''Comic Book Confidential'' is an

documentary film A documentary film (often described simply as a documentary) is a nonfiction Film, motion picture intended to "document reality, primarily for instruction, education or maintaining a Recorded history, historical record". The American author and ...

, released in 1988. Directed by

Ron Mann Ronald Mann (born June 13, 1958) is a Canadians, Canadian documentary film film director, director. His work includes the films ''Imagine the Sound'' (1981); ''Comic Book Confidential'' (1988); ''Grass (1999 film), Grass'' (1999) and ''Go Furt ...

and written by Mann and

Charley Lippincott Charles Myers Lippincott Jr. (October 28, 1939 – May 19, 2020) was an author and marketer, best known for promoting and licensing the first part of the ''Star Wars'' trilogy. Lippincott joined Lucasfilm in 1975 as Vice President of Advertising, ...

, the film is a survey of the history of the

comic book A comic book, comic-magazine, or simply comic is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are often accompanied by descriptive prose and wri ...

medium in the United States from the 1930s to the 1980s, as an art form and in social context.

Plot

The film includes profiles of twenty-two notable and influential talents in the comics field, such as Charles Burns,

Art Spiegelman Itzhak Avraham ben Zeev Spiegelman ( ; born February 15, 1948), professionally known as Art Spiegelman, is an American cartoonist, editor, and comics advocate best known for his graphic novel ''Maus''. His work as co-editor on the comics magazin ...

Françoise Mouly Françoise Mouly (; born 24 October 1955) is a French-born American designer, editor and publisher. She is best known as co-founder, co-editor, and publisher of the comics and graphics magazine ''Raw (comics magazine), Raw'' (1980–1991), as t ...

Frank Miller Frank Miller (born January 27, 1957) is an American comic book artist, comic book writer, and screenwriter known for his comic book stories and graphic novels such as his run on ''Daredevil'', for which he created the character Elektra, and ...

Stan Lee Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber ; December 28, 1922 – November 12, 2018) was an American comic book author, writer, editor, publisher, and producer. He rose through the ranks of a family-run business called Timely Comics which later bec ...

Will Eisner William Erwin Eisner ( ; March 6, 1917 – January 3, 2005) was an American cartoonist, writer, and entrepreneur. He was one of the earliest cartoonists to work in the American comic book industry, and his series '' The Spirit'' (1940–1952) wa ...

Robert Crumb Robert Dennis Crumb (; born August 30, 1943) is an American artist who often signs his work R. Crumb. His work displays a nostalgia for American folk culture of the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and satire of contemporary American c ...

Harvey Pekar Harvey Lawrence Pekar (; October 8, 1939 – July 12, 2010) was an American underground comic book writer, music critic, and media personality, best known for his autobiographical ''American Splendor'' comic series. In 2003, the series inspired ...

and

William M. Gaines William Maxwell "Bill" Gaines (; March 1, 1922 – June 3, 1992) was an American publisher and co-editor of EC Comics. Following a shift in EC's direction in 1950, Gaines presided over what became an artistically influential and historically i ...

. In interviews, the creators discuss their contributions and history, and read passages from their works over filmograph animations. Montages of comics through the decades, archival footage of an old 1950s show called '' Confidential File'', and a live-action

Zippy the Pinhead Zippy the Pinhead is a fictional character who is the protagonist of ''Zippy'', an American comic strip created by Bill Griffith. Zippy's most famous quotation, "Are we having fun yet?", appears in ''Bartlett's Familiar Quotations'' and became a ...

are featured.

Production

Development

moved to Hollywood in 1985 following the success of '' Imagine the Sound'' and '' Poetry in Motion'', but was $70,000 in debt after the failure of ''

Listen to the City ''Listen to the City'' is a 1984 Canadian drama film directed by Ron Mann. Normally a documentary filmmaker, this is Mann's only fictional feature. The film stars P.J. Soles, Jim Carroll, Sandy Horne, and Michael Glassbourg. Featured in small or c ...

