# Comic Book Confidential (1988)

### reviewed by
Jeff Meyer

                               COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL
                             A film review by Jeff Meyer
                              Copyright 1989 Jeff Meyer

A form of graphic storytelling receiving more and more critical and popular attention over the last decade has been that of the comic book. (I hesitate to even mention the B-movie this summer.) COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL tries to overview the history of comic book art in the US, from its inception in the early 30's to the present, and also to underline how much things have changed (and have not changed) since their initial spurt of popularity prior to World War II. Given that I have a rather long-lived interest in the subject of comix, it's a bit difficult for me to rate this film in regards to the general viewer; suffice it to say that, overall, I thought the film presented an accurate, well-organized and (most importantly) interesting history of comix in America. I have a few quibbles, but I'll get to them later.

The film is divided into sections, describing a time period or a close-up on a particular type of comic book that dominated the period. The body of the film consists of covers and artwork from comics being examined, interviews with the people who produced them, newsreel footage and period music (much of this dealing with the Wertham "Comics and Delinquency" scare that occurred during the 50's). The periods generally covered are: the Golden Age of comics and comics during WW II (with William M. Gaines, Jack Kirby and Will Eisner); changing times after WW II: Eisner's THE SPIRIT, the EC Horror/Crime/MAD series, and the subsequent comic book scare and the Comics Code (with Gaines, Al Feldstein, and Harvey Kurtzman); the return of the Super-Hero (with Stan Lee); the Undergrounds (with Robert Crumb, Spain, Victor Moscoso, Gilbert Shelton, Dan O'Neil and Kurtzman); comics and art (particularly RAW magazine, with Art Spiegelman, Charles Burns, Francoise Mouly, Harvey Pekar and Sue Coe); and finishing up with a potpourri of new favorites, including Lynda Barry, Bill Griffith, Jaime Hernandez, Shary Flenniken and Frank Miller.

The interviews are short and to-the-point, and most of the speakers are interesting, the exceptions being Lee, who always seems to be a parody of the show-biz agent; Kurtzman, who seemed rather withdrawn when speaking, and Sue Coe, who was driveling art-speak [prejudice alert!] The rest are pretty good, with the Eisner, Flenniken, Barry and Hernandez segments exceptionally engrossing. The underground segment in particular is well-covered, with a particularly good Crumb interview (you could just see the thought balloons over his head :-) ), and some interesting comments from Shelton and Dan O'Neil (where *does* that guy hang out?). Many of those interviewed read from their works, one of the few gripes I have with the film -- it hardly adds to the appreciation of the work being described, and the story is rarely aided by the creator's attempt to do voice characterizations for all of her/his creations. (I'd put Hernandez and Flenniken down as the only two exceptions there.)

Overall, I found it entertaining and informative (what you're interested in), and a pretty solid overview of the subject. Unless the subject of comix leaves you completely cold, I think you'll enjoy COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL.

                                            Moriarty, aka Jeff Meyer
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