SYNOPSICS
Comic Book Confidential (1988) is a English movie. Ron Mann has directed this movie. Lynda Barry,Charles Burns,Sue Coe,Robert Crumb are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1988. Comic Book Confidential (1988) is considered one of the best Documentary,History movie in India and around the world.
In the 20th century, no artistic medium in North America with so much potential for creative expression has had a more turbulent history plagued with less respect than comic books. Through animated montages, readings and interviews, this film guides us through the history of the medium from the late 1930s and 1940s with the first explosion of popularity with the superheroes created by great talents like Jack Kirby and hitting its first artistic zenith with Will Eisner's "Spirit". It then shifts to the post war comics world with the rising popularity of crime and horror comics, especially those published by EC Comics under the editorship of William B. Gaines until it came crashing down the rise of censorship with the imposition of the Comics Code. In its wake of the devastation of the medium's creative freedom, we also explore EC's defiant survival with the creation of the singular "Mad Magazine" by Harvey Kurtzman. We then move to the resurgence of the superheroes in the late 1950's ...
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Comic Book Confidential (1988) Reviews
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 obscure documentary on the history of 20th century comics up until its finished filming date (about 50+ years between the start of the 'Funnies' to the publication of The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller), is a film I look at on two levels: one is as a growing fan of comic books and graphic novels, who has known names like Stan Lee and Robert Crumb for years and is now knowing well names and works by the likes of Will Eisner, Harvey Pekar, Charles Burns and Jack Kirby better than ever, and wants to soak up as much knowledge as possible. The other is as a documentary informing on the varied and eclectic history of a very modern medium that can only grow. On both fronts the film reaches far from greatness, and in all actuality is incomplete. But I admired its ambition for a different approach with its transitions and showing what the 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, Bob Kane and especially Alan Moore, that add to it feeling short and incomplete though not just because of that), and covers how comics started in papers, spread to Superman and Batman, then the war, horror comics, the wretched "Comics Code", and the slow but eventual erosion through the start of Marvel comics and, more-so, the underground comic boom started by Robert Crumb and going on to more radical and crazy dimensions. While Mann may spend a little too much time with the underground folk (may being the big word, I dug it visually mostly), he gathers up a lot of useful and funny anecdotes- from Pekar about his embarrassing jazz radio station fiasco to one writer's troubles with doing an outrageous rip on Mickey Mouse. The film tries, and usually succeeds, at engaging on its own serio-comic approach, with the panels of comics flashing by at a cool and concentrated pace, and some groovy tunes from Doo-Wop onto 80s New-Wave. It's biggest problem though, aside from a few notables not being included that, if only as a minor fan-boy, feels irksome, is that it's actually too short to fully dig into its well of possibilities. What's scratched here can suffice for die-hards and newcomers, the latter probably just bedazzled by the amount of underground product they've never heard of (some of it news to me and some, like Maus, that one means to check out but haven't yet for a reason or another). But there's probably a more ambitious documentary waiting to be made, one with more access or more money, maybe even on the level of a Ken Burns probe, that could be made on the subject either as a companion or update (bring in Warren Ellis!)
The best overview of the medium so far, but it needs refining.
When this film came out, it was a refreshing and enjoyable movie. It treats comics with some real respect and takes the time to explore the medium in some detail. However, there are some flaws. Some of the talents interviewed do not work in comic books per se, but in comic STRIPS, a variant of the medium that has gotten much more respect over the years than comic books. However, that variant has it's own history and dicipline that is distinct from comic books and should not have been included. This is meaning no disrespect talents like Bill Griffith, but it's like having a film discussing the art and history of movies and having TV series producers interviewed. They are part of a related medium, but are really not relevant to the main subject of the film. Otherwise, it does cover a fairly complete view of the form with giants like Jack Kirby, Stan Lee and Robert Crumb, although I would have liked to have seen talents like Alan Moore (Swamp Thing, Watchmen) or the Pini's (Elfquest) being interviewed. The animated sequences were a neat way to get the atmosphere of the comics in their different eras as well as the major characters. The footage of the pages from "Batman: The Dark Knight Returns" 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.
Sure, not perfect. But still crucial viewing for people who want to understand comics in the U.S.
Really, my summary line sez it all. This film does a valiant, necessary job: In its scant 80ish minutes, it gives a passable broad view of the evolution of the comic medium in the U.S. Take it from me, if you grew up with comics in the 60s thru the 80s, this film covers an impressive array of the essential bases. One of the highlights, to me, is basking in Will Eisner's beautiful visionary mind. And the other minds you see are lovely variations on that central theme. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful! Lovely production values, highlighting--just like comics! Fancy that!--the power of wild, middling production values coupled with untrammeled creativity to speak simple, direct truths that touch your heart and free your mind. Check it out.
Solid if limited
A well made look at the history of comics, it really ignores superhero stuff and focuses on underground and indie comics for the last half. It's clear they look at superhero stuff as artistically vapid (until the end with Frank Miller and DKR) which is a view I get, but there's still lots to find if you dig. Could have looked more at Jack Kirby's stuff, Gerber, Moore, etc. A nice primer, but overall a tad limited unless you really want to see semi obscure creators reading their stuff.
not strictly for comic book geeks
Ron Mann's playful documentary works in two ways, first and foremost as an affectionate thumbnail history of comic books and the social attitudes that nurtured them, from the super patriotic fervor of the Second World War to the right-wing paranoia of McCarthyism to the counterculture underground of the '60s and beyond. Elsewhere it's an introduction to almost two-dozen comic artists (the tag cartoonist doesn't do them justice) still plying their trade, all of them misfits, rebels, radicals, and malcontents. Snappy graphics and sample art combine to make the film a colorful celebration of an enduring and popular form of self-expression, with one drawback: most of the highlighted artists could have inspired their own full length feature, and the film simply isn't long enough to examine them individually to the depth they each deserve. Also, parents please note: despite the subject matter this is certainly not a film for children.