Thu Oct 9, 2008 — by Josh Wigler

New 'Batman' and 'Superman' Animated Projects

'Black & White' and 'Red Son' Developed as Motion Comics

Taking a cue from their recent Watchmen motion comic, Warner Bros. and DC Comics have announced two new projects in the same style. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Batman: Black & White and Superman: Red Son are the next comics to get the animated treatment. Red Son is based on Mark Millar and Dave Johnson's Elseworld comic depicting Kal-El had he grown up in Russia instead of America. Black & White was a four issue mini-series in the 1990s that featured several eight-page short stories.

Superman: Red Son and Batman: Black & White will follow the recent Watchmen motion comic project's style, combining authentic looking artwork with music, voice-over work and subtle movement of the art. Two chapters of Watchmen have been released so far, with a new episode to be released every two weeks. Hopefully these newly announced projects will utilize multiple voice actors, rather than the one Watchmen narrator that voices every character -- yes, that includes Sally and Laurie Juspeczyk.

The motion comics can be downloaded on iTunes, Amazon VOD, Xbox Live and the Sony PlayStation Store, with "summary editions" available for Verizon Wireless V Cast and Sprint TV customers.

Several DC Comics have made the leap from page to animation in recent times, most notably Justice League: The New Frontier based on Darwyn Cooke's graphic novel DC: The New Frontier. The latest film released was Batman: Gotham Knight, an anime film intended to bridge the gap between Batman Begins and The Dark Knight.

Next up is February's Wonder Woman with voice work from Keri Russell and Nathan Fillion.  After that will be a Green Lantern project with no details revealed to date.

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