Visitors Review

brittney-mcclellan (2012-05-25 20:31)

Good film

I've read comics before, but i'm not an avid comic book reader, anduntil this film I had no idea of the great history behind comic books.This film is tailored to educate and entertain everyone from the mostavid comic book readers to the people that know nothing about comics.The film did a fantastic job at going through the history of comics andhitting on all of the aspects of comic books and comic book writers. Ido, however, wish there was more about women's involvement in comics.Comic Book Confidential is filled with great interviews from bothwell-known and not-so-well-known writers, and is filled with greatinsight into the rich history of comic books.

livdavison (2012-05-25 04:20)

Comic book Confidential

Not being an avid comic book reader, I found Ron Mann's insightfuldocumentary to be revealing and informative. This film sheds light onhow much of an impact comic books and their artist have in our culture,history, and society. From political satires, to old tales of classicsuperheroes, horror and action filled comics, Mann covers a base on allgenres in the comic book world. The style in which Mann delivers thisfilm has the viewer flying across the pages of some of the mostcherished comic books. I thought it was a create and balancingintroduction to those who have never even heard of some of the artistsand comic books that are still well known to this day. Those new tocomics and those who are proud junkies can enjoy this pleasant andinformative documentary that will have the viewer turning the "page" tofind out what happens next.

mistah_remeat (2012-05-24 18:18)

Great Primer on Comic History as well as Indie/Undie Comics

Fantastic documentary. It shows portions of the comic book world,behind the scenes that you may or may not have known about until thismovie hit the streets. It's a bit like a primer to the less known,forward thinking creator producers that are/were shaping the face ofcomics.The chronological/sequential time-line of the show gives you aninteresting perspective on the state of comics in all their forms,focusing on the most important aspects of the industry at the time. Ialso like the way the big 2 are almost a side bar, with comments madeabout changes and relevant timely issues (Frank Miller talks Batmanabout the pivotal "Dark Knight Returns")I highly recommend this movie to anyone interested in sequential art ordocumentaries for that matter...

bek-12 (2012-05-24 05:34)

Interesting, but good have been better...

This is a very interesting video, especially for people that are new tocomics or just a general audience. My biggest reservation is that itdidn'tconcentrate enough on the BIG companies and creators. I would have likedtoseen more of Frank Miller's Dark Knight, and Art Spiegleman's Maus, andRobert Crumb, Will Eisner, and Stan Lee, instead of the whole list ofpeopleI've never heard of that work on underground comics. Heck, this videospends a disproportionate amount of time on undergrounds, and then hardlymentions the other big names.Still, there is very interesting stuff about Frederick Werthem and the CCA,and it's a serious video about comics. It gets a 5 out of 10 just forthat.Maybe next time, we'll have a video for non-undergroundcomics.

humenbean (2012-05-24 10:57)

Good idea in theory, bad in practice.

During the movie the director Ron Mann attempts to tackle many aspectsof comic (not book) history. Political struggles, sexism, artisticfreedom are just a few that are covered. In order to discuss such abroad range of situations and evidence the movie starts to jump arounda bit. It is just too much to cover in such a short film and certainkey points are not covered well.*possible spoiler*During the film a short period of time is dedicated to how much impactwars had on comic books. More time is spent discussing one of the comicbook writers characters and leads to nothing.*End Spoiler*This film is worth at least a once through to see the quirky side ofsome artists, but should have spent less time being a back stagedocumentary and taken better direction of the film's layout.

Megan (2012-05-23 22:13)

Comics and Writing.

This documentary illustrates the relationship between the imagery of anartwork, and the written word. Literally. Through the use of a comicthe artist can clearly identify the depiction and create an interestingstory. Comic strips have come a long way since their introduction inthe Sunday paper. Their variety in contemporary topics range frompolitical, to humorous, to entertainment, making the comic a universalmedium catering to all types of interests. Comic book confidentialstarts to unfold the history behind its popularity and explains whatthe comic attempts to achieve. The comic strip is the product ofimagery, literary analysis and development, and modern culture. Thisdocumentary further explains these connections and thus the success andhistorical background of the comic book era.

Fred Flinstone (2012-05-23 10:16)

re previous comment

The previous comment was incorrect!Bill Griffith did publish at least one comic "book" entitled "Are wehaving fun yet?"BTW, the movie was GOOD. Another good Ron Mann movie I recommend isGrass.Cheers!!!

Michael Neumann (2012-05-23 03:26)

not strictly for comic book geeks

Ron Mann's playful documentary works in two ways, first and foremost asan affectionate thumbnail history of comic books and the socialattitudes that nurtured them, from the super patriotic fervor of theSecond World War to the right-wing paranoia of McCarthyism to thecounterculture underground of the '60s and beyond. Elsewhere it's anintroduction to almost two-dozen comic artists (the tag cartoonistdoesn't do them justice) still plying their trade, all of them misfits,rebels, radicals, and malcontents. Snappy graphics and sample artcombine to make the film a colorful celebration of an enduring andpopular form of self-expression, with one drawback: most of thehighlighted artists could have inspired their own full length feature,and the film simply isn't long enough to examine them individually tothe depth they each deserve. Also, parents please note: despite thesubject matter this is certainly not a film for children.

expensivemasonry (2012-05-22 01:48)

A Film Without an Audience.

