We review the documentary The Comic Book Palace, a film that takes place entirely inside a comic book store, check it out, Kapow!
Directed by Felipe Jorge, The Comic Book Palace takes us on a journey to see the inner workings of a comic book store that has been open for twenty years. We get to meet the owner Glen O’Leary, his brother and the regulars who just like to hang around and talk superheroes.
The shop is full of characters and I’m not talking about the Marvel and DC ones. I found myself laughing at the arguments, shaking my head at Corey’s praise of Grant Morrison and of a customer’s slating of DC’s New 52 line (come on, Scott Snyder and Greg Cappulo are brilliant!). The discussions and arguments reminded me a little of a Kevin Smith film, yet these aren’t made up characters in a Clerks movie; these are larger than life real people who happen to love comics. 
Glenn tells the audience about his decision to open the store and his secret on how it has stayed in business for all these years. To the untrained eye, The Comic Book Store looks cluttered and thrifty but to someone like me (a huge comic fan) it looks like heaven. This is a place that, if I lived nearby, I would most likely be spending the majority of my time at too.
Jorge never lets the documentary get boring. If someone is talking about the state of comics today compared to the Golden age, Jorge cuts to show shots of comics, films, customers picking out their favourite issues; it shows professionalism and it looks a hell of a lot better than just having a talking head onscreen all the time.
Jorge also needs to be commended for how good the documentary looks and sounds. It was shot on a Cannon T2i (a 550d for UK readers) with a Rode mic plugged straight into the camera. There was no sound team or cameramen – just one man doing it all. While that can come off horribly amateurish in the wrong hands, Jorge does brilliantly. It simply works.
While not everybody will find a documentary on a comic book store interesting, I did and I’m pretty sure other comic fans will enjoy it too. Watching the film makes me want to go and pick up the latest issue of my monthly reads, or even book a flight and spend a week with Glenn and the boys so I can discuss who would actually win in a fight between Batman and Daredevil (hint, it’s Batman).
Overall Thoughts:
An entertaining forty minutes, The Comic Book Palace is a great watch for any fans of superheroes. Felipe Jorge does a great job, I could have watched another forty minutes.
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