Motion comics

So after writing about the trailer for the Iron Man motion comic, I found some other motion comics over at Hulu. Above is Astonishing X-Men by Joss Whedon and John Cassaday... and I have to say, it is horrible.

The voice acting is awful (particularly Kitty). The characters bob up and down like they are floating in water, but really it is supposed to simulate walking. I would call this an abuse of Photoshop. Whoever made this manipulates the original drawings to create facial expressions in the most disturbing manner. Eye movements are one thing, but they will twist the mouth or eyebrows to create a more animated character.

I can't help but feel embarrassed about this as a human being. Are comics so unmarketable to a mainstream audience that it has to be so awkwardly animated? Do people hate reading or is that just an assumption Marvel made when trying to go digital?

It's not that I cannot see how someone would enjoy this, I just cannot imagine that anyone would prefer this to the comics... and if I met someone who did, I would most certainly think less of them for it.

PS: For anyone who watches part 2, there is a line where Beast sings "You can see by our outfits that we are all heroes." Whoever directed this obviously didn't know that was a reference to the classic song The Streets of Loredo because he sings it completely out of key. Shoddy work, gentleman. Shoddy work.