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Comic Book Confidential
Movie: 8/10
Ron (Grass) Mann is a great new documentarian. I had seen this film in a media studies class I took a few years ago and it quickly ranked up there with the classes favorite films. The film follows comic books since the beginning; superheroes, satires, horror, and everything under the sun. Intertwined with the look at comic books are interviews with writers and artists, how comics have influenced history, and more little goodies. Comic Book Confidential is one of the best contemporary documentaries I’ve ever seen. I am not even a big comic fan, but Mann’s work got my attention and it stayed there. There is some really good stuff in here and I think you should all treat yourself, whether you are a comic book lover or not, to a view at Ron Mann’s Comic Book Confidential. And, yes, the film does feature Stan "The Man" Lee, William Gaines (Mad Magazine) and Robert Crumb (Fritz the Cat).
Video: 7/10
Digitally remastered in a 1.33:1 aspect ratio. Not bad looking, but not as good as Grass in my opinion . Granted, a lot of this flick is older material and the film itself is over ten years old, so it’s not bad in that aspect.
Audio: 7/10
Stereo.... Not like it really matters on something like this, so it’s not bad.
Extras: 7/10
This DVD isn’t bad. It’s not stacked or anything, but everything here has a nice quality. Included on the DVD are an introduction by our man Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back) (very cool!), an interview with Ron Mann, artist bios, trailers for Mann’s other documentaries, and a comic book archive featuring a story by each artist. The bios are included in a neat booklet with the DVD with a short bio and a quote, along with some drawings. I wish Mann would do a commentary or something and you can’t really ask for a making of documentary on a documentary. You would basically be watching the same thing over again in my opinion. Not bad... Not bad...
Overall: 7/10
Decent extras, good transfer, and a great documentary. Ron Mann could be joining the ranks of the Maysales brothers for his work in Contemporary Documentaries.
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