“In heaven, everyone has a Bat mobile.” – Walt
Like his films, Kevin Smith’s venture into reality television with Comic Book Men seems to unabashedly target those who share his interests while feeding their nerd nostalgia. Being one of those nerds, however, I have been swiftly swooned by Smith’s cast of comic cohorts. Certainly Bryan’s cynicism might be a bit abrasive, and treating Ming like the new kid could come off as childish, but that’s what makes this group so accessible to me — they’re a real group of friends pursuing their shared passion.
The store pulls in a truly unique cast of characters this week, both real and fictional. The crew gets a chance to indulge in their fandom when a Batmobile collector lets them cruise, caped-crusader style, in his 1956 replica; thanks to the Stash, I have now glimpsed a childhood dream become reality, if only vicariously. The less stellar wares to come across their counter included the scarcely popular Captain 3-D and Giant-Sized Man-Thing comics but were more than counterbalanced by a complete set of DC Universe’s Crisis on Infinite Earths saga (famous for The Death of Supergirl, among others) and what a customer believes to be a genuine Star Wars prop.
For those of you who enjoy the historical significance of those items that see the shelves of Auction Hunters and Pawn Stars, I’m sure a verifiable lightsaber will at least whet your whistle. Even non-fans cannot deny that Star Wars altered the cinema landscape for filmmakers and filmgoers alike; who wouldn’t want to claim ownership of a piece of history? Unfortunately, the lightsaber fails the expert’s test – though not an authentic prop from A New Hope, it is revealed, with more precision, to be one of Luke Skywalker’s very own lightsabers from The Empire Strikes Back. Though not as rare as a prop from the first film, knowledge of the item’s history proves to be just as valuable to the collector.
The excitement of the Batmobile and the lightsaber were perfectly complimented by the unannounced visit from half of the Stash’s namesake. Jason Mewes – the Jay to Kevin Smith’s Silent Bob – flies to New Jersey on a whim in order to check on the store for his busy buddy. Still just a kid at heart (Jason looks like he could be fresh off the set of Clerks or Mallrats) he ends up taking Ming for his credit card and buying action figures to play with and put on display.
Hopefully more viewers will give the show a try instead of dismissing it as some stymieing stereotype. Surprise celebrity visits and pickup hockey games are a good start to showing off the show’s loose format, proving that Comic Book Men isn’t just for its eponymous viewers.