''. Mann called

Joe Medjuck Joseph Medjuck (born February 17, 1943) is a Canadian film producer in Hollywood. Life and career Medjuck was born in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada. He received his BA in Honours English from McGill University and his MA and PhD from the ...

seeking work and received contract to write three scripts for

Ivan Reitman Ivan Reitman (; October 27, 1946 – February 12, 2022) was a Canadian film director and producer. He was known for his comedy films, especially in the 1980s and 1990s. Reitman was the owner of The Montecito Picture Company, founded in 1998. ...

. He was able to pay his debts and had $100,000 in his bank account. Mann attended a comic book convention at the suggestion of

. Mann talked to

Emile de Antonio Emile Francisco de Antonio (May 14, 1919 – December 15, 1989) was an American director and producer of documentary films, usually detailing political, social, and counterculture of the 1960s, counterculture events circa 1960s–1980s. He has be ...

and

bpNichol Barrie Phillip Nichol (30 September 1944 – 25 September 1988), known as bpNichol, was a Canadian poet, writer, sound poet, editor, creative writing teacher at York University in Toronto and grOnk/Ganglia Press publisher. His body of work ...

about making a film about comic books. Mann was hired to make an electronic press kit for ''

Legal Eagles ''Legal Eagles'' is a 1986 American legal romantic comedy thriller film directed by Ivan Reitman, written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps, Jr. from a story by Reitman and the screenwriters, and starring Robert Redford, Debra Winger, and Daryl Hanna ...

'', after initially proposing to make a documentary about the making of the film. He decided to use the free film stock and crew he was given to interview comic book artists in New York.

Universal Pictures Universal City Studios LLC, doing business as Universal Pictures (also known as Universal Studios or simply Universal), is an American filmmaking, film production and film distribution, distribution company headquartered at the 10 Universal Ci ...

was unimpressed with the footage Mann shot and requested that he return the footage. After this he considered making a film about

Dario Fo Dario Luigi Angelo Fo (; 24 March 1926 – 13 October 2016) was an Italian playwright, actor, theatre director, stage designer, songwriter, political campaigner for the Italian left wing and the recipient of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Literature. ...

, titled ''Enemy of the Obvious'', and received a $35,000 grant from the ''

Canada Council The Canada Council for the Arts (), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It is Canada's public arts funder, with a mandate to ...

''. However, he decided to not go forward as one of his friends made a film about the

San Francisco Mime Troupe The San Francisco Mime Troupe is a theatre of political satire which performs free shows in various parks in the San Francisco Bay Area and around California, founded in 1959. Despite its name, the group does not perform silent mime, but each ye ...

and gave back the grant. Mann returned to the comic books concept and the first investment was USD$5,000 from Feiffer's Swan Foundation, which later invested another USD$5,000. The Canada Council gave him a $35,000 grant. He planned on proposing a half-hour documentary to the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

and asked

Don Haig Don Haig (22 July 1933 — 2 March 2002) was a Canadians, Canadian filmmaker, editor, and producer. Haig's work in film and television spanned nearly five decades. Over the course of his career, he won Academy Awards, Academy, Genie Awards, Geni ...

to produce it, but Haig derided the project and asked "who reads comic books?". Haig agreed to produce, but they decided to expand the length of the film after conducting research.

Financing

Telefilm Canada Telefilm Canada is a Canadian Crown corporation that supports Canada's audiovisual industry. Headquartered in Montreal, Telefilm Canada provides services to the Canadian audiovisual industry with four regional offices in Vancouver, British Colu ...

's Theatrical Fund only gave grants to fictional films. Mann instead had to apply for the Broadcast Fund, which required a Canadian broadcaster to purchase the film's broadcast license for 25% of its budget. Mann initially budgeted the film at $360,000 and sold the license to

Citytv Citytv (sometimes shortened to City, which was the network's official branding from 2012 to 2018) is a Television in Canada, Canadian television network owned by the Rogers Sports & Media subsidiary of Rogers Communications. The network consis ...

for $90,000, which would be paid in installments over the 48 months after the completion of the film. The film was required to be completed by September 1987. The Ontario Film Development Corporation initially planned to give $25,000 in equity and $90,000 for interim financing, but invested $115,000 directly instead due to the Citytv license's long payment timetable. Martin Harbury was hired as an executive producer at the request of Telefilm. Mann sold the theatrical distribution rights to

Cineplex Odeon Films Cineplex Odeon Films (later known as Odeon Films) was the film distribution unit of the Canadian cinema chain Cineplex Odeon Corporation. The company was originally named Pan-Canadian Film Distributors. In 1998, the company was purchased by Allian ...

for a minimum guarantee of $200,000 and an advance of $40,000. He selected Cineplex Odeon as he liked '' P4W: Prison for Women'', another documentary they distributed. The film's budget in 1986 was $500,000 with $141,000 coming from Telefilm, $115,000 from the OFDC, $40,000 from the Canada Council, $40,000 from Cineplex-Odeon, and $25,000 in deferrals. However, the budget rose to $700,000 due to production delays and was paid by Mann taking $200,000 in debt. Mann took a $25,000 loan from Marvin Pludwinski and sold his equity to Pludwinski for another $25,000.

Filming

Fifty to sixty people were interviewed for the film, but only twenty-two were shown in the film. He interviewed

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American guitarist, composer, and bandleader. In a career spanning more than 30 years, Zappa composed Rock music, rock, Pop music, pop, jazz, jazz fusion, orchestra ...

about music censorship, but was not shown in the film. 70 hours of footage was shot. The film's title was selected through a contest advertised in

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is a New York City–based comic book publishing, publisher, a property of the Walt Disney Company since December 31, 2009, and a subsidiary of Disney Publishing Worldwide since March 2023. Marvel was founded in 1939 by Martin G ...

. The winning title, ''Comic Book Confidential'', was based on a suggestion by Spiegelman, ''Comics Confidential''. Due to running time constraints, Mann couldn't include footage with

Scrooge McDuck Scrooge McDuck (occasionally stylized as $crooge McDuck) is a cartoon character created in 1947 for The Walt Disney Company by Carl Barks. Appearing in Disney comics, Scrooge is a Scottish-born American anthropomorphic duck. Like his nephew, Do ...

creator

Carl Barks Carl Barks (March 27, 1901 – August 25, 2000) was an American cartoonist, author, and painter. He is best known for his work in Disney comics, Disney comic books, as the writer and artist of the first Donald Duck stories and as the creator of ...

, ''

All American Comics ''All-American Comics'' is a comics anthology and the flagship title of comic book publisher All-American Publications, one of the forerunners of DC Comics. It ran for 102 issues from 1939 to 1948. Characters created for the title, including Gree ...

'' editor Julius "Julie" Schwartz, and editor of the first all-woman comic book ''

It Ain't Me Babe "It Ain't Me Babe" is a song by Bob Dylan that originally appeared on his fourth album '' Another Side of Bob Dylan'', which was released in 1964 by Columbia Records. According to music critic Oliver Trager, this song, along with others on the al ...

'',

Trina Robbins Trina Robbins ( Perlson; August 17, 1938 – April 10, 2024) was an American cartoonist. She was an early participant in the underground comix movement, and one of the first women in the movement. She co-produced the 1970 underground comic '' I ...

.Johnson, Paddy (October 25, 2006)
"The Return of ''Comic Book Confidential'' (interview)"
. ''The Reeler''.

Editing

Steve Weslak, who did sound editing for ''Listen to the City'', edited the film. He stated that his experience editing the film was "very, very, negative" due to Mann not knowing how to organize his work. They planned on giving the film a chronological structure, but Mann would "look at it and decide he didn't like it" according to Weslak. Mann wanted the film to have a vertical aspect ratio, rather than the normal 1:1.85 ratio, in order to look like a comic book. The first

rough cut In filmmaking, the rough cut (also known as the first cut or editor's cut) is the second of three stages of offline editing. The term originates from the early days of filmmaking when film stock was physically cut and reassembled, but is still ...

