Following Your Passion: Making Fun & Comics

She Makes Comics

Directed By: Marisa Stotter

Grade: A

This has been on my Wishlist for a while and then I found it on Netflix the other night and immediately hit play. It’s about the history of women in comics but also fandom overall and a nice little bit about cosplayers.

I thought this was a really enjoyable and informative documentary. I recognized a lot of the names featured and interviewed and knew some of the history but certainly not all of it and it was interesting to see it from a business perspective as well.

There’s some talk about how women artists are less likely to show their work- or believe that it’s good. Another editor mentions that in the years she was editor she had countless requests of work from males but only one from a woman.

Comics have been such an important part of pop culture and at this point culture overall and I love to see how artists and writers got their start. You can hear the passion in their voices when they talk about what books drew them in and never let them go and for a variety of reasons.

It also talks about how the industry hasn’t changed. It was sad that when talking about Gail Simone’s coining the Women in Refrigerators that she still to this day gets death threats.

(FYI If you Google Women in Refrigerators you’re going to get some information on recent comic book movies including the writers of one specific movie claiming they had no knowledge of the term. Like how are you a writer, especially of a major comic book movie these days, and have never heard the women in refrigerators term? Got to admit that kind of pisses me off.)

Overall I loved the film and it’s positive and powerful message.

Recommend: Yes.

Making Fun The Story of Funko

Directed by: David Romero

Grade: A-

Me: (a couple years back after getting a Sheldon Cooper Pop for a gift) Well, this is cute. Maybe I’ll collect all my favorite characters and not go to over the top.

Me: (Later.) Man I have a lot of favorite characters!

Me:  (Even Later.) Man they have a lot of variations of my favorite characters!

Much like She Makes Comics- this is about following your passion and getting to do what you love be that as an entrepreneur or a fan.

If you go by what the fans say a lot of the appeal of Funko is the nostalgia factor that always gets me with everything. (Seriously, do a movie about a child eating killer clown slap some nostalgia on it and I am all over that!) And also the sense of fitting in and connecting with other people.

They do a good job of talking to a diverse group of fans and the business stuff is interesting. I had only vague memory that Funko started with the Wacky Wobbler type bobbleheads.

And it treats the fans lovingly as well. I actually teared up a bit when some of the collectors were talking about things that reminded them of their childhood or how it got them through cancer.

Although it did start to feel a little long in places and a couple of the celebrity cameos didn’t really amount to much other than, “Oh, look I have a Funko!”

And just because I’m already annoyed love her or hate her I still do not understand why there’s no Catelyn Stark Funko yet. They’ve made the throne. They’ve made a weight. I think we have two giants. Hell, they even made those masked guys that were in Dany’s storyline whose names I can’t even be bothered to remember. But no Cat. 🙁

Recommend: Yes. This may mainly appeal to the collectors among us (and I don’t think it has to be Pop collectors.) But it’s an enjoyable loving celebration of fandom and pop culture.