Batman Beyond: Return of the Joker is one indication that direct-to-video films are the new graphic novel. © Warner Bros. All rights reserved.

Suppose a comic book line could go directly to video, completely animated, with each DVD containing six "issues" released twice yearly. What if, for example, The New Avengers became a title that could only be obtained via DVD? Given the present price of comic books, which clock in at around $3.00 per issue, the cost to fans would be $36.00; the cost of two DVDs would be right in line with this price. The storylines could be as adult and as sophisticated as the writers wished. After all, Superman Doomsday carried a PG-13 rating.

More animators would be given work, and it is not necessarily true that comic book artists would join the unemployment line; the company can always launch a new comic book line. Given the number of Spider-Man and X-Men titles proliferating today, as well as the increasing number of one-shots and special titles, this is not unrealistic. Animating comic books would not reduce the work force; rather, animation studios could become adjuncts and partners to comic book companies.

Perhaps this is simply a hoax, a dream, or an imaginary story, but the technology and talent exists right now to make it so. Superman Doomsday is an innovative piece of work that outstrips its origins, and it just may be a harbinger of the future where comic books are concerned. It is no longer 1961: comic book fans still have the old drugstore, but also the bookstore, comic book shop, graphic novel, animated series, and now, the animated DVD. A pity that Hot Stuff never lived to see it.

Martin "Dr. Toon" Goodman is a longtime student and fan of animation. He lives in Anderson, Indiana.