Comic book movies are now a genre unto themselves. Just like comics are not a genre but a medium, the view of the comic book film should be expanded to include other genres, like the documentary. Documentaries have long been an intriguing genre, and the rise of streaming online has made it even more popular.
For decades, comic book documentaries have tried to open up the curtain on the comic industry. Some have focused on influential creators. Some have focused on the industry, or aspects of it. Either way, there are a few that stand heads and shoulders above the others.
10 Comic Book Confidential (1988) Is Probably The Definitive Comic Documentary
This is most likely the documentary everyone has seen. It's very expansive in the creators that are interviewed, giving notable coverage to creators from independent publishers. It even animated some of their work, highlighting some of the best work the medium had to offer at the time.
Comic Book Confidential came at a time when comics were on the cusp of the largest boom they had seen in decades. It highlighted the history of the art form and gave faces to the comics that shaped the medium.
9 Crumb (1995) Spotlights The Influential But Controversial Figure
Robert Crumb became the predecessor to so many independent cartoonists. Terry Zwigoff directed a cult favorite documentary that followed Robert Crumb around in his everyday life as he visited his family and prepared to move to France. It also covered his long career that broke ground and turned the cartoonist into a counter-culture icon.
It touches on the controversial way Crumb's artwork handled women and African-Americans. It also featured peers talking frankly about Crumb and his work. The inclusion of his mother and two brothers is harder to watch, knowing that his older brother Charles killed himself before the film's release.
8 She Makes Comics (2014) Focuses On Female Characters, Creators, & Fans
This documentary focuses on the role female creators and editors have had in the industry. It goes back to the dawn of comics, highlighting the fantastic roots of the medium. There were many more current creators interviewed and some of the legends going back to the bronze age of comics.
It even touched on the fan culture that developed around comics, especially where it pertains to women. This involved interviewing scholars and journalists, as well as talking about the addition of cosplay to fandom, interviewing Wendy Pini about Elfquest and her early days as a Red Sonja cosplayer.
7 X-Men Epic History (2015-2016) Is A Three-Part Series About The Famous Team & How A Proper Dark Phoenix Movie May Be Impossible
YouTube has become a great place to find people making great visual essays about comics. Comicbookgirl19 is an admitted fan of the X-Men and produced a three-part documentary about the epic history of the iconic team. It came about as Hollywood failed once again to adapt the sprawling Dark Phoenix Saga.
The three-part series ends appropriately with the era of the Dark Phoenix Saga. This helps Comicbookgirl19's assertion that it isn't a story that can be adapted into a two-hour feature. When diving into comic book video essays, it's a good start, especially as it's easily available on YouTube.
6 Chris Claremont's X-Men (2018) Discusses The Creator's Legendary Run On The Series
While many writers have worked on the X-Men since Chris Claremont left in 1991, ending a run that started in 1975. Much of the foundation of everything about the X-Men came from Chris Claremont.
The documentary gives a view into the way Chris Claremont worked around the characters in the X-Men. For a fan, especially one that started since Claremont left, it gives a wholehearted and loving explanation of everything that makes the X-Men great.
5 Future Shock! The Untold Story of 2000 AD (2014) Details The History Of The Groundbreaking British Magazine That Introduced Many Future Comic Legends
Many of the most groundbreaking creators in comics came from Great Britain at around the same time. Artists are shaped by their environment and Future Shock starts off demonstrating this. It shows how the magazine 2000 AD gave the world Alan Moore, Dave Gibbons, Alan Grant, Neil Gaiman, and more.
2000 AD was the child of Pat Mills, who brought brilliant and stifled creators together to create a response to the British culture of the time. It led to the creation of characters like Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog, and Halo Jones. The documentary makes a viewer want to go out and consume 2000 AD stories immediately.
4 Batman & Bill (2017) Is A Frustrating Look At How Batman's Co-Creator Was Erased From The Narrative For Decades
One of the great injustices of comic book history is the domination of Batman's creation by Bob Kane. The documentary gives writer Bill Finger his due, exploring the way he was deliberately omitted as Batman's co-creator. The explanation is infuriating, to say the least.
The legacy of Batman & Bill is the restoration of Bill Finger's legacy. Much of what makes Batman "the Dark Knight" came from the mind of Bill Finger, and it will forever be a tragedy that he passed away thinking that the world would never know how important he was to the creation of one of the biggest characters in all of pop culture.
3 The Mindscape of Alan Moore Offers An Appropriately Eccentric Look Into One Of Comics' Most Challenging Minds
It's unusual to hear from someone as eccentric a creator as Alan Moore. This documentary is in the words of the author of V for Vendetta and Watchmen. It's more than just a retrospective of his career, it's a breakdown of how his mind works.
The retrospective is only the first part. The second is a mystical and philosophical explanation of the role writers and artists play. It shows that Moore's description of himself as a magician isn't as mad as it seems. Fitting for a documentary about a man who largely shuns the spotlight, this film can be difficult to find, but it's definitely worth tracking down.
2 In Search Of Steve Ditko Attempts To Find & Interview The Reclusive Co-Creator Of Spider-Man
Steve Ditko became one of the most reclusive legends in comic books. BBC Host Jonathan Ross takes viewers on a search not only for the artist but covers the varied career he had up to and beyond the co-creation of Spider-Man.
The film ends appropriately with Ross and his makeshift sidekick Neil Gaiman locating Ditko's studio. The artist refuses to be interviewed on camera but is very nice to his unexpected guests. Ross and Gaiman walk away with gifts and an exciting appreciation of Steve Ditko's chosen role as an artist. Again, this movie is appropriately tricky to track down, but more than worth the effort to do so.
1 Grant Morrison: Talking With Gods (2010) Is A Fascinating Look At A Fascinating Figure
Grant Morrison is an interesting author, both in their body of work and the journey of one writer through the universe. It shows how each experience affected their groundbreaking work, especially Invisibles.
The documentary takes someone who is casually familiar with Grant Morrison's comics and reshapes that opinion. Grant Morrison's work takes on new significance, showing the subject more completely than before. It's a fantastic example of what a comic book documentary can do and how much more deeply of an understanding of the medium and its creators is possible through the format.
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