Comic Book Confidential (1988)

Documentary. Comic Book Confidential presents a panoply of great comic artists from the 1940s-1980s who read and discuss their work and how they created it. Pretty much anyone you could think of gets at least 5 minutes -- even Lynda Barry -- so the historical value is satisfactory to say the least. We also get hundreds of art panels in vignettes with sound effects. See the Dark Knight's vicious vengeance before Batman became TV schmaltz. See the origins of Captain America and Superman, the Fabulous Furry Freak Brothers, and Art Spiegelman's Maus. See mainstream and counterculture graphic art wedded with narrative text in the unique form that America created in the comic book (today known as the graphic novel). I had to acquire it on videotape through interlibrary loan since Netflix hasn't stocked it in some time. 3.5 stars.