Since I finally watched and finished this series, AMC's Comic Book Men, thought I'd share my... thoughts... fuck can't think of another way to end that thought. Thought I'd share my ruminations. No that sounds pretentious. On with it.
Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma... you know, Silent Bob) opened up a comic book store called Jay and Silent Bob's Secret Stash in 1997 in NJ, and moved its location 1999ish to its current Red Bank location. The show includes shop manager Walt Flanagan, employees Mike Zapcic and Ming Chen, and lounger Bryan Johnson (acted in many Smith movies and directed Vulgar). Mostly taking place in said store and follows its own formula consistently from episode to episode, which are 40 minutes a piece and completes the season at 6 episodes. Basic structure comprised of the following elements:
- The random conversation segment. The guys hanging around conversing about comics, movies, life and hypotheticals
- The Antiques Roadshow segment. Basically shows the presentation and haggling of people coming in trying to sell their rarest of rare collector's items to make a major advancement in life, or trying to talk down the purchase price of something they want. OK, so I've never seen Antiques Roadshow, to the point where I originally wrote it as Antique Road Show, but I figure it's pretty much the same thing. They sometimes bring in a special expert appraiser of the obscure named Rob Bruce. I was smitten.
- The adventurechallengequest segment. Basically they do something with a particular goal in mind, could take place outside the shop (e.g. competing to sell most junk at flea market, organizing and running a promotion for the store, getting tats).
- Podcast segment. This part of the show throws in Kevin Smith as they sit around a studio table talking about the ongoings of the shop, particularly of the filmed segments, and they do indulge in tangents. The actual podcasts, external to the show, have more material.
So, impressions? It was fantastic to watch, if I wasn't laughing I was usually smiling throughout. The guys have a great dynamic about them, the show is edited superbly as it's pretty damn entertaining for what is essentially a type of reality show. My inner geek lights up with joy, for instance when a seller shows up at the shop and they notice he has parked his 1960's version bat mobile just outside, then convinced him to let them all take it for a spin.
They all tend to rag on Ming, the youngest one among them (I think they're all are around or in their 40's). Bryan Johnson is a favorite, he's self-deprecating, quick witted and hilarious at it. Bryan has a 5-year-old niece with Down's syndrome, gets a tattoo of her as a zombie riding a tricycle on his forearm since it's one of the biggest things they bond over, pretty fucking cool. Doesn't hurt that he looks like a magnified version of Paul Giamatti with a epic beard.
bryangiamatti.jpg
So, it's not a universal recommendation, but if you're even the most peripheral fan of geek stuff you will probably really really like the show.
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Originally Posted by chavis
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