Is
MarvelKids.com Ready For Kids?
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| 'cuz
we're all suckered in by giant robots... |
Last week, Marvel went live with a new initiative: Marvelkids.com.
A great idea long overdue, the website purports to be a safe
zone where more impressionable potential readers can explore
the Marvel characters they've been buying in toy stores.
Ideally, kids
have been buying Marvel Adventures, an all-ages friendly
line of comics. There, the Hulk will never avenge a genocide,
Spider-Man will never sell his soul and Iron Man is benevolent
and handsome. Pretty safe for the 6 to 12 demographic, that
line of books does its job well and has coverage on MarvelKids.com.
For most, though,
the main attraction will be the videos and games. When Marvel
first sent out an announcement, they touted groundbreaking
computer animation in a series of short videos that tied
in to the Marvel Adventures line. A day later they revised
the phrasing, referring to them now as "advervideos." Fair
enough, as to make the site appear far readier than it is,
they've loaded it with movie and videogame trailers, and
one bizarre but much-watched by my 3-year-old ad for Hasbro's
line of Spider-Man toys.
The one truly
unique video would be the first part of a Spider-Man/Iron
Man/Hulk crossover, a computer animated short that should
add up to about five minutes. Whoever voices Spider-Man
comes across as a lot more real New York than we usually
hear, but then again, wouldn't he be? It's fast-paced, simply
plotted and absolutely the way to get younger kids excited
about the heroes. Unfortunately, it's also only about a
minute and a half. But well done, Marvel, because my son
now totally wants to see Iron Man.
If Marvel can
get a few good online games going, this will be a good web
destination to compete with things like Nickelodeon.com
and Millsberry.com. It's just not quite ready, and for now,
anyway, it's also oddly partnered with the University of
Phoenix. So to go to a site that is a huge advertisement
in and of itself, each video (including the Hasbro commercial)
gets preceded by a 15 second ad for a chain of colleges.
It's not exactly the perfect combination of content and
sponsor.
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| Making
Tony Stark safe for families... |
But let's let
Marvel hype it…
From Marvel:
Marvel
is pleased to announce that True Believers can now experience
the team of Iron Man and Hulk in a series of groundbreaking
Marvel Adventures Animated Advervideos! This series of advertisements,
created, in a fun video format, were developed to promote
the popular, all-ages Marvel Adventures line of comic books.
In this action-packed thrill-ride Marvel brings some of
it’s mightiest heroes together to battle enemies too
powerful for any one hero to defeat! Click on http://www.marvelkids.com
to begin the adventure that’ll leave your jaws on
the floor!
With
the first advervideo released at http://www.marvelkids.com/videos,
fans everywhere are already clamoring for the next one.
On January 10th, 2008, check out http://www.marvelkids.com
for the second advervideo and then, no Marvel fan can afford
to be away from their computer on January 17th, 2008, when
the third and final one arrives online! All three advervideos
feature special cameos and bonus Easter Eggs for Marvel
fans new and old—can you spot them all?
Also
don’t miss Marvel Adventures Iron Man #1 Special,
a new digital comic book that stars Iron Man, Hulk and Spider-Man;
the exciting prequel to The Marvel Adventures Animated Advervideos!
It’s a brand-new story featuring your favorite heroes…and
it’s free at http://www.marvelkids.com/ironman!
It’s
super heroics, repulsor rays and smashing like no Marvel
fan has ever seen before, exclusively from your friendly
neighborhood pals at MarvelKids.Com. So what’re you
waiting for? It’s your universe, your favorite heroes
and groundbreaking animated fun rolled into the can’t-miss
Marvel Adventures Animated Advervideos! Don’t forget,
you can pick up Marvel Adventures comics and digests every
month wherever comics are sold—ask for Marvel Adventures
Iron Man, Marvel Adventures Hulk, Marvel Adventures Spider-Man
and more by name!
Visit
http://www.marvelkids.com to experience it now!
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