What follows is a largely improvised exploration of early 2000’s fan culture that both pokes fun at and celebrates the obsessiveness of certain fans and the history of comic books as a whole, with a majority of the film shot on location during the 2002 San Diego Comic Con and having many unscripted conversations with non-actors.
The movie is also notable for having many prominent voice actors getting to play relatively rare live-action roles, such as Tom Kenny, Billy West, Darran Norris, Lori Alan, Jess Harnell, and many others; plus, people connected to the comic book industry playing themselves such as Stan Lee, Kevin Smith, Hugh Hefner, Bruce Timm, and more.
This film contains the following tropes:
- Actor Allusion: Less than you would think for a movie like this, but Billy West can be seen standing in front of a Futurama poster in a couple shots.
- Acquired Situational Narcissism: Leo Matuzik only recently found out about his grandfather Jack Witney’s creation, but after a few days of people singing his praises just for being a relative, the attention gets to his head and he’s eventually on board with the studio’s plans for their movie.
- Bumbling Dad: Swan’s friend and fellow Courage fan Derek Sprang brings his wife and son along to the comic con even though the former doesn’t want to go, and the latter gets tired of it, but Sprang doesn’t leave, literally dragging his son along the floor to keep going.
- Call-Back: At the beginning of the movie, Kevin Smith talks to Don Swan about his short involvement with trying to write a Courage script, and that the studio kept insisting on adding a giant spider. When Swan gets his hands on the current script the night before the big panel, he discovers to his horror that a giant mechanical spider is indeed in there.
- Chained to a Bed: A non-sexual version where Donahue, having drugged Swan’s drink the night before at a party, has him tied to a bed so he can’t sabotage the panel, but fortunately, Swan eventually wakes up and calls out for help to a hotel maid.
- Corrupt Corporate Executive: The two characters who represent the studio, Taylor Donahue and Anita Levine, don’t care whatsoever for the history of the comic book series they want to adapt, and as Swan continues to try pushing for a more faithful adaptation, they eventually attempt to get rid of Swan by tying him to his hotel bed so he won’t interrupt the upcoming panel. They also do not want to pay royalties to Leo Matuzik, the creator of Courage’s last living relative.
- Darker and Edgier: After 9/11, Commander Courage was revamped in the comics to be a vigilante wearing all black who goes after terrorists, and his young nephew sidekick Liberty Lad was changed into a Hotter and Sexier version called Liberty Lass who was unrelated so the two could have romantic tension. This is the iteration of the series that the studio wants to adapt into a movie, much to Swan’s chagrin.
- Deliberate Values Dissonance: Jack Witney is portrayed as someone who attempted to be progressive by having a positively portrayed Magical Native American character back in the 40’s, but it’s said he also contributed to comics with racist stereotypes of black people, which Swan seems oblivious to when he narrates about it.
- Expy: Commander Courage is largely one for Batman, with a lot of the series’ history being a comedic parallel, but also for Captain America to a smaller extent with the character’s patriotism.
- Grumpy Old Man: In a possible reference to what happened with Bill Finger, Taylor Donahue and Leo Matuzik meet two former friends of Jack Witney’s who claim that the three of them created Commander Courage together, but the latter took all the credit and left the other two behind. The movie never states if they’re right or not, but if so, then they have pretty good reason to be upset.
- Large Ham: Bruce Easly, the man hired to play Commander/Codename Courage at the convention, is almost as boisterous out of costume as he is wearing it.
- Loveable Sex Maniac: Ricky the cameraman is more excited to go to the convention and check out the women in sexy cosplays than anything else, but he supports Swan in his endeavors and gives Leo Matuzik tips on how to approach women, which isn’t very successful.
- Mockumentary
- Moral Guardians: A parody of Seduction of the Innocent called Corruption of the Juvenile created an in-universe backlash against Commander Courage in the 50’s, with the book’s author especially having a problem with the perceived Ho Yay between Courage and Liberty Lad, causing the comic to become Lighter and Softer and having Lad get a less-revealing redesign and a girlfriend.
- Ms. Fanservice: A model and aspiring actress named Papaya Smith is brought in to portray Liberty Lass, the Hotter and Sexier revamp of Liberty Lad, for the promotion.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: Donahue and Levine’s boss J.T. is much more easy-going than his employees, and he actually listens to Swan’s suggestions for the Courage movie at the end.
- Rousing Speech: Swan makes it to the panel just in time to call out the movie studio for not caring about the source material for Commander Courage and appeals to the audience to not settle for a cynical cash-grab, because the original material is what brought all these people together in the first place. This gets the audience to turn against the others at the panel, eventually leading to Taylor Donahue and Anita Levine getting fired.
- Vomit Discretion Shot: Jim Cummings (1952) plays a partygoer who drunkenly beatboxes and then leans over to throw up.
