By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3 cats
Director: Vivian Kleiman
Country: united_states
Year: 2022
Running time: 79
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14623196/reference
Michael says: “Vivian Kleiman’s documentary about the emergence of queer comics as an underground force, and eventually as a mainstream pop offering, is a good introduction to the subject. It mainly focuses on some of the pioneers who started the movement, spending the most time on Howard Cruse and Alison Bechdel who were there at the forefront, and have become mainstream, household names in the comic world; especially Bechdel, whose first graphic novel, Fun Home was a New York Times bestseller, and adapted into a Tony Award winning Broadway musical. Viewers will bet a good sense of the early days, from Mary Wings creating the first lesbian-written comic about lesbians, to Rupert Kinnard, who created the Brown Bomber, the first black, queer character. What is missing is the voice of the modern day queer comic creator. Kleiman peppers in brief moments with some current day writer/illustrators, but they are given scant time to say a few lines about how they were influenced by those that came before them. Mostly absent are some of the many queer comic creators currently working at big comic companies, bringing queer comic characters to a massive mainstream audience.
“Ultimately, NO STRAIGHT LINES is a bit disjointed, settling into a basic chronological timeline about halfway through the film. The talking heads Kleiman chose are certainly important figures, and are entertaining and interesting enough to build a good doc around, but it feels like it could have been much more. 3 cats
“Screened at Tribeca Festival 2021“