My Comic Shop Country

Is your favorite Simpsons character the Comic Book Guy? In a salute to the American comic-book emporium—that is every bit as indulgent and guilty-pleasure as the mags themselves—filmmaker Anthony Desiato visits 20 comic-book shops in nine American states for this 2019 tribute and nerd-obsessive scrutiny. While even 85 minutes seems excessive to cover every aspect of comics-philia, some good publishing-biz info is stapled to the Adam West shoutouts. Total comic-book shops in the US declined about 75 percent since the early 1990s. Proprietors contend with supplier policies more dysfunctional than those of regular bookstores (one former DC Comics president is the main industry voice represented here). Hollywood superhero mega-blockbuster films have not appreciably increased patronage of comics shops (it's stated that the quality of comics hasn't kept pace either). The absurdity of comics so valuable they cannot be removed from plastic and actually read (debuts of Superman, X-Men, etc.) is discussed, as is the "personality cult" of the local owner/operator—also functioning of therapist, barkeep, and what-have-you—cueing interviews with such checkout-counter characters as Jermaine Exum (AKA "Lord Retail") of North Carolina. In short, people launch comic-book shops purely out of love for the low-return but irresistible kitsch-art form. The title should find similar attention on collection shelves. (Aud: C, P)