TCA: Kevin Smith Wants to See Catwoman's 'Panties'

After alienating film critics, director Kevin Smith worked hard to win over TV critics at a profane and highly entertaining session for his upcoming AMC series Comic Book Men. Bowing Feb. 12 at 10 p.m., the six-part unscripted series follows Smith and his sidekicks at the New Jersey comic book shop, Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash.

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“In episode six of this we solve the killing of Rosie Larsen,” said Smith, referring to AMC’s controversial, and critically panned, first-season finale of The Killing.

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The line drew loud guffaws from the reporters gathered in the ballroom at the Langham Huntington Hotel. But the second question posed was about whether the show would address the lack of female representation in the overwhelmingly male dominated milieu.

When the questioner posited that female comic book readers might be ready for something beyond Catwoman in her bra, Smith responded: “I’ve seen Catwoman in her bra far too often. Now I just want to see her in her panties.”

He then launched into an unapologetic filibuster about all the great available men lurking in comic book shops.

“Honestly, I’m not going to say, it’s up to you ladies,” he said. “But all I hear single women talk about is not being able to find a good man. You will never find a better man than in a comic book store. If you throw comic book guys a little bit of attention, you’ve got him for life. Ladies, if you’re looking for a man who will take care of your needs first, comic book dudes are all oral.

“In terms of the stories,” Smith continued, “It’s a male dominated medium, the readers are mostly dudes. We’ve seen a transition away from just super heroes tales over the course of the last ten, 15 years, which is great. The kind of growth of independent comics for people who want to tell stories that aren’t necessarily about anyone in tights.”

Smith added that, Comic Book Men reflects the reality of his shop, where all of the employees are men.  

“To me it was like, let’s reflect the reality. I can barely do anything for myself let alone the entire gender of women. There should be a Comic Book Women and God willing if this works there will be a spinoff and I’ll make money on that.”

Email: Marisa.Guthrie@thr.com

Twitter: @MarisaGuthrie