a project, but I don’t know if they stir up enough interest to justify the costs of shooting a commercial.
Most comic books commercials usually feel rather bland because they seem to ignore the fact that one media can’t be simply ripped from one format and placed into another(Actually they even can, but will serve as nothing more than an image collection). The major point of video ads is that they must give you a sense of tone and scope about the story. And knowing well Dreamkeepers, I can assure that David Lillie achieved that. In a 15 seconds commercial he was able to capture all the essential elements that make dreamkeepers dreamkeepers. And that is what more commercials should do.
I’m against that kind of ad for books because they won’t serve as an display of the actual product, since there is no imagery in books. But for graphic novel, go for it guys! As long as you truly display what your work is all about, I’m all for it.
(BTW, not all commercials are expensive. I know for a fact that David Lillie did this commercial by himself in his spare time, on a time space of 2-3 months. No extra fees involved.)
being already interested in it, it made me more exited for later when David Lille gets farther along with it. tv marketing may not work, but internet marketing is what i would suggust he goes for.
I’m certainly going to check this comic. Needs more publicity, though.