Vixen Important?

Forbes magazine thinks this new Warners series in a big deal:

... Warner Bros. took to the Comic-Con stage to unveil its true first action packed look at one of its most anticipated adaptations coming in the next few months. No, it’s not the one with the Superman guy taking on the Batman guy in an expensive spring tent-pole. Rather, this screening was the first reveal of clips from the upcoming animated series, Vixen. ...

Resting on the shoulders of Vixen is the future of an entire business model that even Marvel hasn’t dared to try. ... Set for debut on The CW’s digital branch, CW Seed, Vixen has the potential to be far more important to Warner Bros.’ overall relationship with DC Comics than Batman v Superman could ever hope to be because of the doors it could open for the studio in the long run. ...

[The show] carries with it the ability to turn DC and WBTV’s programming slate into something that can attract a younger audience from the very beginning. By utilizing two mediums they already appreciate (digital video and animation), Vixen can get them used to the idea of a shared universe without the aid of anyone else. ...

There's a speck of hyperbole here, but I get the idea:

Warners/DC can spin out un-tried characters on the web one hell of a lot less expensively than launching Vixen or any other relative unknown on the big silver screen.

And it's true that Warners is aping what Marvel is doing in its own super hero Universe. It's also true that they're (finally) a bit ahead of the delivery curve putting content on-line. But this is a distinction without much difference, you strip the bark away. The internet is just one more pipeline to get product in front of the eyes of an audience.

If it's effective increasing the fan-base for lesser-known characters, they'll keep doing it. And when it's successful, Marvel will do the same thing. Because imitation is the sincerest form of Movie-and-Comic-Book-Land.