Nawlz and the Pros and Cons of Interactive Comics
Nawlz
There’s plenty of examples out there these days of interactive comics and motion comics and the example I want to go into more detail with is an interactive online comic called Nawlz. As where motion comics like The Boat are easy to follow and only ask you to scroll, Nawlz asks a lot more from you. Scrolling isn’t enough, you need to press on and you must take in a very abnormal story and the comic just kind of expects you to go with it. Nawlz is still a great example of a moving comic though, there’s wild imagery, interactivity and heavy sound but we’ll get back to Nawlz in a bit. First, does reading comics with motion and sound simply make traditional comics irrelevant? Are interactive comics a good thing? Let’s talk about the pros and cons of these stories.
First the pros…
I think a huge positive comes down to accessibility. Not everyone lives near a comic shop and even if they did, they need to care enough to go when their issues come out. It’s 2016 and normally everything is just right there for us on the internet and sure, you could just order all your comics online, but there’s already a boat load of free interactive comics there. so, you could do all your reading on the web.
Immersion Is a big one too. As far as immersive forms of entertainment go, video games are way up the top and comics are probably quite low. Watching Spider-Man beat up some thugs is one thing but beating up some thugs as Spider-Man is another. Not that motion comics give you the ability to play as Spider-Man but the more they have in common with video games, the more immersive it can be. Strong sound design can be key in keeping you involved and interactive comics like Nawlz have that, but I would say that the first chapter of the motion comic 'The Boat' not only utilizes sound design well but also motion, the panels come to life and move with the dialog. Which is great and immediately grabs your attention and keeps you interested.
The Boat by Matt Huynh
The limitless boundaries are interesting too, anyone can put anything online if they decided to and online comics have grown to represent social problems, mental disorders and some really personal things. That could be because they can’t afford to publish themselves, because they don’t think mainstream comics depict a fair representation or just because they can, it comes down to this: Anyone with artistic talent and a social media account or blog (Like Tumblr or WordPress, for example) can create web comics. Hell, you don’t even need to be that great at art, there’s examples or web comics that work so well because of how simple they look (Hyperbole and a Half, Cyanide and Happiness). I know this pro is more about simpler web comics than motion or interactive comics but if you have the talent to make more immersive web comics that deal with personal issues then nothing is stopping you. I find more web comics deal with metal disorders in a more accurate way than most published comics. Or maybe that’s just because they are more accessible and relatable that I see them shared more, so there we go back to the accessibility.
The biggest pro might be the simplest one and it isn’t hard to explain. Motion comics are just fun. Comics like Nawlz are quite heavy and deep but you get more, the more you put in. The more attention you pay to Nawlz the better it is and that might just be the odd extra little moving graphic or just getting a better grasp of the world but it’s just fun and immersive and that’s one of the best things about motion comics, plus it moves with you, when you want it to most of the time, you control it in a sense. Without you, the story floats in one space.
But alas, there are cons…
Going back to what I just said about motion comics not working without you, there’s a lot of evidence against that and it just comes down to what motion comics you are reading. Comics like Nawlz and The Boat need you to push on yourself but there’s many motion comics out there that contradict this. Motion comics like Hellboy The Fury or Batgirl: Year One are simply YouTube videos that you can watch (Declaimer, Hellboy is still bae). These videos have voice acting or voice narration and require little to no reading. At this point the viewer participation is gone and you have no control, you sit there and watch a comic in motion, all you need to do is click on the video. No reading, no scrolling or turning, just watching and listening. At this point, there’s no difference between a motion comic and a cartoon, it’s just slightly less animated and these are from some of the biggest names in comics, the companies that should be setting examples of great work and innovation, but if the online audience all flock towards these examples to see their favorite superheroes in motion, not only is there a chance that printed comics could be left in the dust but people could think they are the standard and well-crafted motion comics could be left in the dust too. All I’m saying is, when you remove all “Reader” participation, you haven’t made a comic and big publishers should be setting a better example. This also does to comics what movies/shows do to books. These motion comics have given voices to the characters and more personality. You’ve lost control of how the characters talk and even what they sound like, it’s harder to insert yourself into a character and these are such bad examples of motion comics and it’s horrible to think that DC are basically promoting less education. Comics are a great way for kids to learn because it encourages reading and understanding while also being fun and engaging, and these kinds of web comics turn it into a form of television.
See for yourself:
While it can still be enjoyed in its own way, it’s just not the example that web comics should follow.
I could blag on about the need to feel paper in your hands and about how there’s nothing quite like having an actual copy, but that’s always going to be one of the big points when comparing comics to digital comics and you’ve heard it all before, so I’ll say this. Until there’s a time when web comics totally overrun the market and issues stop selling so badly to the point they stop getting printed, there’s no need for concern. Yes, I prefer a physical comic but I’m sure a lot of you don’t care and it shouldn’t be a problem for a long time yet. The con to get out of this though is this: When it comes to participation in comics, there’s no beating an actual copy. Scrolling and clicking is one thing, not to say there isn’t highly interactive motion comics out there but reading each word, giving voices, turning each paper and even making up sound effects from the words displayed, will always require more mental participation then simply hearing and scrolling.
I want to conclude by saying that I think motion comics are a great thing, as much of a lover of printed comics as I am. But until we’re at a point when physical comics run the risk of dying then I’m all for this way immersion and creativity, in whatever form of comics it takes and I think motion comics are partly a great way to experience comics and they shouldn’t be ignored, I just don’t want printed comics to be ignored either. But if you do or currently are venturing into the world of motion comics I only ask that you follow in the trail of interactive comics like the emotional The Boat or the strange world of Nawlz and not the contradicting motion “comics” of DC or better yet, just read the damn DC comics.
Nawlz
I’ve used Nawlz as an example a few times and I want to get into comics like that. Now, as much as Nawlz fascinates me, it is loaded and it asks you to just accept it. Nawlz is very interactive and smart but interactive comics like this must turn people off. Not everyone is going to be into it, because of its story or maybe it’s world and the first issue is bizarre enough for people not to come back to the second, as fun as it is. Nawlz is a great example of how far interactive comics can go and how immersive they can be and everyone should experience it, if they like it or not. I bring it up now because if you’re interested in interactive comics or motion comics then this is a shining vision of what can be achieved and it’s where I would direct you if you wanted an example of all my pros of interactive comics. Below you’ll find links to the motion and interactive comics I’ve mention in this article. That damn Batgirl comic that is increasingly annoying me as I go on is just a couple scrolls up if you want that too.
The heavily referenced Nawlz.
The lovely motion comic The Boat (Bring tissues).
Hyperbole and a Half, a great example of how enjoyable a “web comic” can be even when it’s simply or inaccurately drawn.
Cyanide and Happiness, so simple, so funny.
Hellboy The Fury, amazing graphic novel. Bad motion “comic”:
