Filmish

Filmish: A Graphic Journey Through Film by Edward Ross, 199 pages

Filmish is a comic book discussion of filmmaking, focusing on different ways of the medium is used (as an extension of the filmmaker's vision, as propaganda either for or against technology, as a way to manipulate time). For someone who knows absolutely nothing about filmmaking, I suppose this could be a good introduction to film analysis.

But.

To be completely honest, this reads like an undergrad thesis put to mediocre artwork (everyone has the same nose!). After paying lip service to the need for more women and people of color involved in filmmaking, Ross uses several examples to illustrate the rest of the book, none of which were made by women or people of color; instead, he discusses focuses on Christopher Nolan, James Cameron, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, and George Lucas. And while he also talks about filmmakers using code words and double entrendres to get around censorship rules (such as the Hays Code and the stringent rules in modern-day Iran), he doesn't give us any names of those movies, which would be an excellent way to move the discussion forward.

Given that movies and comic books are both visual media, this could have been really cool. Maybe in the hands of Alison Bechdel or Noelle Stevenson. Sadly, this one isn't worth it.