Comic Book Men

Kevin Smith is a legend.  Normally I love most things he does.  I'm a fan of his movies.  I love his comics.  When he talks, I normally listen.  That's why I'm so disappointed by Comic Book Men, his new series on AMC.

I watched the first 2 episodes and was thoroughly unimpressed.  A man as creative as Smith raises the expectations quite a bit.  I wanted to enjoy this series. I was looking forward to it.  I had set aside space on my DVR for this.  Unfortunately, as much as I enjoy comics and all things collectible, this show seemed to be a cheap knock off. Comic Book Men is the television equivalent to buying an Aquaman action figure; not only is Aquaman a rip off of Namor the Sub-Mariner, but the strongest emotion either character elicits is apathy.

The episodes I saw could have just as easily been episodes of Pawn Stars.  Just like the history channel's show about a store, there were never any actual customers coming in to buy anything. Instead, there was a seemingly endless stream of people coming in to sell marginally interesting pieces of comic history.  Then the shop owner was called to negotiate with the guy. Sometimes an "expert" was called in to give their two cents.

The only difference between Pawn Stars and Comic Book Men, is that the actual negotiations are regularly interrupted by the cast sitting around a table with Kevin Smith (who hasn't actually appeared in the store) to record a podcast that talks about the goings on of the comic book store.  I'm watching video of what's going on in the store...do I really need to be shown reaction shots of Kevin while basically hearing the radio broadcast?

Like Smith's other attempts to break into television, I don't see this series lasting very long.