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Comic Book Villians is set in small town USA where the geeky
Archie (DJ Qualls) spends his orphaned life down at one of
two comic stores.
It's old and dingy but the owner Raymond (Donal Logue) knows
his stuff about comics and the knowledgeable locals treat
him as the guru of the area.
But the town has a another, more up-market comic store run
by the middle-class Norman (Michael Rapaport) and his wife
Judy (Natasha Lyonne).
They are in the business to make money and have no real feeling
for the comics they sell. This, and the fact they not only
sell action figures but are actually trading profitably, gets
right up the initially reasonable Raymond's nose.
Things start to plummet in the town when a reclusive collector
dies and is rumoured to have left behind a massive collection
of comics that all collectors dream about.
This sparks a competition between Raymond and the Lyonnes
to see who can get the collector's old mother (Eileen Brennan)
to sell them the comic book Mother Lode.
What begins as commercial rivalry turns very dark very quickly
and when the local bad boy Carter (Cary Elwes) is called in
to help utter mayhem follows.
Very few of the characters are likeable but you will enjoy
following them on their various fates. Eileen Brennan is the
outstanding performer.
Comic Book Villains is a strange little effort that begins
as quirky and funny and decends into darkness and violence.
That said, I found the movie amusing throughout (sick swine
that I am).
Which reminds me of the piece of graffiti about a not-too-quick
politician I once saw. It said: "Suchandsuch reads comics."
Underneath someone had added: "No he doesn't, he just
looks at the pictures."
If ever there was a movie that would put youngsters off reading
and collecting comics then this is it. Dark, but amusing.
Conclusion: Movie 75% Extras: 40%
Continued:
DVD details at a glance >
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