Scion, Vols. 1 & 2 (2000)
Film:
DVD:

Written by Ron Marz
Pencils by Jim Cheung, Rick Leonardi, Andera Di Vito
Inks by Don Hillsman II, Karl Kesel, Rob Hunter
Colors by Caesar Rodriguez, Paul Mounts, Justin Ponsor
Letters by Dave Lanphear, Troy Peteri
Digital Comic Books & Directed by Claudio Osorio & Marc Iacovelli

Features:

• Each volume contains:
  
  • Seven issues of CrossGen's Scion comic book
    
  • Trailers for Scion, Meridian, Negation, Sojourn, Way of the Rat and the CrossGen Universe
    
  • Making comics documentary
    
  • Character bios
    

Released by Intec Interactive/CrossGen
Rating: NR
Region: 1
Anamorphic: No.

My Advice: If you're a fan of the book, own them.

Welcome to Avalon, which is basically dominated by two separate dynasties: Heron and Raven. They've figured out a way to avoid all-out war on the planet, in that everything has been distilled down to ritual combat: a Heron takes on a Raven on Tournament Isle. Enter Ethan, who's just turned twenty-one and is about to face the Raven, Bron, who's apparently a bit of a badass. Just before he's about to go into combat, Ethan gets greeted by a strange individual, who leaves something behind on Ethan's arm: a mark, a sigil, and it's going to set in motion a series of events that might just plunge Avalon back into a war from which it can never recover.

First things first--the story is top-notch stuff. One of the four core books of CrossGen's line of titles, like most of the books, it's more than it appears to be. It looked like it could have been just another sci-fi/fantasy hybrid where the dragon riders use laptops and technology provides your battle armor. But no--it quickly takes a different turn. Sure, you've got the two houses at each other's throats, and sure you've got revenge and betrayal running rampant. But you also have a story of coming of age, and the decisions that come from it--especially when you discover there's a third path you can choose. Without giving anything away for those who haven't cracked open any of the issues or trades, let's say the story deals with issues of family and racial prejudice and leave it at that.

This is a very different DVD to be reviewing, since it's what they're calling a "digital comic book." This is not a movie--this is where they've basically taken issues of a comic and digitally amped the thing up to where it's something you would actually want to sit and watch. When this was first announced, eyebrows went up. We'd seen this kind of thing before tried with CD-ROMs (not impressive) and as cool as CrossGen's Comics on the Web site is, would a straight port of that content be worth snagging in a DVD form? Well, we shouldn't have worried. As stated, they've used digital magic to take still images and make them move, using pans and zooms to bring motion where there wasn't any. And the word balloons appear, yes, but you also get actors providing the voices of the characters.

First up, it takes a minute to readjust to what you're seeing. Because it's not a comic book and it's not a movie, it's basically what George Carlin might call "meatcake." But for what it is, it works very well. The DVD opens up with a trailer for the title, which is probably as close to a mini-movie of Scion you're going to get until the feature film comes out. Then you get a menu with the covers of all seven issues. Click and go. The best part of the presentation is in how the panels are used to give the illusion of movement. There's no movement. This is what Cheung and company put down on paper, but in the hands of the digital folks, it's pretty darn close.

Does the thing translate to this medium? Well, yes. It's interesting to watch--although in my opinion, it'll never be a substitute for the printed page--though the thing that takes the longest to grow accustomed to is the interjection of voices. Let's face it: this is comic book dialogue, which means it sounds perfectly fine in your head, but it wasn't necessarily meant to be read aloud in a dramatic form. Some of the voices can get a little too much, if you know what I mean, but luckily the leads are cast with people who seem to be able to balance well. With seven issues worth of content to get through, it's basically the length of a short feature film.

As far as features go, what they have isn't bad. You get the trailers for the other titles (all done just as spiffy--if these were movies, you'd be lining up to see them today) as well as a trailer for the CrossGen universe in general. There's also a brief documentary taking you through the process of creating a comic. This is nice, as we get to put a face to names like Chuck Dixon and Bart Sears, and they do explain how it is they do what they do. This was especially interesting for me, since I had never seen the new digital coloring and lettering bits in action--shows how long it's been since I watched anything on behind the scenes of comics. There's also brief character sketches for everybody involved.

I'd have love to have gotten some running audio commentaries going from, say, CrossGen Head Burrito Marc Alessi and Ron Marz, especially on the first issue. Or if that's not possible, an interview with the two of them would be perfect. Also, I think a nice primer on the CrossGen universe would be good--where does Scion fit in with the other titles and why do I not need to read everything in order to know what the hell's going on? Another obvious extra they need are DVD-ROM weblinks to where to buy what I've just watched in a trade paperback edition. Or to Comics on the Web so I can buy a subscription. But hey, this is first round of releases--I'm sure we're going to get to Criterion territory soon.

All in all, I find this branching out of existing content into new forms utterly fascinating. And even if you can't get used to the presentation, you've got to give them points for trying something new. And for the price, you can't beat it with a big stick. Check out at least one volume and give it a try.