Video interview: Filmmaker shows how comic books contribute to kids’ literacy

Todd's documentary about the positive role of comics in society will play at the DMA in February.

Native North Texan Todd Kent graduated from the University of North Texas with a degree in Radio/Television/Film and currently works in the video production industry.

Todd's also a versatile documentarist, having lensed and produced films on a variety of subjects over the last half-dozen years, including regional folklore, popular geology (i.e. rockhounding), and — most recently — comic books.

It's on this last topic that Todd visited with us at Pegnews World HQ: His film, Comic Book Literacy, is set make its area premiere at the Dallas Museum of Art at 11:30 a.m. on February 26.

"What's that?" I can hear you smirking from around your copy of Virgil's Aeneid: "A film about comic books at the DMA?" That's right, Murgatroyd: The medium once considered to be corruptive of impressionable youth has now taken on a distinct air of (*GASP!*) respectability, with schools and public libraries adding them to their collections. Turns out kids are turning on to comic books and thereby developing an interest in reading, which carries on from the inky illustrated tomes to stories more literary in nature. It's kind of a sunny, upside version of the old marijuana-leading-to-hard-drugs argument.

(Remember those Classics Illustrated comics you read when you were a kid? I seem to recall being first introduced to the weird and wonderful world of Jules Verne through those heavily-condensed and profusely illustrated story treatments.)

Interview with Todd Kent

In our interview, Todd tells us how his twin interests in filmmaking and comic books eventually (and inevitably) collided. He also tells us how he went about soliciting interviews from an impressive roll call of luminaries in the comic book trade — including authors such as Art Spiegleman, Terry Moore, James O'Barr, and Marc Andreyko; artists like Steve Erwin, Brian Denham, and Billy Tan; and editors and publishers the likes of Jim Salicrup, Joe Quesada, Francoise Mouly, and Gareb Shamus.

Comic Book Literacy was an official selection of last year's Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival, but as you'll hear, the San Diego convention proved a challenging venue for those who put their films on display — at least, judging by Todd's experience.

In regard to Todd's personal comic book reading preferences, he states: "I'm getting out of the mainstream superhero comics and going more towards the independents." Although, he admits, "my favorite this week may not the be same as my favorite next week." Comic books are like that, considering the wealth of talent out there among writers and illustrators. Todd advises that those with a serious interest get to know their local comics shop employees, who can assist by directing them to hidden gems they might otherwise never discover.

For more information about Comic Book Literacy, check out the film's official website. Or you can have a look at the trailer, here: