This August, Oni Press is once again teaming with Kevin Smith to publish CLERKS: THE LOST SCENE. The story that became CLERKS was too large to be contained in just a couple of reels of film. Many scenes had to be cut for the sake of time, and for the first time ever, you can see one ofthem in glorious, comic book black-and-white. Kevin Smith, the writer and director of the film, has returned to his original script and rescued the crucial funeral parlor sequence. Finally, this is your chance to see the events at Julie Dwyer’s funeral that send Dante and Randal running!

“This is one of the most talked about sequences from the original film,” commented Oni Press editor in chief Jamie S. Rich. “Dante and Randal go in, and the next second, they are running out. Everyone wants to knowwhat happened in-between.”

“Kevin is such a creative writer, he always has more great material than the confines of whatever form he is working in can handle,” added Oni publisher Joe Nozemack. “Most things aren’t cut out of his scripts because they aren’t as good as the rest, they’re cut for space alone. There are tons of gems lying around on the cutting room floor, and it’s exciting to be showing one to the world.”

“The funeral parlor was a scene we didn’t have the wherewithal to shoot back when we made CLERKS,” Smith said, “so it got cut out of the earliest drafts. There’ll be a nice sense of closure to having it reach an audience now. It may not be twenty years later, and there may be no digital Jabba added, but it’s kind of restoring the original vision of the flick . or something like that.”

Joining Smith for this excursion are artists Phil Hester (SWAMP THING, THE WRETCH) and Ande Parks. Duncan Fegredo, the artist of JAY & SILENT BOB, provides an all-new cover. In addition to the main story, Smith will be writing a brand-new introductory sequence with Jay & Silent Bob.

“I’m ecstatic about getting involved with this project,” Hester said. “Kevin’s writing has such a wit and energy to it, I can’t wait to try to capture it on the page.”

“With each project of Kevin’s, we like to establish a new look,” Rich added. “Phil and Ande have a clean style that stands firmly between cartoony and realistic. I think their fluid linework is going to really appeal to Kevin’s fans, and hopefully should carry over to other projects between these three.”

“People have accused us of milking the View Askew line, but I think the continual quality of our books refutes that,” Nozemack concluded. “This material still has so many fresh possibilities, it should surprise you and make you laugh just like the first time you saw CLERKS or CHASING AMY. This is no flash-in-the-pan, but a real, bon-a-fide universe full of hilarious stories. CLERKS: THE LOST SCENE will be another cool comic you’ll want to add to your collection.”

The CLERKS: THE LOST SCENE one-shot ships August 20, 1999, and retails for $2.95. It has 32 pages of black-and-white story and art with a brand-new full color cover. It features harsh language and mature situations.