As only a casual comic book reader as a kid, I was probably not the intended audience for writer/director Jonathan L. Bowen’s love letter to the medium. Aptly titled The Comic Shop, this charming dramedy places still-hunky Jesse Metcalfe (Passions, Desperate Housewives, John Tucker Must Die) as store owner Mike, at the center of a battle for comic-selling supremacy. Opposite Metcalfe, newcomer Micah Giovanni plays the doe-eyed fresh face in town whose own love of art perfectly commingles with Mike’s buried dreams. Bowen makes this accessible to all, not just comic die-hards. Part character piece, part coming-of-age drama, cutesy The Comic Shop is just sweet enough to recommend.
Bookended by a comic strip style and a dramatic music score that emulates a superhero movie, The Comic Shop takes place mainly at Mike’s World. This privately-owned comic book store has been a bit down in the dumps since the pandemic, with owner Mike (Metcalfe) falling into a cycle of alcohol abuse and depression. The first time we see Mike, looking disheveled in a Nirvana tee, he contemplates the future of his business with fiercely loyal employee, Alex (Tristan Mays, MacGyver, The Vampire Diaries). Without a steady stream of loyal customers, pivoting to indie comics may be the only way to weather the storm. The addition of immediate competition directly across the street—Wild Imagination Comics, the so-called “Willy Wonka of comic shops”—threatens to stifle the last embers of Mike’s World for good. Add a lease increase of seven hundred dollars, and Mike truly may have no chance.
Enter: Idaho import Brandon (Giovanni), a young teenager with aspirations to be the next Stan Lee. That age-old trope of a father insisting his son follow a sports path rather than a different one emerges anew. “Dreams don’t pay the bills,” he insists at one point. Eventually, he even gives Brandon an ultimatum: pick a real major, or go into the military. Naturally, Brandon’s passion for comics leads him to the shelves of Mike’s World. He sparks up an organic friendship with Mike, and the duo make a deal that should be beneficial to both parties. Brandon will build Mike a website to help bring Mike’s World out of the hole, and Mike will teach Brandon how to draw. Not only is Mike a shop owner, but he was also once a passionate illustrator who still continues to channel his art, and plaster it up around his store.
Despite the plot being predictable down to the most minute detail, the wholesome charms easily won me over. There are a couple of fun cameos, and Metcalfe and Giovanni have a contagious onscreen chemistry that makes their friendship feel bold and textured. The underdog message may be an obvious one, but it endures throughout modern culture due to its relevancy. Sometimes an inspirational underdog tale is exactly what we need—The Comic Shop contentedly delivers its slice-of-life messaging with ease. Shot on location in Las Vegas, one can feel the exuberance emanating from the comic book page and onto the screen.
The Comic Shop will be released by Quiver Distribution in 2025.
