Telling Stories: The Comic Book Creators (DVD)
Date: Thursday, August 4, 2005
Reviewer: Darren Schroeder
Rating: ****
Writer: Greg Jurls (dir)
Publisher: Hero Video Prod.
Address: PO Box
890397, Huston, TX, 77289-0387, USA.
Price: $24.95(US)
Hero Video Productions has put together a 2-hour DVD of
interviews with a range of comic creators. These include Bruce
Timm of Batman Animated fame; Novelist turned comic writer
Greg Rucka; Jimmy Palmiotti, co-writer of Hawkman, Jonah Hex;
writer artist Howard Chaykin; Geoff Johns, currently writes The
Flash, Avengers, Avengers Icons: Vision,The Thing: Freakshow as
well as co-writing Hawkman and JSA; Steve Englehart who has
worked on Batman, Avengers, Captain America, The Hulk, The
Avengers among others; Trina Robbins, author of From Girls to
Grrlz and The Great Women Cartoonists, as well as writer of
comics from alternative to mainstream; the comic artist Adam
Hughes; and Arnold Drake, co-created both Deadman and The Doom
Patrol. The interviews seem to have been done quiet recently,
with Jimmy Palmiott talking about his upcoming work on Jonah
Hex
They all discuss their work in talking heads interviews
where they respond to questions regarding their work and their
relationship to the comics medium, interspersed with images from
their work. We also get to visit Englehart in his studio. The
interviews in this film are very general in nature and we don't
get to hear the questions. The comic creators are allowed to
discuss the issues, such as interacting with fans, at their own
pace. The various creators' replies are edited together to show
the range of opinions on the particular topics:
- Why Comics?
- Art and Commerce
- The Process
- The Characters
- Inspiration
- Legacy
- The Future
The interweaving of the different creators' comments means the individual contributions tend to get lost in the mix. For the most part the discussions are too laid back for my liking. There's no impression that the interviewers were prepared to challenge the creators to develop their statements. So when Arnold Drake claims to have co-created the first graphic novel there is no follow up on this interesting piece of information, not even a mention of the name of the book It Rhymes with Lust. Trina Robbins' points regarding the lack of exposure of the rich history of female comic creators are well made, but the documentary quickly moves on to talk to all the guys who write superheroes. No overturning of the patriarchy here. The issue of creator rights is alluded to by several of the creators but not in any detail.

The production values of the disk are a mixed affair. The picture quality is excellent, but in some of the interviews there is some distracting background noise that makes it clear that several of them were done in a side room at a convention. I did appreciate that they managed to avoid any gimmicky camera work. Sure talking heads can be a bit unexciting, but a crash course in music video shots of people talking would have been a lot worse. Just why the interviews are in widescreen when the clips of artwork are full screen (4*3) is beyond me.
