Comic Book Junkies
Nathan Suher and Lenny Schwartz follow up their previous quarantine film, the epic “Far From Perfect,” with something a bit sillier. If I’m being honest, the film feels like a natural progression from the earlier movie, because it takes the existential anxiety of that film and turns it into something outrageously comedic. If you’re like me, you might find yourself asking what a lot of what we see has to do with the cancellation of Comic Con, but you won’t care because you’ll be having too good of a time.
The premise is a simple one- set before, and during, the outset of COVID-19 in the United States, we see a group of individuals, all with different degrees of fandom, excited and getting ready for San Diego Comic Con. We get references to how difficult it is to get tickets, the tensions that can arise from couples going together, and even online relationships forming in preparation for the big event. All the while, screenwriter Schwartz is setting the stage for the onset on Coronavirus to land in America, and lets us know of other Cons getting cancelled. When Comic Con, the granddaddy of them all, goes down, what are fans to do? Whatever you may be thinking, you have no idea.
DragonCon has been my Comic Con over the years, and I think a lot of people would agree that the Atlanta convention is better for the communal experience of it. I’ve never been to Comic Con, but the older I’ve gotten, the less interested I’ve been about going personally. This summer, DragonCon got cancelled and, like Comic Con, is going virtual. Honestly, I’m less freaking out and more relieved; I’m not ready for that type of mass of people. But I think “Comic Book Junkies” speaks to something fundamentally human, and that is the fact that, if our routine is thrown off, how does that impact us? Regardless of whether it’s the cancellation of a beloved convention, our jobs being furloughed, schools have gone virtual, or having to stay inside and social distance, COVID-19 has thrown a monkeywrench into our lives, and we have to try and make due. The ways the characters cope with Comic Con’s cancellation feel very natural, yet completely off the deep end. This pandemic has made us all feel a bit loopy. I cannot fault any of these characters how they react.
The way Suher and Schwartz have built this film is the same way they did “Far From Perfect”- the actors film themselves in their performances, with direction by Schwartz, and the former collects the footage and edits it together. While it may seem a bit weird, at first, to realize all of these actors are, fundamentally, just recording themselves on their phones or computers or cameras, and it looks like a long, twisty Zoom conference call, Suher does a fantastic job of editing these pieces of video together to not only create a narrative flow, but also build in comedic moments and juxtopositions, whether it comes from a particular cut or the contrast of going from one character to another, each one with a different energy. Sometimes, that involves a strange couple of cosplayers, or a Spider-Man who looks like, and has the intensity of, Klaus Kinski, or someone whose take on Conan is very strange, and the neighbor he alienates with the act. “Comic Book Junkies” is a comedic catharsis during a stressful time, and it’ll entertain you to no end.
**If I had one thing I would have changed, it would have been what happens after a late fade to black. I still enjoyed how the film ended, but I think one change would have punctuated things just a bit more, and had me dying with laughter. I’ll take what we get, though. It’s as absurd, and just as entertaining.**
