Comic Book

Comic Book Villains

The semi-sociopath who reigns over the other similar souls in his comic book emporium has been worked enough to be a cliché. There is even such a chubby unkempt looser lovingly portrayed as part of the Simpsons repertoire. Other than displaying a life that many of us can look at condescendingly, can this be a lead character for a movie?

Opening in a vein of light hearted reminiscence of small town Americana, the drama builds with the discovery of the death of a "collector." This man had lived with his mom his entire fifty some years with only one love, collecting comics. Our Simpsonesque character is now in a contest with another store owner to see who can finagle the mother of the deceased into selling this bonanza.

A standard criticism of many films is that the characters devolve into cartoon figures. This film does quite the opposite. It starts with clichés and whimsy and slowly peels away this facade to expose a throbbing violent human conflict. When goaded by their true passion, love of comics and the wealth to transcend their limited horizons, greed rears it's transforming head. What is more amazing, the fim still manages to keep a sense of wit, but now with a mordant ironic tinge that is intrinsic to the human condition when raw passion transcends reason.

This is inspired filmmaking. Not a scene, not a line, not an expression was included that did not ring true. This movie was not well received by the voters of my internet site, so what you have just read it a minority report.

Kind of a unique idea for a dark comedy. Competing comic book store owners trying to outwit each other for a prize collection. Unfortunately the crazed collectors are all, except one, unlikable, unsympathetic, and greedy. The movie is very uneven, with characters morphing from just scheming crazies, to murderers. It is at this point, when almost everyone has transformed into killers, that "Comic Book Villains" seems to have run out of ideas, and rapidly spirals downhill. If after the confrontation in the old ladies home, the script had been fully developed, the movie might have worked better on several levels. As it stands, it is at best, a very mediocre black comedy. - MERK

As a comic book reader and fan, I had been meaning to see this film for sometime. I wouldn't have minded waiting a bit longer, because, to be brutally honest, it is rather boring. The basic premise is two rival comic store owners fighting to purchase a large and valuable collection from an elderly woman whose son has just died. While the two comic stores are rivals, they are both in the business for entirely different reasons - one is an actual fan, one is only in it for the money. This highlights two sides to actual comic collecting as well.

The cast are an odd mix, but like any good comic book, that is expected. Not that this is a comic, but it seems to play out as one. Donal Logue plays Raymond, the unpleasant know-it-all owner of one store, he is a genuine fan of comics (I suppose you could compare him to Comic Book Guy from "the Simpsons"). Michael Rappaport is terrific as the money-hungry Norman, owner of the second store. Natasha Lyonne is fantastic (isn't she always) in his bitchy wife, Judy. DJ Qualls impresses me for the first time ever as fan-boy (and narrator) Archie, and apart from Rappaport and Lyonne, is probably the best actor in this film. I'm in no way saying that the others are bad actors, just this film isn't their best. Cary Elwes seems a bit out of place as Carter, and the lovely Monet Mazur is very underused as his girlfriend Kiki (but then again, aren't most girlfriends in comics?) Danny Masterton is as annoying as ever as Conan, while Eileen Brennan adds a touch of class to the film.

Overall, I was expecting more. There aren't that many films around which focus on comics so "Comic Book Villains" does a good enough job. THe cast are great over all, and there are bits of comic trivia scattered throughout the film, and its fun trying to pick up all the names of characters and events from various comic book series. But at times, the film can be a bit boring. For fans of comics, I suggest you watch it, but for others, view with caution.

These types of stories, by which i mean, a group of people who's true natures are exposed by greed and obsession, will either work for you or not, and by default the climax will seem over the top and take away half the audience.. but no matter the ending, the ride there is very well executed, and went way past the expectations i got from just watching the trailer.

The great cast of guys who steal scenes in other films, was one i was very interested in, but i sceptical about the actual film, i thought past the interesting plotline,it would be poorly written and directed by a moron.. but it so wasn't!

It's one of those movies that through good storytelling just makes you watch, and not want to get up, and the 90 minute runtime just flies by! not one scene is wasted, not one performance is perfunctonary, it's just completely well made all round, and very well written/directed. I think the negative comments are from people who are expecting way too much from the film, and maybe movies in general.. if you're someone who just goes along with the ride, so long as it's all relatively credible, and you like the cast, then i think you'll have a great time, no doubt! this film went way past my expectations!

my only quibble, and it's so minor, plus it seems unavoidable with films about greed, HOW THE HECK DO YOU END IT!! if the film was being completely realistic, then the film's ending probably wouldn't happen, but in real life the ending would be pretty dull, and lose the whole comic book feel to the film.. comic books also use violence as a device, comic books are visually over the top representations of everyday things.. many characters in comic books are 2-dimensional simple folk.. hence the title to this movie, and in general the whole feel and look to the movie (which btw looks VERY good for such low budget!).. so the ending in after thought may seem to be slightly over the top, and doesn't seem to fit the characters, but while watching i was hooked! and so will you! :)

definately worth the rental!! maybe even a buy. It's hard to recommend as a film for comic book fans, because that's like saying every girl is going to like a chick flick, but there are comic book references aplenty, and comic book collectors for fellow guys to relate with.. so i think a comic book fan might get more out of it than others, but not necersarily enjoy it more.. but what's great about this movie, is that you don't need to know ANYTHING about comics to enjoy it, you can even watch it in mute! it's really well made!

Comic Book Villains is a satirical black comedy about, you guessed it, comic books and the sometimes strange people that collect them. The movie is a little darker than expected so perhaps I would have enjoyed it more had I known what I was about to see. Still, it was a fun movie that pokes fun at the world of comic book collecting/collectors.

DJ Qualls plays Archie, an all around good guy and the narrator of the story as well. Qualls is perfect as the comic book geek type. His favorite place to hang out and buy/read comics is at Raymond McGillicudy's (Donal Logue) comic shop (the names of the shops escapes me). Raymond is into the comic book scene and has the shop because he loves dealing with comic books. Across town is Norman and Judy Link's (Michael Rapaport & Natasha Lyonne) comic shop. Norman and Judy are there strictly for the money. Archie loves Raymond's shop and his knowledge in comics plus he finds everything he likes there so he has never found a reason to visit the other shop. On the other hand, there is "Conan", played by Danny Masterson from That 70's Show. Conan claims he is a descendant of the creator of Conan The Barbarian comic books and is the instigator for the whole movie because he visits both shops regularly and provides information to both.

The movie takes it's dark turn after both shop owners discover there is a pristine collection of comic books that belonged to a deceased comic book collector who had a great collection. After that, the backstabbing, double-crossing, dirty tricks and much more begins the dark tone of the movie.

My favorite characters were Norman and Judy Link. Rapaport usually plays a tougher character and it was different to see him in more of a submissive position here, especially to his wife. Lyonne also did a great job as a "comic book villain" and certainly looked her best here as well. Also, Danny Masterson played a subtle instigator well, not unlike his character Hyde from That 70's Show. Overall, worth a look. 6.5/10