by Frank Calvillo
Every industry, for all that it does and all it provides, contains a flip side, of which the part of society it serves remains more or less unaware. While it’s no secret that almost every corporate structure is prone to such a side, for some reason, I had always thought of the comic book industry to be immune from anything of the sort. As The Image Revolution so wonderfully shows however, I was wrong.
Fantastic and fun, The Image Revolution takes a look at how the creation of an independent comic book distributor known as Image Comics changed the face of an industry, allowed individual voices to flourish and made millionaires and celebrities out of the most unlikely of candidates. Featuring candid interviews with the seven founders of Image — Todd McFarlane, Rob Liefeld, Jim Lee, Erik Larsen, Marc Silvestri, Jim Valentino and Whilce Portacio — as well as vintage footage and commentary from figures such as Stan Lee and Robert Kirkman, The Image Revolution is an upfront chronicle of what was truly a game-changing movement in the comic book world.
Longtime comic book fans will no doubt lap up the indictment that The Image Revolution serves up against comic book titans Marvel and DC. The idea of how these giants of the industry virtually worked their employees to the hilt, retaining all rights, while withholding any form of residuals from its creators, is worthy of a documentary all its own and should be the producers’ next project.
In this instance however, it’s this deep lack of acknowledgment from Marvel and DC (McFarlane recalls how he wasn’t even given a copy of a t-shirt he helped design) pushed them to the edge and made them feel disenchanted and empowered at the same time with the inspiration to rewrite the comic book game according to their own rules.
These founders weren’t just artists and creators, they were the shining stars of the industry in the late 80s and early 90s, responsible for revitalizing such beloved comics as Superman and Spider-man, while taking the form of comic book art to levels no one had seen before. The seven men are shown as individuals who decided to forge ahead on their own terms, not necessarily for monetary gain, but rather to bring to life a desire to run the industry the way they felt it should be. The move would prove a game changer of epic proportions as the introduction of popular long-running comics Spawn and Youngblood led to toy and movie deals, with all rights firmly in the hands of the creators. It’s hard not to applaud their idea of each person operating as their own entity, owning and being responsible for their creations.
Just like any documentary charting the rise and fall of an empire, The Image Revolution is also a bit of a cautionary tale about the dark side of success. The showing of how each of the seven founders achieved unprecedented levels of fame which had never been experienced by many individuals in their positions is a true lesson if there ever was one. It was a fame typically reserved for rock stars, with around-the-block lines filled with fans waiting to get issues signed and appearances on morning and late-night TV accompanying the release of early Image Comics issues. Good old fashioned ego, and the overall challenge of turning comic book whiz kids into powerful businessmen, is unflinchingly pointed to throughout the middle and last half of The Image Revolution as the reason for the company’s decline in popularity. During this part, The Image Revolution may play out like a standard “too big to fail” tale, but always remains involving thanks to the backdrop of the comic book world and the eclectic personalities of the players.
As a documentary, writer/director Patrick Meaney has done a fine job telling this endlessly watchable series of events. The pacing and structure are well done without an inundation of names, dates and facts, allowing the audience to simply soak up the story. Continuously telling the story in comic book form is truly a stroke of genius and allows the viewer even more of an insight to what it means to exist in such an industry. Most importantly however, Meaney manages to tear away at the innocence and adventure of the comic book world and show how these pioneering creators managed to restore it.
In the end, The Image Revolution shows how ultimately Image Comics prevailed, especially in the taking on of Kirkman, who was able to find a home for his sprawling tale of zombies vs humans, The Walking Dead. Kirkman, along with his empire of TV and merchandising, remains one of Image Comic’s most shining examples that the seven founders not only had their fingers on the pulse of the comic book-loving public at that time, but that the idea that a creator’s creation should remain their own, should be the law of the land.
The Package
Aside from the trailer, there’s 45 minutes of additional interviews where the main subjects discuss some of their comic inspirations and an additional 15 minutes of interviews from guest commentators essentially giving the same information.
The Lowdown
The Image Revolution is a fantastically entertaining story of how a group of comic book creators became innovators and celebrities as a result of changing the face of the industry.
