I clicked the stars to rate this at first an eight, but then I got to thinking about how I came about watching this show and I had to bump it to a ten.Normally, Reality TV and I do not mix well. They're just not a type of show that interest me. When I started the first episode, I had no idea it was reality TV. I almost turned it off. And then a customer came into the shop.It was like the Antique Roadshow(a show I love), but with comic books and a funnier cast.I quickly found the rest of the episodes and I haven't stopped watching.The store's manager is funny, smart and he has integrity, something many Reality TV shows lack in their main cast of characters. The whole cast of the show is quirky and interesting, actually.This is the first review for anything from me on IMDb, though I've belonged for years. I just felt compelled to write this review, much like the compulsion to watch the show.I don't even like comic books! It's still really, really great.

I tried for years to get one of the local comic shop owners- in two different cities, in two different states- to do just such a show for Public Access; none of them were interested (despite the fact that it would've amounted to free advertising), and I finally quit asking. It's all moot, now, I guess, because the local Public Access channel was dropped from the local cable system (despite protests, although I read somewhere just recently that a local religious faction is clamoring for air time, so it may be resurrected). Public Access was- and still is, in cities where it's available- the perfect venue for a talk show about comic books. And it's about time, too: comic books are Big Business these days in Hollywoodland. COMIC BOOK MEN is the perfect companion piece to THE BIG BANG THEORY.

It's really too early to tell if this show will be good or not, but I'll make a guess anyway. As a comic book enthusiast, I enjoyed seeing Blade's first appearance comic book and an old Marvelmania Thor poster by Jack Kirby brought into the store to pawned-er-I mean sold. As with Pawn Stars, there will be questions as to whether or not the 'sellers' are real people or hired actors given props to sell to the store. The show also seems to favor a round table like discussion (which is apparently Smith's pod cast) on the events happening in the store rather than doing those aside confessions synonymous with reality television. This format favors discussion and 'nerd' talk rather than backstabbing gossip. The two characters who seem to come at odds the most (Bryan and Ming) are always talking to each other, never behind the others back.Which brings me to the crux of the show. Even if it is faked, the most important aspect will be these people who work (or in Bryan's case don't work) at the shop. Walt and Mike come across as the businessmen. Smith states that the success of the store is thanks to Walt and his assistant manager Mike. Ming apparently works on the stores website, but is something of a gofer for purposes of the show, I'm sure. Bryan is an older, heavy set, long gray bearded man (similar to Alan Moore's beard) who is supposed to be the shows Kramer, Chumlee, or Mikey. The funny guy who doesn't seem to do any work. While I found him amusing, it's still yet to be seen how the audience will respond to him.I enjoyed the pilot and will continue to watch the series. As we see more episodes, we'll be able to find out how much is faked or not faked which may change my opinion. My hope is that they'll focus on that comic book shop talk that I've come to enjoy so much over the years and not the 'drama' of the more popular reality shows.

I'm a nerd. Used to read comics every day, still love hearing about the characters and the stuff out there. Who the heck thought this was a good format? I didn't come here to see Kevin Smith and whoever the heck is talking on a radio show breaking in every 45 seconds when something interesting comes up. I want to see the crap they find, the crap people bring in and not this The View dork sewing circle crap. Just because Kevin Smith knows about comics and has a comic shop does it justify a format like this. If Smith needs to have a show like this so badly, go and run the store if he needs to justify being on camera. I stopped 20 minutes in and won't come back, it's not worth the time.