, running at four hours, was completed in October 1986. Haig fell asleep during the first screening of this version. Mann, Weslak, and Robert Kennedy edited the film for another two months and reduced the second rough cut to three hours. Mann fired Weslak after the third rough cut. Editing continued for another year after Mann fired Weslak. Ellen Besen supervised the animation sequences. The film initially had twenty minutes of animatics, but another twenty minutes were requested due to the length of the interviews. Mann did not have a plan for what these additional animatics would be according to Besen and she criticized him for not understanding story boards. The "whole production was spinning out of control" by March 1987 according to Besen. Haig and Harbury were occupied with other projects and Besen was unable to contact Mann. She was fired after returning from a wedding and week-long vacation. Mann sought help from art directors Gerlinde Scharinger and Steven Lewis after firing Besen, but did most of the work according to himself.

Release

The film was released by

in Canada and

Cinecom Pictures Cinecom Pictures was an independent film company founded in 1982 by Ira Deutchman (a former member of United Artists Classics), Amir Malin and John Ives. Its first release was Robert Altman's '' Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean, Jimmy De ...

in the United States. It premiered in two Canadian theatres and the

Toronto Festival of Festivals The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

on 23 September 1988. Mann said that he personally spent $60,000 on promotional materials. $3,300 was earned in the one-week run at the Canada Square theatre and $13,768 in the five-week run of the other theatre. Jeff Sackman, vice-president of Cineplex-Odeon, said more people watched the film at the two Toronto Festival of Festivals screenings than during its theatrical release in Toronto. There were short theatrical runs in Vancouver, Kitchener, Hamilton, Ottawa, Windsor, Montreal, and Halifax that earned a few thousand dollars. Mann showed the film at the

Independent Filmmaker Project The Gotham Film & Media Institute (also simply the Gotham), formerly known as the Independent Filmmaker Project (IFP), is a membership-based, not-for-profit organization dedicated to independent film. It offers programs that assist independent fi ...

and received distribution offers from Cinecom,

Miramax Miramax, LLC, formerly known as Miramax Films, is an American independent film and television production and distribution company owned by beIN Media Group and Paramount Global. Based in Los Angeles, California, it was founded on December 19, ...

New Line Cinema New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...

, and

HBO Home Box Office (HBO) is an American pay television service, which is the flagship property of namesake parent-subsidiary Home Box Office, Inc., itself a unit owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The overall Home Box Office business unit is based a ...

. New Line Cinema, Miramax, and

Ben Barenholtz Ben Barenholtz (October 5, 1935 – June 27, 2019) was a Polish-born American film producer, exhibitor, and distributor with a significant presence in the independent film scene since the late 1960s. In 1968 Barenholtz opened The Elgin Cinema in ...

withdrew their offers after Mann requested a $350,000 advance. Barenholtz stated that the film would perform better on home media rather than in theaters. Mann sold the rights to Cinecom for $80,000 as he they distributed films from

John Sayles John Thomas Sayles (born September 28, 1950) is an American independent film director, screenwriter, editor, actor, and novelist. He is known for writing and directing the films '' The Brother from Another Planet'' (1984), '' Matewan'' (1987), ...

Jonathan Demme Robert Jonathan Demme ( ; February 22, 1944 – April 26, 2017) was an American filmmaker, whose career directing, producing, and screenwriting spanned more than 30 years and 70 feature films, documentaries, and television productions. He was an ...

, and

Ira Deutchman Ira Deutchman is a producer, distributor and marketer of independent films. In 2000, he moved into film exhibition as co-founder and managing partner of Emerging Pictures, a New York-based digital exhibition company, which was sold in January 2 ...

. Mann claimed that HBO offered $500,000, but he declined as he wanted a theatrical release. Deutchman left Cinecom one week after Mann sold the rights and the company later filed for bankruptcy. The film opened at the

Film Forum The Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater at 209 West Houston Street in Greenwich Village, Manhattan, New York City. It is a four-screen cinema open 365 days a year, with up to 250,000 annual admissions, nearly 500 seats, 60 employees, over ...

on 14 June 1989, and was shown in forty cities. The net theatrical revenue was $37,344, $13,029 in Canada and $24,236 in foreign markets, causing a loss of $155,656. It was also shown at the

39th Berlin International Film Festival The 39th annual Berlin International Film Festival was held from 10 to 21 February 1989. The Golden Bear was awarded to American film ''Rain Man'' directed by Barry Levinson. The retrospective was dedicated to German film producer Erich Pommer ...

