Geek Syndicate

Electric Man is a charming British comedy meets local corner comic shop type of film.  If you’re an avid comic reader, I mean a REAL comic fan, then chances are that you buy your comics from a dedicated shop.

If I have just described you, then you need to check out ‘Electric Man’. Electric Man is had to classify. I desperately don’t want to call it a ‘comic store romcom’ but there’s a lot of Four Weddings & Funeral in there, as relationships are at the heart of the plot.

It is witty, but not roll on the floor belly-aching; it’s not crude, but neither does it play it ‘safe’; it’s clever (the ending is quite TV Sherlock-esque), but it’s not cerebral, and certainly doesn’t take itself seriously. The acting is quaint, but professional, and overall, the film is as easy on the eye as it is on the brain – a good Sunday morning “I’m not getting out of bed” movie.

The story is pretty straightforward – a comic store in Glasgow owned by a couple of young ‘Likely Lads’ is under threat of bankruptcy. At a comic convention (and we’re talking the church-hall variety) they inadvertently get hold of an original copy of a 1930′s mythical first issue of ‘Electric Man’, worth nearly £100K, for which there are various parties with different agendas all trying to get their hands on it. As I said, the film, nor the actors, don’t try to be anything they’re not, which adds to the charm & inoffensive nature of the movie – it’s definitely worth a punt.

The two-disc version comes with a “Making of…” documentary and some bloopers, and a great little comic which gives further substance to the myth that is ‘Electric Man’!