Ringmasters: Like intimidating structures from George R.R. Martin novel, video game set ups surrounded and suffocated the comic book booths.
NYCC 2011 Retrospective Part 2: The New Kingdom. Video games are the current narrative to story-telling. Can comic books capitalize on their popularity in order to proliferate the industry to a new generation?
by Ronald H. Pollock
Are video games the new comic books? Like massive constructs from Lord of the Rings, the booth set ups for Mass Effect, Max Payne, Uncharted, and Star Wars towered over the comic book booths to the point where entering the grounds of NYCC looked more like E3. Video games are not necessarily a bad thing for the comic book industry. In many ways, they are playing an important role in sustaining and a key component in proliferating the comic book industry.
The constant feed of media has changed the medium from newspapers, books, magazines to tablets, smart phones, and lap tops that weigh less than 5 lbs. The next potential generation of comic book fans are more comfortable with swiping, tapping, and other multi-digit interactivity. They are used to a constant feed of new information. Video games offer a more personalized format of story-telling in a more motion oriented 3-D format.
Whiz kids: Media is the new tool of story telling that allows a sophisticated “choose your own adventure” something that comic books do not allow the reader control over.
Video games are already the future of comics. The success of Arkham City proves that an entire graphic novel can be faithfully adapted unlike over marketed movie adaptations and TV budget roadblocks. Green Lantern is a prime example of a property that was unsuccessful adapting on the big screen due to the complexity of its story but on a video game format, the entire Sinestro Corps war can be adapted with greater control over GL’s universe.
Video games have taken the best aspects of comic books and learned how to make their stories epic. God of War borrows a lot of its action and epic nature that would easily be the inspiration for Walt Simonson’s Thor or the new 52 Wonder Woman game. Max Payne definitely would be a template for a Punisher MAX game. There’s so much possibility because video games unlike movies or TV shows don’t have so many chefs in the kitchen to where a new reader can go from video game to the comic book without losing a page of story.
