Worst. “Pawn Stars” ripoff. Ever.
“Comic Book Men” follows longtime employees of the comic book store in Red Bank, N.J., owned by filmmaker Kevin Smith (“Cop Out,” “Red State”).
Like many a nerd, I’m in a comic book store every Wednesday -- but most comic shop clerks, it saddens me to say, are nowhere near as entertaining as the one who services Bart Simpson. Smith’s hires prove perhaps more tiresome than most.
In the first episode, nobody buys anything from the store. Instead, customers are depicted trying to sell stuff to Secret Stash: a movie poster, some lobby cards, a Chucky doll, a “Six Million Dollar Man” doll, a comic book. Nothing seems valuable enough to cover anybody’s rent for a month.
The worst segments involve what looks like a ginned-up-for-AMC contest to sell stain-ridden Bart Simpson dolls and other depressing merchandize at a New Jersey flea market. It turns out that middle-aged clerks selling old Moon Knight graphic novels for pennies on the dollar do not make for gripping primetime programming.
... It’s diverting, a little sad, a little boring, full of geeky macho posturing and ultimately pointless …
... basically a nerd version of "Pawn Stars" ... Ming Chen works on Smith's online endeavors; press materials describe him as the "go-to whipping boy," and while he is made fun of ("Ming, you look like a donkey wearing a straw hat"), it is actually never funny. … Much of what goes on there is clearly staged, or at least stage-managed, if not technically "scripted." Still, as in "Pawn Stars," or for that matter, "Antiques Roadshow," there is real pleasure to be had from watching people who know what they're talking about talk about the things they know about. …
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:
... seems like it's desperate to come up with enough footage to fill an hour, resulting in a seemingly staged sell-off of store clearance merchandise … The show is most entertaining when oddball customers show up with collectibles in tow, including original art by comics legend Bob "Batman" Kane, a "Six Million Dollar Man" action figure and a Chucky doll. For fans of toy and comic collectibles, these scenes offer some sense of being in this kind of shop -- like a visit to Groovy on Pittsburgh's South Side. But that's not enough to hang an otherwise dull TV series on.
The San Francisco Chronicle says:
… viewers may not need to know DC Comics' Issue No. 1 chapter, verse and thought bubble to find "Comic Book Men" mildly amusing. …
... dullish ... “Comic Book Men’s” idle chit-chat about comics comes off as remedial and boring. …
… any appeal beyond committed nerds who can appreciate drooling over a "Six Million Dollar Man" action figure is likely to be limited. …
10 p.m. Sunday. AMC.