Ninety minutes is not nearly enough time for a comprehensive history ofan art form as complicated and often contested as sequential art. Inresponse to this certainty a director would be wise to focus theirattentions on a facet of the whole for reexamination. That isn't thecase here. This isn't an in depth documentary about Fredric Wertham andthe senate sub-comity hearings. It isn't a look at the undergroundevolution of Haight/Ashbury or the female comic forefront built largelyin response to it. This isn't about the birth of the medium andsuperhero trends. What we have is a film that tries to do all of thisin an hour and a half and winds up leaving each of these subjectswholly unfulfilling.One could argue that this is a strength of the film and furthermorethat films like "Comic Book Confidential" grant casual viewers/readersa "sampler plate" of subjects to pique their interests, but thatdoesn't prove it a success. Any casual viewer who came to this filmexpecting to be confronting with the heroes they recognized from childhood would find the flippant chapter headings insulting A thirty-secondmontages of Captain America covers entitled "Meanwhile in Super HeroComics…" is all they need to skip over the twenty or so years whichseparate movements they deem "relevant." The informed viewer, likemyself, might find these titles smirk-worthy, but the odds are wearen't going to learn anything he hadn't read before.With a little more focus the all star list of artists in this film(many of which no longer with us) really could've made somethingspecial… but now this film is nothing more than a charming slice ofperspective from the late eighties, before The Dark Night Returns andMaus changed the world and ushered in the inspirational drought of themid-nineties. For all of it's flaws and omissions, it's still a greatopportunity to watch Will Eisner laugh. And Wow! Frank Miller used tohave some great hair, didn't he?

Kenneth Chisholm (2012-05-21 18:22)

The best overview of the medium so far, but it needs refining.

When this film came out, it was a refreshing and enjoyable movie. Ittreatscomics with some real respect and takes the time to explore the medium insome detail.However, there are some flaws. Some of the talents interviewed do not workin comic books per se, but in comic STRIPS, a variant of the medium thathasgotten much more respect over the years than comic books. However, thatvariant has it's own history and dicipline that is distinct from comicbooksand should not have been included. This is meaning no disrespect talentslike Bill Griffith, but it's like having a film discussing the art andhistory of movies and having TV series producers interviewed. They arepartof a related medium, but are really not relevant to the main subject of thefilm.Otherwise, it does cover a fairly complete view of the form with giantslikeJack Kirby, Stan Lee and Robert Crumb, although I would have liked to haveseen talents like Alan Moore (Swamp Thing, Watchmen) or the Pini's(Elfquest) being interviewed. The animated sequences were a neat way togetthe atmosphere of the comics in their different eras as well as the majorcharacters. The footage of the pages from "Batman: The Dark KnightReturns"was particularly effective.In short, if you need a quick overview of the comic book as a form of art,then this film is well worth your time.

Jack Gattanella (2012-05-19 07:30)

for die-hards it will be an incomplete but essential treat, and for newcomers it's... eye-opening, to say the least

Comic Book Confidential, which is a (now) relatively obscuredocumentary on the history of 20th century comics up until its finishedfilming date (about 50+ years between the start of the 'Funnies' to thepublication of The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller), is a film Ilook at on two levels: one is as a growing fan of comic books andgraphic novels, who has known names like Stan Lee and Robert Crumb foryears and is now knowing well names and works by the likes of WillEisner, Harvey Pekar, Charles Burns and Jack Kirby better than ever,and wants to soak up as much knowledge as possible. The other is as adocumentary informing on the varied and eclectic history of a verymodern medium that can only grow. On both fronts the film reaches farfrom greatness, and in all actuality is incomplete. But I admired itsambition for a different approach with its transitions and showing whatthe comics were an evolving but "primitive art form", as Eisner says.Ron Mann and his team basically gathered a rogue gallery of 'who's-who'of comic book writing legends (with the sad exception of a few, BobKane and especially Alan Moore, that add to it feeling short andincomplete though not just because of that), and covers how comicsstarted in papers, spread to Superman and Batman, then the war, horrorcomics, the wretched "Comics Code", and the slow but eventual erosionthrough the start of Marvel comics and, more-so, the underground comicboom started by Robert Crumb and going on to more radical and crazydimensions. While Mann may spend a little too much time with theunderground folk (may being the big word, I dug it visually mostly), hegathers up a lot of useful and funny anecdotes- from Pekar about hisembarrassing jazz radio station fiasco to one writer's troubles withdoing an outrageous rip on Mickey Mouse.The film tries, and usually succeeds, at engaging on its ownserio-comic approach, with the panels of comics flashing by at a cooland concentrated pace, and some groovy tunes from Doo-Wop onto 80sNew-Wave. It's biggest problem though, aside from a few notables notbeing included that, if only as a minor fan-boy, feels irksome, is thatit's actually too short to fully dig into its well of possibilities.What's scratched here can suffice for die-hards and newcomers, thelatter probably just bedazzled by the amount of underground productthey've never heard of (some of it news to me and some, like Maus, thatone means to check out but haven't yet for a reason or another). Butthere's probably a more ambitious documentary waiting to be made, onewith more access or more money, maybe even on the level of a Ken Burnsprobe, that could be made on the subject either as a companion orupdate (bring in Warren Ellis!)

fitzapril (2012-05-19 01:10)

Documentary informing

The film Comic Book Confidential by director Ron Mann was made in 1988.A great documentary for people who are new to comic books and want tolearn the brief history. The film treated comics with respect. One isable to go behind the scene and into the amazing minds of the comicbook writers and illustrators. The film does a great job of summarizingthe evolution of the comic world, starting with the creator William M.Gaines' father, to the 1988 modern day writers. It left each subjectwith a lack of information because everything could not not of beensaid in such a short period of time. The video gave a perfect overviewof comics in all its forms.