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It’s always good to return to the source.
At least that’s what Fox is counting on with “Gotham Stories,” a five-part animated comic book series heralding the return of Gotham.
Beginning February 2, Fox began airing 20-30 second promos every Monday during its broadcast of The X-Files leading up to the second half of Gotham’s second season, which premieres February 29.
After its on-air debut, the all-new, made for TV animated comic will screen online at Fox.com, in the form of an extended cut (60 seconds or more) of the motion comic.
The series, illustrated by comics veteran Matt Haley, features voices from the Gotham cast and was the brainchild of Fox senior writer-producer Bart Montgomery and Julio Cabral, vice president, on-air creative, Fox, that became a collaboration between Fox, Warner Bros. and DC Comics.
“The genesis of the idea was to service the Gotham fans,” said Cabral. “With us being fans as well, we know the origin of Batman and being true to the comic book is why we wanted to attack it in this way.”
The network plans to create a physical comic using the illustrations from the animated promo series, with a couple lucky fans on the receiving end of the forthcoming giveaway.
The comics present an original storyline that serves as connective tissue between the two halves of season two and are part of Fox’s “Wrath of the Villains” marketing campaign (taking the baton from the first half’s “Rise of the Villains”) that promotes the arrival of Mr. Freeze to the fold (and will soon feature the return of Jada Pinkett Smith as Fish Mooney).
Fox plans character-centric spots showcasing the villains, an aspect of the show that has become Gotham’s selling point in season 2.
It’s unsurprising to see Fox change and refine its focus. In this age of gluttonous content across all modes of entertainment, marketing during a show’s hiatus has become increasingly important.
“There’s so much great programming on TV in general, that any time you take a long hiatus, you kind of risk the chance of losing some of those people that are on-board with your show,” said Cabral. “You want to keep them engaged.”
Scott Edwards, SVP, on-air promotions, Fox, points to their bridge marketing for Empire last season as a template for success, which had an even longer break than Gotham has this year.
“When shows have taken a breather, because they’re refining the content as they build to the next installment, it’s important to make sure we keep them in the presence of mind of the viewers, so they can stay connected to the characters they love, and see that the story is still building and it’s going to start progressing the next time they turn in,” said Edwards.
Gotham’s comic book initiative comes on the heels of the wildly successful animated, comic book style X-Files teaser Fox launched back in October.
“This is the sort of thing that stands out, and isn’t just your usual click-driven marketing,” said Edwards. “It’s always welcome here.”
Clearly, we might be seeing a lot more animated comic promos in the future, given Fox’s increasing stable of genre shows, including fellow DC comic book adaptation Lucifer.
“If this is successful and gets Gotham some interest and buzz and generates the response we’re looking for, we wouldn’t rule [more] out,” said Edwards.
It’s the kind of synergy networks dream of.
“The comic inspired the show, the show inspires a different kind of comic that carries the bridge plan, that comic animated spot airs online and on-air and inspires a print piece to bring it all full circle,” said Edwards.
A new circle begins when Gotham: Rise of the Villains returns Monday, February 29 at 8/7c on Fox.
[All images courtesy of Fox]
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