DVD Review: "Comicon Episode IV: A Fan's Hope"

Sitting down to watch "Comicon, Episode IV: A Fan's Hope" with my true-geek son, my wanna-be-geek son and my "I'm not a geek!" son, as well as my husband, I expected to see lots of goofy people in outlandish costumes, interview bits with famous and not-famous con attendees, and an overview of what happens at "the con".  I was not disappointed, and in fact, the movie included much more than what I expected.

I've never been to Comicon, but I've always thought it looked like a really good time, and the movie really only made me want to go even more. It looks like it would just be great fun to let loose among folks who are fans of the same things I am. And then some. I'm not a video game fan, and really, not a comic-book fan per se.

The documentary follows a handful of subjects' stories: two artists hoping to break into the comic book world (both were very good, Eric Henson, who is in the Air Force and has an adorable little family was phenomenal), a costume designer and her group of friends preparing to perform at the "Masquerade", a cute couple who met at Comicon a year prior and his efforts to set up a memorable wedding proposal, and a comic book store owner and his struggles to make enough money selling comics at the con.

As expected, there were loads of strange costumes, some characters were recognizable, many not (I'm not a "true" geek, according to my son), some were downright embarrassing-- large people wearing only a bikini and body paint or roly-poly Superman-spandex costumes are always a bit... odd... Storm troopers and Avatars, villains and heroes. I think it would be a blast just to go and people watch.

I liked the stories, and the interspersed Q&A with both attendees and celebrities-- the best of which were Joss Whedon's comments. He's just naturally funny. Oh, and my favorite thing had to be the comic-book style transitions from one story to another-- a freeze-frame of the subject would become a comic pane of the scene, panning back to show a full comic-book page and zooming in on a new pane, featuring the next person being profiled. It would be so cool to have a comic-book drawing of yourself!

I'm not a huge Morgan Spurlock fan (I wrote about his well-known anti-McDonalds documentary here a long time ago. I don't mind his agenda as much as I mind his superiority complex... but that's just me) but I was amused, entertained and fascinated by this documentary. I found it very entertaining and I would be interested to see even more!

There is some language, a handful of bleeped f-bombs and even more s-words, and a couple of crude sexual comments, for those sensitive to such things.