hmmm I dont know if i like the style of animation but sure i'll watch it :)

shesmyeverything | October 01, 19:55 CET

Coming at this from the outside:

Not sure about the style of animation at first, it kept taking me out of the story. Sometimes it looks brilliant, other times I wanted Cartman to appear.

But - the story and the lines are there, and so am I. I'm pretty sure the animation issue is down to the pure 'shock factor' of going from TV to new (to me) form animation.

[ edited by gossi on 2009-10-01 20:08 ]

gossi | October 01, 20:02 CET

I love that's it directed by two artists that Joss has worked with in the past.

Simon | October 01, 20:04 CET

The animation, while a bit robotic, doesn't take me out of it quite as much as the voice acting does.

GreatMuppetyOdin | October 01, 20:52 CET

Well, rough edges aside, it looks like it could be kind of interesting. I'll check it o-- Oh look, it's on iTunes and not available to filthy furr'ners. So, not so much, then. Right.

Winther | October 01, 21:16 CET

As I mentioned before, the result is better than I expected. Animation wise, it reminds me of cartoons from the 60's or 70's, so it doesn't really bother's me, since they're basically making the static drawings from the comic books and applying the motion that only comes from our imagination.

I'm more bothered by the voice work, which is just OK, could be more expressive.

Numfar PTB | October 01, 21:50 CET

Hey that treatment could really work well for the season 8 comics.

Cyclopticxander | October 02, 02:59 CET

This is so awkward looking... Definitely not for me...

Djungelurban | October 02, 04:26 CET

What's the Adams-connection?

wiesengrund | October 02, 09:56 CET

Hmm, yeah, as much as I like the X-Men I don't think I could handle this, the animation, while nicely layered, is just too jerky for me not to be constantly irritated by it. Why did they do it like this rather than making a proper cartoon?

digupherbones | October 02, 10:32 CET

The Spider-Woman motion comic is far superior.

This is just awful.

[ edited by Gouki on 2009-10-02 11:14 ]

Gouki | October 02, 11:14 CET

Whoa, the bobbing heads are making me seasick...

ruuger | October 02, 11:32 CET

What's the Adams-connection?

Adams worked with Joss in a short story for Giant Size Uncanny X-Men #3.

Numfar PTB | October 02, 11:46 CET

Yep, back in 2005.

Hmm, not too bad, some of the voice acting isn't flawless and the nodding heads are a bit distracting. Waiting to see.

(unlike the very "dirty" art style of the Spider-woman motion comic it could be that Cassaday's uncluttered backgrounds and clean lines show any animation weirdness more clearly. Also, i've only seen the first - i.e. free - ep of Spider-woman but the images barely moved at all so the "animation" isn't really comparable. Their approach is the arguably less ambitious "move the static images around" style of motion comic)

Saje | October 02, 12:27 CET

Well, on the one hand this was better than the motion comics I've seen in the past. Yes, it was far from perfectly done, but I like how the drawings come to life. The thing that distracts me though, is the voice acting. Whedon's dialogue is carefully timed and has a rhythm, which I didn't feel came across that well here. It kept taking me out of the story, but this did make me feel like re-reading the Astonishing run. It really was some of Joss' best work to date.

ETR a typo

[ edited by GVH on 2009-10-02 12:46 ]

GVH | October 02, 12:46 CET

The voice acting is pretty bad. And Kitty's flashbacks were jarring how they popped in (her younger voice grating--the "Hey sexy!" and then Colossus' response were awkward. And I know it was only one line/exclamation, but Colossus sounds like a doofus. I'm guessing they didn't get a Russian to play him, nor a voice actor who can do a Russian accent without camping it up).

Some bits of the animation are cool, but some just make you wonder why they bothered. During Emma's speech, her facial animations were just bizarre. Her blinking reminds me of a child's doll.

I dunno if I'll ever get used to cat-faced Hank. I appreciate that it makes him more literally a beast in appearance and the X-Men really need a not-so-human-looking member on the main team to drive home the humanity-hates-and-fears-us-for-being-different premise...but he's just really offputting to look at and Cassaday draws him particularly creepy-looking.

Kris | October 02, 18:20 CET