The animated versions of my favorite comic book characters never quite lived up to the excitement of reading the comics. Spider Man's money problems, or Richie Rich's lack thereof, didn't seem palpable without the combination of static art and word balloons. A notable exception to this was Marvel's "animated" features of the '60s, where the camera moved around the panels of the comic book (with accompanying voice-over and sound effects), preserving the integrity of the material.
Comic Book Confidential 's creator/director, Ron Mann, calls this process "filmography;" his use of the process is a reason why his documentary so successfully captures the essence of comics. Mann spans a wide range of creative forces in comicdom: from Stan Lee and the late Jack Kirby to underground legend R. Crumb - all of whom narrate selections from their cinematically agitated work.
Now Voyager has developed a CD-ROM version of Mann's movie. Having the icons and innovators of the comic world interpret their visions as they come to life on the screen is a rare treat - and Comic Book Confidential never lets go of that thrill.
Keeping with Mann's concept of comics as a complete art form, the CD-ROM contains not only the entire 84-minute movie, but also more than 120 digitized pages of the featured artists' work.
The complete text of the Comics Code is the most clever addition, as the film in part centers around its effect on the comic book industry. Reading it, you'll relive the hysteria of 1954, when the Senate Subcommittee on Juvenile Delinquency was up in arms over horror and crime comics, with their garish depictions of the dead and the undead. The biggest scare of the CD-ROM could be reading the constricting "standards" the publishers were forced to conform to.
By toggling back and forth from the film to the artists' bios and the Comics Code, Comic Book Confidential vividly explains how comics overcame and eventually outgrew their obstacles, and proves indispensable for newbies and true believers alike.
Comic Book Confidential , by Ron Mann, US$49.95. The Voyager Company: (800) 446 2001, +1 (914) 591 5500.
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