. It was one of the first films to be released in

CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains computer data storage, data computers can read, but not write or erase. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold b ...

format for home computer viewing (as a forerunner of the 2002

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...

), with 120 pages of comics and the complete

Comics Code The Comics Code Authority (CCA) was formed in 1954 by the Comics Magazine Association of America as an alternative to government regulation. The CCA enabled comic publishers to self-regulate the content of comic books in the United States. The c ...

. The CD-ROM received positive reviews from ''USA Today'' in 1994 and ''The Complete Idiots Guide to CD-ROM'' in 1995.Landis, David (April 13, 1994)
A CD-ROM trip to comic book archives
''USA Today'', p. 10D.Pivovarnick, John (1995)
The Complete Idiots Guide to CD-ROM

Que Publishing Pearson Education, known since 2011 as simply Pearson, is the educational publishing and services subsidiary of the international corporation Pearson plc. The subsidiary was formed in 1998, when Pearson plc acquired Simon & Schuster's educatio ...

, p. 240.

Reception and legacy

Brian D. Johnson, writing in ''

Maclean's ''Maclean's'' is a Canadian magazine founded in 1905 which reports on Canadian issues such as politics, pop culture, trends and current events. Its founder, publisher John Bayne Maclean, established the magazine to provide a uniquely Canadian ...

'', praised the film as "dazzling" and that Mann brought "static images to life with vivid editing and camera movement".

Caryn James Caryn James is an American film critic, journalist, university lecturer, and writer. Biography She grew up in Providence, Rhode Island, and obtained her doctorate in English literature at Brown University. She began working as a freelance jour ...

of ''The New York Times'' found the film deft and intelligent—it "takes off when it abandons the archives and focuses on the creators," but "it plays to the converted," and its attempt to relate comics to social context is "fleeting."James, Caryn (June 14, 1989)
"Review/Film; Comic Books as Sociology and Popular Art"
''The New York Times.''

Desson Howe Desson Patrick Thomson is a speechwriter, journalist and film critic. He was a speechwriter for the Obama administration and film critic for ''The Washington Post''. He was known as Desson Howe until 2003 when he changed his name after reunitin ...

, in the ''Washington Post'', wrote that the film was "a pleasure," and engaging throughout.Howe, Desson (August 18, 1989
"''Comic Book Confidential''"
''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'', locally known as ''The'' ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'' or ''WP'', is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C., the national capital. It is the most widely circulated newspaper in the Washington m ...

''.

Christopher Null Christopher Null (born September 7, 1971) is an American writer, journalist and entrepreneur. A former blogger for Yahoo! Tech, he was the editor of Drinkhacker.com, and the founder and editor-in-chief of Filmcritic.com, which operated from 1995 ...

at MovieCritic.com found the comics themselves the least interesting, and the interviews the "real joy" of the film.Null, Christopher (July 14, 2002)
''"Comic Book Confidential'' (DVD)"
. ''MovieCritic.com'';

American Movie Channel AMC (an abbreviation of the channel's original name, American Movie Classics) is an American basic cable television channel that is the flagship property of AMC Networks. Launched in late 1984, the channel aired classic films prior to the 197 ...

. Peter Rist described the film in 2001 as "Mann's greatest success, both critically and popularly."Rist, Peter (2001
''Guide to the Cinema(s) of Canada''
Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc., p. 137. . The film received the 1989

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

for Best Feature Length Documentary from the

Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television The Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television is a Canadian non-profit organization created in 1979 to recognize the achievements of the over 4,000 Canadian cinema of Canada, film industry and television in Canada, television industry professionals ...

.''Comic Book Confidential'' award listing
''Canadian Awards Database'';

, 1989.

References

Works cited

External links

* *
''Comic Book Confidential''
''Canadian Film Encyclopedia''; Film Reference Library (CA).
''Comic Book Confidential''
at Films We Like (co-founded by

) {{Ron Mann Documentary films about comics 1988 films American documentary films Best Documentary Film Genie and Canadian Screen Award winners Canadian documentary films Films directed by Ron Mann 1988 documentary films Comics fandom Documentary films about fandom 1980s English-language films 1980s American films 1980s Canadian films English-language documentary films Canadian collage films American collage films