COMIC BOOK CONFIDENTIAL

Mann’s acclaimed documentary offers an entertaining, insightful survey of a largely unrecognized art form. Through interviews, animated montages, and readings, the film traces the journey of comic book art from the 1930s and ’40s and the explosive popularity of superheroes to the groundbreaking work of Will Eisner and the crime and horror comics of the ’50s. Mann also looks at the chilling effect of the Comic Code, which cited comic books as a major cause of juvenile delinquency. Mad Magazine defiantly survived the era, profoundly influencing everything that came after it. The film also looks at the rise of Stan Lee’s Marvel Comics, and the independent and underground work of R. Crumb and the “comix” makers of the ’60s and ’70s. Among the many interviewed: Art Spiegelman, Harvey Pekar, Stan Lee, Frank Miller, Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, and Harvey Kurtzman. Be sure to catch “The Bible Illuminated: R. Crumb’s Book of Genesis,” on view at the Portland Art Museum through September 19.

$9 general, $8 students and seniors.

With support from Floating World Comics. | Whitsell Auditorium