A limited edition comic book, with a six-figure value, has fallen into your lap. You are £5000 in debt and own a failing store. All seems straight-forward – sell the comic and move on with your life. But when fanatical collectors Lauren McCall and Edison Bolt ride into town, suddenly Edinburgh doesn’t quite seem such a safe place to be.

Following all the recent financial success of AVENGERS, BATMAN, SPIDERMAN and (probably) IRON MAN, ELECTRIC MAN intelligently ploughs headlong in the opposite direction of the box office. Rather than a film about the genius of those in lycra (or metal), we have a story of those that admire them; rather than a film of explosions and fistfights, a film about insecurity, personal and financial. Tony Stark never had to pay £5000 for his utility bill!

What is it about moving pictures that demands big budgets and big audiences, where stills are for the niche?

“What we wanted to do was create an absorbing story about ordinary people in an extraordinary situation,” says director David Barras. Given the recent popularity of super-humans as characters, one might question the place of Barras’ “ordinary people” in a comic book film for a main-stream audience. SCOTT PILGRIM or KICK-ASS (now coming up for a sequel) show a sporadic record for the average Joe. Something has to be said for the size of the projects themselves. Anything “comic-book” these days comes big and loud. Very few smaller budget comic-book films are attempted. An interesting situation considering the cult status of graphic novels themselves. What is it about moving pictures that demands big budgets and big audiences, where stills are for the niche? Sadly, due to its limited opening ELECTRIC MAN is likely to be seen only by the characters it depicts – the cult fans. A shame as often it is the weirder, sparkier forms of the genre (like KICK-ASS) that really have something to say and see.

On December 6th, ELECTRIC MAN comes to the Phoenix Cinema, Oxford after a UK tour. Having screened in London, Sheffield and Liverpool, David Barras’ independent comic caper moves into its last few dates. With simultaneous release on DVD, ELECTRIC MAN follows the increasing trend of multi-platform release – in cinemas with cast and crew, or at home on the couch. But with director David Barras and producer Scott Mackay there to take questions, may I suggest you get to the Phoenix for the 6th?

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