Kevin Smith, a renaissance man of sort, is well known among the geek community for being heavily involved with comic books and owning the comic book shop “Secret Stash”. It was only a matter of time that a series would revolve around the Red Bank, New Jersey shop chronicling the everyday lives of the team as they discuss, sell and purchase comic books. Is this the show for comic book geeks by comic book geeks or a lackluster entry that will keep the community under a dim light?
From left to right: Ming Chen, Bryan Johnson, Kevin Smith, Walt Flanagan and Mike Zapcic.
I am happy to say that this show is a definite watch. After the hilarious open discussion of Batman and Dick Grayson’s Robin, I was immediately entertained and hooked. Being the first entry of the series, there may be a few to a couple of gripes that the public may point out.
The cast of Comic Book Men consists of Manager Walt Flanagan, Mike Zapcic, Bryan Johnson and Ming Chen who seems to take a verbal beating from some of the cast, mainly from Bryan. Everyone is a different personality, but deliver the laughs as they rip on each other and discuss comic related bits. The set up is shown as a live video podcast divided into three parts as they discuss characters, rarities, comics and other events that unfold throughout the day, while being reminiscent to Pawn Stars as they barter and purchase collectibles from customers. Being the first entry of the series, instead of a lengthy introduction of the crew we’re immediately thrown into their working days as we find out more about them during the show. It was great to see the amount of passion and zeal displayed, especially from Mike as they came across a rare
6 Billion Dollar Man action figured which he reminisced his fondest memory of watching Steve Austin in action and a kid. The show had some slow moments, but the crew and their customers kept things interesting. There wasn’t a lot of “oh my gosh awesome collectible” present, but surely as the series progress we’ll be treated to see the prized collections from the owners.
My only gripe overall would be the treatment of Ming. No it wasn’t
Precious extreme, but he did take a lot of shots. A lot of this was evident during the Garage Sale at the Collingswood Flea Market where Mike, Bryan and Ming were selling memorabilia and other comic book related items (or junk)as a contest to see who can make the most selling. Though some of the things Bryan said were funny, as it kept going it showed him to be a bit of a brute especially when he smashed a plate from Ming’s sale table. It was awesome that another seller stand up for him, but none the less despite the lack of salesmanship from Ming he shouldn’t have been treated like that. He did however, show dedication as he was there early, left last and ultimately ended up selling more than Mike and Bryan to earn a “good job” from the guys and a prize winning hotdog. Am I expecting a change of attitude towards Ming? No, but it would be nice to ease off of him a little bit.
Despite the show’s pacing, lack of standout collectibles and meanness displayed, this was a solid debut from Kevin Smith and I’m looking forward to what’s next in store.
Comic Book Men is a one hour, six-part series airing on Sundays at 10pm. What moment stood out to you the most? What would you have liked to see different? What prize possession would you take to Secret Stash? Discuss and share your thoughts below. This is Mareado and thank you for having salsa with me.
Bryan: Did you ever find out why Batman's voice sound like that? (Bale's Batman)
Mike: He's a man in a costume and he uses that voice for intimidation.
Bryan: I can see how that can be scary.
Mike: If I heard that voice, I'd make sure he'd get what he wants...you should use that voice around your girlfriend.
Bryan: That sounds like a great idea! "We can go to second base." *Bale's Batman voice*"I was thinking third."