Damon Set To Wed Winona

Oscar-winning actor Matt Damon is to marry Hollywood stunner Winona Ryder.

Damon, 27, star of hit film Good Will Hunting, is said to have told a friend: “Winona is a wonderful woman and I’m in love with her.

“If all goes well I hope to make her my bride before the year is out.”

GREEN ARROW FUTURE PLANS – The current GREEN ARROW title winds down this summer. In the final One Million issue, scheduled for September, Chuck Dixon and Frank Teran present a story of a future society and Green Arrow. The next to last issue, #137, features art by the three primary pencillers of Connor Hawke: Dougie Braithwraite (Robin Riggs, inks), Rodolfo Damaggio (Robert Campanella, inks), and Will Rosado (Klaus Jansen, inks). This issue will wrap up the ongoing plotlines (although Connor also appears in the One Million issue) and provide teasers for the upcoming new series and a cool last-page revelation you won’t want to miss. Connor fans, have no fear: this definitely isn’t the last time we’ll see the character. Editor Darren Vincenzo assures us, “As long as I’m editing Green Arrow, Connor Hawke will be a part of the legacy.” After a brief hiatus, GREEN ARROW will return with a new #1 written by film director Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy).

Dave Matthews Knows When to Ignore Paltrow and Affleck
When you’re a major recording artist, you never know who’s gonna drop by the studio, and in Dave Matthews’ case, you never know who’s going to disrupt your creative process either. Here’s the story: When Matthews’ girlfriend Ashley popped into the band’s Manhattan recording session a few months ago, she brought along a few friends, including Hollywood couple du jour Ben Affleck and Gwyneth Paltrow. That day, Matthews was struggling with the lyrics to “The Dreaming Tree,” a song that would wind up on the band’s new album, Before These Crowded Streets.

“Steve Lillywhite, our producer, was telling me just to write whatever came into my mind,” recalls Matthews. “He was trying to get me to think spontaneously, so I had all this gibberish down, some sappy story that had a sappy ending.” It was his second attempt at lyrics for the song, and even though Matthews remained uncertain about version two, he sang through it in the studio in front of Affleck, Paltrow, and the other guests. “The starlets came up to me after the take and told me how much they loved it, how great it was,” he says. “I knew then and there that I had to change the song, and change it immediately.” The lyrics to the released version of “The Dreaming Tree” are the third, final, and arguably best set of words to the song, thanks in part to Ben and Gwyneth. —Bob Gulla

Clerks: The Comic Book Sells 40,000 Copies; Goes into 3rd Printing

Having sold through a 30,000 copy first printing and a 10,000 copy second printing, totaling 40,000 copies sold out, Clerks: The Comic Book is now going into a 10,000 copy third printing. “The second printing of Clerks: The Comic Book is now sold out from us,” stated Joe Nozemack, Oni Press publisher. “In order to prevent a lag time in availability to the retailer, and thus the public, we are going into a third printing now,” Nozemack added.

Bob Schreck, Oni Press publisher commented, “We want this story, in fact, all our stories, available. We continue to show our commitment to doing so, with the second printing of Oni Double Feature #1, and the second, and now third, printings of Clerks: The Comic Book.”

Marketing director, Shannon T. Stewart stressed, “Clerks is available right now from your distributor. It is sold out from us, and in order to meet upcoming demand, we have committed to another printing now. What this means to the distributors, retailers, and ultimately, consumers, is that in a few weeks, when the second printings have sold through, third printings will already be available. This way, no one will have to back order our comics. They are, and, for the foreseeable future, will always be readily available, in one printing, or another.”

In response to the third printing and Oni’s commitment to keeping their books in print, Marty Hyder, comics department manager for Criminal Records in Atlanta, Georgia, had this to say, “Great! We sold through our 100 copy initial order in only a few weeks and Clerks continues to sell on a daily basis. As long as you keep it in print, and I keep it in stock, I don’t have to worry about lost sales. The phenomenal thing about this book is that new customers, people from outside the [traditional] comics buying public, are picking it up. I have high hopes for Jay & Silent Bob [the upcoming limited series].”

Like all books that Oni Press goes back to print on, the Clerks: The Comic Book third printing will feature a color change to the cover art. “Oni’s practice of altering the covers with each printing of a comic is great. It helps collectors differentiate between printings at a glance, and doesn’t discourage casual readers in the least,” said Debbie Fagnant, manager of Excaliber Books and Comics in Portland, Oregon “Its a nice little perk,” she added. In addition to the cover color changes, all printings of Oni comics contain printing information in the indicias inside the comic.

Clerks: The Comic Book is available to retail accounts through Diamond Comic Distributors, FM International Distribution and Cold Cut in the U.S. and Red Route in the U.K., and to the public in finer comic shops across the globe.